He Wasn't Kidding

Leviticus 10:1-3
(1) Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them.
(2) And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
(3) Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD has said, 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'" And Aaron held his peace.

I think that I read this and the story of Uzziah and the Ark of the Covenant with a sense of condemnation toward God. Isn't this kind of petty? I mean, I have rules at my house, but nothing that gets anyone more than spanked. I would not kill any of my children no matter what they did. Yet God basically zapped Nadab and Abihu because they tried to offer fire in a way that the Lord did not prescribe.

How could a good God do this? If we make the mistake of thinking of God as nothing but love then we are at a complete loss. What we need to remember is that God is holy above all else. That is why He would do this. When He gives a rule He isn't kidding about it. There is no, "next time you'll really get it" with God. For these two guys it was one-and-done.

Verse 3 implies that Aaron was going to complain or maybe he did complain a little bit. Moses' words shut him up. Are we just as content with this explanation? I sure want to be.

This seeming pettiness also solves the problem of evil. It assures us that the Lord will enact justice on those who deserve it. We still have a problem though if we think that we do not deserve this kind of condemnation. All of us deserve it, which is why Jesus' death on the cross was so incredible.