Here we see a very solemn matter. Serving God and offering strange fire are two similar matters, yet they are very different. Service to God originates from God. It is man serving God through submission to His authority. The result is acceptance. Strange fire, however, originates from man. There is no need of obedience to God’s will or submission to His authority. All that is needed is man’s zeal, and the result is death. We often incur more death the more we serve and work. Under such circumstances we have to ask God to enlighten us. Are we under the principle of service, or are we under the principle of strange fire?
When Nadab and Abihu worked apart from Aaron, they were working apart from God, because God’s work is a coordination in authority. God ordained that they serve under Aaron’s authority. In the New Testament there are Barnabas and Paul, Paul and Timothy, and Peter and Mark. In all these we see a responsible one who leads on the one hand and a helper who follows on the other hand. In God’s work some are set to be authorities while others are set to submit to authorities. God desires that we be priests according to the order of Melchisedec. In the same way, we have to serve God in the order of the coordination in authority.
When a person who should not take the lead begins to take the lead, there is rebellion and death. Therefore, anyone who serves God without touching authority is offering strange fire. If someone says, “Since So-and-so can do it, I can do the same,” this is rebellion. God pays attention not only to whether or not there is fire, but also to the nature of the fire. Rebellion can change the nature of fire. All that is not instructed by Aaron, that is, not instructed by God, is strange fire. God’s concern is with the upholding of authority, not just the sacrifice. For this reason, man should be a follower. He should always be a complementing one. A deputy authority follows God. Those who submit to authority follow the deputy authorities. In spiritual matters or spiritual works it is not an individual serving, but a corporate Body coordinating in serving. The unit of service is coordination, not individuals. When Nadab and Abihu got into trouble with Aaron, they got into trouble with God. They could not work apart from Aaron. Anyone who violates authority will be devoured by the fire of God. Even Aaron himself did not know that the matter was so serious, but Moses knew the solemnness of rebelling against God’s authority. There are many who think that they are serving God. Yet they work independently without coming under any authority. Many have sinned without realizing that they are rebelling against God’s authority. For this reason, the free-lance evangelists who were prevalent in China in the past were a great loss to the church.
Aaron and Miriam were the older brother and sister of Moses. In the family Moses was under the authority of Aaron and Miriam. But in God’s calling and work, Aaron and Miriam were under Moses’ authority. They were not happy about Moses marrying an Ethiopian woman, and they spoke against and reviled Moses, saying, “Has Jehovah indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Num. 12:2). Ethiopians are Africans. They are the descendants of Ham. It was not right for Moses to marry an Ethiopian. Miriam was older than Moses. It was all right for her to rebuke her brother on the ground of family relationship. But in opening her mouth, she touched the work of God and overstepped Moses’ position. In His work, God had placed deputy authority in the hand of Moses. It was a big mistake for Miriam and Aaron to speak against Moses because of family problems.
God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But Miriam despised Moses. For this reason, God was not happy with her. It is all right for you to deal with your brother. But it is not all right for you to speak against God’s authority. Neither Aaron nor Miriam knew God’s authority. They fostered a rebellious heart by standing on natural ground. Moses did not answer. He knew that if he was God’s appointed authority, there was no need for anyone to protect him. Whoever spoke against him would touch death. He did not need to open his mouth. As long as God had given him authority, he did not have to speak. A lion does not need protection because it is the authority. Moses first submitted to God’s authority. Then he was able to represent God as authority. He was very meek, more than all men who were on the face of the earth (v. 3). The authority which Moses represented was the authority of God. All authorities are delegated by God, and no one can take them away.
Their words of rebellion ascended upward and were heard by God (v. 2b). When Aaron and Miriam offended Moses, they offended God in Moses. Therefore, God became angry. Once a man touches deputy authority, he touches God in that person. Once he offends the delegated authority, he offends God.
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