Story 49: The Sin Of Impiety In Divine Worship; Its Punishment ll

   The dreadful sin of Na'dab and A-bi'hu, and the sudden punishment of death inflicted upon them by the LORD, struck their father a hard blow. He felt that God had been insulted, that Is'ra-el had been disgraced, and that his own honor had been dragged into shame. But he restrained himself from making any comment on what had happened, or complaining to the LORD. He bowed in complete obedience to God's will, and held his peace before all that Mo'ses had to say. Beautiful, indeed, was the spirit of Aa'ron under so terrible a misfortune. Unable to eat the portion assigned to the priests in a Peace Offering brought at that time, he quietly accepted the rebuke of Mo'ses, and bore with silence the deep sorrow in his heart.
   The LORD then made use of the tragic occasion to lay down strict rules concerning the use of wine by the priests. Mo'ses was directed to say, "Let no priest drink wine or strong drink of any kind before entering upon the sacred duties of his office." Severe warnings were given against any form of intemperance which would tend to becloud the mind, defile the body, or in any way make the priest unfit for the solemn duties of his office.
   These words of Mo'ses have a message for those who seek to worship God today. Everything which makes it impossible for one to worship God in the way that He has commanded must be strictly avoided. The spiritual sight must be kept clear, the heart and conscience pure and undefiled, the eye single, and the mind free from all distracting thoughts when we come before God in worship.
   Throughout the history of religion, both during the period of Ju'da-ism and under the new era brought by the Gospel of Christ, Divine worship holds the central place. Spiritual worship and the proper observance of appointed hours of worship must be kept up, or else everything connected with the life of religion will go wrong. The Christian who does not keep his priestly garments unspotted, who fails to free himself from all that leads to carelessness and irreverence in worship, and who neglects the Divinely-given laws of worship, will become fruitless and without joy in his religious life. We need to give the best that we have to His worship today:
               Take my soul and body's powers; take my memory, mind and will;
               All my goods and all my hours; all I know and all I feel;
               All I think, or speak, or do,-take my heart, but make it new.


               Now, O God, Thine own I am; now I give Thee back Thine own;
               Freedom, friends, and health and fame, consecrate to Thee alone;
               Thine I live, thrice happy I!  Happier still if Thine to die."
   After this event was over, and the bodies of the two unfaithful priests had been buried outside the camp of Is'ra-el, Aa'ron and his other two sons, whose names were E-le-a'zar and Ith'a-mar, continued to carry on the services and sacrifices of the LORD'S House. They were very careful, indeed, to perform them in exactly the place, manner, time, and spirit which God had commanded.