Shemini — The Eighth Day, Strange Fire, and the God Who Is Not Your Casual Buddy

The Eighth Day — What Day Is That?

The name of this Torah portion is Shemini — "the eighth day" — because the opening words are:

When the Word of God gives us a date, the Holy Spirit considered it important enough to include. If we read the text and just ignore that date — we are missing something.

Rashi, the most famous Jewish medieval commentator of the whole Old Testament, the Mishnah, and the Talmud, gives us a clear interpretation:

In other words, if the priests were under initiation for seven days — one week — the eighth day is Sunday. The first day of the week. The day after the graduation of the priests, they are now starting to function as full-fledged priests in the Tabernacle of the Lord.

Aaron in Full Regalia — and Then Everything Goes Wrong

Aaron is wearing his special priestly garment. He has on the golden breastplate — the ephod — with the names of all 12 tribes, the twelve precious stones shimmering in the light of the desert sun. Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's two eldest sons, are next to their father ready to perform their duty as priests. This is the first time that the Tabernacle is going to be fully functional. Everyone is under great pressure.

And then it happens:

This is a tragedy — and a tragedy is not an act of no choice. A tragedy is always something that could and should have been avoided and prevented. If some very bad thing happens that is out of our human control, it is "force majeure" — an act of Heaven. No human being can be punished for a volcano that erupted or a tsunami that struck a coastline. But the event that brought the Lord to such anger that He took the lives of these two sons of Aaron was something that could have and should have been avoided. These men spent a week with Moses teaching and training and rehearsing their duties as priests serving the Lord Most High.

What happened here?

The rabbinical commentary connects the death of Nadab and Abihu to the command that immediately follows — that priests must not drink wine or intoxicating drink before serving in the Tabernacle. I imagine what went on in the minds of these two young priests: they probably said to themselves, "This event is so important and so holy that we can't make mistakes. All of Israel's leadership will be there watching us. Maybe it would be wise for us to drink a little and be more relaxed and not so tense and nervous when we serve the Lord and the people." So they took one glass of whiskey and soda, just to be a little more relaxed, not so tense.

After they strolled with Johnny Walker for a while, they went to do their duty in the house of God and took some liberties. After all, "fire is fire is fire." Well, they were wrong. And the consequences were fatal.

God Is Not to Be Treated Casually

Moses turned to his brother Aaron — who had just watched his two sons burned alive — and said:

I get chills every time I read this text. No questioning of God. No crying out, "They were my boys!" Aaron shuts up. Two words in Hebrew. Aaron held his peace.

Here is the biggest lesson: God is not to be treated casually. He demands His sanctity and He must be honored — glorified — in front of the people. This event seems very harsh to our modern Hellenistic/humanistic values. But, when you think of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is around our galaxy and more, you begin to understand the case of Nadab and Abihu. The Lord of all could not allow this to happen at the very inauguration of the Tabernacle. If Aaron's boys start by dishonoring the Lord in public, what would the other young servants of the Lord do?

The Second Story That Nobody Reads

Everyone knows the story of Nadab and Abihu. Nobody reads the second story in the same chapter of Leviticus 10. And the second story changes everything about how we understand the first.

Aaron's two surviving sons — Eleazar and Ithamar — were given three commands by Moses: eat the grain offering without leaven beside the altar in a holy place; eat the breast of the wave offering in a clean place; and offer the thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering as a wave offering before the Lord. These three commands were not kept:

These sins of Eleazar and Ithamar were much more serious than the strange fire that Nadab and Abihu brought to the altar. They failed to make atonement for the entire congregation. But they did not die, nor did they get punished. Aaron pleaded for himself and his sons, and Moses heard his brother's plea and approved it. Moses heard and was content.

If the last two sons of Aaron and Aaron himself were also to die — there would be no priests in Israel at all. The house of Aaron would be decimated. For this reason, God's relativity in judgment and provision of grace and lovingkindness wins over His judgment. Don't say that the Torah has no mercy and grace, or no grace and truth. Read the entire chapter 10 of Leviticus.

We sing the song, "What a friend we have in Jesus…" He is our friend, but He is also the Son of God and our Lord and Savior, and the judge of all flesh for eternity. Pastors and rabbis, let us consider that we serve the very same God that Nadab and Abihu, and Aaron their father, served.