"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace."
- Leviticus 10:1-3
- Leviticus 10:1-3
As I am sure you are aware these verses are used as a proof-text for the RPW. That is, here we find Nadab and Abihu offering to YHWH something he had not commanded (and which he had not forbidden) and they were punished for it, therefore we must only worship how YHWH has commanded.
Yet in Exodus 30:9 we read, "Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon."
Does this not change the whole import of Leviticus 10:1-3?
We see that Nadab and Abihu had actually broken an explicit command from YHWH, i.e the statement "By offering “strange fire,” Nadab and Abihu did not violate any explicit commandment or prohibition of Scripture" (here) is wrong.
Usually the rebuttal is that "It says 'strange incense' not 'strange fire' in Exodus 30:9" but surely fire + strange incense = strange fire?
Thoughts?
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