parashat shmini When Worship Goes Wrong
Torah Service:
Teaching:
Click to Download Audio MP3 File.
Our Torah portion this week is parashat shmini “on the eighth day.” parashat shmini runs from Leviticus 9:1 to Leviticus 11:47. parashat shmini describes the inauguration of the sanctuary that God commanded the children of Israel to make in order that he might tabernacle among them.
At this point the labor of love is finished. The children of Israel are eagerly waiting for God to take up residency in his new house. God has promised to visibly appear on the eighth day. Reading from Leviticus 9:1-4.
“And it came to pass on the eighth day that Moshe called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. He said to Aaron, ‘Take for yourself a calf of cattle for a purification-offering, and a ram for an ascending offering, both without blemish, and offer them before HaShem.’ And to the children of Israel speak, saying, ‘Take for yourselves a kid of the goats for a purification-offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for an ascending offering, a bull and an ram for participation offerings, to sacrifice before HaShem, an a grain offering mixed with oil. For today HaShem will appear unto you.’”
Scripture declares the whole earth is full of God’s glory [Isaiah 6:3; Numbers 14:21]. According to the Prophet Isaiah at the end of days “HaShem’s glory will be revealed and all flesh see it together” [Isaiah 40:5]. Yet to Israel God’s glory is disclosed only on extra-ordinary occasions [Leviticus 9:23]. It is not a trivial matter for a holy God to take up residence among sinful human beings. God alone is qualified to lay out the procedure for separating the sacred from the profane. God defines protocol; humans follow protocol.
Eight days before the inauguration, Moshe warned Aaron and his sons about the dangers of worship. Leviticus 8:33-35.
“You shall not exit the entrance of the tent of appointment for seven days, until the fullness of the days of your ordination, since seven days he shall ordain your hands. As he has done this day HaShem has commanded to do, to expiate on you. At the entrance to the tent of appointment sit day and night for seven days. And you shall keep the guard of HaShem and not die, for so I have been commanded.”
A pretty serious place, the sanctuary. Interacting with this God is not easy. Even to exit the sanctuary at the wrong time would be fatal. Failing to keep the guard of HaShem, the priests would die. Let’s return to parashat shmini. Leviticus 9:22-24.
“And Aaron lifted up his hands to the people and blessed them. And he came down from doing the purification-offering, the ascending-offering and the participation-offerings. And Moshe and Aaron went into the tent of appointment, then came out and blessed the people. And the glory of HaShem appeared to all the people. And fire went out from before HaShem and consumed the ascending-offering and the fat on the altar. And the all the people saw and shouted and fell on their faces.”
It’s an extraordinary moment in worship. God accepts Israel’s food gifts on the altar. God honors his promise to visibly appear. Gods grants his people a visible glimpse of his presence.
Then suddenly, the worship goes wrong. Continuing parashat shmini in Leviticus 10:1, 2.
“Then the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, each took his censor, and they put fire in them and placed incense on them and they brought near before HaShem profane fire which he had not commanded them. And fire went out from before HaShem and consumed them. They died before HaShem. And Moshe said to Aaron, ‘This is what HaShem spoke saying, “By those drawing near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.”‘“
The question everybody asks in parashat shmimi is “Why did Nadav and Avihu die before HaShem?” It’s a question which has as many answers as there are generations who’ve pondered it. Of course all these answers can’t be equally right.
How do we go about finding answers to Bible difficulties anyway? Well, the basic procedure is to compare Scripture with Scripture, a passage we don’t understand with a passage we think we do. The tricky thing about comparison is knowing what to compare with what. Frequently our idea of what scriptural passages are relevant to the issue at hand is a function of our own agenda. Readers come to the Bible with all kinds of concerns, and these concerns form the context in which answers will be given. People find what they’re looking for. It behooves us then, not only to learn the Book, but to learn to look.
One ancient answer as to why Nadav and Avihu died is because they failed to raise up sons. [על ידי לא היו להם בנים וכת' בו מיתה, הה''ד וימת נדב ואביהוא ובנים לא היו להם. Midrash Rabba 20.9] This answer is based on Numbers 3:4.
“And Nadav died and Avihu before HaShem when they brought strange fire near before HaShem in the Sinai desert. And they did not have sons, and Elazar served as priest and Itamar before Aaron their father.”
This answer takes the word “and” in the phrase “and they did not have sons,” as an “and” of reason. As you may have noticed, the little word “and” in the Torah has more meanings than in modern European languages. “And” in the Torah is more than the conjunctive, as in Nadav “and” Avihu. The language of the Hebrew Bible often says “and” where we would say “because.” The answer that Nadav and Avihu died because they did not raise up sons wants to understand “and they did not have sons” as “because they did not have sons.”
In my opinion, this answer has wrongly divided the sentence. Yes, it is perfectly legitimate to translate “because they did not have sons,” but this should go with the following clause: “Because they did not have sons, Elazar served as priest and Itamar before Aaron their father.” The “and” should not go with the previous clause.
A variant to the answer that Nadav and Avihu died because they did not have sons is that they died because they did not have wives. [אבא חנן אמ' על ידי שלא היה להם נשים וכת' וכפר בעדו ובעד ביתו, ביתו זו אשה. Midrash Rabba 20.10] This answer is based on Leviticus 16:6.
“And Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering which is for him and shall make atonement on behalf of himself and on behalf of his house.”
This answer is interested in the word “house.” “He shall make atonement on behalf of himself and on behalf of his house.” In the polite language of the ancient Jews, the word “house” was a euphemism for “wife.” Modest men wouldn’t ask “How’s your wife?” but “How’s your house?”
The euphemism “house” for “wife” may have existed already in biblical times. You remember when David tried to trick Uriya the Chittite into sleeping with his wife Batsheva in order to cover up the fact that David had gotten her pregnant? He orders Uriya:
“Go down to your house and wash your feet.”
The answer that Nadav and Avihu died because they did not have wives wants to understand the word “house” in Leviticus 16:6 as “wife;” as if it means “he shall make atonement on behalf of himself and on behalf of his wife.” This answer then wants to turn the logic around and say, since Nadav and Avihu weren’t able to make atonement, it must have been because they didn’t have wives!
The answer that Nadav and Avihu died because they didn’t have wives also appeals to a remote context. Psalm 78 describes the destruction of the tent of meeting at Shilo, during the priesthood of Chafni and Pinchas. Psalm 78:63.
“Fire devoured his young men, and his virgins were not celebrated.”
Like the previous answer, this answer wants to take “and” to mean “because.”
“Fire devoured his young men, because his virgins were not celebrated.”
Although Psalm 78 is explicitly talking about the destruction of the tent of meeting in the time of Chafni and Pinchas, this answer applies the reason to the death of Nadav and Avihu also. There are of course, several legitimate comparisons that might be drawn between Nadav and Avihu and between Chafni and Pinchas. Despite both sets of brothers having good parents, because of some gross error in the performance of their priestly duties they were struck down by God. In the case of Chafni and Pinchas, Scripture is clear as to their sins. 1Samuel 2:22 charges:
“They laid the women who were stationed at the entrance of the tent of meeting.”
The answer that Nadav and Avihu died because they did not have wives assumes that the analogy between the sons of Aaron and the sons of Eli must be exact in all its particulars. Whatever Scripture says about the sin of Chafni and Pinchas, Nadav and Avihu must have been guilty of the same! This manner of comparing Scripture with Scripture looks only at the similarities and overlooks the differences.
Another answer as to why Nadav and Avihu died is that it was in punishment for looking at God. [אלא מלמד שזנו עיניהם מן השכינה כאדם שהוא מביט בחבירו מתוך מאכל ומתוך משקה. Midrash Rabba 20.10] This answer is based on a passage over in Exodus 24. Exodus 24:9-11.
“And Moshe went up and Aaron and Nadav and Avihu and seventy from the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel, and under his feet like a work of sapphire bricks, like the very heaven for purity. And on the nobility of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand, and they gazed at God and ate and drank.”
The passage in Exodus 24 implies that those who looked at God deserved to be punished, but that the nobility were spared. But according to this answer for the death of Nadav and Avihu, God did lay his hand on those two later, because they had once dared look at him. But if Nadav and Avihu died because they saw God, this answer doesn’t explain why all the rest of the people who saw God didn’t also die.
Another answer to the question why Nadav and Avihu died is that they failed to first ask their seniors what they ought to do. [לא נתחייבו אלא על יד שהורו הלכה לפני משה רבן, וכל המורה הלכה לפני רבו חייב מיתה. Sifra, shmini 10] They were, after all, serving as priests for the first time; they had no precedent to follow. If they were not perfectly clear about some detail of their sacred work they should have consulted with father Aaron or uncle Moshe. This answer can be hung on several details of the text. Leviticus 10:1
“And the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu took, each his censor, and they put on them fire, and they placed upon it incense,” etc.
The catchword here is “each.” “Each took his censor.” In other words, each acted on his own initiative. [Midrash Rabba 20.9 איש מעצתו עשו שלא נטלו עצה זה מזה.]
The same answer can be derived from the word “his censor.” The midrash [Midrash Rabba 20.9 איש מחתתו, איש מחיתתיו.] says,
“each machtato his censor, each mchiteto his ruin.”
The midrash doesn’t necessarily mean there once actually existed a tradition which vocalized the text “his ruin” for “his censor.” This alternative vocalization is merely a playful device to help preachers get more mileage from the text.
The same answer that they died because they acted independently can also be derived from Leviticus 1:7. It was standard procedure in the sanctuary service that the fire for censoring must come from the altar of burnt offering. In Leviticus 1:7 the standard operating procedure for kindling the altar of burnt offering itself is that the sons of Aaron must do it. The text reads:
“And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and they shall arrange the wood on the fire.”
According to this answer, Nadav and Avihu reasoned that the service of the eight day of ordination was like that of any routine day. Instead of taking fire from before HaShem, on their own initiative Nadav and Avihu went ahead and took fire for their censors from off the altar of burnt offering. In the words of Leviticus 10:1:
“And the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu took, each his censor, and they put on them fire, and they placed upon it incense, and they brought near before HaShem strange fire which he had not commanded them.”
In this answer the operative phrase is “which he had not commanded them.” But if the sin of Nadav and Avihu was simply a matter of bringing fire which had not been commanded, why should it be termed “strange fire?” In the technical language of Leviticus, “strange” means something which doesn’t pertain to the sanctuary; “strange” means secular. In the technical sense fire taken from off the altar might be inappropriate, but it wouldn't be “strange,” since the altar pertains to the sanctuary.
Another answer as to why Nadav and Avihu died is that they were drunk on duty. Like the other answers, this answer is also based on the context, at least the context in the opinion of the certain readers. In Leviticus 10 verses 8 and 9, we have the passage:
“And HaShem spoke to Aaron saying, ‘wine or beer do not drink, you nor your sons with you when you go into the tent of meeting, that you may not die, it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations.’”
While this prohibition doesn’t out and out say Nadav and Avihu were drunk, the juxtaposition of this prohibition to their death implies that they had violated the said prohibition. Why of all places in the Torah should the prohibition of wine and beer for priests in the sanctuary come precisely here if it were in no way connected to the story? By the way, wine and beer in the sanctuary precincts are perfectly permissible for commoners. Deuteronomy 14:26 makes that provision. The midrash claims the sons of Aaron died for no reason other than that they entered the tent of appointment intoxicated. [דרש ר' ישמעאל, לא מתו שני בני אהרן אלא על שנכנסו שתויי יין. Midrash Rabba 12.1,5]
Ellen White makes the same point. So do many modern commentators.
But if Nadav and Avihu died because they were drunk, why does God give Aaron this statute after his sons have already died? Was drunkenness their sole transgression, or did their drunkenness cause them to perform some part of the ritual incorrectly?
I would like to pause here and summarize the answers we’ve considered as to why the sons of Aaron died. All these answers illustrate the ingenuity of believers down through the ages in searching Scripture for hidden treasure. All these answers illustrate precious lessons for spiritual life:
Yes, everyone should get married and have sons. Yes, it is advisable, given the opportunity, not to look directly at God. Yes, we must not independently follow our own inclinations. Yes, we ought not get drunk, especially in God’s service.
The trouble with all these answers as to why Nadav and Avihu died is that they are more concerned with drawing lessons than with what the Torah actually says. I get the feeling that the lessons would be much the same without bothering to find a prooftext. There was once a time in my intellectual development when I was very uncomfortable with this sort of fishing for answers. This, after all, is not the plain meaning of Scripture. Today, I value the insight of readers who weren’t shackled to grammar and syntax.
All we know from the literal text is that on the eight day of the sanctuary inauguration there was a procedural error; the fire in the censors somehow became profane. Despite their best intentions to offer acceptable worship, Nadav and Avihu died before HaShem.
The instructions for the operation of the sanctuary are replete with warnings about the perils of worship. Exodus 28:35. This passage describes the bells on the hem of Aaron’s robe.
“And it shall be on Aaron when he serves, and its sound shall be heard when he enters the holy place before HaShem and comes out. That he may not die.”
By the way, there’s an urban legend out there that claims on yom kippur the high priest used to tie on a long rope in case his corpse needed to be retrieved from the temple. This legend seems to be confined to Evangelical Christian circles; it isn’t Jewish, but it captures the seriousness of entering God’s presence. Exodus 28:42, 43 also says that the linen trousers protect the priests against dying in the course of their duties.
“Make them linen trousers to cover the skin of their nakedness, from the waist to the thighs they shall be. And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come to the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to serve at the holy place, so they do not bear iniquity and die. It is an eternal statute for him and his seed after him.”
Leviticus 16:2 warns the priest against entering the inner sanctum.
“And HaShem said to Moshe, ‘Speak to Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the holiness inside the veil before the expiation lid which is on the ark, that he may not die, for I will appear in a cloud over the expiation lid.’”
When the sanctuary is disassembled for travel, the Torah warns the priests about looking at forbidden objects. Numbers 4:19, 20.
“This you shall do for them, and Aaron and his sons shall live and not die when they approach the holiness of holies. They shall go in and put of each his service and his task. But they shall not go in to watch the holiness, even for a moment, and die.”
When the high priest must minister inside the holiness of holies, the Torah warns him about dying. Leviticus 16:13.
“And he shall put incense on the fire before HaShem, that the cloud of incense may cover the expiation lid which is over the testimony, that he may not die.”
What are we to make of this reoccurring phrase “that he may not die?” What can we conclude from these repeated warnings about how priests must approach God’s throne room?”
ANSWER God is dangerous! The Saviour is not safe. Worship is very serious business!
Nadav and Avihu rightly understood that partnership with the God of Israel means there is room for initiative. True partnership can never be entirely one-sided. But initiative can never substitute for obedience. In their youthful enthusiasm, the sons of Aaron evidently decided to offer incense on their own initiative without waiting to learn the protocol. They were improvising when they should have been asking questions. The consequences were tragic.
In the wilderness the children of Israel came to realize how dangerous a place God’s sanctuary was. Numbers 17:27-18:1. This happened when Aaron’s priestly ministry was challenged by outsiders.
“And the children of Israel to Moshe, saying, ‘Behold, we expire, we perish, all of us perish. Whoever comes near, comes near HaShem’s tabernacle dies. Shall we finish expiring?’ And HaShem said to Aaron, ‘You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. You and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.’”
The Torah teaches that priests are not only leaders in public worship. The priests were more than a praise team in fancy get-up. The priests not only brought iniquity into the sanctuary by handling the purification-offerings and guilt offerings, the priests bore the responsibility which the sanctuary accumulates. We learned last week in parashat tzav that the priests were the vehicles for transferring responsibility to the sanctuary, by ingesting those offerings whose blood wasn’t sprinkled. Due to the nature of their work, the priests became experts on surviving God’s holiness. The priests instructed Israel how to safely interact with God. Leviticus 10:9-11.
“Wine nor beer do not drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter the tent of appointment, that you may not die. It is an eternal statute throughout your generations. To distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the defiled and the pure. And to instruct the children of Israel all the statutes which HaShem has spoken by the hand of Moses.”
The priests are not the only ones in mortal peril. All worshippers are in danger of dying. The duty of the priests was to separate the worshipers from their impurity. Leviticus 15:31.
“And you shall make the children of Israel strange from their impurity and they shall not die in their impurity when they make my tabernacle which is among them impure.”
Since Israel’s exile, there is no longer any sacred space here below. After Israel’s return from Babylon the temple was rebuilt, but God’s visible presence never returned. But the duties of priests went well beyond their immediate responsibilities in the temple precincts. Ezekiel describes the priests as instructors in distinctions. Ezekiel 44:23, 24
“And my people they that instruct between sacred and profane, between defiled and pure they shall cause them to know. And in regard to disputes they shall stand as judge. According to my judgments they shall judge it. And my torahs and my statutes in regard to all my appointments they shall keep, and my Sabbaths they shall sanctify.”
Although there is no longer any sacred space here below, sacred time still exists. There are still distinctions between defiled and pure. Who serve as priests for the world today? What does Scripture say? Revelation 5:9, 10.
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you brought for God from every tribe and language and people and gentile. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.’”
Acceptable worship requires more than God’s gracious presence among his people. Acceptable worship is not just a matter of uplifting music and beautiful traditions. Approaching God is not a game where make up our own rules as we go along. Acceptable worship also requires priests who are experienced in the things of God, and who have the concern to share that experience with others. One of the most precious things you can share with another human being is your worship experience. To interact with a holy and awesome God is the greatest privilege entrusted ever granted humanity, but it’s dangerous. It has to be learned. Can you reliably explain to your friends and family why following God’s instruction is so important? Your priestly experience could be a matter of life and death for another worshipper.
This is the lesson of parashat shmini. God will make himself known among his people. But will our worship be acceptable in his sight, or will our worship turn out to be profane fire, which God has not commanded?
