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There were two of Aaron's sons
who were priests, whose names were Nadab and Abihu. They were not
humble and holy men like their father, but proud and disobedient.
Without God's command, they ran into the tabernacle, with their censers in
their hands, and offered strange fire, taken from the wrong place, and
burnt incense before the Lord. God was angry with this rebellion,
and he sent fire upon them, which struck them dead in a moment.
Aaron saw his wicked sons die. But Moses told Aaron, that God had
said He would be sanctified by His priests, and that when they came before
Him, they must come with reverence: Nadab and Abihu had sinned, and
God had punished them, and therefore Aaron and his sons were not to mourn,
nor rend their clothes, but submit quietly to God. Then Aaron held
his peace; he was full of sorrow; but he knew that God had done right, and
humbly submitted to His will: he loved God's house, and law, and
glory, more than he loved his wicked sons.
Parents cannot give their
children new hearts; they can talk to them, and teach them, and tell them
what is right, and pray for them; but they can do no more; they cannot
save them; only God has power to do that; and therefore the children must
themselves pray that their sins may be blotted out, and their hearts made
new, and their souls saved; that they may follow their parents to Heaven.
When Nadab and Abihu were killed,
God gave Aaron some new commands, that he might not make God angry, as his
sons had done. The High Priest was to go into the holy place, within
the vail, only once a year, on the day of Atonement; and then he was to
put on the holy garments. He was to offer a bullock for a sacrifice
for his own sin, and a goat for the sins of the people, and to sprinkle
the blood upon the mercy-seat in the most holy place; and he was to take
fire from the altar, and bring it within the vail, and burn incense before
the Lord. Afterwards, Aaron was to go out, and bring another goat
alive: and to lay both his hands upon the goat's head, and confess
his sins, and the sins of all the people, and put them upon the head of
the goat. Then Aaron was to call a man, and tell him to lead the
goat far away into the wilderness, that it might be seen no
more. This goat was called the scapegoat.
Aaron, the Jewish High Priest,
was a sinner like the people, and needed his own sins to be washed
away. But our great High Priest, of whom Aaron was the type, needed
no sacrifice, because he was all holy. He offered up the sacrifice
of himself for our sins, not for His own; and then He went into the Holy
Place, into Heaven, there to intercede for us before God. If we
humbly come to Jesus, and ask Him to take away our sins, He will forgive
them all. God will never remember them again; they will be gone for
ever. God says to those who come in faith to Jesus; "Their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews
8:12.
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