Leviticus 10
God’s fire kills 2 irreverent priests
Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered incense to the Existing One which hadn’t been authorized, so the Existing One’s fire came down and consumed them, killing them both. Moses told Aaron,
“The Existing One says he will only be sanctified among those who are close to him, but he will still be glorified before everyone.”
Aaron knew that Moses was right.
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan (Aaron’s cousins, Uzziel’s sons) and told them
“Come here, and carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.”
So they wrapped their coats around their bodies and carried them out of the camp like Moses had instructed. Moses told Aaron and his two sons Eleazar and Ithamar,
“Don’t let your hair down or tear your clothes, or you’ll die and wrath will come upon all of us. Instead, you, your brothers, and all of Israel should be disappointed by this burning that the Existing One kindled. Don’t leave the meeting tent’s entrance area or you’ll die, because the Existing One’s anointing oil is still on you.”
So they followed Moses’s advice.
God forbids priests from drinking alcohol
Then the Existing One spoke to Aaron, saying,
“You and your sons shouldn’t drink any wine or strong drink when you go into the meeting tent, or you’ll die. That should be a custom forever throughout your generations. Your job is to distinguish between the holy and the common—between the clean and the unclean—and to teach the Israelites all the rules that the Existing One has given them through Moses.”
Moses reminds priests to be reverent
Moses told Aaron and his surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar,
“Take the leftovers grain from the Existing One’s food offerings and eat it without yeast next to the altar, because it is extremely sacred. You should eat it in a holy place, because it’s your payment from the Existing One’s food offerings, and that’s what the Existing One has ordered. You can also eat the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed in a clean place with your children, since those things are your payment from the Israelites’ peace offerings. The thigh, the breast, and the fat pieces can be waved as a wave offering and then you and your sons can keep them. They are your payment forever, just like the Existing One has established.”
Moses gets mad at priests for not following orders
Then Moses diligently asked about the goat from the sin offering, and sure enough, it had been burned up! He got angry with Eleazar and Ithamar (Aaron’s surviving sons), saying,
“Why didn’t you eat the extremely sacred sin offering in the sanctuary? Don’t you realize that you’re supposed to carry the entire country’s wickedness and make amends for them before the Existing One? You didn’t even bring its blood into the inner part of the sanctuary! You really should have eaten it in the sanctuary like I told you to.”
Aaron replied to Moses,
“They offered their sin offering and burnt offering today, yet this tragedy still happened to us! Do you think the Existing One would have spared them if we would have eaten the sin offering today?”
When Moses heard that, he felt bad for Aaron and calmed down.