A Heartbroken Parent

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD. Leviticus 10:1-2

AS SONS OF AARON, the first high priest of Israel, Nadab and Abihu had participated in a fellowship meal with the seventy elders of Israel in the presence of God on the mountain. They had gotten a glimpse of the glory of God and lived to tell about it. One would think they would not easily forget this experience or take it for granted.

But evidently they did. With presumptuous arrogance, Nadab and Abihu decided for themselves how they wanted to offer worship in the Tabernacle instead of following the specific instructions God had given to Moses on the mountain. Just as “fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar” (Leviticus 9:24, NIV), the judgment of God in the form of fire consumed Nadab and Abihu. This time, it burned up the sinners themselves instead of a substitute. It was a vivid demonstration of God’s justice.

How it must have broken Aaron’s heart. And yet Aaron was commanded not to go through the motions of mourning before the people so that, as high priest, he would demonstrate his confidence in and acceptance of God’s justice before them. Did Aaron question his parenting, wondering if his own imperfect example steered his sons astray? (There was that golden calf incident.) Did Aaron wonder if he had failed to communicate the holiness of God and the importance of obeying God’s instruction? Perhaps. We’re not told in the text.

But it does make sense to us, because that’s the first place we go when our children are casual or dismissive of worship. It’s the first place we go when our children brazenly sin against God’s clear command. We think, It must be my fault.

Lord, forgive us for our arrogance in thinking our good parenting accounts for the best of what we see in the lives of our children. And give us the grace we need to reject the lie that tells us our poor parenting is the sole reason for the things in our children’s lives that break our hearts and yours. Free us, Father, and forgive us.