Why were Nadab and Abihu killed by God?

"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." (Leviticus 10:1–2)


The sin of Nadab and Abihu was offering “strange fire before YHWH, which he commanded them not.” (Lev. 10:1) Strange fire most probably has to do with the kind of “fire” they used. Everything in the Tabernacle was purified with blood because “without blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22) and “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11).

The fire to be used in the censers was supposed to come from the altar of sacrifice. Any other fire was not purified for such a holy purpose and was, therefore, “strange fire.”

“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it . . . Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.” (Exodus 30:1, 9–10)

God describes this in more detail:
“And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail; and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.” (Lev. 16:12–13).

It is possible that Nadab and Abihu saw how God’s presence filled the place when they offered incense and thought it was their doing. They thought they could conjure up God’s presence in a “carnal” way. Even though they offered that incense “before YHWH” (Lev. 10:1), God was forced to show them He meant what He had declared earlier. There’s only one way to please and follow God: His way. Sincerity is not enough. All branches of Christendom, and all other religions, would do well to learn this lesson.

A scientist weighs in on "Global Warming"

Climate scientists have misinterpreted earth history by rejecting the biblical revelation of a global flood only a few thousand years ago that provides an explanation for the Ice Age and past climate change. Instead, they believe the Ice Age was caused by minor fluctuations i solar heating over millions of years. Consequently, they believe a minor change in global heating introduced by even small amounts of gases or particulates in the atmosphere could cause the earth to reach a "tipping point" and lead to a "runaway greenhouse" or to enter another ice age.

From a creationist perspective, if the Ice Age was a consequence of the catastrophic processes of the Genesis Flood, then earth's climate would not be sensitive to minor influences. The climate appears to be a highly stable system and exhibits oscillations around an equilibrium level rather than being susceptible to transitions to new states. The earth-sun system does oscillate over short periods of time, as evidenced by minor heating and cooling and by the variation in the number of sunspots. But, these fluctuations do not destabilize the climate. So, the introduction of minor changes in gases or particulates in the atmosphere should not cause major changes but rather minor departures from an equilibrium state.

The primary cause of the conflict in the global warming debate is not the observation that carbon dioxide has increased int he atmosphere or that a small amount of warming has occurred, but that the Bible has been rejected as a source of important revelation about earth history. Scripture assures us that "while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

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Extracted from an article by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D. in the Acts & Facts Newsletter, Nov. 2011. Dr. Vardiman is Senior Research Scientist, Astro/Geophysics at the Institute for Creation Research.

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Dictionary: Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics = The subdiscipline of theology concerned with the study of the general principles of proper interpretation of biblical texts.