His two sons (Nadab and Abihu) had just died. Killed for disobeying the Lord! Blatantly rebelling, looks like! (Yesterday’s Lesson)
So … how is their Father (Aaron the High Priest of Israel) to respond, to react?
“And Aaron HELD HIS PEACE. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them (distant relatives), Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.” Leviticus 10:4-5, for burial.
“And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, UNCOVER NOT YOUR HEADS, NEITHER REND YOUR CLOTHES (signs of mourning); lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die.” Leviticus 10:6-7, parts of both verses.
Maybe because this sin was so public? That they (Aaron and his two remaining sons) were not allowed to mourn? Thus putting God’s Word, God’s Honor ABOVE even that of one’s own family?
Jesus in Luke 14:26, speaking relatively I’m sure … “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
I say speaking relatively because elsewhere Scripture commands us to … “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12
Yet this too, Ezekiel (even when his WIFE died) was commanded “not to mourn!” Both Aaron and Ezekiel (the Priest and the Prophet) were public figures. What responsibility that brings! “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes (his Wife) with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.” Ezekiel 24:16-18, as a warning to Israel that she was about to lose her Temple … “the desire of her eyes” … and would not be allowed time to mourn, being immediately hauled off into captivity!
Wow!
Yet in balance, when Moses died … mourning was allowed. “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel WEPT FOR MOSES in the plains of Moab THIRTY DAYS: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.” Deuteronomy 34:7-8
Still, I am not fully satisfied. WHY NO MOURNING, is there another reason? Well, seems to me God provides a reason! In our Text, where else could one look?
“And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for THE ANOINTING OIL of the LORD is upon you.” Leviticus 10:7, in today’s lesson.
Holy Anointing Oil … a symbol of the Holy Spirit!
The Spirit of Joy and Peace!
Then Third Person of the Godhead Who is … “Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance (Self-Control)” personified!
No mourning when sin is involved! Not for the High Priest or his potential Successors! They are, after all, Spirit Controlled, Endowed!
Such disloyalty to God would have been a matter of pain, grief, sorrow to the Holy Spirit indeed.
Today western Christianity has just about lost this “seriousness, reverence, holy awe” that should be associated with serving God! Our priorities are so skewed nowadays.
Well … did Aaron and his sons obey this injunction from the Lord? Did they refrain from mourning? Yes … “And they did according to the word of Moses.” Verse 7 again.
They freshly obeyed the first Commandment … “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
In retrospect, should I have even written this Lesson? Is it too somber for American sensibilities? Will people misunderstand? Have I handled this theme as well as I could have?
Yet I do know this. In our age, day, dispensation … we Christians are allowed to mourn the deaths of loved ones, at least to a measure! Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Believers, some of whose loved ones had just died … “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13, where sorrow is not totally forbidden, just abject (hopeless) sorrow as seen among the unsaved, the lost, who really have no hope.
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