Sunday, 10 February 2002
Lev 10: 1-6
We find in our text a revelation of God about Himself and His character. The two sons
of Aaron had taken a fire which God had "commanded them not". This reveals the
danger of trying to do God's work without Him being the source. We also learn that these
sons had become presumptuous in their actions and didn't fear God. They could sin without
noticing it. The adulterous woman in Proverbs 30:20 was so presumptuous that "she
eats and wipes her mouth, and says `I have done no wickedness'.
In the Lord's prayer we pray "hallowed be thy Name", which means that above
all things God's Name must be sanctified and uplifted - kept hallow. In verse 3 God says
that must "be regarded as holy" by those who come near to Him. Moses himself
experienced this when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Because of his not
sanctifying God before the people he could only get a glimpse of the Promised Land but was
not allowed into it.
One also finds that God reveals that He even cares about the dress and hair of His
priests, as we find in verse 6. I'm not into legalism and though dress and hair will not
save you we must be obedient to God and hallow His Name in all things. The letter of James
is very definite in saying that friendship with the world makes us into adulterers.
There is also the danger of being led astray by those who bring in legalistic ideas and
deceive Christians as an "angel of light". In a certain communist country there
was a wonderful movement of the Lord in the early 1960's. Revival broke out and people
came confessing their sins and seeking the Lord. A church law was made in that particular
church that those who confess their sins will be permanently excommunicated. Nevertheless,
the Lord continued to work and many house churches sprang up. But, by the 70's the work
came to an end through legalistic deception. A woman in the movement claimed that God had
shown her that all the women must dress in black and have their dresses high up the neck,
and they mustn't go to doctors, and drink no wine or fizzy drinks. This spelled the end of
the revival once people fell into that deception. There are some old people in that area
who are still seeking the Lord for the return of revival.
Let God's Name be hallowed.
