The Lord Evaluates Offerings

Scripture: Leviticus 10:2

And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

Insights: This week we have been learning an overall theme of: Offerings ARE to be Pleasurable to the Lord.  So far we have seen:

·         The Lord Anticipates Offerings

·         The Lord Regulates Offerings

·         The Lord Evaluates Offerings (is what we are going to examine today)

When the Lord evaluated Nadab and Abihu’s offering He found it to be less than satisfactory and as a result he consumed them with fire.  Whenever God has started something new He has disciplined more severely on the front end of the time line.  This sentence does not mean God’s standards become lacks or withdrawn.  What it means is God’s exacting of punishment is held off by His mercy until a later date, but judgment is still the same end result for offering strange fire to the Lord.  The reason the Lord responds on the front end of new things in a harsher manner (from a human perspective) is because God is showing us how seriously these matters really are.  Think about a few individuals in the history of the Scriptures.  Uzzah died when he touched the Ark of the Covenant when David was attempting to bring it to Jerusalem and establish a new place of central worship for Israel.  Ananias and Sapphira died after lying to the Holy Spirit about their financial offering to the Lord.  They told everyone they were going to give the entire amount, but they kept some back for themselves, but told everyone it was the entire asking amount.  When the Lord’s Supper first was initiated several died because they took it in an inappropriate manner.  They were getting drunk on the Lord’s drink and gorging themselves with the Lord’s food and not honoring and remembering the Lord Jesus’ death on the Cross of Calvary.  John warns us there is a sin that does lead to death (1 John 5:16).  In other words, the Lord is not going to allow His children, if they are truly His, to continue to make the Lord and His holiness become a mockery.  In those situations the Lord literally takes a life of one of His children early.  Beloved, I have shared all of these examples with you to help you understand how serious our offerings to the Lord need to be.  We need to let the Lord examine our hearts and if He reveals anything inappropriate, we must repent!

Questions:

1. Does the realization that the Lord is the One who evaluates your offerings bring you comfort or anxiety?
2. Are you in danger of the Lord exacting punishment on you for inappropriate offerings to Him?

Prayer: Father, forgive me for offering strange fire to you.  I truly desire to have my heart and life reflect Your glory.  I want my offerings to be pleasing to You.  Help mold and grow me to understand how I might better serve and obey You.  Amen.