The bee., 1902-08-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON vi, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 10.


ciation.l
l. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons Of
Aaron, - >" offered strange fire before the
Lord which lie commanded them not.
The opening chapters of this book
tell of the different offerings, all typl-
flying our Lords one great Offering,
and of the conservation of the priests,
the Lord accepting the atonement of
ferings by fire supernatural Lev tx, I,
22-24). Now, right at the beginning Of
the ministry of the priesthood we see
this sad failure on the part Of two of
Aaron's sons. every man at his best
state apart from Cod is altogether
vanity" (Ps. xxx, 81.
O. And there went out fire from the
Lord and devoured them. and they died
before the Lord.
Thus at the very beginning of the
priesthood Jehovah made it very plain
that He would have a whole hearted
service or none. So also at the begin
ming of the church story in the case of
Ananias and Sapphire (Acts V, 8, 10
He showed Enthusiastically how He
hates deceit and half heartedness.
3. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is
It that the Lord spake saying, / will be
sanctifed in them that come nigh Me, and
before all the people l will be glorified.
And Aaron held his peace.
That they were to be holy people
unto the Lord is the oft repeated re-
quirement from Elk. xix, G, %, onward.
Jesus said concerning Himself and His
disciples in His great microscopy
prayer, "For their sakes l sanctify
Myself that they also might be sancti-
fed through the truth" John xvii, 19).
4, 3. Come near; carry your brethren
from before the sanctuary out of the
camp.
Thus Moses commanded the sons of
JTzziel, the uncle of Aaron. and thus
they did. But what about Nadab and
Abihu? We never bury people, strict
ly speaking; we bury the bodies in
which they sojourned for a season. 1t
has been q great comfort to me to
think of this since ever l grasped the
fact that if my body ever has burial
l will not be there that day, but absent
from the body and present with the
Lord; with Christ, which is very far
better III Cor. Y, s; Phil. i, 81. 23).
G. Uncover not your heads; neither rend
your clothes.
Thus Moses commanded Aaron and
his two surviving sons. Mourning has
ofttimes a large element of rebellion
in it. This we must not tolerate, lest
we find fault with God. We must
abide on the Lords side even though
His Christening falls on those who are
very dear to us. If we love our loved
ones more than we love God. we are
not worthy of Him.
Z. We shall not go out from the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation lest ye
die for the amounting Gil of the Lord is
upon you.
Because they were the anointed
priests of the Lord, chosen to minister
unto Him, they were to keep them
selves wholly for Him. The Spirit
says through Peter that believers are
n holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ-a royal priesthood to show
forth His praises q Pet. ii, 5, 81. In
Eph. iv, 80, we read that we are not to
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom
we are sealed unto the day of redemp-
ton.
s, 8. The Lord spake unto Aaron. saying.
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou,
nor thy sons with thee when ye go into
the tabernacle of the congregation lest ye
die.
The Lord had been speaking to Aaron
lint w an h
mission and obedience has come into q
place where the Lord Himself can
speak to him. Some think because Of
this prohibition that this was partly
at least the trouble with Nadab and
Abihu, but in Mum. vi, 1-3, We learn
that it was part Of the obligation OF
every Nazarite or specially separated
person. That which tends to middle
q mans brain units him to worship
God, and as His people redeemed with
precious blood we are to live only and
wholly unto Him who loveth us" and
do all to the glory of God" (Rev. !, 8,
r. "; Cor. x, 81. A good word for
the unsaved incorporate is, "Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards
shall inherit the kingdom of God" q
Cor. vi, 10), and for the saved intern
perate, "It is good neither to eat flesh
nor TO drink wine nor anything where
by thy brother stumbleth or is offend
ed or is made weak" (Rom. xiv, 21).
10. And that ye may put difference be-
tween holy and unholy and between un-
clean and clean.
They were. as a whole nation, sever
ed from other people, that they might
be the Lords (Ex. xix, 8, @; xxxiii, 16;
Lev. Xxx. 26). In Egypt and the night
they left Egypt the Lord put a differ
ence between His people and those
who were not His eek. wifi, %; xi, q.
In Gen. 1, 3, 4, He divided the light
from the darkness. and in ii Cor. vi.
14-1S, the division and separation are
very strongly emphasized. By nature
and by practice all are sinners. and
there is no difference as to the fact,
though there is as TO the degree of
guilt Rom. iii, %, 23).
IL And that ye may teach the children
Of Israel all the statutes which the Lord
hath spclSen uuto them by the hind Of