Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. Leviticus 10.1

The operative word in this text is “authorized.” As we have seen, God authorized the pastoral role in ancient Israel via His Law. That authorization continues into the era of the New Covenant, as does the authorization for appointing elders in every church. Though the practice has changed, and the particular application of the Law is different in our day (given changes in the conditions of the New Covenant), the principles which God authorized remain as a means of establishing order in churches which God will bless.

We should be diligent to ask: What else has God authorized in His Law, in particular, in the civil and religious laws of ancient Israel? And, by implication, what has He not authorized us to do in His Name?

The sons of Aaron took the Law of God into their own hands, devising an approach to the worship of God which He had not authorized, and which He subsequently condemned in the strongest of terms. The people of Israel who gathered for worship in Asaph’s day failed to discern what God intended for their worship, even though they appear to have been fairly scrupulous about adhering to all that He had authorized (Ps. 50).

In our day we seem to think that worship can serve whatever purposes we intend. Should we decide that worship is primarily a setting for evangelism, then we will eliminate from worship whatever we do not regard as contributive to wooing folks to the Gospel. If worship is primarily a platform for featuring a charismatic preacher, whether on television or the Internet or simply to a local audience, then everything else in worship will be assigned a secondary function, while the lights dim and the time expands to allow space for the preacher to do what he believes worship requires.

But neither in worship nor in life should we dabble in things not authorized by God, or omit to do anything He requires. And if we remain ignorant of the Law of God, as well as of how to interpret the Law, so that we may discern principles that are still valid for our day, then we cannot expect the blessing of God on the efforts we undertake in His Name.

And, indeed, instead of blessing, we may discover that we are visited by His displeasure, if not His wrath.

T. M. Moore

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