Leviticus 10 - 12

Aaron Was Silent
The Bible is wonderful and I am always in awe of how it speaks to my heart.  Today's portion is in stark contrast to the purely didactic portions we have been reading in that there is a brief narrative in chapter 10.  Like all scripture this chapter also is instructive, but teaches through a extremely tragic event.

Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, the two people closest to Aaron in the priestly sense, bring strange fire before the Lord and are immediately immolated.  In Lev. 9:24 we read, "And fire blazed forth from the Lord's presence and consumed the burnt offering.[...] When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground"  In 10:2, "So fire blazed forth from the Lord's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord. [...] v3 And Aaron was silent"  The close proximity of these verses with almost identical initial wording, yet drastically different outcomes is not, in my opinion, a coincidence.

Why did Nadab and Abihu feel compelled to violate the law of the Lord?  Many have reasoned and written about this - scholars far more learned and erudite in the Torah than I shall ever be. There had to be a tinge of hubris on their part, something in them that caused them to feel they were somehow exempt, or above the judgement of God.  But, as the Lord demonstrated, His judgement was quick and final without even a hint of mercy.

At the end of chapter 9, there was great joy and spiritual reverence.  In this narrative, there was silence.  The Bible states that after Moses explained the death of his (Aaron's) sons to him, "And Aaron was silent."  This speaks volumes to me.  What could Aaron have said?  Was he numb from what had just occurred?  Did he suddenly realize the full import of the Law? Did he realize that an utterance under these conditions would be meaningless?  We may never completely know - the Bible says no more about his silence.

There is some closure to the story in a symmetrical response by Moses to Aaron at the end of Chapter 10.  Moses complains to Aaron's other sons that they should have consumed a sin offering that was on the altar but instead they allowed it to be consumed by fire.  The Bible states in verse 16 that Moses "became angry" questioning their not eating the offering.  He then expounds on their obligation to eat the offering.  Aaron is now no longer silent stating (verse 19), "'Today my sons presented both their sin offering and their burnt offering to the Lord. And yet this tragedy has happened to me. If I had eaten the people's sin offering on such a tragic day as this, would the Lord have been pleased?' And when Moses heard this, he was satisfied." Aaron provides a glimmer of insight into his psyche, and this time Moses is silent.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.