And the people were evil, as those complaining in the ears of Jehovah. And Jehovah heard, and His anger was kindled. And the fire of Jehovah burned among them and devoured in the outermost parts of the camp. And the people cried to Moses. And when Moses prayed to Jehovah, the fire was put out. (Numbers 11:1-2)

That’s a pretty big indicator, right there, of what happens when you complain to God for no good reason. Why do I say no good reason? They were set free from slavery. Their former captors loaded them down with riches. They were handed what is arguably the biggest military victory EVER. Much later, before they enter Canaan, Moses recaps this little road trip:

And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know it, so that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of Jehovah man shall live. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell, these forty years. (Deuteronomy 8:3-4)

True, they were walking in the hot desert, but God took care that their feet did not even swell. But they grumbled, God zapped them, and still they didn’t have the good sense to straighten up and fly right. Proof that Darwin’s theory is dead wrong, because even today, people are STILL this stupid. They were right back at it, this time about food.

We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes. (Numbers 11:5-6)

Oh, the drama! Their very soul was dried away! How sad. Here is how Matthew Henry describes the “mixed multitude” (Exodus 12:38) who was doing the griping:

They were hangers on, who took hold of the skirts of the Jews, and would go with them only because they knew not how to live at home, and were disposed to seek their fortunes (as we say) abroad. These were the scabbed sheep that infected the flock, the leaven that leavened the whole lump. Note, A few factious, discontented, ill-natured people, may do a great deal of mischief in the best societies, if great care be not taken to discountenance them. Such as these are an untoward generation, from which it is our wisdom to save ourselves, Act_2:40.

The Jews permitted and even followed this “mixed multitude” and so were included in God’s punishment. Now Moses loses it, to the point of asking God why God didn’t just kill him rather than make him deal with these knuckleheads. As to the knuckleheads, since being recently zapped with fire from God did not do the trick, God said “You want meat? I’ll give you meat. You’ll wish you had never HEARD of meat.”

And a wind went forth from Jehovah. And it cut off quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits high upon the face of the earth. (Numbers 11:31)

Two cubits is around 3.5 feet deep. That’s a LOT of quail.

And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah struck the people with a very great plague. (Numbers 11:33)

Lusting after the things of the world, even if you get them, or maybe especially if you get them, will just bring unhappiness. Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible in this chapter:

We hear of such punishments, and yet walk in the same way, presuming on God’s mercy, while we continue to provoke his justice. Let us settle it in our minds as an indisputable truth, that God is better acquainted with our wants than we are ourselves; that he knows infinitely better what we need; and that he is ever more ready to hear than we are to pray, and is wont to give more than we can desire or deserve.

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before Jehovah, which He had not commanded them. And there went out fire from Jehovah and devoured them, and they died before Jehovah. Then Moses said to Aaron, It is that which Jehovah spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Come near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp. And they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and lest He be angry on all the people. But let your brothers, the whole of Israel, mourn the burning which Jehovah has kindled. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die. For the anointing oil of Jehovah is on you. And they did according to the word of Moses. And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die, a statute forever throughout your generations. Even for a distinction between the holy and unholy, and between the unclean and clean and so that you may teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah has spoken to them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:1-11)

I read this, said, “Huh?” and read it again. Seemed a bit harsh! Next I consulted Matthew Henry on the matter. (I’m REALLY looking forward to meeting him in heaven, along with CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Finney, and Watchman Nee. But that’s for another post…) So what was the offense, punishable by death, and so bad that their father was prohibited from mourning them? According to Matthew Henry,

1. It does not appear the they had any orders to burn incense at all at this time. It is true their consecration was completed the day before, and it was part of their work, as priests, to serve at the altar of incense; but, it should seem, the whole service of this solemn day of inauguration was to be performed by Aaron himself, for he slew the sacrifices (Lev_9:8, Lev_9:15, Lev_9:18), and his sons were only to attend him (Lev_10:9, Lev_10:12, Lev_10:18); therefore Moses and Aaron only went into the tabernacle, v. 23. But Nadab and Abihu were so proud of the honour they were newly advanced to, and so ambitious of doing the highest and most honourable part of their work immediately, that though the service of this day was extraordinary, and done by particular direction from Moses, yet without receiving orders, or so much as asking leave from him, they took their censers, and they would enter into the tabernacle, at the door of which they thought they had attended long enough, and would burn incense. And then their offering strange fire is the same with offering strange incense, which is expressly forbidden, Exo_30:9. Moses, we may suppose, had the custody of the incense which was prepared for this purpose (Exo_39:38), and they, doing this without his leave, had none of the incense which should have been offered, but common incense, so that the smoke of their incense came from a strange fire. God had indeed required the priests to burn incense, but, at this time, it was what he commanded them not; and so their crime was like that of Uzziah the king, 2Ch_26:16. The priests were to burn incense only when it was their lot (Luk_1:9), and, at this time, it was not theirs.
2. Presuming thus to burn incense of their own without order, no marvel that they made a further blunder, and instead of taking of the fire from the altar, which was newly kindled from before the Lord and which henceforward must be used in offering both sacrifice and incense (Rev_8:5), they took common fire, probably from that with which the flesh of the peace-offerings was boiled, and this they made use of in burning incense; not being holy fire, it is called strange fire; and, though not expressly forbidden, it was crime enough that God commanded it not. For (as bishop Hall well observes here) “It is a dangerous thing, in the service of God, to decline from his own institutions; we have to do with a God who is wise to prescribe his own worship, just to require what he has prescribed, and powerful to revenge what he has not prescribed.”
3. Incense was always to be burned by only one priest at a time, but here they would both go in together to do it.
4. They did it rashly, and with precipitation. They snatched their censers, so some read it, in a light careless way, without due reverence and seriousness: when all the people fell upon their faces, before the glory of the Lord, they thought the dignity of their office was such as to exempt them from such abasements. The familiarity they were admitted to bred a contempt of the divine Majesty; and now that they were priests they thought they might do what they pleased.
5. There is reason to suspect that they were drunk when they did it, because of the law which was given upon this occasion, Lev_10:8. They had been feasting upon the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings that attended them, and so their heads were light, or, at least, their hearts were merry with wine; they drank and forgot the law (Pro_31:5) and were guilty of this fatal miscarriage.
6. No doubt it was done presumptuously; for, if it had been done through ignorance, they would have been allowed the benefit of the law lately made, even for the priests, that they should bring a sin-offering, Lev_4:2, Lev_4:3. But the soul that doth aught presumptuously, and in contempt of God’s majesty, authority, and justice, that soul shall be cut of, Num_15:30.

A recurring theme in Leviticus is to not treat holy things as ordinary, and not treat ordinary things as holy. Remember that according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “That is holy which belongs to Yahweh.” Even now that we are under a covenant of grace and not of law, it bears remembering. God is not due any less respect than He was in Leviticus, even if He has dispensed with all the rituals.

And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they asked articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing from the Egyptians. And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36)

The culmination of all the plagues – their children were dead. The Egyptions at that point would hand over whatever was requested, just to get rid of the Hebrews. But don’t feel too sorry for them – Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on this section:

Exo 12:29-36 – The Egyptians had been for three days and nights kept in anxiety and horror by the darkness; now their rest is broken by a far more terrible calamity. The plague struck their first-born, the joy and hope of their families. They had slain the Hebrews’ children, now God slew theirs. It reached from the throne to the dungeon: prince and peasant stand upon the same level before God’s judgments.

Here’s what “got” me: God provided Israel with loads of material possessions. He didn’t give them any instructions at this point on what to do with them. But if you keep reading, he starts handing out instructions later, on building things for His service and worship. Tents, priests’ clothing, the ark of the covenant, various ceremonial doo-dads… made with precious metals and fine fabrics and loaded down with jewels. Not items you expect slaves to have, and there’s no mention of God delivering these things like manna, so it’s safe to conclude that this is the stuff they got from the Egyptians. The moral of this story? God doesn’t especially want us all to drive a Mercedes and live in a mansion. He may or may not be against the concept of a Mercedes, what do I know? But when he gives his children an abundance of wealth, maybe we should hang onto it a while (note: NOT “hoard” it!) and see if we get some instructions on how to spend it in His service. Just because we don’t receive the wealth WITH the instructions doesn’t make it any less His money and doesn’t give us the freedom to blow it on what we please. So the next time I have more in the bank than my bills will consume, I think I’ll drive on past the ATM instead of stopping. Just in case…

And Jehovah said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, Thus says Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go so that they may serve Me.
(Exodus 9:1)

I’ve made it to Exodus. The story of Joseph in Genesis leads into it, of course. That’s how the Jews got into Egypt to begin with. At the time Joseph was deeply respected and honored by the current pharaoh, because he had saved the country. But time passes, and people die, and the pharaoh at the time of Moses didn’t know or care about Joseph. Eventually the Jews had become enslaved, and while the Egyptians were above all fearful of an uprising, they also didn’t want to change the status quo and have to do their own work. The part of all this I never really caught on to before – God was not just saying, “Let My people go,” because He had looked on them and was moved to pity – although that is part of it. He completed the sentence with, “so that they may serve Me.”

Serve
‛âbad
aw-bad’
A primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.: – X be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.

This is the old Testament Hebrew word, and it appears 294 times. The three Greek words for “serve” in the New Testament appear less frequently. Here are the definitions:

G1247 (40 occurrences)
diakoneo
dee-ak-on-eh’-o
From G1249; to be an attendant, that is, wait upon (menially or as a host, friend or [figuratively] teacher); technically to act as a Christian deacon: – (ad-) minister (unto), serve, use the office of a deacon.

G1398 (27 occurrences)
douleuo
dool-yoo’-o
From G1401; to be a slave to (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily): – be in bondage, (do) serve (-ice).

G3000 (22 occurrences)
latreuo
lat-ryoo’-o
From λάτρις latris (a hired menial); to minister (to God), that is, render religious homage: – serve, do the service, worship (-per).

Service is not less important now than it was in the days of Moses – however, our salvation is not contingent upon it. One thing Jesus said about service:

Blessed is that servant when his lord comes and finds him so doing. Truly I say to you that he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to beat the male servants and women servants, and to eat and drink and to be drunk, the lord of that servant will come in a day when he does not expect, and at an hour when he does not know. And he will cut him apart, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his lord’s will and did not prepare, nor did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he not knowing, and doing things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whomever much is given, of him much shall be required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:43-48)

However, He said that two chapters AFTER He told Martha – in response to her request that he tell Mary to get off her butt (where she was sitting at Jesus’ feet) and help out in the kitchen –

And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:41-42)

Service. It’s why God took the Jews out of Egypt. It’s what we were created for. This includes the everyday worship of honoring God in our jobs and daily lives (G1247), it includes obedience(G1398) and it includes worshipping God (G3000). As saved people, we have been freed from bondage to sin. The rest of the sentence – so that we may serve Him.