Is God serious about His commands? Does God want us to obey His Word we find in Scripture, or is the Bible merely a guideline—a book of helpful suggestions to get us going in the general direction?
Well, let’s consider an Old Testament example. Leviticus chapters eight and nine may seem foreign to us, with their accounts of consecrating Aaron and his sons for the priesthood and offering sacrifices. But at least ten times in those two chapters, we read that Moses, Aaron, and the people did things “as the LORD commanded them.” At the end of chapter nine, God accepts their sacrificial worship.
Then we get to chapter ten, and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offer “unauthorized fire.” They didn’t make sweeping changes to God’s pattern—they just did something they weren’t commanded to do. And fire from God struck them dead. That lesson is an intense reminder that, yes, God is serious about His commands and expects us to obey them faithfully.