Beware of Strange Fire | Lifesigns Magazine

The Bible records an incident in Leviticus 10, when the two eldest sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, brought incense before the Lord and God killed them with fire of His own. The reason for this holy outbreak was that they had brought strange (unauthorized) fire before God and it cost them their lives. They had failed to use the hot coals from the altar of sacrifice, which was holy fire. Apparently, the source and kind of fire one brings before the Lord makes a big difference to Him.

Remember the bush that Moses saw in Exodus 3. There was a fire coming from within the bush, but it was not consumed. This is what captured Moses’ attention. Why was it not consumed? Because it was not the fuel for the fire. Why did God choose this vivid imagery to speak to Moses? Could it be that “I AM” was giving Moses a picture of how He was going to work through him to force Pharaoh to free His people? And perhaps there is a message here to everyone who would be used of the Lord in much the same way as Moses.

This is the telling question for all of us to ask: “Is the fire of God in and on you, or are you just on fire?” The greatest cause of burn-out in serving the Lord is when ministry lives off of the person doing it. There is a sincere kind of passion and zeal that displays a great deal of dedication, sacrifice, and extreme levels of commitment. It burns with the fire of purpose and conviction and emotion. Its primary feature is the high level of dedication of the minister himself.

Ezekiel 44:18 records one of God’s instructions concerning His priests. He tells them not to wear any garment that makes them sweat. Why is this important? Well, it is because God hates sweat. Why does God hate sweat? Because it represents two things to Him. First, it “wreaks” (as in causing damage, destruction, and/or confusion) of the curse in Genesis 3:19, where man’s provision would depend upon his own sweat labor. Secondly, God hates sweat because it “smells” of human effort. Of course, we are not talking about the sweat that comes from hard work on a hot day. This is specifically referring to the pride of self-reliance and self-effort that is offered to God as an unacceptable sacrifice, strange fire.

Surely ministry can be very demanding in many ways. But, we are not to be the energy source. Jesus invited us to take a yoke like His, which is easy and light. He offers us the same union with the Father that He had during His ministry. Jesus did nothing in His own strength, intellect, or power. He was not self-confident or self-reliant. The Father did all the “heavy lifting.” God did all the miracles. This is why Jesus could say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” He told us that our light should “…shine before men that they may see our good works, and glorify (give credit to) our Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)” We walk. He works. Our body. His fire. We rest in terms of securing the results. He works so others will see Him as He is.

There is a vast difference between doing what we believe to be right and being baptized with fire. There is right purpose lived with the wrong power. The only holy fire comes from the altar where our bodies have been offered as living sacrifices. Having seen our absolute inability to do anything worthy of Jesus, we do the only reasonable thing left to us: we yield up our lives as worthless to us so that He would spend them as His own.