Mark Twain made a great statement.  He said the things he did not understand from the bible did not bother him, but the things that he did understand, those things were keeping him up at night. 

I find it fascinating in the bible how brothers are used throughout scripture.  Starting with Cain and Abel you can see two different paths in Genesis.  One path relates coming to God with a sacrificial offering of blood while the the other brother is an illustration of self-righteousness trying to come to God how you want to without regard to what God wants.

Jacob and Esau show us two brothers who are not polar opposites representing good and evil.  After reading their story, I am always left wondering why God loved Jacob and not Esau.  Both of these brothers are both pretty bad guys, but God is showing that salvation is not about man.  God redeems Jacob and changes him into a new man for His purposes.  Jacob had been chosen to bring about a nation who would bring about the Messiah. 

Moses and Aaron were brothers.  Both of these men were used by God for His service, but neither man was selected as 'Man of the Year'.  What I want to focus on today are three sets of brothers who took their relationship with God for granted and God judged them.  We will start with the sons of Aaron who are also the nephews of Moses. 

Open your bibles to . . .

Exodus 24:9-11
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 
10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 
11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. 

Nadab and Abihu are Aaron's sons and they were part of a group of men who go the rare opportunity to have lunch with God.  These two men were called out by name to serve the Living God as His representatives to His people.  These men saw God.  They experienced something that only a few people in all history of mankind have ever gotten to experience.  It is not the exposure to truth that makes a difference in the life of a man, but his response to that truth.  Do you repent and come to God how He says come?

The bible says a man can not see the face of God and live.  So, I propose to you that these men saw the Angel of the Lord just like Abraham when he had lunch with God in Genesis 18.  Remember the form and function of God.  God reveals Himself to mankind via the Angel of the Lord.  This is one area of scripture where it does not break it down to that level, but just refers to Him as God.  Moses later asked to see God's face in Exodus 33:20 and he was denied.  That is after an earlier verse in Exodus 33:11 where God spoke to Moses face to face just as a man talks to a friend.
Open your bibles to . . .

Exodus 32:3-4
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 
4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." 

Aaron was not a poster child for the Boy Scouts.  Remember that Moses was a murderer. Salvation is not about the man, but about how a man approaches God.  Aaron and Moses repented and submitted to the service of the Living God.
Open your bibles to . . .

Leviticus 10:1-3
1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 
2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'"  So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. 

Aaron's sons did not treat God with holiness.  Are you treating God with holiness by the way you live your Christian life?  This is not a situation where your behavior keeps you saved.  That is a works salvation which is not based upon scripture and the grace of God.  This is a situation where your behavior reflects what you understand about God.  James 2:18 says that you can see a man's faith by his behaviour.  Do you have reverence for the awesome power of God?  Do you have reverence for the abundant love of God?  God's awesome power and God's abundant love are two extremes of who God is.  Fear God because He is God.  Do you treat God as holy? 

You and I are not called because we are so spiritual, but because God is so gracious.  We are not holy, but God is holy.  We are not righteous, but God imparts His righteousness to us via Jesus as our Messiah.  We are no better than Aaron, Nabab and Abihu, but one very important thing we have is the Holy Spirit.  We have access to the Holy Spirit of the Living God because of our relationship with Jesus which is totally different than Aaron and his sons.  Do you appreciate your relationship with God?

Then go forward and walk with God.  Treat God with holiness and honor Him by your reverence for His holy name. 
Open your bibles to . . .

Leviticus 16:1-5
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. 
2 The Lord said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 
3 Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 
4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments).  Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. 
5 He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 

God says man must approach Him in the way he prescribes.  Remember that fact when some cult comes knocking on your door and says you can come to God in a wide variety of ways.  Really?  That is not what God says. 

Do you think Aaron had a problem with self-righteousness?   God tells him to dress in special clothes or he will die.  God tells Aaron that he must wash  or he will die.  God tells him that he must provide special sacrifices to enter into the holy place or he will die.  Aaron knew that if he did not do what God said in the way God said to do it, that he would be a dead man just like his two sons.  A man must come to God in the way that God says.
Open your bibles to . . .

Deuteronomy 32:50-51
50 Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 
51 because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 

Numbers 3:10-12
10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death." 
11 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 
12 "Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. 

Aaron had two more sons who continued on in the service of the Lord after the death of Nadab and Abihu.  Please notice that God makes a very clear distinction between His priests and the average person.  The layman shall be put to death.  Leviticus 10:1-3 above says fire from God consumed the two of Aaron sons because they did not treat Him as holy. 

In Deuteronomy 32:50-51, God describes why Moses will not see the promised land because he did not treat God as holy in the midst of Israel.  Do you see just how serious God takes this?  A man must treat God as holy.  All Christians should really reflect upon on how we approach God.  All Christians should make sure that we are not taking God for granted in our casual religious lifestyle.  Every Christian should honor God before all mankind and that starts by honoring God in front of your family members. 

Treat God as holy in your worship and treat God as holy in your daily lives.  Fear the awesome power of God and appreciate His extensive love and forgiveness, but do not take His for granted.
Open your bibles to . . . 

1 Samuel 8:1-5
1 And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 
2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. 
3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. 
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 
5 and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.  Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations."

We saw two of Aaron's boys go down the wrong path.  Here are two of Samuel's boys going down the wrong path.  A few weeks ago we looked at Eli when he was the High Priest of Israel and his two sons went down the wrong path.  Samuel was a young boy when God told him the judgement upon the family of Eli in 1 Samuel 3. 
Open your bibles to . . .

1 Samuel 2:12
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord

1 Samuel 2:17
Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord. 

1 Samuel 4: 17-22
17 Then the one who brought the news replied, "Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken." 
18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years. 
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 
20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay attention. 
21 And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel," because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 
22 She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken." 

Hophni and Phinehas were priests inside the temple of the Living God and they did not know the Lord.  That is sad.  I always mention the men from Luke 24 who were walking down the road to Emmaus discussing the things of God, but not understanding the big picture.  The men from Luke witnessed the sacrificial system, but did not understand.  Hophni and Phinehas assisted in the sacrificial system and did not understand.

All mankind can learn a very important lesson from the lives and the deaths of these brothers. 

First, do you love the Lord?  This is your first step on an eternal walk with the Living God.

I make the decision to love the Lord my God and submit to the authority of Jesus as my Messiah.

I make the decision to honor God by how I will treat Him in service and in my lifestyle.

I make the decision to be a man of honor. 

Oh, how my hearts yearns for my sons.  I want my sons to be men of honor. 

I ask Jesus to open my mind to understand the Scriptures just like He did for the two men on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24:44-45.

Luke 24:44-53
44 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
45 ThenHe opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 
51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 
52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 
53 and were continually in the temple praising God. 

The name Ichabod will forever remind me that our personal actions have implications on generations.  The glory has departed from Israel.