Strange Fires (i)

Today we begin a series that looks at the need for order and structure in the church, particularly the charismatic church. Because of the dynamism of the gift of the Holy Spirit, there have been many abuses that have filtered into the church to cause disorder in His name, and it truly ought not to be so. The church in Corinth was a highly gifted and anointed pentecostal church, the Holy Spirit had not spared anything from them. Because of this, however, many then veered off track into ungovernable territories, completely misrepresenting the Holy Spirit and His power, that apostle Paul had to step in with a strong admonition, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Yes, we have the Holy Spirit and yes, He is at work in us – but He is not a Spirit of disorder and confusion. He is governed by the principles of the Scriptures that He wrote, where He expressed the order and protocol that should be observed for all spiritual gatherings. The Church is like any other organisation, it has its own structures and procedures, and when we come into such a space, we ought to submit under the systems and authorities that have been erected for our benefit and spiritual development. This is not the place to come and do whatever you like, however you like, no – there are dire consequences for such carelessness.

One such example is seen in the Old Testament from the lineage of priests. We read that the Lord specifically told Moses, “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out” (‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬-‭13‬). This fire was not from men nor the result of the doings of men, it was a fire from God Himself, and all the priests had to do was ensure the perpetual supply of wood on the altar, that the fire from the Lord may continually burn. They were to build on what the Lord had made available. This was the given instruction and protocol, and all in Israel were aware of it. However, we read that while the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, carried out their priestly duties, they decided to change the order of business:  “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ). For some reason only known by them, they decided to violate the protocol of the Lord and bring their own strange fire to the altar of the Lord, which led to their instant judgement and demise. It is important to note that these were not ordinary civilians who made an innocent mistake, these were anointed servants of the Lord who knew and had seen His ways for themselves – they walked with both Moses and Aaron, and were overcome by the unfortunate consequences of familiarity and the lack of godly reverence for the office they carried. This serves as a strong warning to us all, God has graciously gifted and anointed us for various offices – we should not dare become familiar with these ministries! Do not be familiar with men of God, the house of the Lord, and the Lord’s people – always carry a fresh wander, to protect yourself from losing the necessary reverence.

Another such example is seen when the children of Israel carried back the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem after it had been stolen by the Philistines and displaced for a season.  Moses had given very strict instructions for the handling of the ark of the covenant, explicitly outlining how it was to be carried, who was to carry it, and how that it should not be ever directly touched! This was the very presence of the Lord, it was not to be treated mindlessly and out of protocol. However, when David and his men set to bring back the ark to Jerusalem, they violated many of these instructions: they placed the ark on a cart for travel; it was now being transported by oxen (2 Samuel 6:1-3), and being ushered by men who were not priests according to the lineages of Israel. We read, “And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God” (v.‭6‬-‭7‬). Uzzah had lived with the ark for over twenty years and had unfortunately become familiar with it, failing to recognise that this was the very presence of God, and had to be handled according to protocol and not as and how men saw fit. His judgement and death scared David, who then cried, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”. After sending it off to another place and seeing the Lord prosper those on whose household the ark came under, David again decided to bring it into Jerusalem, appreciating that the Lord is not a curse upon His people but a blessing, and that our end is to just follow His protocol and deal with Him in the order He has specified. He then repented of his old mistakes; we read that he called the priests and commanded that they sanctify themselves for the sake of the mission, and carry the ark on their shoulders as was instructed by Moses to begin with (1 Chronicles 15:3-4; Exodus 25:12-17). 

Jude spoke of the same thing, of how rebellion has existed from the very beginning, that even today we can expect that frauds will attempt to creep into our spaces unmonitored. These frauds have their own tells: rebellion, the rejection of authority, and speaking evil of dignitaries (Jude: 6-8), and perishing in the rebellion of Korah, who rebelled against authorities and heaped a curse upon himself (Numbers 16:1-40). We should not be like these people! We must insist to obey the systems we have been placed under, aligning ourselves with the values and principles of the house, conforming to our environment, and doing what the believers in that space do – without needing to do our own thing out of pride and rebellion! That is the surest way to destruction!

Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your Spirit, that is our source for successfully walking in You. He leads us daily, helps us, counsels us, comforts us, intercedes for us and teaches us! He shows us your protocol, correcting us when we err, and bringing us back to the perfect line of service. Father, we pray that You may continue to search us, revealing unto us any ways that may be offensive in your sight and in your institution, and leading us into ways everlasting. In the name of Jesus. Amen.