So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. The same fire from the divine presence that consumed the offerings in Leviticus 9:24 — the fire of God's acceptance — consumes Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:2. The fire that was the sign of divine pleasure becomes the instrument of divine judgment in the space of one chapter. The consuming fire does not distinguish between what is offered to it — it consumes what is brought before it, whether the authorized offering that pleases or the unauthorized offering that violates. Hebrews 12:29 says our God is a consuming fire — the fire that delights and the fire that destroys are the same fire. The holiness of God accepts what is holy; the holiness of God consumes what violates the holy.

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