Summer Series: #4 - Grace and Wrath

It appears as if God has a tendency to use people even though they make mistakes. Already in the Pentateuch we have seen him use Noah, even though he later got drunk. He used Abraham, even though he lied about his wife. He used the deceiver Jacob. He used Moses after he killed an Egyptian. Leviticus 8-9 gives another example of this. Here Aaron is ordained as the high priest. He is set apart from the rest of the community and becomes the only person who is allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. This doesn't seem remarkable until you consider that this is the same Aaron who made a golden calf for the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain. Despite this horrible mistake, he was given an important position by the God whom he had disobeyed. Truly we do have a forgiving God.

We should take this in contrast with Leviticus 10 where two of Aaron's sons offered incense to God when they weren't supposed to. This time God sent down flames to burn them to death. God is forgiving, but he also makes it very clear that we shouldn't test his grace by purposely disobeying his commands.