Leviticus 10: 8-11, “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.”
There are many passages in the Bible that talk about the effect that too much wine can have on a person. In fact the first time that we read about wine was when Noah made wine, drank it and got drunk when he had reestablished himself after the Flood. (see Gen 9: 21, “And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.”) In that case Noah lay naked in public view. Shame about nakedness is a consequence of sin. (compare Gen 2: 25, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” with Gen 3: 7, 8, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”) While wine is good in its own right, it has the capacity to control people and put them in shameful situations. The Lord told the priests that they weren’t to drink wine and endanger their own dignity, and the Lord’s, by chancing doing something shameful during the time of their service. While there is no evidence that Nadab and Abihu were drunk the warning came at an appropriate time because those two men had acted shamefully in the Lord’s service and died for their sin.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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