Leviticus 10:6
And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
One of the hardest lessons I see in the Scriptures is when Aaron’s sons offered strange fire before the LORD. When they offered the strange fire, God killed them immediately. As soon as they were killed, God told Moses to tell Aaron, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people. This seemed like a stringent command. Most certainly, Aaron’s heart was hurting for his boys that had been killed. There is little doubt that he wanted to take the bodies of his boys and bury them, but God would not allow him to do so. Instead, Aaron was to stay in his priestly office and continue to do what his calling in life was to do without changing.
Strange fire in this illustration symbolizes compromise. It is a symbol of compromise because God said the fire was to ever be burning. These two sons thought they could help God out with their own fire, and it was their compromising choice that led to their death.
Why would God command such a difficult thing? The reason is because God was teaching a principle that even if family or a close friend compromises, we are not to change what we do in an attempt to bring them back to truth.
The truest test of what you believe is revealed by what you do when a family member or a close friend compromises. It is easy to preach against compromise when compromise has no face to it, but when compromise has the face of a friend or loved one, many have continued to stay close to the compromiser instead of separating from them. This may sound strong, but truth unchanged is critical if we believe in eternity, for compromise always affects the eternity of souls being saved in the future. There are a three lessons we can learn from this principle.
First, changing to bring a family member or close friend back to truth only validates in the compromiser’s heart that they were right. You cannot change and draw people back to the truth. The prodigal’s father did not sell the house just to be close to his son; rather, he stayed at home and staying is what drew his son back. The truest test of what you believe is whether you separate from family or a close friend when they compromise.
Second, silence to compromise is a change in your position to truth. To say it is not your battle to fight is compromise. It was an open act of Aaron not to mourn for his sons when they compromised. Many have chosen compromise with their silence when all are required to stand openly against compromise.
Third, loyalty and friendship to friends and institutions are not an excuse to stay close to them or be silent in their compromise. I hear people say that we are to be a friend to our friends, but a true friend will openly separate when their friend or the institution they like compromises. My friend, you are not to be loyal to friends or institutions; you are to be loyal to the truth. Certainly, you can always be a friend, but the best friend is one who separates when a friend or institution compromises, for this tells them they are wrong.
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