Offering “strange fire” to the Lord was not limited to the priesthood anciently and is not limited to the ministry today.  Adam and Eve, whose “priest” was God (the Word Who would become Jesus of Nazareth), were the first human beings to offer “strange fire” to their Maker.  And as would always be the case, that fire would supposedly be “good enough” for Him.  His standards are high, but He will accept whatever is offered.

As God told the first humans early on, the fruit of the trees of the Garden of Eden was designed by Him to be eaten as a physical life source by them and their descendants.  All of the trees (except one) bore life-sustaining nourishment designed for that reason.  One of the trees was special in that partaking of its fruit would give them eternal life in the paradise God had established for them.   As was the case involving all of the trees (except that one) they were free to eat of them at will.  Eating of the Tree of Life would have given them the Holy Spirit which would have empowered them to resist all temptations sent their way by the Serpent (Satan).

God does not change.  Where there are created beings–both spiritual and physical–there is His Law.  The Law of Eden was simple.  They could eat of every approved tree, including the Tree of Life, and live forever in paradise.  Or they could eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and die.  They were also to take care of the garden.

God’s Law included the prohibition of “touching” the forbidden tree (Gen. 3:3).  Read Touching, downloaded by using that word.  Rules for downloading a series are found under NOTICE on the Introduction page for this website.

After conferring with the Serpent, Adam and Eve decided that eating of the forbidden tree was “good enough” to satisfy God’s command to eat of the trees of the garden.  A fruit tree is a fruit tree, right?  Surely He would not mind if they just sampled a bite or two.  That “touching” and “death” stuff was just a bluff.  They happily partook of the forbidden fruit, thereby producing “strange fire.”  Some 6000 years later a lady I knew voiced her agreement with Adam and Eve.  She produced strange fire by saying: “God doesn’t like sin, but He won’t do anything about it.”

The next incidence of good enough not being good enough is recorded in Genesis 4.  The episode involved Cain and Abel’s offerings to the Lord.  Abel offered the very best of the very best he had, thereby revealing his “true fire” attitude toward His Maker.  Cain concluded that whatever he found at hand would be “good enough” to please the Lord.  He gathered up some of the vegetation that was handy and offered it to Him.  God’s attitude toward his strange fire–“good enough”–offering is well known.

Many years later the children of Israel were gathered at Mt. Sinai where they heard the audible voice of the God (Christ Jesus–I Cor. 10:1-4) Who had freed them from Egyptian slavery and to Whom they had pledged allegiance.  In Exodus 32 we find the people getting restless because Moses had been up on the mountain with Him for many days.  Their solution to their nervousness and fear of abandonment was to return to Egypt.  After making a golden calf–their god that would lead them back to Egyptian slavery–Aaron built an alter at which they would worship their calf god.  He then announced that: “Tomorrow we will hold a feast unto the Lord (the true God).”  The fact that the Israelites would be paying homage to the true God at the alter dedicated to a man-made calf would surely not offend the God on the mountain.  Apparently, any feast held anywhere was “good enough” for the Creator of the Universe.  After all, a feast was a feast, right?  The Lord did not see it that way.

In Matthew 25 we find a prime example of good enough supposedly being good enough.  The word “virgin” in the spiritual sense denotes one who is a member of God’s church.  In this instance there were 10 virgins in a church.  Initially, all were together as one in the Lord; all had lamps, oil and wicks–everything needed to serve and obey Him.  Then five of them began to slack off in their zeal for Him.  Their best was no longer needed in order to please Him.  They concluded that He would be satisfied with whatever they did in His name.  It was clear to them that He did not require their best.  After all, they had been with Him all those years, dutifully going about their virgin lives.  He knew their hearts, they must have told themselves and each other.  He knew that they did what was required of them.  There was therefore no need to be so exact by dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s.  They could slack off and still meet His minimum requirements.  And so they did.  No one said anything to them.  No one knew that their zeal had worn off.  No one noticed that they were merely going through the motions of religiosity.  Let those other virgins waste their time and energy with their zealousness and intensity.  The bare minimum was all that was needed to please the Bridegroom.  Then He arrived unexpectedly and was calling for those whose lamps were full and whose wicks were trimmed.  They were told to come to the marriage feast immediately.  Suddenly the foolish virgins realized that “good enough” was not actually good enough, that the Bridegroom’s expectations were of the highest, not minimalist order.  Having produced true fire in their service to the Lord, the five wise virgins were welcomed into the marriage supper.  Having produced strange fire, the five foolish virgins were turned away.  Too late they realized that what seemed “good enough” to them was not good enough for the Bridegroom.  Their strange (counterfeit) fire was not “good enough.”  These virgins were turned away and sent into outer darkness.

In Luke 10:38-42 we find another example of counterfeit fire.  Jesus has arrived at the home of Mary and Martha, two sisters who welcomed Him to visit and dine with them.  Mary immediately sat down at His feet and listened to what He had to say.  Meanwhile, Martha was busily preparing the meal.  After a time Martha complained that Mary wasn’t providing any “fire”–help with the meal.  Jesus said to her: “Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things (she was producing much fire).  But only one thing (type of fire) is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part (righteous fire) ….”  Mary was exhibiting righteous fire while Martha was creating counterfeit (strange) fire.  Here we find two contrasting attitudes toward the Lord and His Word producing two contrasting fires.

What does this tell us about God’s attitude toward the two types of “fire?”  He answers in the fifth chapter of the Book of Amos.  Bear in mind that the Lord had commanded that the children of Israel observe a periodic feasts.  They were to assemble at specified times to worship Him.  They were commanded to make burnt offerings and peace offerings to Him consisting of specific types of meat.  He had commanded them to play on viols and to sing songs in praise of Him.  Israel had been faithful to do exactly what He had commanded them to do.  SO WHY DID HE SAY TO THEM THAT HE HATED IT WHEN THEY OBEYED HIS COMMANDS?  Why did He hate their feasts, their assemblies, their burnt and peace offerings, their songs of praise and their playing of instruments.  BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT JUDGING THEMSELVES AGAINST HIS LAW; RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS NOT FLOWING FROM THEM LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER; THEY WORSHIPED AND SERVED FALSE GODS.  IN THE MIDST OF THEIR EXTREME RELIGIOSITY ISRAEL WAS OFFERING TO HIM STRANGE FIRE, WHICH PROVED THAT THEIR HEARTS WERE NOT RIGHT WITH HIM.  THEY REFUSED TO OBEY HIS LAW. 

Which is exactly why God rejects the religious (counterfeit) fire of the modern church.  He not only rejects it, He hates it.  For this reason He warns her about her “strange fire” in Revelation 3:14-20 .  So-called Sinners Saved By Grace produce much fire, but it is counterfeit; it is darkness disguised as light; it is death disguised as life; it is the worship of Satan disguised as the worship of God.  Modern day “strange fire” is the same as that in days of old.  AND THE UNCHANGING GOD HATES IT NOW JUST AS HE HATED IT THEN.  L.J.