The Wrong...Fire?

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, we are told that the events that we find in the Old Testament are written to us as an example.  We are to look at those examples and glean the principles set forth by God for our edification.  With that in mind, turn to Leviticus 10:1-7.

While we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority since we now have the revelation of the New Testament, we certainly can use it to establish the need for such authority.  Leviticus 10 provides us with one of the clearest examples of the need for proper divine authority.  In this example, we have two men that were correct in their authority for most of their duties before the Lord and only did one thing contrary to what God had commanded them.  Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (the brother of Moses), were the correct men for the job, they had the correct censers for the job, and they had the correct incense for the job.  However, they used fire "which He [the Lord] had not commanded them" (10:1) instead of the proper fire obtained from the alter of the Lord (16:12).  What we learn from this example is that God does have all authority and that He does have requirements for our service to Him.  Also, we have to have everything correct in worship, not just partially correct! In this case, the penalty for their disobedience of God's authority was physical death, whereas our penalty could be spiritual death!

As previously stated, we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority, but it is there for our learning (Romans 15:1-5).  Does it make logical sense to look at an example such as this (Or to look at any of the examples used in 1 Corinthians 10 for that matter) and say that God no longer cares what we do in our worship to Him? That He only cares that we worship Him, but not how? We need to be careful to do ONLY what we find authorized and NOT what we think might be good or might improve our worship to Him!