In Deuteronomy chapter 4:2, Moses said, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Later in verse 32 of chapter 12 of the same book, he said, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

In Proverbs 30:5-6, the Bible says, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." In Jeremiah 26:2, we read, "Thus saith the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word."

In Galatians 1:6-9, the apostle Paul said, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

In Revelation 22:18-19, John wrote, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

What do all these verses have in common? They all contain warnings against tampering with the word of God. Why are there so many of these warnings placed throughout the Bible, and why are some of them so strongly worded? Because God wants us to know how serious an offence tampering with his holy word really is. Let me explain.

In Genesis 2:16-17, the Bible says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

In the very next chapter, when the serpent was tempting Eve, she said, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:" (Genesis 3:2-4)

All Satan did was added one little word to the commandment of God. I hope we all realize how dangerous it is to tamper with God's word.

In Leviticus 10:1-2, the Bible says, "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."

Nadab and Abihu were priests of the tribe of Levi. Their father was Aaron, the high priest, who was also the brother to Moses. Only those of the tribe of Levi were authorized to minister in the services of the tabernacle (Numbers 1:50). We see therefore that they were not out of line in this respect. What then was the problem? Why did fire come down from the Lord and devour these men?

To answer this question we must first look a little deeper at the word "strange" that appears in verse 1. That word comes from a Hebrew word that means "unauthorized." Nadab and Abihu acted very presumptuously by offering unauthorized fire to God almighty. Basically they were offering their own form of worship to God rather than it being based on a "Thus saith the Lord." Paul refers to this same sort of behavior in Colossians 2:22-23 when he refers to the following after of doctrines and commandments of men as "will worship."

In John 4:23-24, Jesus said "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." In other words, Christians must worship God with the correct spirit or attitude, and it must be according to truth, which is the word of God (John 17:17). It is true that we can attempt to worship God any way we choose, but if it is not in the right attitude and not according to what he asked for, it is all in vain. That is why Jesus said in Mark 7:6-7, "Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people hounoureth me with their lips, but their heart is for from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Nadab and Abihu added to, or stepped outside of the commandments of God, by offering worship that was not pleasing to God. If we are not attentive to God instructions to us pertaining to worship we will be in error, just as Nadab and Abihu were.

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Brother Jason Holladay