Back to Leviticus, we have the ordination of Aaron and his sons in chapters 8 and 9. It’s a lot of detail, special garments, blood sacrifices, even a 7-day quarantine, but it ends with spectacular success:

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9.23, 24, ESV, emphasis mine)

There’s a fine line, apparently, between the spectacular and the tragic. Here are the very next verses:

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10.1, 2, ESV)

Same words: “And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed…

• The burnt offering (Leviticus 9.24)
• Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10.2)

I don’t write this stuff…I just report it! But interestingly, even though this event occurs relatively early in the narrative, I can think of only five instances in the entire Bible of God striking someone dead suddenly:

• Nadab and Abihu: “fire came out from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them”
• The sons of Korah: “…and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up…” (Numbers 16.32)
• Uzzah: “And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there…” (2 Samuel 6.7)
• The commanders and their fifty: “Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” (2 Kings 1.10, 12)
• Ananias and Sapphira: “Ananias fell down and breathed his last.” It doesn‘t say that the Lord struck them. Nevertheless, “Great fear came over the whole church.” (Acts 5.5, 10, 11)

The fact that this sort of thing happened only five times (that I can remember) shows us that God is more grace than wrath. Even Leviticus 10 ends with grace and flexibility. There is another violation:

But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron’s remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh. Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” But Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this very day they brought near their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh. Then things like these happened to me. So if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of Yahweh?” So Moses heard this, and it was good in his sight. (Leviticus 10.16 – 20, LSB)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3.8 – 10, ESV)