Verse 40

It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his company– just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses.

Referenced Verses

  • Num 3:10 : 10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood, but the unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.”
  • Num 3:38 : 38 But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons. They were responsible for the needs of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.
  • Num 18:4-7 : 4 They must join with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person may approach you. 5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be no more wrath on the Israelites. 6 I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the LORD, to perform the duties of the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service, but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”
  • 1 Kgs 13:1-3 : 1 Just then a prophet arrived from Judah with the LORD’s message for Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 2 He cried out against the altar with the LORD’S message,“O altar, altar! This is what the LORD has said,‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That day he had also given a sign, saying,“This is the sign that the LORD has declared: The altar will split open and the ashes on it will pour out.”
  • 2 Chr 26:16-21 : 16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the LORD his God. He entered the LORD’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said to him,“It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the LORD. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed and the LORD God will not honor you!” 19 Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving at the priests, a skin disease appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the LORD’s temple near the incense altar. 20 When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king himself wanted to leave quickly because the LORD had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the LORD’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.
  • Jude 1:11 : 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion.
  • Exod 30:7-9 : 7 Aaron is to burn sweet incense on it morning by morning; when he attends to the lamps he is to burn incense. 8 When Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations. 9 You must not offer strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; once in the year he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”
  • Lev 22:10 : 10 “‘No lay person may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy,
  • Num 1:51 : 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, the Levites must set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it must be killed.