This week we read from the third portion of Leviticus, Shemini. Aaron and his sons are now ordained priests and are conducting their first sacrificial service. Aaron goes first and completes each sacrifice to the letter of the law. He follows each step exactly as it is written. Nadav and Avihu grab their fire pans and begin to put together their sacrifice. They put fire in their pans and lay incense on them. However, things go wonky. God did not instruct them to give an offering of incense. They did not follow each step as they were instructed. They offered an “alien fire”. Therefore, “fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord” (Leviticus 10:2).
Nadav and Avihu were instructed to do one thing and they did another. And it had dire consequences. While we may not have such tragic consequences happen to us when we don’t follow the instructions we are given, other not so great things can happen. If you’re baking cookies and leave something out, your cookies will not taste so great. If someone who is in charge of payroll does not follow the steps exactly, and makes mistakes, employees do not get paid. If a teacher skips a step in a lesson for a skill that relies on following certain steps, students will not learn correctly. More dangerously, if a surgeon skips a step in surgery, the patient could die and if a pilot skips a step, a plane could crash. Instructions and processes are important and necessary to ensure life runs smoothly. Skipping one could cause a lot of trouble; as we are shown by Nadav and Avihu.
Following rules and checking your work can seem tedious and redundant, but it’s important. Skipping a step can be the difference between life and death. We see this in the movie Hidden Figures. For those who are unfamiliar with this film, we’ll give you a quick low down. This movie is a biographical film drama based on the lives of three incredible black women, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson. These women were mathematicians working their way through the ranks at NASA. Their job was to calculate the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit and make sure he returns safely back to Earth. These three women fought hard to prove their worth, fighting against sexism and racism in Virginia in the early 60s. It’s a fantastic movie about incredible women and we highly encourage you to go watch it.
We can learn a lot from these incredible women, including the importance of paying attention to detail. These women had to make sure their calculations were correct before being able to have NASA send a man into space. One wrong calculation and John Glenn could die. They also had a lot on the line personally. These women were trying to prove their worth to a bunch of southern white men. One mistake and they’d be sent back to square one and have to fight tooth and nail to even try to make it back where they were. There was no time to be sloppy and lazy. They checked, double-checked, and triple-checked their work to make sure the mission was a success.
Pay attention to detail, follow directions, and (most importantly) wash your hands.
Love,
Amanda & Marissa
