Leviticus 10:1

“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.”

God commanded the Israelites not to offer unauthorized fire on the altar of the temple. The fire they offered had to come directly from God’s presence. Otherwise, they would not leave the temple alive.

This principle continued from generation to generation among the children of Israel. Even if the fruit of your spirituality didn’t come directly from the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, they will not be acceptable before God.

That is why the disciples were baptized with tongues of fire at the beginning of the New Testament message to the world.

Without the true fire of the Holy Spirit, a believer is like an empty vessel with nothing to offer in the kingdom of God. Nothing on earth can substitute for the divine presence.

However, when Christians refuse to wait for the divine manifestation of the Holy Spirit, they may create their own fire on the altar, thereby allowing the devil to infiltrate the church of God.

Most so-called Christians who manifest strange fire have no direct contact with the Holy Spirit. It is either from the powers of their father’s or mother’s compound or from familiar spirits that work from generation to generation.

How can you know whether the fire within you is unauthorized fire that God rejects?

If you manifested strange spiritual practices before being born again and carried them into Christianity after your conversion, you may already be bringing unauthorized fire to the altar.

I know of a woman who was possessed from her mother’s womb but carried the spirit over into her spiritual life. Unfortunately, she was using familiar spirits to take over the lives of those who were under her ministry in the church of God.

She was thereby initiating many souls and diverting them to Satanism by involving them in astral travel while pretending to work for God.

No one is born again from his mother’s womb. Before conversion, all humanity lives in darkness. It is the light of God that illuminates us and brings us into divine truth. Whatever spirit you carried from your former life has no place in your new birth. It is part of the burden you must lay at the foot of the cross before taking up the mantle of service in God’s vineyard.

The disciples could not continue the work of Christ before receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, lest they pollute the work entrusted to them.

They had to be washed and cleansed by the fire of the Holy Spirit so that everything Satan had placed within them could be dismantled, making them fit for God’s service.

The unauthorized fire of anger and jealousy must give way to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The unauthorized fire of fear must be removed so that the Spirit of God can take complete control. That is why Jesus instructed the disciples to wait in the upper room in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Examine yourself. Have you been baptized by the Spirit of God, who tears down the strongholds of darkness in your life and prepares you for service in God’s kingdom?

Unauthorized fire is not acceptable before God. Some people use occult practices to perform in the church. In others, what appears to be the spirit of prophecy may originate from familiar spirits associated with their ancestral backgrounds. This is why their character remains unchanged: the Holy Spirit has never truly taken control of their lives.

Strange fire started by introducing the spirit of error into the service of God. When Aaron moulded the golden calves, it was the spirit of error that Moses came to correct. Later, his children brought to light strange fire, which God never permitted.

If your church doctrine is not aligned with what the Bible teaches, it becomes a strange fire. If it is not quickly quenched, it will disrupt the original programme of God for the congregation.

Those who teach that Eve was not the first wife of Adam are feeding from the table of the enemy. They do not have their source in God. It originates from other books that are occult in nature.

That is what brings strange fire to the altar of God to divert the saints from the true way to the way of lies of the devil, ultimately destroying them.

Strange fire is cancerous to the gospel. If it is not cut off now before it spreads to other areas, it will spell disaster in the lives of those who listen to it.

Had Eve cut off the communication she had with Satan and stopped listening to the sermon of the serpent, the whole world would have escaped the great danger that was looming.

Unauthorized fire attracts those who are aligned with darkness rather than those who belong to God. When such fire is kindled on the altar, it undermines God’s purpose and creates an opening for destruction.

Many altars have been corrupted by unauthorized fire and now serve the agenda of the devil, where he rules, dominates, and controls people’s destinies.

The moment unauthorized fire is kindled, it prepares the way for destruction. When God arises, all His enemies are scattered.

If you persist in this course, there may come a time when God’s presence departs from the temple of your life. At first, He judged the sons of Aaron by killing them to serve as a warning to others.

But later, His glory departed from the same temple where His name had been honored. It began with the sons of Aaron offering unauthorized fire on the altar. When the corruption spread throughout the congregation and among the priests, God departed and allowed the temple to be destroyed by strangers.

When unauthorized fire burns on your altar, it will attract God’s judgment. If you refuse to repent, it will ultimately bring destruction.

Many altars have become Ichabod in this generation because of what they have permitted in the name of the gospel. Only those with spiritual discernment will recognize when God no longer dwells in a temple, because its fruit will no longer bring glory to Him.

Prayer: Father Lord, by your fire, destroy every strange fire burning in the lives of your children, in Jesus name, amen.