From Sinai’s fire that Israel could not bear, to Sodom’s judgment and the lake of fire prepared for the wicked, Scripture is consistent: our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God who will not share his glory or tolerate treating him as common. Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire and were consumed instantly; Korah, Dathan, and Abiram despised God’s appointed order and were swallowed up and burned before the congregation. These are not isolated stories but a pattern meant to warn God’s own people that nearness to a holy God is never something to presume upon.
The pattern continues after the wilderness: Eli’s sons treated the Lord’s offering with contempt and brought judgment on their father’s house; men of Beth-shemesh who looked carelessly into the ark were struck down; Uzzah, reaching to steady the ark in disregard of God’s instructions, was struck dead on the spot. Hebrews 12 draws the line to New Testament worship: since believers have received an unshakable kingdom, they are to offer God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is still a consuming fire, one to be feared, and one who is glorified when his people serve him as holy.