Leviticus 10:10-20  After the death of Nadab and Abihu , Aaron was given a command directly from God.. the command to stay sober... "so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses." 

It had been a tough day... Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were not allowed to grieve the deaths of Nadab and Abihu.. God had brought a quick and powerful judgement.. and it had to have shaken them to the core. They were responsible to do all of the sacrifices for the nation... a difficult, bloody, physically taxing job.. and they were finding that God would not tolerate any failures, mistakes, or wrong thinking as they carried out this work. They are now told that they are responsible to teach the whole nation "all the statutes" of the Lord. They had a responsibility for the spiritual education of an entire nation. 

Moses gave Aaron a reminder that they needed to sit down by the altar and eat their portion of the grain offering.  He needed to take the meat of the wave and peace offerings and serve his family as the Lord commanded.  Rest and food.. a provision that was desperately needed. 

But, there was also a problem.. the "goat of the sin offering" was burned up.. its blood had not been poured out and nothing was left for them to eat... and Moses was angry!  "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? for it is most holy and He gives it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord."  But, Aaron couldn't handle anything more ... "this very day..", he said, "When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?"  And Moses was satisfied with that answer.  

Aaron suffered the loss of two sons.. he was given difficult instructions.. greater responsibility .. and faced the anger of Moses.. yes... it was a hard day.  But, he shows here a discernment that perhaps displays a measure of spiritual growth.. God was at work in Aaron's life.. in the most difficult situation.. to bring him into conformity with the work that He called him to do. 

Father in heaven, help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus.  Help us to be diligent to add virtue and knowledge, self-control and patience, godliness and kindness.. and love.. by the grace You pour into our lives through faith, which is a gift that You give to us.  All we are and all we have is in Your hands, and we need You to fill us again with Your Spirit that we might live in conformity to Your will and purpose in whatever You call us to do. Have Your way.. in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.