Where is Moses commanded not to offer strange fire in the bible in the temple

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.

Numbers 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

Numbers 26:61 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.

This is a very interesting thread, I believe we shall learn a lot from it.

I have heard it suggested (and it does make sense), that the fire on the altar was, during the wilderness wanderings, kindled afresh by the Lord Himself, each time they set up camp in a new place.

Or maybe they also carried some of that special fire with them whenever they broke camp? In that case, Nadab and Abihu seemed not to have bothered to get that fire, but used their own!

[color=990000]22 And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.
23 ¶ And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
24 And [i][u]there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat[/u][/i]: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.[/color]

The verse you quoted comes immediately aftewards, at the beginning of the next chapter.

[color=990000]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.[/color]

The preacher who suggested it also pointed out that it is mentioned several times that Abraham erected altars, and stood by them, as if waiting for the Fire to fall. It is never recorded that he lit the fire on his altars, just placed the sacrifice there.

And when he and the Lord cut the covenant (Genesis 15) The Lords put Abraham to sleep and Himself passed, as a burning Presence, between the pieces of the sacrifices (the custom when making a covenant between two people or groups).

[color=990000]9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not...

...17 ¶ And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.[/color]

It is interesting that there seemed to be [i]two[/i] who passed between tho pieces of the sacrifices, (unless the proper translation should be "a smoking furnace, a burning lamp" without the "and". Must look it up if I can...)

The fire of God also fell when Solomon had finished his prayer at the dedication of the Temple (2Chronicles 7:1)[color=990000] Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.[/color]

After the dedication of the Temple the fire on the altar wasn't lit anew but tended and fed, and a sacrifice put upon it, morning and evening (the "continual burnt offering"). So the fire that was on the altar hundreds of years later, when Solomon's Temple was destroyed, should have been from the same Fire that came down at Solomon's prayer.

The same thing happened when Elijah prayed to the Lord after the prophets of Baal had failed to cause fire to come from heaven.
1Ki 18:38 [color=990000]Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.[/color]

If the suggestion is correct, it means that [b][i]no[/i][/b] other fire should have been kindled, [i][b]except that which God Himself lit[/b][/i]. The priest's job was then to keep it burning.

Blessings

Jeannette