Leviticus 10

Quite an interesting account today - two of Aaron's sons, the recently anointed priests, offer improper gifts to God... and are punished. It just occurred to me that the only times in the Bible where God directly kills an individual or small, specific group are when they are people who were supposed to be His: either Israelites or Christians. We have these two men in Leviticus, Korah and his followers a little later on, a man who reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant in David's time, and Ananias and Saphira in the early church period. I'm sure there are others, but all the ones that come to my mind share that common thread. I'm not sure what they means, but perhaps it should serve as a warning that while God is loving He also has rules and expectations for us that we need to respect and obey - especially since we as His followers have been entrusted with the knowledge of what we should and should not do.