In the temple service the Lord gave special directions that the priests were to use on their censers only the sacred fire of God's own kindling, which was kept burning day and night. But Nadab and Abihu perverted their senses by the use of wine, so that they could not distinguish between the sacred and the common. They "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."

I tempeltjenesten gav Herren særlige anvisninger for at præsterne kun skulle bruge hellig ild fra Guds egen optænding i deres røgelse, som skal holdes brændende dag og nat. Men Nadab og Abihu forvanskede deres røgelse ved at bruge vin, så at de ikke kunne skelne mellem det hellige og det almindelige. De ”tog hver sin pande, kom ild i dem og lagde røgelse derpå og frembar for Herrens åsyn fremmed ild, som han ikke havde pålagt dem.”