Not long after the priests, Aaron and his sons, were appointed to serve the Tabernacle Nadab & Abihu were killed by fire from the LORD. They put fire in their censors that was different from what God had commanded, the literal meaning of the Hebrew word is that it was common. It is sometimes speculated that Nadab and Abihu were drunk when they did this because of the command God gives just after this incident to Aaron and his other sons. God commanded just after this that the priests were not to drink any alcohol when they go into the Tabernacle.
Because Aaron was the High Priest and serving the Tabernacle he was not allowed to mourn by tearing his clothes or any other outward sign of grief. How difficult it must have been for Aaron to go on living as if nothing happened. Especially when you remember that God did not deliver such a harsh punishment when Aaron made a golden calf for Israel to worship and lied about how it was created.
Daily Bible Thoughts 
#1 by sarahkf on February 18, 2011 - 4:04 pm
I also wonder how difficult it must have been for Moses to write the story down, having to write it about his own nephews.
(I feel silly. I haven’t been able to check in with the blog in a few days, so I’ve just been reading straight through–and read a ton of Leviticus already. Oh well, you’ll probably be past it by the time I get all caught up!)