It just struck me as a bit harsh...when one thinks of sins that would invoke a heavenly Zot, one thinks of worshiping golden calves at the foot of Mt. Sinai...lighting incense from the wrong fire doesn't exactly spring to mind.
Heck, in the Genesis fable Cain murdered Abel, and all he got for his crime was a smudge on his forehead!
Fable? To you.
No. Cain was rejected from the presence of God and his family who worshipped God and loved Him. He was sent out to the wilderness, never to experience true joy and happiness again. Even though Cain had rejected God, God through His grace still protected Cain. He had to live a lonely, bitter life, estranged forever from true joy and love. And he knew that before he killed his brother. Cain really had a worse punishment than the two sons of the high priest.
If we don’t abide by what appear to us to be the “small” things, how can God encourage us to abide by His bigger expectations?