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God Is A Consuming Fire
God is first
identified as a “consuming fire” in
Deuteronomy 4:24 and 9:3.
The writer
to the Hebrews reiterates, warning the Hebrews to worship God with reverence
and awe “for our God is a consuming
fire.”
There is nothing mysterious about the Hebrew and Greek
words translated “consuming fire.”
They mean exactly that - a fire that utterly consumes or
destroys.
How, then, can a loving and merciful God also be a
consuming fire that utterly destroys?
In both Deuteronomy passages in which God is called a consuming
fire, Moses is speaking first to warn the Israelites against idolatry (Deuteronomy
4:23-25).
Because God
is a “jealous God” He will not share
His glory with worthless idols.
Idolatry provokes Him to a righteous anger which is
justified when His holiness is disrespected.
In Deuteronomy 9:3, Moses again refers to God as a
consuming (or devouring) fire who would go ahead of the Israelites into the
Promised Land, destroying and subduing their enemies before them.
Here again we see God’s wrath against those who oppose Him
depicted as fire that utterly consumes and destroys anything in His path.
There are several incidents in which God’s wrath, judgment,
holiness or power are displayed by fire from heaven.
Aaron’s sons Abihu and Nadab were destroyed by fire when
they offered a profane sacrifice, “strange
file,” in the tabernacle, a sign of their disregard for the utter holiness
of God and the need to honor Him in solemn and holy fear.
The confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal
on Mount Carmel is another example of consuming fire from God.
The prophets of Baal called upon their god all day long to
rain fire from heaven to no avail.
Then Elijah built an altar of stones, dug a ditch around
it, put the sacrifice on the top of wood and called for water to be poured over
his sacrifice three times.
Elijah called upon God, and God sent fire down from heaven,
completely consuming the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones and licked up the
water in the ditch.
Then His anger turned against the false prophets, and they
were all killed.
When
prophesying the destruction of the Assyrians, who resisted the true and living
God and warred against His people, Isaiah refers to the tongue of the Lord as a
consuming fire and His “arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire” (Isaiah 30:27-30).
God’s holiness is the reason for His being a consuming
fire, and it burns up anything unholy.
The holiness of God is that part of His nature that most
separates Him from sinful man.
The godless,
Isaiah writes, tremble before Him: “Who
of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting
burning?"
Isaiah answers this by saying that only the righteous can
withstand the consuming fire of God’s wrath against sin, because sin is an
offense to God’s holiness.
But Isaiah
also assures us that no amount of our own righteousness is sufficient (Isaiah 64:6).
Fortunately, God has provided the righteousness we need by
sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of all who would ever
believe in Him.
In that one act, Christ mitigates God’s wrath, exchanging
His perfect righteousness for our sin.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians
5:21).
All the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus, so that those
who belong to Him would not have to suffer the same fate as the Assyrians.
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
But we need not fear the consuming fire of God’s wrath if
we are covered by the purifying blood of Christ.
God has made it possible for you to know Him
and experience an amazing change in your own life by receiving His Son,
Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my
sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I
now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You. I
receive Your free gift of salvation.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my
sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to
rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to
your Word, I am now born again, has
eternal life, and I am now Your child.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You,
and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word – the
Bible.
Please use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
If you have just put
your trust in Jesus Christ, you have been born into God’s family.
As a spiritual baby,
you need to grow by feeding on God’s Word – the Bible (1 Peter 2:2).
You must have a good
modern translation Bible and begin prayerfully reading it. Start in the New
Testament, such as the Gospel of John or Paul’s letters to the Ephesians.
Also, you need to
join a Christian fellowship where the Bible is taught and where God is truly
worshiped.
God bless you as you
begin your new life with Him!
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