Reference: Fire
American
In Scripture, is often connected with the presence of Jehovah; as in the burning bush, and on Mount Sinai, Ex 3:2; 19:18; Ps 18; Hab 1-3. The second coming of Christ will be "in flaming fire," 2Th 1:8. In the New Testament it illustrates the enlightening, cheering, and purifying agency of the Holy Spirit, Mt 3:11; Ac 2:3. By sending fire from heaven to consume sacrifices, God often signified his acceptance of them: as in the case of Abel, Ge 4:4; Abraham, Ge 15:17; Manoah, Jg 13:19-20; Elijah, 1Ki 18:38; and at the dedication of the tabernacle and the temple, Le 9:24; 2Ch 7:1. This sacred fire was preserved by the priests with the utmost care, Isa 31:9, in many ancient religions fire was worshipped; and children were made to pass through the fire to Moloch, 2Ki 17:17; Jer 7:31; Eze 16:21; 23:37. The Jews had occasion for fires, except for cooking, only during a small part of the year. Besides their ordinary hearths and ovens, they warmed their apartments with "a fire of coals" in a brazier, Jer 36:22-23; Lu 22:30. The were forbidden to kindle a fire on the Sabbath, Ex 35:3--a prohibition perhaps only of cooking on that day, but understood by many Jews even now in the fullest extent; it is avoided by employing gentile servants. Another provision of the Mosaic Law was designed to protect the standing corn, etc., in the dry summer season, Ex 22:6. The earth is to be destroyed by fire, 2Pe 3:7; of which the destruction of Sodom, and the volcanoes and earthquakes which so often indicate the internal commotions of the globe, may serve as warnings.
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and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering,
And after the sun had gone down and it [was] dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces.
And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed.
And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
" 'If a fire is started and finds thorn bushes and a stack of sheaves or the standing grain or the field is consumed, the one who started the fire will surely make restitution.
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
And Manoah took the {young goat} and the grain offering, and he offered [it] to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles. And Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up!
They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.
And his rock will pass over because of terror, and his officers will be terrified because of [the] flag," {declares} Yahweh, who has a fire in Zion and has a furnace in Jerusalem.
And they built the high place of Topheth, which [is] in [the] Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.
Now the king [was] sitting [in] the quarters of the winter in the ninth month, and a fire-pot [was] burning {before} him. {And then}, as Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut it up in pieces with the knife of the scribe, and he would throw [it] into the fire that [was] in the fire-pot until the whole of the scroll [was] consumed in the fire that was in the fire-pot.
And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them {to be sacrificed to them}.
For they committed adultery, and blood [is] on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me--they sacrificed them as food!
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
with burning flame giving punishment to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,
But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.
Easton
(1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Ge 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Le 6:9,13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's temple (2Ch 7:1,3). The expressions "fire from heaven" and "fire of the Lord" generally denote lightning, but sometimes also the fire of the altar was so called (Ex 29:18; Le 1:9; 2:3; 3:5,9).
Fire for a sacred purpose obtained otherwise than from the altar was called "strange fire" (Le 10:1-2; Nu 3:4).
The victims slain for sin offerings were afterwards consumed by fire outside the camp (Le 4:12,21; 6:30; 16:27; Heb 13:11).
(2.) For domestic purposes, such as baking, cooking, warmth, etc. (Jer 36:22; Mr 14:54; Joh 18:18). But on Sabbath no fire for any domestic purpose was to be kindled (Ex 35:3; Nu 15:32-36).
(3.) Punishment of death by fire was inflicted on such as were guilty of certain forms of unchastity and incest (Le 20:14; 21:9). The burning of captives in war was not unknown among the Jews (2Sa 12:31; Jer 29:22). The bodies of infamous persons who were executed were also sometimes burned (Jos 7:25; 2Ki 23:16).
(4.) In war, fire was used in the destruction of cities, as Jericho (Jos 6:24), Ai (Jos 8:19), Hazor (Jos 11:11), Laish (Jg 18:27), etc. The war-chariots of the Canaanites were burnt (Jos 11:6,9,13). The Israelites burned the images (2Ki 10:26; R.V., "pillars") of the house of Baal. These objects of worship seem to have been of the nature of obelisks, and were sometimes evidently made of wood.
Torches were sometimes carried by the soldiers in battle (Jg 7:16).
(5.) Figuratively, fire is a symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power (Ex 14:19; Nu 11:1,3; Jg 13:20; 1Ki 18:38; 2Ki 1:10,12; 2:11; Isa 6:4; Eze 1:4; Re 1:14, etc.).
God's word is also likened unto fire (Jer 23:29). It is referred to as an emblem of severe trials or misfortunes (Zec 12:6; Lu 12:49; 1Co 3:13,15; 1Pe 1:7), and of eternal punishment (Mt 5:22; Mr 9:44; Re 14:10; 21:8).
The influence of the Holy Ghost is likened unto fire (Mt 3:11). His descent was denoted by the appearance of tongues as of fire (Ac 2:3).
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And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from all the clean animals and from all the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And the angel of God who was going before the camp of Israel set out and went behind them. And the column of cloud set out ahead of them, and it stood [still] behind them,
And you will turn into smoke [on] the altar all of the ram; it is a burnt offering for Yahweh; it [is] a smell of appeasement, an offering by fire for Yahweh.
You will not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the day of the Sabbath."
Then he must wash its inner parts and its lower leg bones with water, and the priest will turn into smoke the whole [animal] on the altar [as] a burnt offering [by] fire, [as] an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.
The remainder of the grain [offering] {belongs to} Aaron and to his sons--{it is a most holy thing} from the offerings made by fire for Yahweh.
Aaron's sons shall turn it to smoke on the altar in addition to the burnt offering that [is] on the wood, which [is] on the fire; it [is] an offering made by fire [as] an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.
He shall present from the sacrifice of the fellowship offering an offering made by fire for Yahweh: he must remove its fat, the entire fat tail near the tailbone, and the fat covering the inner parts and all the fat that [is] on the inner parts,
he shall carry all of the bull {outside the camp} to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ashes' dump, and he shall burn it on wood in the fire; it must be burned up on the fatty ashes' dump.
He shall bring [the rest of] the bull {outside the camp}, and he shall burn it {just as} he burned the first bull; it [is] the sin offering for the assembly.
"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This [is] the regulation of the burnt offering: {The burnt offering must remain on the hearth} on the altar all night until the morning, and the altar's fire must be kept burning on it.
A perpetual fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not be quenched.
But any sin offering [from] which {some of} its blood is brought to the tent of assembly to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten; it must be burned in the fire.'"
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
And Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, and they put fire in them and placed incense on it; then they presented {before} Yahweh illegitimate fire, which he had not commanded them. So fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed them so that they died {before} Yahweh.
And the sin offering's bull and the sin offering's goat, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought {outside the camp}, and they shall burn their hide and their flesh and their offal in the fire.
" 'As for a man who marries a woman and her mother, that [is] depravity; they shall burn him and them, so that it shall not become depravity in the midst of you [all].
" 'As for the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father--she shall be burned in the fire.
Nadab and Abihu died {before Yahweh} when they presented a strange fire {before Yahweh} in the desert of Sinai, and {they had no children}. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priest during the presence of Aaron their father.
And it happened, the people were like those who {complain of hardship} {in the hearing} of Yahweh, and Yahweh {became angry}, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and it consumed the edge of the camp.
And he called the name of that place Taberah because the fire of Yahweh burned among them.
When the {Israelites} were in the desert, they found a man who was gathering wood on the day of the Sabbath. The ones who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to all the community. read more. And they put him under watch because it was not made clear what should be done to him. And Yahweh said to Moses, "Surely the man must be put to death by stoning him; all the community [must stone him] with stones from outside the camp." So the entire community brought him out to a place outside the camp, and {they stoned him to death} just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
And they burned the city and all that [was] in it with fire; they put only the silver and gold, and the items of copper and iron, [into] the treasury of the house of Yahweh.
And Joshua said, "Why did you bring us trouble? Yahweh will bring you trouble on this day." And all Israel stoned them [with] stones; and they burned them with fire [after] they stoned them with stones.
The moment he stretched out his hand, those in the ambush stood up quickly from their place and ran. And they went [into] the city and captured it, quickly setting the city ablaze with fire.
And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of their presence, for tomorrow at this time I [will] hand them over slain to Israel; you will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."
And Joshua did to them as Yahweh commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
He struck all the people that [were] in it with {the edge of the sword}, utterly destroying them. {There was no one left who breathed}, and he burned Hazor with fire.
Israel did not burn the cities standing on their mounds, except Hazor alone, [which] Joshua burned.
He divided the three hundred men [into] three companies, and he put trumpets and empty jars in everyone's hand, with torches inside the jars.
And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.
And they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and {they put them to the sword} and burned the city with fire.
He also brought out the people who [were] in it and put them to the saws and to the iron picks and to the iron axes, and he sent them to the place of the brickmakers. Thus he used to do to all the cities of the {Ammonites}, and he and all of the army returned to Jerusalem.
They brought out the stone pillars of the temple of Baal and burned {them}.
And when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.
When all the {Israelites} saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down [with their] faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for [he is] good, for his loyal love [is] everlasting.
And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house was filled [with] smoke.
"[Is] not my word like fire?" {declares} Yahweh, "and like a blacksmith's hammer [that] breaks a rock into pieces?
And a curse will be taken [up] because of them by all the exiles of Judah who [are] in Babylon, {saying}, "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,"
Now the king [was] sitting [in] the quarters of the winter in the ninth month, and a fire-pot [was] burning {before} him.
And I looked, and look! A storm wind [was] coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around [and] {within it}, and from its midst [it was] like [the] outward appearance of amber stone from the midst of the fire.
" 'On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among [sticks of] wood, and like a torch of fire among stalks of grain, and they will devour to [the] right and to [the] left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again [in] its place, in Jerusalem.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Stupid fool!' will be subject to the council, and whoever says, 'Obstinate fool!' will be subject to fiery hell.
And Peter followed him from a distance, right inside, into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the officers and warming himself by the fire.
"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish that it had been kindled already!
(Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And Peter was also standing there with them and warming himself.)
And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
putting up with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone should have a complaint against anyone, just as also the Lord forgave you, thus also you [do the same].
And the peace of Christ must rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sins are burned up outside the camp.
and his head and hair [were] white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes [were] like a fiery flame,
he himself also will drink of the wine of the anger of God that has been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath, and will be tortured with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
But [as] for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share [is] in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.
Fausets
Ever burning on the altar, first kindled, according to Jewish tradition, from heaven (Le 6:9,13; 9:24). But Scripture represents the altar fire as lighted naturally before this. Knobel observes the rule Le 1:7, "the sons of Aaron shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire," must refer to the first burnt offering; the rule afterwards was to be that in Le 6:13; Ex 40:29; Le 8:16,21-28; 9:10,13-14,17,20. The heavenly fire in Le 9:24 did not kindle the fuel but consumed the victim. So God testified His accepting sacrifices (Jg 6:21; 13:19-20; 1Ki 18:38; 1Ch 21:26; 2Ch 7:1; probably Ge 4:4). Hence, the Hebrew for "accept" is "turn to ashes" (Ps 20:3 margin).
The ever burning fire symbolized Jehovah's ever continuing sacrificial worship; so in the New Testament, Heb 13:15; 1Th 5:17. This distinguishes it from the pagan idol Vesta's fire, the Magian fire, that of the Parsees, etc. The fires of Moloch and the sun god were nature worship, into which Sabeanism declined from the one God over all; the Jews often fell into this apostasy (Isa 27:9; 2Ki 23:11-12). The "strange fire" (Le 10:1) is generally explained common fire, not taken from the holy fire of the altar. But no express law forbade burning incense by ordinary fire, except the incense burned by the high priest in entering the holiest place on the day of atonement (Le 16:12), and probably the rule was hence taken as to the daily incense offering. They presented an incense offering not commanded in the law, apart from the morning and evening sacrifice.
Being an act of "will worship" it was "strange fire." Nadab and Abihu probably intended to accompany the people's shouts with an incense offering to the praise of God. The time and the manner of their offering were "strange" and selfwilled. So, the fire of the holy God (Ex 19:18), which had just sanctified Aaron's service, consumed his two oldest sons. So the gospel that saves the humble seals death to the presumptuous (2Co 2:16; Col 2:23). (See AARON.) Fire by its pure, penetrating, all consuming agency, symbolizes the holiness of God which consumes sin as a thing that cannot abide in His presence (Heb 10:27; 12:29). The risen Lord's "eyes are like a flame of fire" (Re 2:18,23) "searching the reins and hearts." He shall come "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that, know not God and obey not the gospel" (2Th 1:8).
The flaming fire marked His manifestation in the bush (Ex 3:2). Again the same symbol appeared in the pillar of cloud and fire (Ex 13:21-22), in His giving the law on Sinai (Ex 19:18); so at His second advent (Da 7:9-10; Mal 3:2; 4:1; 2Pe 3:7,10). John the Baptist, as the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament dispensation, declared of the Messiah, "He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire," referring to His judicial aspect, "burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Mt 3:11-12). Fire also symbolizes the purifying of believers by testing dealings (Mal 3:2), also the holy zeal kindled in them as at Pentecost (Acts 2; Isa 4:4). The same Holy Spirit. who sanctifies believers by the fire of affliction dooms unbelievers to the fire of perdition.
In 1Co 3:13-15, "every man's work ... the (judgment) day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is ... if any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." As the "gold," "hay," etc., are figurative, so the fire. Not purgatorial, i.e. purificatory and punitive, but probatory; not restricted, as Rome teaches, to those dying in "venial sin," the supposed intermediate class between those entering heaven at once and those dying in mortal sin and doomed to hell; but universal, testing the godly and ungodly alike (2Co 5:10; Mr 9:49).
This fire is not until the last day, the supposed fire of purgatory is at death. The fire of Paul is to try the works, the fire of purgatory the persons, of men. Paul's fire causes loss to the sufferers, Rome's fire the supposed gain of heaven at last to those purged by fire. A Christian worker, if he builds converts on Christ alone, besides being saved himself, shall have them as his crown and special reward (2Co 1:14; 1Th 2:19; 2Jo 1:8). But if his work be of unscriptural materials, that the fire will destroy, he shall lose the special "reward" of the work so lost, but himself shall be saved because in Christ, "yet so as by fire," i.e. having a narrow ESCAPE (Zec 3:2; Am 4:11; Jg 1:23).
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and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering,
And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed.
And Yahweh was going before them by day in a column of cloud to lead them [on] the way and [by] night in a column of fire to give light to them to go by day and night. The column of cloud by day and the column of fire [by] night did not depart from before the people.
And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
And the altar of burnt offering he placed [at] the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly, and he offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
The sons of Aaron the priest will put fire on the altar and arrange the wood on the fire.
"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This [is] the regulation of the burnt offering: {The burnt offering must remain on the hearth} on the altar all night until the morning, and the altar's fire must be kept burning on it.
A perpetual fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not be quenched.
A perpetual fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not be quenched.
Then he took all the fat that [was] on the inner parts and the lobe on the liver and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses turned [them] into smoke on the altar,
but he washed the inner parts and the lower leg bones with water, and Moses turned into smoke all of the ram on the altar; it [was] a burnt offering as an appeasing fragrance, an offering made by fire for Yahweh, [just] as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he brought the second ram near, the ram of the consecration, and Aaron and his sons placed their hands on the ram's head, read more. and he slaughtered [it]. Then Moses took {some of} its blood and put [it] on Aaron's right ear lobe and on his right hand's thumb and on his right foot's big toe. Then he brought Aaron's sons near, and Moses put {some of} the blood on their right ear lobe and on their right hand's thumb and on their right foot's big toe, and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar all around. Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all of the fat that [was] on the inner parts and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right upper thigh; and from the basket of the unleavened bread that [was] before Yahweh he took one ring-shaped unleavened bread and one ring-shaped bread with oil and one wafer, and he placed [them] on the {fat parts} and on the right upper thigh. Then he put {all of these} on Aaron's palms and on his sons' palms, and he waved them [as] a wave offering {before} Yahweh. Then Moses took them from upon their palms, and he turned [them] into smoke upon the burnt offering on the altar; they [were] a consecration offering as an appeasing fragrance--it [was] an offering made by fire for Yahweh.
And the fat and the kidneys and the lobe {from the sin offering's liver} he turned into smoke on the altar, [just] as Yahweh had commanded Moses,
and they brought the burnt offering to him by its pieces, as well as the head, and he turned [them] into smoke on the altar; and he washed the inner parts and the lower leg bones, then he turned [them] into smoke upon the burnt offering on the altar.
Then he presented the grain offering, and he filled his palm {with some of} it, and he turned it into smoke on the altar besides the morning's burnt offering.
they placed the fat portions on the breast sections, and he turned the fat portions into smoke on the altar.
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
And Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, and they put fire in them and placed incense on it; then they presented {before} Yahweh illegitimate fire, which he had not commanded them.
And he shall take a censer full of {burning charcoal} from upon the altar from {before} Yahweh and {two handfuls} of incense of powdered fragrant perfumes, and he shall bring [it] {from behind} the curtain,
The scroll of this law will not depart from your mouth; you will meditate on it day and night so that {you may observe diligently all that is written} in it. For then you will succeed [in] your ways and prosper.
And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).
Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that [was] in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went {from his sight}.
And Manoah took the {young goat} and the grain offering, and he offered [it] to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles. And Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.
May he remember all your offerings, and your burnt offering may he {regard favorably}.
when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
Therefore by this he will make atonement [for] the guilt of Jacob, and this [will be] all of [the] fruit [of] the removal of his sin: {when he makes} all [the] stones of [the] altar like crushed stones of chalk, no poles of Asherah worship or incense altars will stand.
"{I continued watching} until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing [was] like white snow and the hair of his head [was] like pure wool and his throne [was] a flame of fire and its wheels [were] burning fire. A stream of fire issued forth and flowed {from his presence}; thousands [upon] thousands served him and ten thousand [upon] ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and [the] books were opened.
"I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from [the] fire, and yet you did not return to me," [is] the declaration of Yahweh.
But Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! [Is] this not a stick snatched from the fire?"
And who [can] endure the day of his coming? And who [is] the one who can stand {when he appears}? For he [is] like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.
And who [can] endure the day of his coming? And who [is] the one who can stand {when he appears}? For he [is] like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.
"For look! The day [is] about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every {evildoer} will be stubble. The coming day will consume them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel [is] in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
the work of each one will become evident. For the day will reveal [it], because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the work of each one, of what sort it is. If anyone's work that he has built upon [it] remains, he will receive a reward. read more. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but so as through fire.
just as you have also understood us in part, that we are your reason for boasting, just as you [are] also ours in the day of our Lord Jesus.
to those on the one hand an odor from death to death, [and] to those on the other hand a fragrance from life to life. And who [is] qualified for these [things]?
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that each one may receive back the [things] through the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
which [things] {although they have}, to be sure, an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and unsparing treatment of the body, {do not have any value} against the indulgence of the flesh.
with burning flame giving punishment to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the adversaries.
For indeed our God [is] a consuming fire.
Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise {continually} to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.
"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: "This is what the Son of God says, the one who has his eyes like a fiery flame and his feet like fine bronze:
And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
Hastings
Morish
God was early revealed in fire. The searching character of His righteous judgement was thus set forth, whether in the acceptance of good or the condemnation of evil. When Moses at Horeb approached the burning bush he was cautioned not to draw near, but to remove his shoes, for the ground was holy. God spake to him out of the burning bush. Ex 3:1-6. On Mount Sinai "the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire." Ex 24:17. Moses declared to Israel, "The Lord thy God is a consuming fire." De 4:24. When Aaron began his ministrations in the tabernacle fire came out "from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat." Le 9:24: cf. 1Ki 18:38; 1Ch 21:26; 2Ch 7:1-3. Nadab and Abihu offered 'strange fire,' and fire went out from the Lord and consumed them. Le 10:1-2. Thus God manifested Himself in fire to Moses. He showed His acceptance of the sacrifices by fire from heaven; He vindicated His servant Elijah, when he stood alone against the prophets of Baal, by consuming the sacrifice, the wood and the stone, by fire from heaven (1Ki 18:38); and He vindicated His own honour by fire, by destroying those who were disobedient in approaching to Him. The general idea in 'fire' is that of judgement.
In the N.T. it is repeated, "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29), to consume the dross in the Christian, as gold is tried and purified in the fire; and to judge and punish the wicked with unquenchable fire; who are also described as being BAPTISED WITH FIRE. Mt 3:11-12. One of the most awful things connected with this word is the description of the place of eternal punishment as THE LAKE OF FIRE. Re 19:20; Rev.20:10, 14, 15. What mercy to be delivered therefrom!
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And Moses was a shepherd with the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west [of] the desert, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed. read more. And Moses said, "Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?" And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here I [am]." And he said, "You must not come near to here. Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you [are] standing, it [is] holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face because he was afraid of looking at God.
And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh [was] like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the {Israelites}.
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
And Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, and they put fire in them and placed incense on it; then they presented {before} Yahweh illegitimate fire, which he had not commanded them. So fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed them so that they died {before} Yahweh.
for Yahweh your God [is] a devouring fire, a jealous God.
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up!
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up!
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel [is] in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
For indeed our God [is] a consuming fire.
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.
Smith
is represented as the symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power, in the way either of approval or of destruction.
etc. There could not be a better symbol for Jehovah than this of fire, it being immaterial, mysterious, but visible, warming, cheering, comforting, but also terrible and consuming. Parallel with this application of fire and with its symbolical meaning are to be noted the similar use for sacrificial purposes and the respect paid to it, or to the heavenly bodies as symbols of deity, which prevailed among so many nations of antiquity, and of which the traces are not even now extinct; e.g. the Sabean and Magian systems of worship.
Fire for sacred purposes obtained elsewhere than from the altar was called "strange fire," and for the use of such Nadab and Abihu were punished with death by fire from God.
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And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed.
And the angel of God who was going before the camp of Israel set out and went behind them. And the column of cloud set out ahead of them, and it stood [still] behind them,
And Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, and they put fire in them and placed incense on it; then they presented {before} Yahweh illegitimate fire, which he had not commanded them. So fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed them so that they died {before} Yahweh.
Nadab and Abihu died {before Yahweh} when they presented a strange fire {before Yahweh} in the desert of Sinai, and {they had no children}. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priest during the presence of Aaron their father.
But Nadab and Abihu died when they presented strange fire {before} Yahweh.
Therefore by this he will make atonement [for] the guilt of Jacob, and this [will be] all of [the] fruit [of] the removal of his sin: {when he makes} all [the] stones of [the] altar like crushed stones of chalk, no poles of Asherah worship or incense altars will stand.
Watsons
FIRE. God hath often appeared in fire, and encompassed with fire, as when he showed himself in the burning bush; and descended on Mount Sinai, in the midst of flames, thunderings, and lightning, Ex 3:2; 19:18. Hence fire is a symbol of the Deity: "The Lord thy God is a consuming fire," De 4:24. The Holy Ghost is compared to fire: "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire," Mt 3:11. To verify this prediction, he sent the Holy Ghost, which descended upon his disciples, in the form of tongues, or like flames of fire, Ac 2:3. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to enlighten, purify, and sanctify the soul; and to inflame it with love to God, and zeal for his glory. Fire from heaven fell frequently on the victims sacrificed to the Lord, as a mark of his presence and approbation. It is thought, that God in this manner expressed his acceptance of Abel's sacrifices, Ge 4:4. When the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, a fire like that of a furnace passed through the divided pieces of the sacrifices, and consumed them, Ge 15:17. Fire fell upon the sacrifices which Moses offered at the dedication of the tabernacle, Le 9:24; and upon those of Manoah, Samson's father, Jg 13:19-20; upon Solomon's, at the dedication of the temple, 2Ch 7:1; and on Elijah's, at Mount Carmel, 1Ki 18:38. The fire which came down from heaven, first upon the altar in the tabernacle, and afterward descended anew upon the altar in the temple of Solomon, at its consecration, was there constantly fed and maintained by the priests, day and night, in the same manner as it had been in the tabernacle. The Jews have a tradition, that Jeremiah, foreseeing the destruction of the temple, took this fire and hid it in a pit; but that at the rebuilding of the temple, being brought again from thence, it revived upon the altar. But this is a fiction: and the generality of them allow, that, at the destruction of the temple, it was extinguished; and in the time of the second temple, nothing was made use of for all their burnt offerings but common fire only. The ancient Chaldeans adored the fire, as well as the old Persians, and some other people of the east. The torments of hell are described by fire, both in the Old and New Testament. Our Saviour makes use of this similitude, to represent the punishment of the damned, Mr 9:44. He likewise speaks frequently of the eternal fire prepared for the devil, his angels, and reprobates, Mt 25:41. The sting and remorse of conscience is the worm that will never die; and the wrath of God upon their souls and bodies, the fire that shall never go out. There are writers who maintain, that by the worm is to be understood a living and sensible, not an allegorical and figurative, worm; and by fire, a real elementary and material fire. Among the abettors of this opinion are Austin, Cyprian, Chrysostom, Jerom, &c. The word of God is compared to fire: "Is not my word like a fire?" Jer 23:20. It is full of life and efficacy; like a fire it warms, melts, and heats; and is powerful to consume the dross, and burn up the chaff and stubble. Fire is likewise taken for persecution, dissension, and division: "I am come to send fire on earth," Lu 12:49; as if it was said, upon my coming and publishing the Gospel, there will follow, through the devil's malice and corruption of men, much persecution to the professors thereof, and manifold divisions in the world, whereby men will be tried, whether they will be faithful or not.
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and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering,
And after the sun had gone down and it [was] dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces.
And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed.
And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
Then a fire went out {from before} Yahweh, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw [it], so they shouted [for joy], and they fell on their faces.
for Yahweh your God [is] a devouring fire, a jealous God.
And Manoah took the {young goat} and the grain offering, and he offered [it] to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles. And Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up!
And when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.
The {anger} of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his {mind}. {In latter days} you will look closely at it [with] understanding.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Then he will also say to those on [his] left, 'Depart from me, [you] accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!
"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish that it had been kindled already!
And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.