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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But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock -- even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked -- and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!
Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
"If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord's messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground.
Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.
They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry.
They will surrender their stronghold because of fear; their officers will be afraid of the Lord's battle flag." This is what the Lord says -- the one whose fire is in Zion, whose firepot is in Jerusalem.
They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!
Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters. A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him. As soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them on the fire in the firepot. He kept doing so until the whole scroll was burned up in the fire.
For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, they have passed through the fire as food to their idols.
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am not worthy to carry his sandals. 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 tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.
With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
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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Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar -- it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons -- it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord.
Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails,
all the rest of the bull -- he must bring outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ash pile, and he must burn it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.
He must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull -- it is the sin offering of the assembly.
"Command Aaron and his sons, 'This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it.
But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned up in the fire.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Then Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.
The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up,
If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst.
If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death.
Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.
So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.
When the Israelites were in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community. read more. They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone him with stones outside the camp." So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
But they burned the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord's house.
Joshua said, "Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!" All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.)
When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
The Lord told Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."
Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.
They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword -- no one who breathed remained -- and burned Hazor.
But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds, except for Hazor; it was the only one Joshua burned.
He divided the three hundred men into three units. He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.
As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground.
Now the Danites took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.
He removed the people who were in it and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord's splendor filled the temple.
When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord's splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, "Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!"
The sound of their voices shook the door frames, and the temple was filled with smoke.
My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! I, the Lord, so affirm it!
And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, "May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!"
Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters. A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him.
As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north -- an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like glowing amber from the middle of a fire.
On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says 'Fool' will be sent to fiery hell.
And Peter had followed him from a distance, up to the high priest's courtyard. He was sitting with the guards and warming himself by the fire.
"I have come to bring fire on the earth -- and how I wish it were already kindled!
(Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.)
And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.
Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.
For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.
His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.
that person will also drink of the wine of God's anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.
But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That 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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But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock -- even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked -- and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!
Now the Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel day or night. He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
and the sons of Aaron, the priest, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
"Command Aaron and his sons, 'This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it.
Then he took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar,
but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar -- it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram read more. and he slaughtered it. Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron's right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Next he brought Aaron's sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar's sides. Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat) and the right thigh, and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. He then put all of them on the palms of Aaron and his sons, who waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering -- they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord.
The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the Lord had commanded Moses,
The burnt offering itself they handed to him by its parts, including the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar, and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Then Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.
and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the veil-canopy.
This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.
The Lord's messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord's messenger then disappeared.
Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord's messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground.
May he take notice of your offerings; may he accept your burnt sacrifice! (Selah)
At that time the sovereign master will wash the excrement from Zion's women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem's midst, as he comes to judge and to bring devastation.
So in this way Jacob's sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.
"While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb's wool. His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened and the books were opened.
"I overthrew some of you the way God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the flames. Still you did not come back to me." The Lord is speaking!
The Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn't this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like a launderer's soap.
Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like a launderer's soap.
"For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up," says the Lord who rules over all. "It will not leave even a root or branch.
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire."
each builder's work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. read more. If someone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.
Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body -- a wisdom with no true value -- they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.
With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God's enemies.
For our God is indeed a devouring fire.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name.
"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write the following: "This is the solemn pronouncement of the Son of God, the one who has eyes like a fiery flame and whose feet are like polished bronze:
Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve.
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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Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked -- and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! read more. So Moses thought, "I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?" When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." God said, "Do not approach any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." He added, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Then Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.
Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.
Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire."
For our God is indeed a devouring fire.
Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf -- signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.
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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The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked -- and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!
The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
Then Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.
Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
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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But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock -- even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked -- and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!
Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.
Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord's messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground.
Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord's splendor filled the temple.
The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In days to come you people will come to understand this clearly.
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, 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 it were already kindled!
And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.