For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)
This description of our God as a consuming fire is found only 3 times in His Word, twice in Deuteronomy and once in the book of Hebrews.
Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee. (Deuteronomy 9:3)
For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)
To understand this concept a little more clearly, let's take a look our God who is a consuming fire and how the the fire of God reveals His character.
Our God who is a consuming fire
Many writings you will find on this subject focus primarily on God's wrath and judgement poured out upon the wicked, in times past and in times to come. Sodom and Gomorrah are a striking example of judgement by fire.The Bible is very clear that our God has, does and will pour out His wrath upon sin, but that is not the sum of who He is, noris the wrath of God His primary attribute.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
God, in all His ways, His works and revelation of Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the absolute expression of perfection. God's perfection is absolute holiness and absolute completeness.
Do you remember the vision of God's throne given to Isaiah? In the KJV, we are told the seraphim cried out, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." Let's take a fresh look at that verse in another translation. They proclaimed God is "More holy than the holiest holiness." (Isaiah 6:3 CJB)
God's perfection is absolute holiness and absolute completeness.
The Lord Jesus Christ pouring out His love on Calvary, the Almighty's wrath poured out on His enemies, the Holy Spirit pouring out His power into our lives - anything and everything our God does is all done in absolute perfection and completeness. We cannot separate His love from His anger. We cannot separate judgement from mercy. These are an integral part of who He is in His absolute perfection and completeness. We could put that another way:
- Without God's law, we could never comprehend God's grace.
- Without God's judgment, would we never know God's mercies.
- Without His wrath, we would never know His forgiveness.
- Without His anger, we would never enjoy His favor.
Let's take another look at Deuteronomy 4:24.
For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
This doesn't mean God jealous of us; He's jealous for us. He doesn't want anything to get in the way of our relationship with Him and doesn't want anything to get in the way of His communion with us. He wants us to enjoy a complete and perfect fellowship with the One who is complete and perfect in all His ways.
The fire of God reveals His character
The fire of God reveals much about who He is and how He expects us to live.The first recorded incidence of God's fire showed His absolute holiness and judgement of sin, when He rained down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Exodus 13:12).
Next we find God in the midst of a burning bush "and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed" (Exodus 3:2). The God who created the elements can certainly control fire and has the power to reveal Himself through it.
God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Exodus 3:4-5)
There, on Mount Horeb, God revealed His holiness and power by fire.
The, He sent Moses back to Egypt with a mission and a message.
Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. (Exodus 9:1)
When Pharaoh refused, God responded in his absolute and complete holiness and rained down judgments upon the Egyptians. He sent blood, frogs, lice, flies, locusts, boils darkness, death, hail and fire.
To the people of Egypt, God revealed His holiness and power by fire.
The fire God used to judge Egypt also revealed more aspects of His absolute perfection and completeness. Look at more of God's conversation with Moses from the burning bush.
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey... Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. (Exodus 3:7-9)
Why would God hear the cries of His people and promise to deliver them?
To the children of Israel, God revealed His love and faithfulness by fire.
So, how did God lead His people to the promised land?
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night (Exodus 13:21)
Injecting and unproven opinion here: it was the Holy Spirit leading and guiding His people through that pillar of fire. You can ponder that one later.
To the children of Israel, God revealed His leading by fire.
Later, God called Moses up to meet with Him on Mount Sinai, where He would give His commandments.
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.(Exodus 19:18)
This God, in His absolute perfection and completeness gave rules to live by, knowing no human would ever be able to keep them all. Why? To show us our desperate condition and need of Him.
To Moses, God revealed His love and His holiness by fire.
There are many more occurrences of God revealing Himself by fire recorded in the Old Testament, including the day He rained down fire on an altar to show His holiness and power by fire, but I would like to highlight just one more.
Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? The refused to bow down to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar saying, "our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up" (Daniel 3:17-18).
Despite the threats of the king, these 3 young men stayed faithful to their God who had been faithful to them and believed He would deliver, even in the midst of the fire. Take a look at what God did...
Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:22-25)
This time, God didn't answer by fire; He answered from the midst of the fire, as He had done with Moses, yet without words. He answered by His presence in the midst of the fire. Injecting another opinion here, I think the 4th Person walking in the midst of the fire was Jesus. I'll leave you to ponder that.
In Babylon, God revealed His love, His power and His faithfulness by fire.
Many years later, John the Baptist prophesied, "...one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Luke 3:16).
Above, we noted that anything and everything our God does is all done in absolute perfection and completeness. Jesus' sacrificial death, burial and resurrection was accomplished in absolute perfection and completeness. He died once for all, satisfying the holiness of God by the shedding of His blood. those who believe on Him and what He has done for us can enjoy a complete and perfect fellowship with the One who is complete and perfect in all His ways.
Jesus fulfilled that promise made through John to baptize with the Holy ghost and with fire. When He ascended into heaven, He sent another Comforter (John 14:16). The disciples gathered together on Pentecost, but I'm sure they were not expecting what happened that day.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-3)
That day in Jerusalem, and many times since, God has revealed His power and faithfulness to and in His people by fire.
In times past and in our time, God, in his absolute perfection and completeness, reveals His holiness, His power, His love, His faithfulness, and His leading to His people by fire.
Our God is a consuming fire.
