God led the Israelites out of Egypt with a cloud and a pillar of fire. But very soon the Bible warns those people about carving idols, saying that “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” in Deuteronomy 4:24. In this verse, jealous means: fiercely protective and unaccepting of disloyalty. This is repeated in several places suggesting that those who heard it needed to hear it several times. One example comes from Deuteronomy 4:33–36:
Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
The idea of God being like fire is associated with His judgment on sin. His holiness demands that sin be destroyed, consumed, burned up. He describes the heat of His opposition to sin in passages like Jeremiah 23:28–32:
Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
Is the New Testament any kinder? One first mention of FIRE is in Matthew 3:11 where John the Baptist declares of Jesus: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” It says that God’s people will be given not only the Holy Spirit but that same hatred of sin. I can identify with this. I hate sin in myself. I am often deeply distressed by the sin in the world, what I read in the news and see in the way people treat one another.
Almost all the NT references to fire are about the destiny of those who reject Christ. At first thought, this is the realm of the enemy, yet is it? God who hates sin and is a consuming fire will eventually deal with it. He says that our sin will eventually find us out. It will show up and defeat all who do not go for the cure. Eternal fire is the result for those who reject the One who is consuming fire. He, when trusted and given my sin will work through the power of the Holy Spirit to consume it from my life so that I will not later suffer in that everlasting fire that has no power to rid me of it, only to punish me for it.
This is not a popular topic, yet the “baptism with fire” in Matthew refers to the judging and cleansing of those who would enter the kingdom. It is like NT symbolism of a winnowing fork tossing up grain. The wheat is gathered into the barn and the chaff is burned up. Christ came to prepare a people (wheat) for His kingdom by empowering and cleansing the people (His Word is the fire) and those who reject Him (chaff) will judged and wind up in eternal fire that cannot do the job.
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Today I’m aware of God’s holiness and His right to work in my life as He sees fit. His fire is not pleasant, but I’m thankful for His cleansing heat. It means that by grace I’ll not experience the fire of His judgment after this life is over.
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