.
Manna From Messiah
.
Pastor
Ellen Mumper, Canada
.
.Holy
Fire
The fire that comes from
God is a fascinating subject! Fire attracts. I remember as a child that my
mother loved to chase a big fire, when she saw smoke in the sky or when sirens
screamed. Campers are mesmerized almost by staring into a campfire for hours
just as are those snuggling by a fire in the cold of winter. Candle flames set
a tone for romantic meals or Sabbath meals. Fire consumes. Fire changes
chemistry. Fire purifies. And there is also a fire that does NOT consume.
Witness Moshe (Moses) at the burning bush. It was impossible that the bush was not consumed and yet it was not. Exodus 3:2 and 3 say "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Holy fire! We meet this fire again when the children of Israel were travelling through the wilderness as the pillar of fire went before them or behind them and did not harm them, but rather gave them light and protection. We see this holy fire when the children of Israel camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. " 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). It struck terror in the hearts of the people even though they were never harmed by this fire.
There is an even earlier encounter in Scripture of the terrifying fire of God in Genesis 15. Adonai had just made a covenant with Avraham in an ancient and middle eastern tradition. He had promised Avraham that his seed would be as the stars of heaven. Then Avraham was to take animals and birds and divide them and shed their blood in the middle of the path with the animal halves on either side. This is where we get the term "to cut a covenant." The two parties agreeing to a covenant were to walk through the blood and bind themselves to a penalty of death if either failed to keep the covenant. In His mercy, God knew that Avraham could not keep his half of the covenant so He Himself kept both parts. Avraham fell into a horror of darkness and sleep where he could not move. Then God came down in the form of a smoking furnace and burning lamp to walk through that trail of blood. He Himself would die, in the form of our Messiah, for our failing to keep the covenant. The passage is awesome. Genesis 15:17 says "And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" Both a furnace and lamp have to do with fire. The smoking furnace is cross referenced in Exodus 19:18 - "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." This fire on the mountain referred to previously then was the same fire! A smoking furnace symbolised Almighty God. The lamp in Genesis 15 is the lamp of Messiah. This is spoken of in Isaiah 62:1 "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns." The word salvation is Yeshua/ Jesus. He is salvation! He is Messiah.
A quick check of an online concordance listed over 500 references to fire in Scripture. The most mentioned fire is the fire that accompanied the sacrifices in the tabernacle and temple systems. Offerings were made by fire. Offerings were totally consumed by fire. The burning by fire of these sacrifices was a sweet aroma to the Most High.
You and I do not want to ever encounter the fire that consumed. Remember Nadav and Avihu? In Leviticus 10 these sons of Aharon (Aaron) the High priest were in the process of initiating the sacrificial system in the newly set up tabernacle. They presumptuously brought strange fire before the LORD in a way and from a source He did not command. Leviticus 10:1 says "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not." The answer of the Almighty was to answer this strange fire with holy fire! Leviticus 10:2 says "And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD." Fire also consumed rebellious Israelites at Taberah in the wilderness. Fire will finally at the end of this age, destroy the present earth before we can see the new heaven and new earth. This fire in 2 Peter 3 that burns up the earth will rennovate and purge all remains of sin and death on the earth,
Some of the holy fire I love the most is described in Isaiah 6. This familiar passage describes Isaiah's vision of the throne of the Almighty God in Heaven. When he saw the throne high and lifted up (verse 1) he goes on to describe this most wondrous scene. Seraphs surround the throne. Seraphim were angels that had to do with the fire of God. Seraph is from a word root signifying burning. When Isaiah is overcome with awe and aware of his sinfulness, a seraph takes a live coal from that altar and places it on Isaiah's mouth. Purging! Purifying! Cleansing! Isaiah was then, in spite of his sinfulness, commissioned for service and ministry.
Sha'ul (The apostle Paul) had this fire burning within him. He said of the Gospel, "WOE to me if I preach not the Gospel!" in 1 Corinthians 9:16. We need to have this same burning desire for a lost and dying world, for if we do not have the fire of the zeal of the Gospel in us, the fire of everlasting destruction will consume those we love and live amongst. Yes there will be persecution to some extent. Yes, there will be those who laugh, and those who get angry with us. But if we do not have the holy fire of God in us, the fire of consuming will destroy them. I am reminded of Jeremiah's words in Jeremiah 20:9. So disheartened, so weary, and in so much suffering for preaching the Gospel and landing in a pit, Jeremiah determined not to preach the Truth any more. But "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
Fire from God! We decide whether it will consume us, consume
others, or fill and empower us!
