FIRE!!!

For our God is a consuming fire!

(509 occurrences)

He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and fire"(Matt. 3: 7-12,).

(By Rev. Debbi Cox, August 8,2003)

Some might say that “Fire is just fire.” But truly, there are many kinds of fire. Fire is produced from many things – for many things. Some fire is strictly for warmth, some fire is produced for destruction. Many want to think all fire is something destructive, but we can observe in many ways how fire can be controlled, thusly productive. Some fires are for purification. It changes the molecular structure of various things into better things that can be widely used. This is a Refining Fire. For example: iron ore is turned into steel, sand is turned into glass.

Some fires are toxic and burn-off very dense toxic black smoke, some produce deadly vapors, but some fire burns clean, with little to no evidence of the flame. All of these differences are based on the type of fuel that feeds the flame. All fire requires a source of fuel. Some fuels are explosive, others are very slow burning, yet others burn steadily. In addition to fuel, like a living thing, fire requires oxygen (air) to breath or it will die.

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I would like to focus particularly on the Holy Fire of God.

The word FIRE: Hebrew: #784 fire (‘esh) [aysh] 1) fire

1a) fire, flames 1b) supernatural fire (accompanying theophany)

1c) fire (for cooking, roasting, parching) 1d) altar-fire

1e) God’s anger (fig.) i.e. judgement

Smith’s Bible Dictionary: FIRE is represented as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence and the instrument of his power, in the way either of approval or of destruction. (Exodus 3:2; 14:19) 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. (Isaiah 27:9) 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. (Leviticus 10:1,2; Numbers 3:4; 26:61)

AND THIS IS JUST THE INTRODUCTION!!!

This quote is exactly what the Lord has been saying to me throughout this teaching so I’ll begin here:

“Like the Breath of God and the Water of God, so the Fire of God is paradoxical. It can bring blessing and life to those who choose God's path. It can also bring destruction upon those who reject God and His ways. Since evil cannot stand before God, His Spirit consumes evil and sin in the world. God's Spirit can work in two ways in our lives. Depending on the condition of our heart, it can have a good effect or a bad effect.”

1. First account when the Lord cut a covenant with Abraham:

Gen. 15:12,17-18 …. a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces

This fire was the PRESENCE OF GOD! Only God could fulfill the covenant so only he passed between the pieces, Abraham – as a mere man would have broken the covenant, and so God swore by his own name (Heb 6:13-16).

2. The next occurrence of Fire in the Bible are in Judgment (which consumes):

Gen 19:24-25, ²⁴Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven… (ref: Lu 17:29)

Ex 9:23-24 …the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; …fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt…

Num 11:¹And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. ²And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.

Num 16:7, 18-19,35-38 …the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation…³⁵And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. ³⁶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ³⁷Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.

3. The third type of occurrences are the Guiding Light (Presence which does not consume):

Ex 3:² 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.” Then it was HOLY GROUND because of God’s Presence (see Acts 7:30-33)

Ex 13:²¹And 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: 14:²⁴And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians…

Ex 19: ¹⁷And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice… (also Ex 24:17-18, 40:38, Nu 9:15-16)

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary: It is not always possible to distinguish the presence of God from his glory for, indeed, glory is frequently a figure itself for divine presence. However, a number of passages focus on fire as synonymous with or in association with God's glory. For example, to the Israelites at Sinai "the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire" (Exod 24:17; cf. Lev 9:23, 24; Deut 5:24). In visions of God in his glory in both Old and New Testaments, fire is a regular phenomenon.

Ps 105:³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

3a. Fire was reserved for the Lord only on the Sabbath – because it’s SACRED!:

Ex 35:²Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. ³Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

4. There is Unholy fire – which Holiness ALWAYS judges:

Nu 3:⁶⁰And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁶¹And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange (foreign, alien, lothesome) fire before the LORD. (Ref: Ex 30:9, apothecary: 22-38)

Lev 10:⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. ⁷And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: WHY? – BECAUSEà for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.

Do not MOURN the loss of those that perish in Judgment, it is an INSULT to the Lord God, who is JUST AND HOLY IN ALL THINGS. If we bewail for the loss of His Judgment then we cast away His Perfect Judgment. The Wrath of God is the Judgment of God which is kindles an Eternal Flame, because He will NEVER allow SIN to be before him. We’ll talk more about this.

Another example: II Sam 6:⁶And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. ⁷And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God (He was near God – but he touched the Glory!) ⁸And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach (outburst of God’s wrath) upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah (breach of Uzzah) to this day. ⁹And David was afraid (reverence fear) of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?

“That no flesh should glory (be exalted or lifted up, high estimation of oneself) in his presence.” (I Cor 1:29)

So David studied the writings of Moses and gained understanding: Num 4:¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.

5. Fire of Holy Anger

Duet 4:²⁴For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Also, Heb 12:²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire (Gr. Pur #4442)

Ps 89:⁴⁶How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

Dt 5:²³And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; ²⁴And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. ²⁵Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. ²⁶For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

Dt 6:¹³Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. ¹⁴Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; ¹⁵(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. ¹⁶Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. ¹⁷Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. ¹⁸And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers…

Deut 9: ³ 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. ⁴Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee…. ¹⁰And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. ¹¹And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. ¹²And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image. ¹³Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: ¹⁴Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee (of Moses) a nation mightier and greater than they. ¹⁵So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands… ¹⁹For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. ²⁰And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. ²¹And I took your sin (Intercessor and Redeemer - a type of Christ), the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire (purification), and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook (as with the sea of forgetfulness) that descended out of the mount. (ref: Ex 32:18-20, 24)

Ps 78:¹⁵He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. ¹⁶He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. ¹⁷And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. ¹⁸And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. ¹⁹Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? ²⁰Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? ²¹Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; ²²Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

Ps 106:¹⁸And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. ¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image

6. Fire is part of all the sacrifices. Sacrificial Offerings are referred to as ‘made by fire’ 65 times in the Old Testament (Ex 12:8-10;29:14,18,25,34,41;30:20, 41 times in 40 verses in Leviticus, 15 times in Number chatpers18-29, Dt 18:1, Joshua 13:13, I Sa 2:28).

Purification (HOLINESS) As in, Set apart “Consecration/Sanctification/Hallowed”:

Lev 6: ¹²And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

Commentary Critical: The fire on it was at first kindled by God (Leviticus 9:24), and was kept continually burning.

Lev 9: ⁶And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD shall appear unto you. ⁷And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering (the BLOOD), and thy burnt offering (THE PURIFICATION), and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded. … ²³And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. ²⁴And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Now consider Rom 12:¹ “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

6a. Only Sacrificial Atonement stops the Consuming Fire: Num 16:⁴¹But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. ⁴²And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory (BRIGHTNESS, EXCELLENT MAJESTY) of the LORD appeared. ⁴³And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. ⁴⁴And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ⁴⁵Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment (judgement). And they fell upon their faces. ⁴⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense (INTERCESSORY PRAYER), and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out (judgement) from the LORD; the plague is begun. ⁴⁷And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. ⁴⁸And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed (a type of Christ). ⁴⁹Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. ⁵⁰And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

Rom 11:²²Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God:

6b. Sacrifice brought Guidance to Gideon hundreds of years later:

Judges 6:²⁰And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. ²²And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD (theophany), Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. ²³And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. ²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom (the Lord sends peace).

Sacrifice Consumed: I Kings 18:²² Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ²³Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: ²⁴And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken... ³⁰And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down…³⁷Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. ³⁸Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

7. Not all fire is of God – but God will make something of it!

Job 1: ⁷And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. ⁸And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? ¹²And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD… ¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ²⁰Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, ²¹And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away (sovereign); blessed be the name of the LORD. ²²In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

I Kings 19: ¹¹And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: ¹²And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

8. After Elijah’s encounter with GOD – not with the fire that was NOT GOD – God’s FIRE was PRESENT WITH HIM:

II Kings 1: ¹⁰And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. ¹¹Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. ¹²And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. ¹³And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee (acknowledgement), let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. ¹⁴Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. ¹⁵And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him.

2 Kings 2:¹¹And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. (THE KING!!!) And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. ¹³He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; ¹⁴And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

2 Kings 2:¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

9. Jesus is the EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS GLORY!

Heb 1:¹God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ²Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; ⁴Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. ⁵For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? ⁶And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. ⁷And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. ⁸But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Ps 104:⁴Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

**Greek: leitourgos { li-toorg-os’} a public minister, a servant of the state,

2) a minister, servant 2a) so of military labourers 2b) of the temple 2b) of one busied with holy things 2b2) of a priest 2c) of the servants of a king

GLORY: #1391 doxa { dox’-ah} from the base of 1380; TDNT - 2:233,178; n f

AV - glory 145, glorious 10, honour 6, praise 4, dignity 2, worship 1; 168, GK - 1518

1) opinion, judgment, view

2) opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone

2a) in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory

3) splendour, brightness

3a) of the moon, sun, stars

3b) magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace

3c) majesty

3c1) a thing belonging to God

3c1) the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity

3c2) a thing belonging to Christ

3c2a) the kingly majesty of the Messiah

3c2b) the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ; the majesty

3c3) of the angels

3c3a) as apparent in their exterior brightness

4) a most glorious condition, most exalted state

4a) of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after He had achieved his work on earth

4b) the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and promised that true Christians shall enter after their Saviour’s return from heaven

Eph 3: ¹⁴For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; ¹⁷That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; ¹⁹And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. ²⁰Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, ²¹Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Eze 43: ¹Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: ²And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

Hab 3: ³God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. ⁴And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. ⁵Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

II Sam 22:13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. (see pg 12)

Romans 9: ¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. ¹⁵For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion...Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? ²¹ Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? ²²What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: ²³And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, ²⁴Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

9a. We are the PRAISE OF HIS GLORY!

Eph 1:¹¹In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: ¹²That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴Which is the earnest (DOWN PAYMENT) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

John 1:¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not. ¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

II Cor 3:³Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. ⁴And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; ⁶Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ⁷But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: ⁸How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? ⁹For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. ¹⁰For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. ¹¹For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. ¹²Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: ¹³And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: ¹⁴But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. ¹⁵But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. ¹⁶Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Ps 148:¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Ps 113:⁴ The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. ⁵Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,

-----------BREAK!!!!

9b. The WORD is Jesus (John 1:1-4)

Continue II Cor 4:¹Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; ²But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: ⁴In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. ⁵For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

I Sam 22:¹And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:

²And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; ³The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. ⁴I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. ⁵When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; ⁶The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; ⁷In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. ⁸Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. ⁹There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. ¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. ¹¹And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. ¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. ¹³Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. ¹⁴The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. ¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. ¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. ¹⁷He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; ¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. ¹⁹They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. ²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. ²¹The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. ²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. ²³For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. ²⁴I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. ²⁵Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. ²⁶With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. ²⁷With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. ²⁸And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. ²⁹For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness. ³⁰For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. ³¹As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. ³²For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? ³³God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. ³⁴He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places. ³⁵He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. ³⁶Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. ³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. ³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. ³⁹And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. ⁴⁰For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. ⁴¹Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. ⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. ⁴³Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. ⁴⁴Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me. ⁴⁵Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. ⁴⁶Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. ⁴⁷The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. ⁴⁸It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, ⁴⁹And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. ⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. ⁵¹He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.

Ps 21: ⁸Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. ⁹Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. ¹⁰Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

See God? Priceless!

2 Chr 7:¹Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. ²And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house. ³And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. ⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. ⁵And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

Ps 50:²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. ³Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. ⁴He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. ⁵Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. ⁶And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Isa 4: ⁵And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

10. PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT BRINGS GOD’S WRATH:

Isa 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

Deut 32: 4 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 ⁵They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. ⁶Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? The BLESSING follows this to verse 15 ⁷Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. ⁸When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. ⁹For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. ¹⁰He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. ¹¹As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: ¹²So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. ¹³He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; ¹⁴Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. ¹⁵But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. ¹⁶They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. ¹⁷They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. ¹⁸Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. ¹⁹And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. ²⁰And he said, I will hide my face from them (NO FAVOR!), I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. ²¹They have moved me to jealousy (HOW?) with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger (How?) with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. ²²For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Ps 79:⁵How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

I Chr 21:¹And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel… ⁷And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. ⁸And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. ⁹And the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹⁰Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them… ¹³And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man… ¹⁴So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. ¹⁵And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand…(the Angel stood by the thresingfloor) ²²Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people…(David bought all the goods for the sacrifice) ²⁶And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof…

10b. Witchcraft (Another Strange Fire) brings God’s Judgement:

II Kings 21:¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. ⁶And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. ⁷And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: ⁸Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. ⁹But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

Ps 68:¹ Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. ²As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. ³But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. ⁴Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. ⁵A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Ps 97:¹The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. ²Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. ³A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. ⁴His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. ⁵The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. ⁶The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

Who is God’s ENEMIES?

Isa 5:²⁴Therefore as the fire (tongue of fire) devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

12. MAN WITHOUT GOD WILL ALWAYS KINDLE THE WRONG FIRE!

Pr 16:²⁷An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.

Pr 26: ²⁰Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. ²¹As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

Fire had gone out of the SCEPTRE!!!

Eze 19:¹⁴And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Pr 25:²¹If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: ²²For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

Ro 12:¹⁹Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. ²⁰Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. ²¹Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

12. PURIFYING FIRE!

Isa 6:¹ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. ²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. See Ps 51

⁶Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: ⁷And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

12a. COALS OF FIRE are coals of Holiness!

Easton’s Dictionary: The words "live coal" in Isaiah 6:6 are more correctly "glowing stone."

Smith’s Bible Dictionary: The first and most frequent use of the word rendered coal is a live ember, burning fuel. (Proverbs 26:21) In (2 Samuel 22:9,13) "coals of fire" are put metaphorically for the lightnings proceeding from God. (Psalms 18:8,12,13; 140:10)

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Robert Jamieson)

live coal--literally, "a hot stone," used, as in some countries in our days, to roast meat with, for example, the meat of the sacrifices. Fire was a symbol of purification, as it takes the dross out of metals (Malachi 3:2,3).

the altar--of burnt offering, in the court of the priests before the temple. The fire on it was at first kindled by God (Leviticus 9:24), and was kept continually burning…His LIPS were touched because it was the part to be used by the prophet when inaugurated. So "tongues of fire" rested on the disciples (Acts 2:3,4) when they were being set apart to speak in various languages of Jesus.

When I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. ²And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. (Eze 10:1-2)

12b. Seraphim--nowhere else applied to God's attendant angels; but to the fiery flying (not winged, but rapidly moving) serpents, which bit the Israelites (Numbers 21:6), called so from the poisonous inflammation caused by their bites. Seraph is to burn; implying the burning zeal, dazzling brightness (2 Kings 2:11, 6:17, Ezekiel 1:13, Matthew 28:3) and serpent-like rapidity of the seraphim in God's service. Perhaps Satan's form as a serpent (nachash) in his appearance to man has some connection with his original form as a seraph of light. The head of the serpent was the symbol of wisdom in Egypt (compare Numbers 21:8, 2 Kings 18:4). The seraphim, with six wings and one face, can hardly be identified with the cherubim, which had four wings (in the temple only two) and four faces (Ezekiel 1:5-12). (But compare Revelation 4:8). The "face" and "feet" imply a human form; something of a serpentine form (perhaps a basilisk's head, as in the temples of Thebes) may have been mixed with it: so the cherub was compounded of various animal forms. However, seraph may come from a root meaning "princely," applied in Daniel 10:13 to Michael [MAURER]; just as cherub comes from a root (changing m into b), meaning "noble."
twain--Two wings alone of the six were kept ready for instant flight in God's service; two veiled their faces as unworthy to look on the holy God, or pry into His secret counsels which they fulfilled (Exodus 3:6, Job 4:18, 15:15); two covered their feet, or rather the whole of the lower parts of their persons--a practice usual in the presence of Eastern monarchs, in token of reverence (compare Ezekiel 1:11, their bodies). Man's service a fortiori consists in reverent waiting on, still more than in active service for, God.

Matthew Henry Concise: Above the throne stood the holy angels, called seraphim, which means "burners;" they burn in love to God, and zeal for his glory against sin. The seraphim showing their faces veiled, declares that they are ready to yield obedience to all God's commands, though they do not understand the secret reasons of his counsels, government, or promises. All vain-glory, ambition, ignorance, and pride, would be done away by one view of Christ in his glory. This awful vision of the Divine Majesty overwhelmed the prophet with a sense of his own vileness. We are undone if there is not a Mediator between us and this holy God. A glimpse of heavenly glory is enough to convince us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Easton Bible Dictionary: This word, in the original, is used elsewhere only of the "fiery serpents" (Numbers 21:6,8; Deuteronomy 8:15; Compare Isaiah 14:29; 30:6) sent by God as his instruments to inflict on the people the righteous penalty of sin.

Isaiah points us to the FIRE 30 times after this experience! He could never cease to forget the COAL OF FIRE THAT TOUCHED HIS LIPS! This same fire will purge the earth of all UNRIGHTEOUSNESS! It will judge the evil and destroy it forevermore.

Isa 9:⁵For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. ⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isa 10:¹⁵Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. ¹⁶Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. ¹⁷And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; ¹⁸And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. ¹⁹And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. ²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. ²²For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. ²³For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

Isa 30:²⁷Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: ²⁸And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. ²⁹Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. ³⁰And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. ³¹For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. ³²And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. ³³For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. Chapter 31:¹Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! ²Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. ³Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. ⁴For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. ⁵As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

Isa 33: ¹⁰Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. ¹¹Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. ¹²And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. ¹³Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. ¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? ¹⁵He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; ¹⁶He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. ¹⁷Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

Isa 43:²²But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. ²³Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? ²⁴Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. ²⁵Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. Chapter 43:¹But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. ²When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. ³For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. ⁴Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. ⁵Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; ⁶I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; ⁷Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. ⁸Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. ⁹Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. ¹⁰Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. ¹¹I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. ¹²I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. ¹³Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? ¹⁴Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;

Isa 60: ¹ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. ²For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. ³And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Isa 64: ¹Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, ²As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! ³When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. ⁴For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. ⁵Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

Is 66: ¹⁵For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. ¹⁷They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. ¹⁸For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

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The Prophet Jeremiah mention FIRE 40 times! And 4 times in Lamentations.

Jer 4: ⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Jer 5:11 ¹⁴Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Hell will burn forever! Jer 17: ⁴And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

Jer 20:9b 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.

Jer 21: ¹²O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

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Dan 3:²⁵He 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. ²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. ²⁷And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Dan 7:⁹I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Obediah 17:¹⁷But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. ¹⁸And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

Nahum 1: ⁵The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. ⁶Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. ⁷The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. ⁸But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

Zephaniah 1: ¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Zeph 3:8 for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

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Zechariah 2:4…Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: ⁵For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

Zec 3:²And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

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13. The Refiner’s Fire:

Ps 11:⁴The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. ⁵The LORD trieth the righteous (with FIRE): but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. ⁶Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. ⁷For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Zec 13: ⁹And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Eventually, everyone on earth will face the fire of God - everyone including Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, humanists, atheists, etc. The prophet Malachi speaks of the Day of the Lord which will come like the refiner's fire to purify the earth in preparation for the coming of the Lord. Those who are not ready will be consumed.

Mal 3: ¹Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. ²But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: ³And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. ⁴Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. ⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. ⁶For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

I Pet 1⁶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: ⁷That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ⁸Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: ⁹Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. ¹⁵But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; ¹⁶Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. ¹⁷And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: ²³For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that can’t perish—by the living and everlasting word of God.^{, 24}For “all human life is like grass, and all its glory is like a flower in the grass. The grass dries up and the flower drops off, ²⁵but the word of the Lord lasts forever.”

Mark 9: ⁴⁹For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. ⁵⁰Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Ps 66: ¹⁰ For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. ¹¹Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. ¹²Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

14. Judgement is NOT what Jesus came for – still, it is something that MUST BE:

Luke 9:⁵⁴And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? ⁵⁵But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. ⁵⁶For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Luke 12: ⁴⁹I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

I Cor 3:¹³Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the 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. ¹⁴If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. ¹⁵If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

II Th 1: ⁵Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: ⁶Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; ⁷And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, ⁸In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: ⁹Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; ¹⁰When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

I Pet 4: ¹²Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: ¹³But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. ¹⁴If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.