A Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:29

God is described in many ways in Scripture; He is called the Unseen, Unsearchable, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Most High, Majesty, Light, Judge, Exalted, Love, just to name a few, but Hebrews 12:29 describes Him as a consuming fire.  If we go to the dictionary the word consuming: so intense as to take up all of somebody’s attention, time, and energy.  Often that word is used in explaining someone’s fascination with the opposite sex or a new job that is overwhelming or intense.  But when it comes to definition or words used to explain God, the best source is the Bible.

When God is called a consuming fire, it is a symbol of the Divine presence and power of God; in Deuteronomy 4:36 Moses is telling the people that the Lord alone is God and that they have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire.  In Psalm 97:2-3, “Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.”  The prophet Isaiah had this to say on the subject of God being a consuming fire; “For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.  For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:15-16)  Isaiah is referring to the final judgment and Glory of the Lord in the above verses.  When God sent His Holy Spirit to rest on the church, He comes in divided tongues as of fire and Paul reminds us of how God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush, in Acts 7:30.

It is no longer in vogue to talk about God in this way, but the same Bible that tells us of God’s love for whosoever will, also states these truths in the verses that follow; “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:18-20)  To be condemned is a choice or as Jesus said two roads, one that is wide and leads to hell and the other is narrow and leads to life.  Hebrews 10:30-31, gives this warning; “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”  And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice