[Verse 1]
The LORD considered it was fitting
For the element of Fire to be a symbol in the Scriptures as a visible depiction...
...Of His Glorious Essence and Holiest Presence
Which is manifesting the Fullness of all His Perfections
So a sermon is constructed through burning combustion
Of Furious Judgement on those who deserve His destruction
(For instance) when Man disobeyed the LORD a FLAMING SWORD
Blocked the way thatās towards His Holy Place and Courts they
Canāt enjoy his Face no more!
Now only He who can endure the āburningsā (Isa. 33:14)
Can bring us back into His Courts to serve Him
Yet not just punishment but Godās Redemption
Is represented by Fire in Covenant Condescension:
Genesis 15, be attentive to this scene
As Abramās wrestling with doubt about the blessing of his seed
Yahweh prophecies the Exodus- foreseen
And reassures Him of the Landās possession, yes and indeed!
As Abramās resting in sleep, the Faithful LORD
Descends as a Smoking Fire-Pot and FLAMING TORCH
And passes through, the calf thatās slashed in two
(Hence) showing that āIf I am not faithful toward
My Covenant--may I undergo this punishmentā
Itās fitting God appears as Fire four hundred and some years later
To keep this promise to redeem from bondage as Israelās Dear Savior
Now what was Adonaiās main desire?
For appearing to Moses on Sinai in this Flaming Fire?
Why, itās to show COVENANT CONDESCENSION
That just as on the bush, The Consuming Fire was not dependent
And didnāt need it to keep lit
So (in the same way) God didnāt them to redeem them from Egypt
But just as He was in the bush, so He is with us
For deliverance from Pharaohās grip and clutch by His Omnipotence
But I skipped a story which is gory:
Sodom & Gomorrah, the LORD said that ātheir sins abhor Meā
From piety they were void
So the LORD rained down fire from the LORD
They were entirely destroyed
Godās eyes were disgusted because in pride they were lusting
From exchanging Truth for lies, in idols they trusted (Rom. 1)
ALAS! He who is a Consuming Fire made them a pattern of the Final Fiery Judgment (2 Peter 2, Jude)
[Chorus]
āAll Consuming Fireā
āThe I AM tells His Famous Name, from the burning bush-the Self-Sustaining Flameā (2x)
Question: Who can dwell with The Consuming Fire?
Who can dwell with the Everlasting Burnings?
Answer: the One who walks righteously
And speaks uprightly. Isaiah 33! (v. 14)
Who can dwell with The Consuming Fire?
Who can dwell with the Everlasting Burnings?
Only The One who walks righteously
And speaks uprightly. (Isa. 33:14)
[Verse 2]
Who can go back through the Holy Flaming Sword
To bring us back to the Glory-Blazing LORD?
Weāre now considering the connection
Between Fire and Sacrifice, first at Isaacās āfigurative resurrectionā (Heb. 11)
Seen like an awful thing
For God to tell Abraham to make his offspring into a whole-burnt offering
But as he goes to sacrifice Isaacās life on Moriah
Whatās in his hand? The KNIFE and the FIRE!
Isaac asks his dad the question
I see you have a weapon, but whereās the lamb that weāre presenting?
Abraham replies
God will graciously provide a lamb for a burnt offering
In flames yes it will die
A ram was slain by the knife, Isaacās taken back alive
But Isaac being saved really portrayed him as a type...
Of the nation of Israelās salvation on the night, of Passover
The final plague is now in sight
Yahwehās passing through Egypt, His Wrath is now heated
Israelās saved by the blood, Heāll pass if He sees it
He provided them lambs, Heās Jehovah Provider
He said āslaughter the lamb then roast it with FIREā (Ex. 12:8)
Thatās the pattern and prescription of the sacrificial system
But at the Red Sea in Fire, He actually is with them
To perform the Exodus
The Pillar of Cloud and Fire is what the LORDās Glory-Presence is!
Heās in the Pillar of Fire--He dwelt in it
Behold the redemptive-historical development
Because as the Fire and Pot passed through the Covenant Curses
The Pillar of Fire passed through the āfloodā that was bursting
Mt. Sinai again, now at the giving of the Law
Cloud-Fire descends, they were trembling in awe
Dudes were scared stiff, who wouldnāt fear this?
To look at the LORD--any who breaks through will perish!
But Moses actually entered the Fire-Glory
By the righteousness of Another, His attire is Holy
Who can sojourn into the Consuming Fire?
Only one who foreshadows True Messiah!
He even spoke face to face with Him whoās blazing flames
A great display of Amazing Grace
Heās the Wilderness Rider- the Pillar of Fire and Cloud
Thatās why the Tabernacle was filled with Shekinah
Since Sinai was a temple, theyāre urged to look
At the Menorah to remind them of the Burning Bush
Read Leviticus 9 and then 10
As His Fire descends upon the sacrifice, Godās abiding with them
See that same Fire again:
On Nadab and Abihu in great wrath to remind you
Donāt trifle with Him, Whoās despising our sin
Because either in sacrifice or judgment
His Name will be Sanctified in the End
Leviticus 10:2
Itās the same phrase as 9:24, let the literal Hebrew be read through
āThen Fire came forth from the Face of Yahwehā
End quote. And this was for forsaking Godās way
That word for āconsumed themā the Spirit used and inspired
Is °¹kal ( ×Öø××Ö·)
Used for God as consuming fire
Because to go into the Most Holy Place and face the LORD
You pass through the Cherubim on the veilāthe Flaming Sword!
[Chorus]
āAll Consuming Fireā
āThe I AM tells His Famous Name, from the burning bush-the Self-Sustaining Flameā (2x)
Question: Who can dwell with The Consuming Fire?
Who can dwell with the Everlasting Burnings?
Answer: the One who walks righteously
And speaks uprightly. Isaiah 33! (v. 14)
Who can dwell with The Consuming Fire?
Who can dwell with the Everlasting Burnings?
Only The One who walks righteously
And speaks uprightly. (Isa. 33:14)
[Verse 3]
Deuteronomy, you donāt wanna beāa pagan nation in Canaan
Because theyāll be truly slaughtered, see
Yahweh is as a fire devours, going before Israel for them to triumph in power (Deut. 9:1-3)
Move to Joshua and Judges, where the fire theme is awesome in abundance
And often it confronts us
Many cities where pagans lived and stayed, for their sickening ways
Their cities were lit ablaze (Josh. 6:24; Judges 1:8)
They were evil and unpardoned, after heathens who were slaughteredā
Fire judgmentāthey were treated just like Sodom
But at Jericho after they struck and they crushed them
What happened to Achan, one of the sons of the covenant?
He coveted, lusted some of the stuff that
He should offered up to the Lord unto destruction ( × ×ØÖµÖ¶×)
And what was the punishment?
After being stoned, he and his family were burned with fireācovenant judgment!
Judges 4 Deborah, āwife of Lapidothā ( ×ÖµÖשֶ××Ŗ ×ַפּ֓××Ö×Ö¹×Ŗ)
Whatās this mean in the Hebrew, which God, He wrote
Lapid ( ×פַּ֓×× ) is the word for torch
Which He appeared to Abram as (Gen. 15:17)
Which this word the LORD imports
Because as He descended in hot flames
Deborah is a āwoman of torchesā
Thus a woman of Yahweh
Be in awe considering the call of Gideon
Yahweh appeared to him to conquer Midian
God consumed his offering, the sign of the LORD (Judges 6:21)
His army triumphed with sword, and a fiery torch (Judges 7:16-25)
Revealed in fire to Gideon and Manoah
Then ascended in flames, itās the symbol of Jehovah! (Judges 13:20)
But Satan comes against David, tempting him
To worship self and impress his flesh, within
To give a census of his peopleāa wretched sin
So God brings about His judgment of pestilence
The Angel of the LORD in His anger that is towards David
70,000 Heās slaying with the sword
So David repents, āsurely God I have sinnedā
Then Godās fire consumes his burnt offering
To show that Godās fiery Wrath is appeased
The Angel of the LORD put his sword back in his sheath
Davidās sacrifice was devoured by Fire
But where did this occur?
On the Mount of Moriah!
Thatās the place of the Temple! We see the dedication
By Solomon weāre all the people on their face when
Sacrifices consumed a recapitulation
Like at the Tabernacle a repeated situation
They see that Heās a blazing and they reverenced Him as Holy
The Fire was equated as the Presence of his Glory!
Because He is the Living God and he proved this to Elijah
Unlike Baal, the offeringāHe consumed it with His Fire
But notice that the Fire is called the Fire of Yahweh
Because God is symbolized by the very hot flames
2nd Kings 1, Ahab the wretched king is done
But Israel is still set in sinās scum
They turned to Baal
Twice Elijah called down fire to consume them, the word is ¹kal ( ×Öø××Ö·)
Plus none would bury this Elijah
Why? Because he ascended to the Father in chariots of fire!
[Chorus]
āAll Consuming Fireā
āThe I AM tells His Famous Name, from the burning bush-the Self-Sustaining Flameā (2x)
[Bridge]
Who can go back through the holy flaming sword?
To bring us back to the Glory Blazing Lord
Itās Only He Who can endure the burning
Who can bring us back into His courts to serve Him
[Verse 4]
Israel is exiled because they are lawless
The fatherless were oppressed with idols theyāre obsessed
And just as Yahweh as a fire consumed their enemies--itās a reversal of the Canaanite Conquest
Chapter 21:10 in the Prophet Jeremiah
Jerusalem destroyed and they conquered it with fire
By the king of Babylon
But actually for Judahās idolatry this was the very wrath of God
The temple was defiled and they burned it
Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw 3 exiles in the furnace (Dan. 3)
Although the furnace was ablaze
Another Person in that place
Preserved them by His mercy and His grace (Dan. 3:24-29)
Hence Isaiah 43, āWhen you walk through fire
You wonāt be consumed nor burned up by the flamesā (Isa. 43:2)
Although they returned to the gates in the land of Palestine
Their calloused minds and hearts still have the foulest slime
Malachi 3:1-3 it reminds ya
To be refined His people still need a Refiner
Because since we earned the Wrath of the Lord and Sire
We still need one who can endure His fire
Who can also be a purifier
Who can also purify us from our impure desire
Plus on the wicked still pour a fire of the purest fire
Hence the Greek word pur (ĻῦĻ) is fire
Still in the wilderness, but hear him who is a crier
John the Baptist dressed in appearance of Elijah
Saying, āBehold! Lookāhere is the Messiah!
Heāll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire!ā (Luke 3:16)
FireāHe often preached constantly
To bad fruit producing rotten trees in apostasy. (Luke 3:7-9)
Theyāre hacked down as well
My last 4 verses are a Biblical-theological background of hell
Which Jesus mentioned more than any men who were prior
The chaff Heāll consume with unquenchable fire
Whether baptized or Jew, fire could be baptizing you
Consider Matthew 5:22ā
This should strike ya
An epexegetical genitive, literally itās āthe hell which is fireā (Ļὓν γέενναν Ļοῦ ĻĻ
Ļį½¹Ļ)
Yet who can fully endure the burnings
Concerning the curses that your works are deserving? (Isa. 33:14)
Only the Divine Servant whoās perfect (Isa. 33:15)
When He died on the cross hence He tore the curtain
Because infinite fire fell on Him whoās Messiah
But it was much worse than visible, physical fire!
When He died the veil was torn, (Mark 15:38)
To show that this Priest passed through the cherubimās flaming sword
He is the Passover Lamb who was roasted with fire (1 Cor. 5:7; Ex. 12:8)
When consumed by the Omnipotent Shekinah
But His atonement was final, because surely God the King
Became the greater Isaac-Lamb whole burnt offering!
This is why we needed a Savior whoās Divine
Who can pass through the flames and be raised up alive!
In the Scrolls you have got to see
The fulfillment of the Joel 2 prophecy, (Joel 2:28-32; 3:1-3:5 MT)
Behold a true Theophany
Because just as He appeared as fire to Abram
Then to Moses to disclose His desire to save themā
The beginning of the end time fire has come
At Pentecost the Spirit was as fiery tongues! (Acts 2:1-3)
Because with the Spirit-Fire that the Lord sends
Itās not the end of the world, but the way the world ends
Baptized by Jesus with the Spirit of the Christ
To purify us Jew-Gentile-Levites (Isa. 66:18-21 ; Mal. 3:3-4)
Because our desires are foul, entirely vile
So Heās purging His church with these āfieryā trials (Ļį½»ĻĻĻιĻ,1 Peter 4:12; Prov. 27:21, LXX)
Now as I behold our God and King
My whole soul and body brings through Jesus a holy offering (Rom. 12:1; 1 Pt. 2:5; Heb. 12:28)
To reverence His Name
2nd Thessalonians the Lord will be revealed from heaven with a flame. (2 Thess. 1:7-8)
Then every faithless liar (Rev. 21:8)
And Satanās entire Fallen Angel choir (Matt. 25:41)
Is placed in the Lake of Fire. (Rev. 20:8)
Although we wonāt be consumed through Messiah in our Union
Forever God will still be a fire thatās consuming! (Heb. 12:28-29)