When Will The Fire Stop?
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Thanks to JC Groves for capturing this great photo of the fire! |
Fire
is a powerful image that is used throughout the Bible and many times in
relation to God. In Genesis 3:24
there is a flaming sword that one of the Cherubim uses to guard the Garden of
Eden from re-entrance. In Genesis
15:17 a flaming torch passes through the pieces of sacrificed flesh as God
makes His covenant with Abram. In the Exodus, a pillar of fire led the
Israelites by night (Exodus 13:21), showing God’s nightly guiding presence. Prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel
describe the conviction of the Lord as fire in their bones (Lamentations 1:13),
and the Word of God being like fire (Jeremiah 23:29). God consumes the sacrifices on the altar with fire in
Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal. And finally, in Acts 2:1-4, tongues of fire fall on the
disciples on the day of Pentecost showing the inward filling of the Holy
Spirit. But fire also represents God’s
wrath and is an integral part of the coming judgment of the earth. This imagery can be seen in multiple
passages like Numbers 11:1-4 where some of the Israelites are consumed by fire
for complaining against the Lord.
While there are numerous passages describing God’s wrath as fire, I want
to focus on Genesis 19:23-28. This
passage becomes the primary pattern for Biblical destruction by fire and
records the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah when fire falls out of
heaven. Abraham looks toward the
valley where these two cities were and sees a plume of smoke much like I saw recently
in near my own city when the mountains were on fire. When I see a plume of
smoke generated from a raging forest fire I cannot help think of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
This imagery is powerful and sticks in my mind as I wait for the coming
fire that will be much more intense, a fire that will consume everything when
God’s judgment comes on the earth.
As
I have mentioned, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah presents an important
pattern of the coming destruction that God has promised to bring upon the world
after Christ returns. Revelation
18:9-10 records a similar scene, a plume of smoke from the destruction of
Babylon. The world and her riches
have been consumed in fire and many people on the earth will lament Babylon’s
destruction. 2 Peter 3:10 says the
day of the Lord will come and everything we know, the heavens, the earth, and
every element will be destroyed with heat and fire, all being burned up. This is depressing imagery. Just as I hate to see the mountains I
love destroyed, so also those who love the things of this world will hate to
see it destroyed by fire when God returns. The plume of smoke in my mountains reminded me to check my
priorities and allegiances in this life.
Will I be the one mourning when God returns because I have placed my
hope in the things and people of this world? Or will I be cheering God on as he once and for all puts
down the old rebellion led by the serpent?
God
has promised that His fire will come.
Whether it comes to us in conviction through His Word and the filling of
the Holy Spirit or in consuming wrath, we will experience the fire of God. If we continue in our rebellion we will
be those that will be consumed by God’s fire of wrath. If we turn to Christ in repentance and
place our faith in His righteousness we will experience the fire of the Spirit
of God cleansing and sanctifying us.
His cleansing fire will burn up and remove all the sin and crud in our
life leaving us as refined as silver or gold. Which path to fire will you choose? Hebrews 10:28-29 gives the proper
response to our God saying, “…since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken,
let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with
reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
Finally,
Isaiah 66:24 gives us a parting picture of the eternality of God’s fire. It says, “Then they will go forth and
look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me, for their worm
will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an
abhorrence to all mankind.” When I
see a plume of smoke ultimately I think of this eternal fire as the backdrop to
those redeemed and living in the New Jerusalem. God’s salvation set against the backdrop of His judgment.
When
will the fire stop? Never.
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