The Wisdom of Fire
Have you ever deeply explored familiar words that God chooses to use in the Bible in order to describe spiritual things? As each are studied, the wisdom of our God is more deeply evident. Just like the parables Jesus told to the crowds, explaining their deeper meaning to the disciples, common words of the time were used to help them understand and relate to His words of wisdom and teaching.
Such symbolic language used by God is certainly mysterious, particularly from Old Testament prophets like Daniel and Isaiah. Even Peter said the apostle Paul’s deep sayings were hard to understand, and many just leave John the Revelater’s writings alone. God’s words are meant to be unfathonable by the mind of man—unless we seek by the spirit to know Him.
A relationship is needed to know God in order to understand the meaning of His words. To know God is to know wisdom through the holy spirit. The disciples did not understand Jesus’ parables because they did not yet have the holy spirit within them. They had to wait until the Day of Pentecost, but He reassured them about this:
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:13-15 NKJV
Ever since that holy day in the Upper Room when believers gathered, the spirit within guides us to God’s wisdom and truth. It is absolutely relevant to our lives today as we search out by the spirit what He is saying to us.
Many commonly used spiritual symbols are more easily understood by further spiritual examination to reveal deeper meaning, such as the many words He uses from our natural world. The riches and knowledge of the greatest Teacher of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, becomes available and understood. God has no intention of keeping His wisdom from us as we seek Him, but we do need to get closer to Him to comprehend His ways.
Isn’t it wonderful that God wants us to know and understand Him? Jesus Christ came, rose again, and returned within us through His indwelling spirit, to teach us all things. When the light of His understanding dawns upon us, it’s so often simple. We do not need to stay baffled by what our Lord says in the Word! We can say “Oh! So that is what you mean!!”as He provides us these “keys to the kingdom.”
Paul’s teaching to Timothy about the study of scripture encourages seeking the Lord’s wisdom and understanding in order that Timothy’s way be upright and holy:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
Considering all of this, let’s examine the word “fire.” The word fire is used more than 600 times in the Bible, most oftan as an apt description of God’s presence bringing judgment for change. Fire was a part of worshiping God from the beginning as God’s people had need of purification and transformation to approach His presence. The Israelites traveling in the wilderness saw God’s presence as a cloud during the day and a fire by night.
“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” Exodus 13:21 NIV
What an amazing illustration of just how His presence guides us today. When the path before us is in the light, clear and discernable, the cloud of His blessing is with us. When darkness comes to our lives, bringing challenges to our spiritual walk, He shows us His presence by fire. In His love, Father God has always brought the fire of His presence to burn up our fleshly ways, so that we can be like Him. God’s judgment, therefore, should be sought and embraced rather than feared and avoided.
What else can we learn from God’s use of this powerful word, fire? In our natural world, fire is often devastating, rapidly spreading to destroy all in its path. Fire brings death and destruction to plants, animals and people. Once ignited spontaneously, accidentally, or purposefully, fire spreads rapidly and is extinguished by three ways: 1) the source of fuel is taken away 2) the oxygen is removed, smothering the fire, or 3) the heat is removed by smothering it with water.
And did you know that forest fires move uphill more rapidly than downhill? We now know that fires are necessary to sustain life, to create new growth. Without fire to thin out the ecosystem, a forest floor is overtaken by shade-loving plants, becoming less diverse as the sun-loving plants are overtaken by materials and debris that give no life. This buildup of dead wood and litter from trees and animals becomes fuel for a future fire, particularly when conditions such as heat without moisture is constant.
Planned fires are now used purposefully to rebuild forests, creating and restoring flora and fauna needed for a healthy environment for all. Naturalists and scientists now realize and make use of fire’s cleansing properties to renew and sustain our forests. Yes, we know a great deal about fire in nature that we did not know in past years of ignorance. In just these few words about natural fire, we begin to see the manifold wisdom of God in using fire to describe His presence.
When we are in the darkness of our spiritual nights, we search for God, requiring the fire of God’s presence to burn up the debris of accumulated human waste in our hearts. Adversities bring change, just like forest fires purify. Without the fiery presence of our God, the light of His life becomes obscured by the darkness of our humanity, our fleshly ways that cannot enter into His presence.
And the higher we climb, the hotter the fire burns as we overcome every obstacle to enter fully into His dwelling place. Thankfully, God has made a way for us to be purified, cleansed by His presence so that we see the light!
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ,
keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” 1 Peter 4:12-14 NASB
Peter is illustrating the purpose of the many afflictions those of us who love Him must go through. These trials and testings are “fiery,” clearly beyond the suffering caused by our own sinful nature. Jesus suffered without cause, undeservedly, and these same undeserved sufferings come to His overcomers. There’s no glory in suffering because of what we have done, but to suffer unjustly as He did, we can emerge with more of His nature, sharing in His suffering so that we might reign with Him.
We are not to think that suffering in this way is somehow strange or surprising, but to expect undeserved suffering as we go on to know the Lord. Further examining the use of fire as God’s presence, we see fiery swords appearing in Genesis, after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God by eating from the tree of good and evil. God cast them away from His presence, using these fiery swords to prevent them from returning to that former intimacy they had with Him before the fall.
“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.“ Genesis 3: 24 NIV
We cannot partake of God’s life in our present fallen condition, be in His presence, without going through flames of fire! We must be purified by His presence, becoming holy as He is holy. Fire symbolizes the requirement of change, for new growth, for entering into the presence of God more and more fully. Who but God burns up our dross, all the dead, useless things we drag around that cannot nurture new life, let alone flourish in the light of His presence?
Surely we have times, seasons, areas of self that are “dead wood,” the life-robbing growth of our sinful nature that must be burned up by His fiery presence. God’s judgment, therefore, should be sought and embraced rather than feared and avoided. The great prophet, Isaiah, spoke this word to God’s people who had strayed:
“I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.” Isaiah 1:25-27 NIV
God’s natural people, the Israelites, did not reach this righteous state. In fact, no one was able to even begin the return to Father God until Jesus came to make the way. These words are for us, now, whether Isaiah realized that or not. When God’s hand is upon us, He refines us. He takes away anything that does not produce His life within, bringing right judgment to show forth His righteousness in His people.
Malachi expands on the use of fire to refine and purify, as the Lord comes again, over and over within us, to work righteousness in our fleshly hearts:
“‘I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.
But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Malachi 3:1-4 NIV
Do we realize that God cares about whether workers receive fair wages, widows and the fatherless who have no means of effectively making a living, the foreigners who come to our countries to find a better life? He is not just against sin such as sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers commit. The Day of the Lord that we so anticipate, His glorious return, brings fire within us, not a luxurious cloud where we play our harps while others burn. He comes to deal with lies, selfishness, lack of concern or care for others who suffer.
Do you long to have the Day of the Lord, His full return, for Him to come quickly? Then you are longing for the judgment of His presence to be upon you, as the house of God is judged first. He intends to have a purified people, using the example of how gold and silver are refined, purified in the fire. When we learn of His ways, that His thoughts are higher than ours, we come to embrace the fiery trials He allows to ready us for His full residence in our beings.
In Jesus’ day, precious metals were refined by fire in a crucible (a container that can withstand very high temperatures) placed in a furnace heated up to almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Gold melts at such a high temperature, then is transferred to another container, leaving the impurities and other substances floating to the surface. Similarly, silver is refined by melting it in a furnace along with a reducing agent to oxidize the impurities which are absorbed by the reducing agent, leaving behind pure silver.
Is not our Lord the “reducing agent” within our hearts? When Jesus Christ appeared to two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus, they did not recognize Him until He joined them for supper. Then they realized Who had been walking and talking with them:
“When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24: 30-32 NIV
They felt their Lord’s presence, the power of His words, as a burning in their hearts, though their human understanding hid Him from them. When their eyes were opened, they recognized Him, and recalled that inner burning they had felt walking with Him and listening to His teachings. Have we not had times when God’s word burned within our hearts, both in delight and in discipline? Oh, the wonder of His ways, past finding out with human eyes and ears, but revealed by our spiritual eyes and ears of understanding!
Since fire requires a source of fuel, it becomes abundantly clear that our fleshly ways, our human nature, is God’s source of fuel! He “sits” within us to refine us, to clean us up, also using soap to further scrub us up! The treasure of the Lord’s Life within us is revealed as we continue entering into His presence until He is more and more seen within us. We need the blood of the Lamb, covering us so that we are acceptable in His presence.
Our blood is 95% oxygen, vital to us and all living organisms, so here is the metaphorical “oxygen” that fire needs to do its work, coming directly from the presence of God. It’s in the blood, the life of the body:
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29 NASB
He is a fire that consumes our dross! He always, always loves us, but face it: some things just cannot enter in to His kingdom of righteousness. The writer of Hebrews names them, making it quite clear that it is our flesh that cannot enter in. We cannot beat it, will it, determine it to be good, make laws to create or sustain it, as it cannot be changed. It must be destroyed, burned up, replaced by the gold and silver of God’s holy character appearing in those with pure hearts.
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you,
that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5: 19-21 NASB
So, how do we endure, going thru these fiery trials necessitated by God? First we need to recognize that it is God at work in our lives, rather than thinking it is something strange that should not happen to us believers. Peter admonished us:
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” 1 Peter 4:12-19 KJV
This is even more clearly and simply stated in The Message:
“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.
If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and His glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter.
But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name! It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!” 1 Peter 4:12-19 The Message
Some fiery trials come deservedly when we sin, missing the mark, as well as undeservedly, bringing God’s judgment first to His own. The fire of God’s wrath—His passion—comes to those He loves and disciplines. We are washed by the water of the Word, so that spiritual water gradually extinguishes the flames of our own fleshly ways being burned up, consumed by the indwelling presence of the Lord. His coming is ongoing within us, not a one time event accomplishing this great work within each of His own.
This then, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is the entrance into His kingdom. It is the way back into the presence of God, past those flaming swords to the throne of Jesus Christ and His Father. This is the way God made for us by the sacrifice of His only Son, so that we are enabled to enter into His Kingdom of love, peace, and joy more precious than gold and silver. The signs of His kingdom coming are internal, shown forth externally when the presence of God has thoroughly refined and purified our hearts:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5: 22-23 NASB
Do you begin to comprehend the manifold wisdom of God in using this powerful example of fire? Can you begin to see how fiery trials are preparing us for dwelling in His presence and bringing the kingdom to others here in this earth? Such are the white garments that John the Revelator told us about:
“The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments;
and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 5:22 NASB
We cannot earn our way into the Book of Life. This is the only way, to endure the fire of His presence. What a wonderfully powerful, symbolic lesson God is teaching us through the wisdom of fire as we continue to learn of His ways.
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36 NIV