Fire is a word and topic that is mentioned four-hundred seventy-four times in the Bible. The Lord’s Holy Spirit is often called an all consuming fire. The Lord leads us with and through the fire. He refines us, shapes us, and disciplines us with fire. There are many examples of it within scripture and it’s something to definitely contemplate: ways that God’s Holy flame has affected your life. I heard a quote recently (I don’t recall who said it) that resonated with me, “We are all destined to burn: whether with the Lord, or without Him.” It inspired me to make fire my word/theme of 2024.

Isaiah 4:4-5

“When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgement and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.”

• The Lord in this verse describes using His righteous judgement and the spirit of burning to cleanse Zion of its stubborn sin. He will burn away the iniquity that fills all of the people’s flesh.
• Nature is often cleansed by fire: flames may destroy what is on the surface, but what was burned to ashes becomes something beautiful. It adds nutrients to the soil so that new, fresh growth can begin.
• When Moses came down from the mountain after spending time with the Lord, his complexion changed so that God’s glory shone through him. It terrified the people just seeing the Lord’s glory within another man. God chooses to veil His glory from us, because to actually look upon it with our sinful eyes and human mind, we would physically die. He protects us and tells Zion that He will veil His glory with smoke.
• Isaiah 61:4 states, “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.” The Lord brings beauty from the ashes —renews what was once damaged in the fire.

Luke 3:16-17

“John answered, saying to all, ‘I indeed baptize you with water; But One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; But the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.’”

• When accepting Jesus into our hearts, we are born again. We become baptized in the Spirit’s fire. It burns away the waste and the flesh’s desire from us so that we can be born anew in the Holy Spirit.
• The Lord often compares His people to wheat, and those who refuse His way as chaff. Chaff is the useless dust and leaf bits that are left behind when the wheat is sifted through. It isn’t used and will be thrown in the fire or cast away later.

When the Lord is cleaning our His threshing floor (His creation) He will be removing the useless chaff: the sinful people who refuse Him. To cleanse the world of sin, He must first give a righteous judgement — then He will cast those who refuse Him away. It is for the betterment of the universe that He allows us to go where we truly want. If we refuse Him as He is (which is not the false god we have created in our minds) then we can go to a place without Him. He reads our hearts and minds and will know what is best.

Mark 9:49-50

“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

• Fire and salt comes from hardship. Difficulty can cause a follower of Christ to be more on fire for Him. Love and awe for our God can give your walk more flavor and color.
• The fire we live in is a holy flame that cleanses and protects us from the flames of darkness.
• Have passion and a yearning for the Lord and you will have peace in your heart and with others.

If your walk with the Lord has no fire, can you call it a walk with Him? If there is no passion, are you simply doing it ritualistically and with no sincerity. Another question to ask yourself: Do you truly love Him as the person He is, or do you simply love the idea of Him? He is a person with a personality, deserving of our passion. If it is something you are asking of yourself, pray to Him! Ask Him to show you more of Himself! Give Him the struggle and request His helping hand. I only say these things, because they’re things I also consider in my walk. I don’t want to slip into religion, rather than having relationship with the Living God, so I assume my readers likely feel the same way.

He wants to draw near to us, but first we have to draw near to Him. James 4:8-10, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” We should grieve at our depravity. Our imperfection in the face of our holy, righteous God should grieve and terrify us. He chooses to look upon us in our sin and so we should humble ourselves and obey His righteous will.

Isaiah 10:17

“So the light of Israel will be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.”

James 3:6

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”

• Our tongue is a tool that is to be used wisely. Words have the ability to build relationship, express love, and move mountains; words can also tear down cities, cause wars, and wreak havoc.
• Where humanity has sinful flesh, our tongue can be easily used as a curse, so it is best to think through the words you say.
• The Lord created everything with the Word: the Word that eventually chose to become our salvation. His name became the name above every other name, with the authority to defeat darkness and sin. That is how powerful the Word is — a gift that God has given us free will to use. Steward that gift well.

Malachi 3:2-3

“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

• Nobody will be able to stand against His refining. He makes us all change: Those who obey Him and believe Him. He cleanses us from sin then lets us be put through the fire.
• The fire is to benefit us — it helps us to gain faith and patience. At the end He will reward us for our perseverance, but for now it is necessary for our growth.

Silver is refined by being put into a hot flame and handled until the purifier can see his reflection in it. It is like that with God —He wants to see Jesus in us. That is the point of all this: Through Jesus we become His children and He will discipline and shape us into who we are meant to be for eternity.

Exodus 13:21-22

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”

• The Lord manifested His guidance in the form of these two pillars — plain for all of Israel to see in the wilderness. He did not leave them without a reminder of His presence and the freedom He gave them.
• This is a display of His power and love, a reminder to not stray from HIm.
• From afar, I’m sure these pillars were a frightening sight: After God let our the plagues on Egypt, then split the Red Sea, and then led His people with these pillars, I bet nobody wanted to mess with God’s chosen nation.

Exodus 3:2-6

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’ Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father —the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”

• God chose to manifest Himself as a burning bush to Moses in this moment, but as a non-consuming fire.
• This can represent many things: God sees that Israel is in the furnace of slavery, but He will not allow them to be consumed; He is light itself and is presenting His illumination to Moses; He is able to show Himself and His omnipotence even in the wilderness and hard places.
• His holy flame is merciful, even when it surrounds His people, He does not allow them to be burned.

Hebrews 12:28-29

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

• Revere Him, for we are puny in His wake. He chooses to look on us with love from the moment we are conceived: This all creating, all consuming God.
• He is mighty and merciful, and we should willingly accept His holy flame.

Thanks for reading this Bible study! I hope it was educational and enjoyable for you readers! It is my prayer that I may help to teach and inspire others to share word of the Lord. He tells us to preach the gospel to all the world, and this is the best way I know how! Keep Israel in your prayers and the lost in your hearts as you go about your day. If you have any testimonies, prayer, or study requests, please DM me or email me at the links provided!