Fire is one of God’s most unique creations. Fire can create warmth and maintain life in extreme cold. Fire can provide light within a dark world. Fire can heat and cook food, making it safe and tasty. Fire can alter elements such as water creating steam which can then be used to create energy, such as steam engines. Fire can consume unwanted mass, for instance when you burn up all those pesky leaves. Fire can symbolize life and energy such as the Olympic torch. Fire can be used industrially to smelt metals and forge steel. And one of my favorites, fire in a fireplace can mesmerize as you watch the flames dance to a tune that it seems only God knows. The list can go on and on, it seems the power and use of fire is limitless.
But there is also another side to fire. Fire is a true Jekyll and Hyde. As fire is freed from it’s bondage, it becomes a destroyer of all. Wildfires consume land, homes and lives in a reckless way that proves the helplessness of man against God’s simplest elements. Even a small fire can burn our delicate skin and cause untold pain. Too much fire can instead ruin food cooking instead of perfecting it. Home fires can claim a life’s possessions in mere minutes. Fire can take as much as it can give.
Fire was a critical part of the worship of God in the Old Testament. In the newly constructed tabernacle that we saw finally erected in Exodus chapter 40, fire is used at the burnt altar, the altar of incense and to light the golden lampstand. Also, as God inhabited the tabernacle, He appeared as a cloud of fire at night. God also appeared to Moses as a fiery shrubbery in the desert. God appears as fire, uses fire in His worship, and also uses fire in His judgment. (Sodom and Gomorrah) So what’s up with all the fire?
This morning what spoke to me was that God tells us in His Word that the fire upon the altar of burnt offering was to burn continually. And He doesn’t say it just once, but three times.
“Give Aaron and his sons this command: 'These are the regulations for the burnt offering:
The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar.” Lev 6:9
“ The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.” Lev 6:12
“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” Lev 6:13
The symbolism and reasoning of the unending fire has many different purposes, let’s take a look.
1) Practical. The burnt offering is where you would bring animals to sacrifice them to atone (cover) your sins against God. The animal would be prepared in a certain way and then it was to be consumed in the fire. To completely burn the entirety of the animal to ash, a very hot, very consistent fire was needed.
2) Presence. Fire was God, fire came from God and fire represented His very presence. In fact, we’ll see in Leviticus 9:24 just how the whole fire of the altar got started…God creates it Himself supernaturally! You see, the priests were to merely keep the fire of God going, He started it. As a result, the Israelites constantly related Almighty God directly with fire. Recall that He appeared as fire to them nightly above the ark of the covenant where He dwelled among them. The fact that they brought their sin sacrifices to the fire of the altar within the tabernacle was a very powerful statement. They were not going to some simple fireplace, they were going directly to the presence of God to ask forgiveness of Him for their sins against Him and others.
3) Principle. The fire of God was always burning therefore God was always visibly present. In this way the people knew that God was always close, always watching, and always sitting in perfect righteous judgement of their sin. As the fire burned constantly, they were also reminded of their constant need to atone for their sin. You see sin never ends for us. It happens regularly in our lives and it therefore must be dealt with regularly. The fire was a constant reminder, “am I right with God?”
Today we do not live under the Old Testament though, we live under the New Testament and the glorious grace of Jesus Christ. The fire today means something different. Think back to the book of Acts and the day of Pentecost, the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (languages) as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4
Notice that? Fire. The presence of God today is still fire and it rests within each and every follower of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit of God. You have the fire of God within you, but guess what? You must tend it just as the priests did the altar fire. Our study verse, Lev 6:12, said they were to add wood to the fire every morning in order to keep the fire hot, alive and ready.
Question. Are you adding wood to your fire every morning? You’d better be! If you know anything about tending fire, it can die quickly and end up a smoking pile of embers that loses its very quality as a fire. So, where do you get this wood and how do you toss it on the fire? I’m so glad you asked.
You keep the fire of the Holy Spirit fueled by a constant study of the Word of God applied to every area of your life. By an unceasing life of prayer for ourselves and others. By fellowship with other believes and by serving God through serving others. And finally, with an evangelistic heart, preach the gospel message to the world. You want wood? This is the wood that is to be fuel on your fire every morning. And the glory of it is that God will give you all the wood you could ever need or want. But you see, it’s just like firewood in real life. You gotta want it. You gotta haul it in, break a sweat and have it ready before you can toss it on the fire everyday. Skip a day or two of firewood duty and then take a look at your fire. Where there were hot yellow flames licking the air, there’s now just a pile of ash with a bit of wispy smoke curling.
Folks, tend you fire today. Keep your wood handy and toss a few seasoned, split pieces on throughout the day. As you do, the fire of God’s Holy Spirit will burn brightly and the light that it produces will pierce the darkness of a sin filled world.
Happy burning.
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