Heavenly and Profane Fires

Since God secured David’s kingship by allowing the Israelites to submit to him, David wanted to transport the ark of God from its almost 50-year residence in Kirjath Jearim to Jerusalem; so that he could inquire of the Lord at any time.  Thus, the king gathered the Israelites from Sihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamah.  He selected 30,000 choice soldiers and they marched to Baalah.  They brought the ark of God out of the house of Abinadab and placed it on a new cart driven by Uzzah and Ahio.  David and the entire house of Israel made merry before the Lord by using lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, cymbals, and singing and dancing.  The people thought that they were serving the Lord with all their “heart, soul, and strength.”  Little did they realize that this lavish spectacle, which taxed the nation’s physical and human resources, would prove displeasing to the Lord.

As they arrived at Chidon’s threshing floor, the oxen stumbled.  Uzzah was afraid that the ark might fall, so he put his hand out to steady it; the ark was jolted but remained in place.  Uzzah’s good intentions, however, went against God’s command of not touching the ark, so he was struck down by God, and died beside the cart.  The music came to a halt and David became fearful.  Consequently, he carried the ark of God to a house on the way back and went back to the airy sorrowfully.  He named the place where Uzzah was struck down Perez Uzzah, to serve from then on as a lament to passing travelers of the sorrowful regrets of those who serve the Lord with misdirected fervor.

When Moses first set up the tabernacle of meeting in the wilderness, a cloud rested above it, and the glory of God filled the tabernacle.  Since Adam sinned and was cast out of the Garden of Eden, God’s loving intention to “dwell among My people” was now made manifest.  God called to Moses from the tabernacle and spoke to him concerning the rules for offering sacrifices.  From that point on, the sins of men could be atoned for through the blood of bulls and sheep.  This opened up the first chapter in God’s great plan of salvation.

When Aaron initially offered sin offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings on behalf of the Israelites, the glory of God appeared to the people.  Fire came forth from YHWH

and consumed the burnt offering and fat on the altar.  The multitudes rejoiced upon seeing this phenomenon and prostrated themselves on the ground.  Shortly afterwards, the Bible describes the death of Aaron’s two sons: “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before YHWH, which He had not commanded them.  So fire went out from YHWH and devoured them, and they died before YHWH” (Lev 10:1-2).  This instance was illustrated as a reminder to the later generations: Do not presume that because you are living under God’s abundant grace, any method used to serve Him will suffice as long as you have the “heart” to do it.  Moreover, one should not take spiritual considerations as a kind of "nit-picking” conservatism or mock the pursuit of “being set apart as holy” as self-confining. Also, one should not use an ambiguous attitude of “open-mindedness” to muddle the distinction between what is holy and what is profane, for God’s requirement that “I will show Myself holy among those who are near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified” will never change.

In ancient times, God often used His fire to indicate acceptance of a sacrifice.

When God was establishing a covenant with Abram, Abram placed a heifer, ram, goat, turtledove and pigeon on the altar and quietly waited for God’s sign of the covenant.  As the sun was setting, nothing happened yet and Abram fell into a deep sleep.  Unexpectedly, after the sun set and darkness fell, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the sacrificed pieces, thus God’s covenant with Abram was established (Gen 15).  Gideon heard the Lord’s calling and placed a young goat and unleavened bread as offerings on the rock.  The angel of God put out the end of the staff and touched the meat and the unleavened bread, and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread (Judg 6).  When the temple was complete and King Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep (2 Chr 7:1-5).

Elijah clearly understood that the mystery of the “consuming fire from heaven on the sacrificial altar” was solely the work of the true God in heaven.  Therefore after unsuccessfully urging the Israelites to turn from their evil ways on Mount Carmel, he said to them, “Give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves… and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.  Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, YHWH; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”  From morning till noon, and from afternoon till the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, the prophets of Baal cried out wildly, calling on the name of Baal, “O Baal, hear us!”  There was no voice, however; no one answered; no one paid attention.  Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.”  He commanded the people to pour water three consecutive times on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood, so that the water ran all around the altar and also filled the trench.  Then Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel… hear me, YHWH, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God!”  Then the fire of YHWH fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and dried up the water that was in the trench.  When all the people witnessed it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “YHWH, He is God!  YHWH, He is God!  This rousing scene was as dramatic as the one 500 years earlier when Aaron offered the first burnt offering.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out.  And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning… a fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out” (Lev 6:12-13).  This fire initially came down from God during Aaron’s first burnt offering (9:24). it is the fire of YHWH (1 Ki 18:38), and God specifically instructed that it “not be put out.”  Since YHWH is a holy God, people who desire to draw near Him must not only use the blood of cattle and sheep as atonement, but they must also serve Him with the fire given by Him.  They must not follow their own will and use profane fire as substitution.  It is imperative that the heavenly fire be preserved, to serve as the source of fire for the censer and all future sacrifices (Lev 16:12).

The Lord Jesus Christ offered up Himself and fulfilled all kinds of rules concerning offering sacrifices in Mosaic Law.  Thereafter, mankind no longer needed the blood of bulls and goats to serve as atonement for their sins because the blood of Christ Jesus has purged us forever.  We shall then present ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord (Rom 12:1).  However, here we cannot help but ask: It is said that the law is a shadow of the good things to come, but look, the living sacrifice of the New Testament has been offered up, so where is the heavenly fire that establishes the covenant and signifies acceptance?

If we can comprehend the truth of "fire from heaven consuming sacrifices”, then we will not be surprised why the Holy Spirit from God first descended upon the “living sacrifices” in the likeness of fire (Act 2:3), and why one would experience the feeling of a burning fire within when the Holy Spirit enters his heart (Jer 20:9).  It is because the Holy Spirit is a spirit of burning from heaven (Is 4:4) that is a sign of God’s holiness and His acceptance.  It is the source of all future incense burning, sacrifice offering, and service to the Lord; the heavenly fire that shall never be put out.  If people were aware of how perfect and awe-inspiring the Lord’s holiness and honor were, they naturally would not dare to use profane fire – excellent speech and wisdom of the world – as an offering to the Lord.

Profane fire may be obtained through human cunning; one does not have to wait for it with patience as is the case with heavenly fire.  Although when the profane fire is blazing fiercely, it could also impassion people, but to those who understand the truth they dare not offer it.  After all, no matter how intense the profane fire becomes, it still lacks the essential factor for service to God – sacred purity.  For that reason Paul, a man who possessed lavish resources of profane fire, viewed it as rubbish.  He answered the Greeks who sought wisdom and the Jews who requested signs, with the Holy Spirit whom they regarded as foolishness.

In the time of the Great Flood, God set precise dimensions for the ark.  The righteous Noah faithfully carried out God’s commands so that when the floods came, his ark was the only vessel in the world that remained afloat.

During the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness God cautioned Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds, to be vigilant and “raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain” (Ex 26:30).  Moses followed accordingly, so God dwelled in the tabernacle upon its completion. 

Before wise Solomon began constructing the temple of God, his father David revealed a blueprint to him saying, “all this, the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.”  For even the land on which the temple is to be built was chosen by God.  King Solomon began construction according to the plan, so God’s glory filled the temple upon its completion.

In the land of captivity, God unveiled in a vision to prophet Ezekiel all the details of the design and implementation of the future spiritual temple.  On the island of Patmos, John followed orders to use a reed as measuring rod to measure the temple of God and those who worshiped there.  There is a message here for us, who are no match for the righteousness of Noah, the erudition of Moses, or the wisdom of Solomon: Do not presume that you possess great wisdom, but instead walk humbly with God.  In God’s sacred work, humans can only rely on the Holy Spirit to carry out the design and method established by God.  They should not have their own creation or innovation.  God does this not because humans lack wisdom, nor is it because He wants to stymie the expression of human creativity.  In fact, it is because in God’s view, even the loftiest expression of human wisdom is still an impure kind of folly.  God sets His precise measurements none other than to allow humans to model themselves after God, to join in His holy work, and to draw near to Him.  God is holy, so those who come near to serve Him and the instruments they use must be holy.  In the same principle, when the apostles spoke of the current dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, they said that it must be “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Eph 2:20; 2 Pet 3:2).  The church does not hold any theories or rules concocted by humans, and she possesses nothing other than God’s pure and profound revelation and His wondrous grace.  The foundation of the church is the Holy Spirit of fire and the church herself is the heavenly Jerusalem!

Today, if we continue to strive in presenting various kinds of secular activities to attract people to the Lord and offer up human theories in explaining the profoundness of God’s word, then we have misread God’s love.  We tend to think that as long as we have a sincere heart for the Lord, He will be pleased regardless of the methods we use.  Perhaps Uzzah and Aaron’s two sons in those days also held this naïve concept!

The Lord Jesus mentioned a group of people who worked for Christ with all their hearts and strength but were eventually condemned as “workers of iniquity.”  Were they not left outside the gates of heaven because they had not followed the heavenly Father’s will and had not served Him with heavenly fire?

God has said, “[this fire] shall not be put out!”  Today, this heavenly fire has been entrusted unto our care, so let us add on our wood of faith, hope, and love daily to invigorate it; to allow it to prosper from generation to generation.  We must not allow this source of fire for the offerings to be extinguished.  Furthermore, we must remain vigilant, for if we only know how to serve zealously but not how to differentiate between that which is holy and that which is profane, we may also commit the error of offering profane fire as heavenly fire.

Final Note:

The heavenly fire under the Law has been fully realized and manifested as the Holy Spirit.  Thus, there is no longer the physical form of the heavenly fire to consume sacrificial offerings.  This is also why, in these last days of grace, we must not be deceived by accounts of the seemingly-miraculous occurrence of “fire coming down from heaven” (Rev 13:13).

A way of representing in Hebrew the holy name of God.