THE FIRE ON THE ALTAR  by  Larry W Peebles September 13, 2019 19.31

Someone who is in a state of panic, great confusion, and general chaos, can be described as “running around like their hair is on fire”.  I can imagine the person trying to gain control of the chaos, while having to fight the fire on their head at the same time.  Like an unwanted kitchen fire that flares up when attempting to cook a delicate dish, fire is not something that can be ignored or treated casually.  Conversely, for someone who is frozen in their footsteps and cannot make a decision, it is said that person might need to “set their own hair on fire”.  Fire will cause something to happen.  Events will dislodge, activity will occur, things will get moving.  Fire is hard to ignore.

Simply defined, fire is a chemical reaction that gives off light and heat.  It is an example of the chemical process of oxidation, as oxygen is a necessary component of fire.  It can begin by transferring intense heat from another source (such as sun rays through a magnifying glass), or by a chemical reaction created by striking a match.  In addition to the heat source, fire requires fuel and oxygen to burn.  It can be both destructive (like a house or forest fire), or useful (as a cook fire or a camp fire).  It can be powerful and deadly when raging uncontrolled through a forest, and yet be warm and peaceful when experienced in a fireplace on a cold night.  Fire can change ice into water, and water into steam.  It can turn solid metals into liquid, such as gold and iron, purifying them in the process.  In short, it is a curious phenomenon with a wide range of properties.

After God rescued the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity, He had to overcome the centuries-old exposure to idols and false gods.  He had to teach them how to regain their devotion to the one true holy God.  Burnt offerings on the altar were for the atonement or forgiveness of sin so that relationship between God and man could be restored.  The fire consumed their sacrifice.  These offerings are described in the early chapters of Leviticus, but rather than focus on the various offerings, we will focus on a particular instruction given in Leviticus 6:13, where God says- “A fire shall always be burning on the altar: it shall never go out.”  The fire would remind them He was always ready to forgive.

When He gave this instruction, He had already appeared to the children of Israel in the form of fire.  He would continue to appear as fire throughout the Bible.  These appearances give us examples of His character.  The following list of examples is not exhaustive, but it is revealing, and challenges us to seek His fire and keep it burning:

1. Fire in the burning bush– Exodus Chapter 3 tells the story of Moses’ encounter with God at the time he was called to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian captivity.  Verse 2 reads- “The Angel of the Lord appeared to him [Moses] 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 was not consumed.”  Moses knew fire when he saw it, but he had never seen fire like this.  This was a supernatural appearance by God.  It was the form God chose to bring His presence before Moses.  He spoke to Moses, saying that He had heard the cries of His children (v.7).  He told Moses to take his shoes off, because he was standing on holy ground (v. 5).  He identified Himself as “I AM”, the eternal one (v. 14).  The fire was the manifested presence of God.  What followed the display of fire was a demonstration of God’s power to rescue, save and deliver His children from captivity.  Moses as the leader was used to reveal the work of the coming Messiah Jesus.
2. The pillar of fire– Exodus Chapter 14 recounts how God protected and led the children of Israel as a cloud by day (for shade), and a pillar of fire (for light and warmth) by night.  This was the case for the entire 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert on their journey to the land God had promised.  The only time the fire was not in front of the people leading them was when the Egyptian army was in pursuit.  They found themselves trapped against the Red Sea, with the Egyptians closing from behind.  The pillar of fire moved from the front to the rear of the people to protect them (Exodus 14:19-20).  The Red Sea parted to allow the Israelites to cross and escape, closed on the Egyptians, and destroyed the entire army.  When the fire of God is present, it is extremely powerful to guide, protect and defend.
3. Fire on Mt. Carmel– After they were established in the land God had promised, the Israelites requested they be ruled by kings (rather than be a nation whose king was God).  It was during the days of the kings they began to drift away from God.  The reign of Ahab was particularly notorious.  In 1 Kings 18, we see that his wife Jezebel “massacred” the prophets of God (v.4), and Ahab promoted worship of the idol Baal.  He “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).  Ahab and Jezebel were looking to kill Elijah.  At the request of God, Elijah sent Obadiah to set up a meeting with Ahab.  Obadiah was afraid, but did it because they had the word from God.  At the meeting on Mt. Carmel, in front of the prophets of Baal, Elijah challenged the children of Israel to choose who they would follow- either Baal or the Lord God.  The question was to be answered in a test.  The prophets of Baal built an altar, placed a sacrifice, and called on their god to send down fire to consume it.  They called out all day, and cut themselves, but had no results.  Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord, stacked his wood, placed his bull offering on the altar, and soaked the altar, the bull, and the wood with water until a trench around the altar was filled.  He then spoke in the hearing of all the people, and asked the Lord to show all the people He was the one true God.  He did not ask for fire, but fire came from heaven that day and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stone altar, and all the water.  His presence manifested as fire, and He used fire to prove Himself (that He exists).  Today He will use fire to defend His name, and to keep His word and promises.
4. Baptism of fire– When John was baptizing the people and preparing the way for Jesus, he said in Matthew 3:11- “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me [Jesus] is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.  John makes it clear that there is a water baptism to cleanse us from our sin, and a separate baptism by the fire of the Holy Spirit.  This is a baptism of power from God.  As of the writing of this article, the North Georgia Revival has been ongoing at the Christ Fellowship Church in Dawsonville, Georgia for over 18 months.  The revival began when the pastor had an open vision from the Lord and saw fire on the surface of their rather large total- immersion baptismal fount.  He says the Lord told him this would be a revival of fire in the waters of baptism.  I have been to several of these Sunday evening revival services, and can attest to the presence and power of the Lord in the meetings.  The church has done a good job of documenting the miracles that have occurred.  I will not elaborate here, but would encourage those who are interested to visit the church website and attend.  The baptism of fire is real, as Scripture says.  This is the same supernatural power that allowed Elijah to outrun Ahab’s horse-drawn chariot in the race back to town following the encounter on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:45-46).
5. Fire at Pentecost– Following his death and resurrection, Jesus reappeared to His disciples, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, which was to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said- “You have heard from Me: for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4-5).  On the day of Shavout on the Jewish calendar, the Feast of Weeks, this promise was fulfilled.  According to Acts 2:1-4- “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”  The promise of the Father had been fulfilled as spoken through John the Baptist and confirmed by Jesus.  The disciples and those gathered in the room were filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Now the disciples could preach with conviction and power (Acts 1:8).  Those too timid to preach would preach with passion.  The church exploded.  The world would never be the same.  As the 20^th century evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said- “You don’t have to advertise a fire.”

Miracles, signs and wonders accompanied the preached word, also as promised by Jesus (John 14:12-14).  The fire of the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the power to die for the sake of the Gospel.  They would not be silent, and they would not relent or recant.  Most died at the hands of those who persecuted them, but never changed their story.  They knew the truth they heard and saw, and they knew the power behind their own ministry.

This is not surprising.  Consider Psalms 104:4- “[O Lord my God]…makes…His ministers a flame of fire.”  Jeremiah described the intensity of ministering and preaching under the fire, the power, and the anointing of God when he wrote- “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.” Jeremiah 20:9.

We can clearly see even in this short study how God uses fire to reveal Himself, and to empower those who would carry the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.  The power of the fire of the Holy Spirit is operative today, demonstrating the love of God and the very near presence of God to those who will see and listen.  The Bible says ask and you shall receive.  We must ask and keep on asking for the fire of the Holy Spirit. The fire is one of the “greater gifts” Paul encourages us to seek in 1 Corinthians 12:31, and is something we must keep burning continually in the altar of our heart.