FIRE & SERAPHIM

What is the Fire of God?

What is the fire of God in the natural and in the spiritual realm? If you haven’t seen my video on what God showed me about the spiritual realm, I suggest you watch that first.

I have been doing research on the throne of God and one of the common characteristics, that people who have seen the throne of God, describe it as seeing FIRE. So I briefly want to run through a few scriptures that reference the fire of God so we can wrap our minds around this.

God’s Fire

When God called Moses into ministry, He first saw fire.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Exodus 3:2

When God called the Israelites into covenant with Him, He appeared as fire.
Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. Exodus 19:18

When God brought judgment upon the prophets of baal, He showed His glory in fire.
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 1 Kings 18:38

When the prophet Ezekiel, witnessed the throne of God, he saw fire.
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Ezekiel 1:13

The Bible says that
…our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

So what does it all mean?

First, I want to talk about what fire may represent in the Bible. Let’s look at some scripture:

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10

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 fullers’ soap. Malachi 3:2

Fire can represent refining. As it is compared to refining metals as in gold or silver to purify. Let’s look at Isaiah 6.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Isaiah 6:1-7

Turning Point

This scripture has come up for me over and over these last couple weeks. I know this is the key part that the Lord wants me to share. When researching this scripture, I learned that this is a turning point moment, when the people of Judah had been living ungodly lives and had not turned back to God. This is also, the moment where Isaiah begins his ministry. When Isaiah is in the presence of the Holy God, he realizes his imperfections in comparison to God. He is beside himself, knowing how holy God truly is and how unholy he is in God’s presence.

Here I Am

I want to pause here for a minute because the Lord really weighed this on my heart – Are you being called to something by God? Have you felt this uncomfortable nagging that you need to do something, big or small? If you were before God Almighty and He said ‘whom shall I send?’, would you say – Here I am? We’ll come back to that.

Seraphim

So, what in the world are Seraphim? This word is translated from the word Saraph (Strongs 8314), meaning a fiery serpent, possibly copper in color. How strange of an experience this must have been, the prophet Isaiah, witnessing flying creatures that are on fire? They have six wings but four of their six wings cover their faces and feet. Many believe that they cover their faces because the glory of the Lord and out of reverence.

The Garden

Here’s where it gets even more interesting – remember the story about Adam and Eve in the garden, after they sinned by eating the forbidden fruit?

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field;on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15

Don’t you think it’s interesting that this scripture talks about the serpent and the head and the heel together? Remember the scripture in Isaiah 6 said that the wings covered their head and feet?

The Counterfeit

I think the Lord wants me to talk about is the enemy counterfeit in this comparison. We know that the enemy always tries to mimic the Lord, to trick the children of God. In the garden, we have a deceitful snake that is trying to twist God’s words, where in Isaiah you have flaming, fiery serpents shouting out praise and the holiness of God. The enemy always tries to look holy but he only brings death and destruction. We must be on guard for any counterfeit with which the enemy is trying to ensnare us.

Holy Spirit Fire

Last I want to finish with the fire of the Holy Spirit as listed in Acts 2:

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:2-4

In this case, the disciples literally saw the fire of God. The Holy Spirit may be described as fire because when the Holy Spirit falls on you, sometimes it can be uncomfortable. The Holy Spirit can open our understanding, convict us, bring peace, knowledge, wisdom, speaking in tongues and many different things that the Lord grants. But when we are filled with the FIRE of the Holy Spirit sometimes it can be a bit paralyzing.

Sometimes, when the Lord puts something in my heart, I feel very uncomfortable until I follow through with what God has asked. So internally, I struggle, sometimes agonizing over things until I submit to God’s will. This is Him refining me and teaching me. Now when I hear His voice, I am quicker to act and quicker to ask for His help.

The Power of Jesus

Before I had Jesus in my life, I constantly had anxiety and shame. However, Jesus has removed this burden of self condemnation from my life. Now, when I get anxiety, I turn to Him and ask Him, ‘what is going on?’. Is there something I need to repent of or change? Or am I feeling something from the world that is not from You? Slowly, I am learning the difference in feeling His nudging and having superficial feelings that the enemy may be laying upon me. This has taken time and is strengthened by my relationship with Jesus. When I am in fellowship with the Lord and daily spending time with Him, reading His Word, researching scripture, or listening to sermons, I hear His voice much easier and clearer.

Hearing His Voice

One time, when I felt the Lord nudge me to go pray for someone at church, I didn’t want to because it was awkward and I even had a burning in my heart. As soon as the Lord knew I wouldn’t go, I saw a good friend of mine, who is a prayer warrior, walk right in front of me and go pray for that person. I immediately repented. I felt so bad that I didn’t get the job because I was too uncomfortable to do it. The Lord will use the willing, the ones who are willing to hear His voice and to do what He asks. My friend got to bless someone that day, because she let the Lord use her.

Send Me!

So again, I ask you, is the Lord calling you to something? In this process of refining that I am currently in, I have prayed for the filing or the fire of the Holy Spirit quite often. I don’t have all the answers but for me the fire continues to get stronger. It may be different for you. But if you have never experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit and want to, all you need is the desire. Maybe it’s time to tell Jesus – Here I am, send me! I pray you are all blessed today and filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit!

Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9