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The Story of Consuming Fire

                                                                                      

I had been thinking and praying about being passionate for the Lord when during a worship service I could see flames engulfing a worshipper.  I knew God was revealing Himself as Consuming Fire… but with no understanding of what that meant.

Over the next year and a half as I have studied, prayed and worked on the banner I have a glimmer of understanding.

Moses calls God a “Consuming Fire”, a jealous God in Deut. 4:24.  He goes on to remind the Israelites how God spoke to them from the fire and that He did this so they might know Him as God unlike any other gods in the nations around them (Deut 4:33-39).  He is jealous and will not tolerate other gods being set in His place.

In 1 Kings 18:36-39 God came by fire and burned up the sacrifice Elijah had laid.  The fire not only burned the sacrifice, but also the wood, the stone altar and the water in the trench around the altar. This event was a very clear picture of Consuming Fire and the result of this contest was a nation returning to God.

Sacrifice means to give something costly in this case, to the Lord.  Scripture talks about the aroma of a burnt sacrifice being what pleases the Lord.  Then the priest shall bring it all (the offering) and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord Lev. 1:13.  Something that is burnt is irretrievable – we cannot take it back. Paul goes on to encourage us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord – a spiritual act of worship (Rom. 12:1-2) As we offer up a sacrifice of pure worship He will be pleased with the aroma of that sacrifice.  We must not take it back.

God promises to baptize us with fire (Matt 3:10-12) and refine us like silver and gold… in that refining process all that is impure is consumed and only the pure precious metal is left.  Our works and motives will be tested and everything that is wood, hay and straw will be burned away (1 Corinth. 3:10-15).

Aside from the picture on the banner there is very little symbolism. The colours are of fire… hottest around the worshipper gradually getting darker until it is just sparks flying upward.  The worshipper is unidentifiable in terms of race gender or age… that is not important.  His features are not readily visible either as the focus is on the flames around him.

The letters are three dimensional to add weight/authority to His Name.  Consuming Fire is not something you want to play with. (Heb 12:28,29)

The verse on the back comes from Zechariah 13:9… These (This third) I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on me and I will answer them.  I will say, “They are my people.”  They will say, “The LORD is our God”.  When we come to Him, He will refine and test us and bring us into a relationship with Him – He wants no other thing to come between us. 

There are flames both above and below the verse on the back stemming from the verse in Isaiah 4:5 illustrating the fire of God is also a canopy of protection over us.