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Reference

Is 30:33, Is 4:4, Jn 3:16, Jud 13:20, Ps 18:8, Heb 12:29, Lk 3:16, Ps 104:4, Lk 12:49, Ex 3:2, Acts 2:3, Jer 23:29, Jer 20:9, 2 Chron 7:1, Rev 21:8, 1 Cor 3:11-15, Matt 3:11, Amos 1:10, Matt 25:41, Is 43:2

In the Bible, fire serves as a powerful symbol representing God's presence, power, judgment, and purification, appearing both literally and metaphorically throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Here's a breakdown of fire's significance:

Old Testament:

Divine Presence & Power:

Fire is often associated with God's presence, as seen in the burning bush where God revealed Himself to Moses (Exodus 3:2).
Pillar of Fire:

A pillar of fire led the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21).

Judgment & Wrath:

Fire can also symbolize God's judgment and wrath, as seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).

Purification:

Fire can represent the purification of offerings and sacrifices, as seen in fire descending from heaven to consume offerings (Leviticus 9:24).

New Testament:

Holy Spirit:

In the New Testament, fire takes on a more symbolic role, representing the Holy Spirit, as John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).

Purification & Transformation:

The fire of the Holy Spirit is seen as a purifying and transformative force, cleansing and refining believers (1 Peter 1:7).

Judgment:

Fire can also represent the ultimate judgment of God, as seen in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

Fire

Hebrews 12:29 ESV / 523 helpful votes

For our God is a consuming fire.

Luke 3:16 ESV / 461 helpful votes

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Psalm 104:4 ESV / 411 helpful votes

He makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.

Luke 12:49 ESV / 357 helpful votes

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

Exodus 3:2 ESV / 351 helpful votes

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.

Acts 2:3 ESV / 328 helpful votes

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

Jeremiah 23:29 ESV / 321 helpful votes

Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 20:9 ESV / 296 helpful votes

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

2 Chronicles 7:1 ESV / 290 helpful votes

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 278 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV / 224 helpful votes

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Matthew 3:11 ESV / 219 helpful votes

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Amos 1:10 ESV / 209 helpful votes

So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.”

Matthew 25:41 ESV / 205 helpful votes

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV / 203 helpful votes

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Jude 1:7 ESV / 197 helpful votes

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Exodus 19:18 ESV / 194 helpful votes

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.

1 Corinthians 3:15-17 ESV / 184 helpful votes

If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Exodus 40:38 ESV / 182 helpful votes

For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

Revelation 20:9 ESV / 180 helpful votes

And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,

1 Peter 1:7 ESV / 177 helpful votes

So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Kings 18:38 ESV / 172 helpful votes

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.

Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV / 172 helpful votes

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

2 Kings 1:9-12 ESV / 159 helpful votes

Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Numbers 16:35 ESV / 157 helpful votes

And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

1 Corinthians 3:13 ESV / 155 helpful votes

Each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

Numbers 11:1 ESV / 154 helpful votes

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.

Exodus 13:21 ESV / 154 helpful votes

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

Acts 2:1-15 ESV / 153 helpful votes

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 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. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...

Isaiah 33:14 ESV / 153 helpful votes

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Zechariah 13:9 ESV / 148 helpful votes

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Mark 9:43 ESV / 147 helpful votes

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Genesis 15:17 ESV / 144 helpful votes

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

1 Kings 18:24 ESV / 140 helpful votes

And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

James 3:6 ESV / 135 helpful votes

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Hebrews 1:7 ESV / 134 helpful votes

Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 131 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Zechariah 2:5 ESV / 126 helpful votes

And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

2 Peter 3:10 ESV / 125 helpful votes

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Revelation 20:10 ESV / 120 helpful votes

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Leviticus 9:24 ESV / 113 helpful votes

And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Acts 2:3-4 ESV / 111 helpful votes

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.

Deuteronomy 9:3 ESV / 110 helpful votes

Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

Revelation 20:15 ESV / 109 helpful votes

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV / 108 helpful votes

In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Exodus 24:17 ESV / 108 helpful votes

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

Proverbs 17:3 ESV / 106 helpful votes

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.

Psalm 39:3 ESV / 106 helpful votes

My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

Psalm 66:10 ESV / 105 helpful votes

For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

Revelation 1:14 ESV / 99 helpful votes

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

Revelation 20:1-15 ESV / 94 helpful votes

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. ...

2 Kings 2:11 ESV / 92 helpful votes

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Kings 1:10 ESV / 92 helpful votes

But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Leviticus 6:12-13 ESV / 92 helpful votes

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

Matthew 5:22 ESV / 89 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 3:12 ESV / 86 helpful votes

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 13:50 ESV / 84 helpful votes

And throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Malachi 3:2 ESV / 80 helpful votes

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.

Genesis 19:24 ESV / 80 helpful votes

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Luke 9:54 ESV / 79 helpful votes

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

Revelation 19:20 ESV / 77 helpful votes

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 70 helpful votes

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 70 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.