Ⅰ
God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29; Deut. 4:24; 9:3):
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As the burning One, God is holy; holiness is His nature, and whatever does not correspond with His holy nature, He, as the consuming fire, will consume (Heb. 12:29).
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In Daniel 7:9-10 God's throne was flames of fire, its wheels were a burning fire, and a stream of fire issued forth and came out from before Him; the fire here indicates that God is absolutely righteous and altogether holy.
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Through His death the Lord released Himself into man as the fire of life to burn on the earth (Luke 12:49-50; John 12:24):
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The pneumatic Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit is a burning fire (Heb. 12:29; Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 1:14; cf. Zech. 2:5).
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This fire is the impulse (the impelling force) of the spiritual life, an impulse that comes from the Lord's released divine life.
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"We all have been burned by this fire; we have been brought together by this fire; and now we are burdened that this fire would burn many others. When the concealed glory of Christ's divinity was released, a divine fire was cast on earth to burn the whole earth. Let the fire burn on! No one can stop it" (The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory, pp. 11-12).
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The seven Spirits of God are the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne; these lamps of fire are for the carrying out of God's administration (Rev. 4:5).
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 12:28-29 Therefore receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly with piety and fear; for our God is also a consuming fire.Dan. 7:9-10 I watched until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat down....His throne was flames of fire, its wheels, burning fire. A stream of fire issued forth and came out from before Him...
God is holy; holiness is His nature. Whatever does not correspond with His holy nature, He, as the consuming fire, will consume....To satisfy God's righteousness we need to be justified through the redemption of Christ. To meet the demands of His holiness we need to be sanctified, to be made holy by the heavenly, present, and living Christ. (Heb. 12:29, footnote 1)
The fire in Daniel 7:9-10 means that God is absolutely righteous and altogether holy (Heb. 12:29). Without holiness no one can see the Lord or contact Him (Heb. 12:14 and footnote). (Dan. 7:9, footnote 2)
[The fire is] the impulse of the spiritual life. This impulse comes from the Lord's released divine life. (Luke 12:49, footnote 1)
[The Lord's] death was by His being the God-man to accomplish God's redemption for man (Luke 23:42-43) and to release Himself into man as the fire of life to burn on the earth (12:49-50). (Luke 24:51, footnote 1)
Today's Reading
Revelation 5:6 says, "I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." These seven eyes, the seven Spirits, are "like a flame of fire" (1:14; 2:18). Elsewhere we are told that the seven Spirits of God are "seven lamps of fire burning before the throne" (4:5). Christ today is a burning fire. We all have been burned by this fire; we have been brought together by this fire; and now we are burdened that this fire would burn many others. When the concealed glory of Christ's divinity was released, a divine fire was cast on earth to burn the whole earth. Let the fire burn on! No one can stop it. (CWWL, 1994-1997,vol. 5, "The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory," p. 321)"Then fire came forth from before Jehovah and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they gave a ringing shout and fell on their faces" (Lev. 9:24). This fire signifies that God's holiness as a consuming fire accepts our offerings by burning. Anything that corresponds to God's holy nature, God's holiness accepts by consuming it. But anything that does not meet the requirements of God's holiness will be judged by God's holiness through burning. In such a case, the fire represents the God who is the consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).
After we enjoy God's presence, the appearing of His glory, and the Lord's blessing, we should be prepared to receive the consuming fire. It is a spiritual law that God's blessing is followed by the consuming fire of suffering. This fire is a sign that God has accepted what we have offered to Him in Christ and with Christ.
The same fire, which is the representative of God's holiness, may either be a consuming fire for God's acceptance or a judging fire. The consuming fire accepted the offering up of Stephen (Acts 7:55-59), whereas with the coming of Titus in A.D. 70 this consuming fire judged the mixture at Jerusalem.
To us today, the consuming fire may be a divine acceptance of our offering to God, or it may be God's judgment due to our offenses....If we enjoy Christ and offer
Him to God, the consuming fire will be God's acceptance. However, if we offend God's government and a burning comes to us, this burning is God's judgment upon us for touching His government. This is a serious matter. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 284-285)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msgs. 31-32; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, "The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory," chs. 1-2