"The Fire of God"

"There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and a fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it." (Psalms 18:8) You know, it is hard for me to picture God as a fierce fire, or even a consuming fire; but if you are on the wrong side of God, watch out! The very first instance we have of God's display of fire is recorded in Genesis 3:24, when God drove out man from the garden. In that instance, the fire of God was described as "a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life". Oddly enough, this is one of the first manifestations that we have of our Lord and Saviour: a flaming Sword which turns every way to keep the way of the tree of life! Let me see; how do we approach this in a way that is not so judgemental? To put it nicely, the coals that are kindled by the fire of God, to which David is making reference to, are those that live in sin; which are those that are already condemned, and have not received His offer of mercy. If you know anything about coals, they are burning embers that smelter long after having being lit; something like charcoals in a barbecue that continue to burn well after the flames have been extinguished, and they continue to smolder and provide heat enough to cook whatever it is that is set upon the grill. Here we have the true test of what God's fire is made of; because it is not His making that keeps the fire consuming, but it is those that are fallen in sin; those are the ones which continue the fire to burn. For those that are truly His children, this fire is quenched; much like the flaming sword placed at the entrance into the garden, which turned every way, keeping the way of the tree of life, which was meant to keep man from eating of the tree of life; so too, Jesus extinguished that flaming sword by providing man access again to that tree of life. Yet, when we read the description of Jesus in Revelation, several different times He is mentioned with "His eyes were as a flame of fire", clearly indicating His power to pierce into the very depths of our soul, and to make judgement with just the look of His eyes. The fire that goes out of His mouth, which David makes mention of, is that of His judgement; which are the commands of God's very spoken word. These are the flames that light those coals: the Word of God sets those coals on fire; yet, the coals themselves are what continue to burn...