Footsteps to Zion

We love to hear stories of how God is a God of love, merciful, gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth. While all of these are true, we must also realize that God is also described as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). There is an aspect of God’s nature that is strong and powerful as fire , putting holy fear in our hearts. However, the fire of God may be one of the most misunderstood aspects of His nature. Man’s tendency is to stay away from fire as we think it will hurt us. But as we search the Scriptures about what the fire of God really is, we will come to understand that His fire is meant for perfecting us. First, the fire of God’s jealousy. “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. ” (Deuteronomy 4:23-24) Here, the Lord’s jealousy was...