Unusual picture. Its title is appropriately called “Fire”. To me, it brings back memories from 1971 and how much my wife and I enjoyed the fireplace in our first home. I recall quite a number of times that we would get up, turn off the TV and the lights, just watch the fire. Note: This was so long ago that we didn’t even have a remote control. Anyway, watching that fire was a very simple thing, but an activity that gave us a great amount of joy.
As I thought a bit about this picture, I realized that is more like a bush of some sort rather than something that you would normally see in a home fireplace. With this realization, I naturally thought of a famous passage from Exodus, chapter three…
Exodus 3 ( World English Bible )
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.
2 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”
5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
This is a very important passage, as we have “The angel of Yahweh” conversing with Moses and then identifying himself as “..the God of your father…”. Therefore, The angel of Yahweh and God are one in the same. Its important to remember that the term angel really means messenger, which will become even more interesting later on in this blog post. Now, couple this divine encounter with a passage from the gospel of John and things get even more interesting…
John 8 ( WEB )
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God.
55 You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him, and keep his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.”
57 The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
59 Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through their midst, and so passed by.
In this excerpt, Jesus identifies himself as “I am” and therefore claims the status of deity. Its no wonder that the Jews wanted to kill him, for Jesus plainly referred to himself as God.
The last in this string of passages comes from the book of Revelation, the 19th chapter…
Revelation 19 ( WEB )
11 I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.
13 He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.”
Jesus, on a white horse; called Faithful and True, having eyes as a flame of fire and being identified as “The Word of God”. Somehow, linking all these thoughts and passages together gives a whole new meaning to the concept of fire.
After all this, it is quite plain to me that Jesus as God and being the entity for the revelation of his will is the angel of Yahweh. By referring to God as his father, Jesus is making himself co-equal with God and reveals something of his own preincarnate activities ( see also John chapter 1 ). That his eyes shown with fire is something that I will have to consider, but for now, I wonder if the burning bush was a reflection of the magnificence of Jesus as revealed through those wonderful orbs.
I know, this is a lot to think about, but then again… Isn’t that what you do when you gaze into fire- THINK!