Any thoughts on the “raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”?
After a bit of study this evening, my initial ponderings are around the greek “esthio”. Almost always used literally “to eat”, but here being used metaphorically.
Would appreciate any help/insights you may have…
Thanks.
I’ll try to write someting on this later–I don’t have time now. Hebrews has been on my mind a lot lately since my church is currently preaching through it.
One quick thought on the ‘fire’ is that God himself is identified as that fire in Heb 12
If you’re not already familiar with it, George MacDonald has a sermon called “The Consuming Fire” which you might find interesting (on the Heb 12 passage):
online-literature.com/george-macdonald/unspoken-sermons/2/
This also brought to mind a song by Rich Mullins, called “The Love of God”:
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
Now I’ve seen no band of angels
But I’ve heard the soldiers’ songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it’s never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love
Oh the love of God
And oh, the love of God
The love of God
Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I’m tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
Thanks Sonia. Excellent comments…
I’m not entirely sure if it’s important or not, but the greek word for “consuming” in verse 12:29 is an even more intense word than the one used in verse 10:27.
Nonetheless, a very important observation you’ve made: that God Himself is a consuming fire, and a jealous God as Deut 4:24 indicates. I think of this Divine jealousy as desperate love, consuming anything that comes between HImself and the object of His love (the Deuteronomy passage is discussing the sin of idolatry as coming between God and His people).
Just some random thoughts. Will read the sermon at the link you provided. Thanks for helping me think through this!
Isaiah 33:10-14
“Now will I arise,” says the LORD. "Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
You [sinners of Zion] conceive chaff, you [sinners of Zion] give birth to straw; your [sinners of Zion] breath is a fire that consumes you. The peoples will be burned as if to lime; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze. You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless as they cry,“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
James 3:6
The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by [the judgment of] Gehenna.
The consuming fire, is a fire that destroys. What does it destroy? It destroys the chaff, the shortcomings and sin that the world believes is a great reward. The fire is actually speaking of the judgment of Gehenna which comes from God and that a detail to understanding it’s meaning is to understand why, how and what it is, it’s meaning found in the Scriptures.
The consuming fire is a judgment, not God himself. It is a power of God to do a specific purpose and that is to destroy the ill-gotten reward of the wicked who by savoring that which will be destroyed, will be humiliated, crushed, distraught when they see it continually destroyed until they stop producing thorns and chaff and begin to live in the harvest of God and the fruit of His Spirit.
I disagree with most conclusions that the Fire is God Himself, because the evidence does not demonstrate that God is that fire specifically, though there is good evidence either way.
A,
I’m not claiming that every fire mentioned in Scripture is God, but the author of Hebrews states plainly that our God is a consuming fire, and I think that fire in Heb 12 is a continuation of the thought expressed in 10:27.
How do you understand that statement?
Sonia
Please keep thinking at us! 
I’m trying to better understand Hebrews, too!
I was looking at different translations of this verse, and find it interesting that in some of them the fire is an adjective, while in others the fire is a noun. So we have in some cases “fiery jealousy,” fiery zeal," and “fiery indignation” while in others it is a “raging fire,” “fury of fire” and “fierceness of fire.” I’d like to understand why there is that much descrepancy–it changes the meaning considerably.
In 2 Cor 11:2, Paul says he is “jealous for them with a godly jealousy,” that word jealous being the same word translated in Heb as “raging” etc. I would think (as we can gather from Paul in 2 Cor) that a Godly jealousy or rage or zeal is still one that seeks the best for it’s object, and that whether it is a fiery zeal or a zealous fire.
Just a few more thoughts,
Sonia
It is okay to believe that Hebrews 12:29 is a continuation of Hebrews 10:27 because as everyone should know or soon find out, the letters were never separated by chapter and verse and were meant to be read as a whole.
Hebrews 10:26-27
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Hebrews 12:29
For our "God is a consuming fire.
Though there are plenty of fires or burning mentioned in Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:7
In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
In saying this, it is also known that different fires were used for different things through out the Old Testament and the letter to the Hebrews was addressing the people who would be familiar with these different fires.
To understand Hebrews usage of “Our God is a consuming Fire.” We need to understand where that quote was coming from.
Deut 4:23 says, “The Lord your God is a consuming Fire”
Later in verse 33 it says, "33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?
So, the reference that God is a consuming fire, is simile, a metaphor. God is not literally a consuming fire, but He most definitely is in control including any fire which does His work and what He intends.
Not much to say on this but just wanted to make sure that it is understood God is not every fire mentioned.
A, I wasn’t thinking that God is a literal fire. One of the reasons I had for bringing up that passage was to make the point that the raging fire which consumes the adversaries is not necessarily a literal fire.
Fire is an interesting subject to study in the scriptures. “Consuming” is also an interesting study.
Here’s a passage that goes well with the topic:
Zep 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination [is] to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, [even] all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Sonia
Understand that literal is not another name for physical. God is not a consuming fire in a spiritual or physical reality, He is metaphorically likened to a consuming fire and as a figure of speech, God is a consuming fire. 
This is the weakness of a cognitive language to describe specific hard facts concerning details. We misunderstood each other and my apologies.
Does God have emotions?
I would say yes, but not in the way we tend to think of emotions. God has the things we call emotions–sorrow, joy, love, hate, etc.
Sonia
So understanding any and all emotion is not out of any insecurity, fear, arrogance, ignorance, or maliciousness of any sort. What does it mean for him to be jealous or angry?