Fire Starter
Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it. Psalm 18:7-8 NASB
Angry – God is angry. Woe to sinner is His hands! At least that’s what Jonathan Edwards would want us to think. Dangling our idea of the soul over the flames of hell, Edwards created fear as a means to bring men and women into Christian faith. But Edwards apparently didn’t appreciate the nuances of Hebrew. “The Hebrew verb is always used in reference to anger. The meaning of the root differs from such words for ‘anger’ as ʾānap, zāʿam, and qāṣap, in that it emphasizes the ‘kindling’ of anger, like the kindling of a fire, or the heat of the anger, once started.”[1] Smoke, thunder, earthquakes and heat may not signal wrath. They may be just the warning signs that God is starting a fire.
Why is this nuance important? Because the fire of God may be quenched when it first begins, but the longer the flames consume, the more difficult they are to extinguish. The water of repentance is most effective when used immediately.
It’s worth noting that the noun, haron, derived from this verb (hara) is used only of God, never of men. While men may display anger as ‘ap, a word also attributed to God (e.g., the anger of His face), men are never described with the Hebrew idea of kindling this particular kind of fire. God alone employs the ferocity of heat that begins with this kindling. There are no human equivalents. Perhaps this helps us. Our anger is often not abated with remorse or repentance. We hold back forgiveness in order to savor the soul torment of the offender. Our flames lick up the courage of another’s request for forgiveness without consideration of our hardness of heart. But God is not a man. Slow to anger, He is quick to extinguish the fire starter. Baruch HaShem. Who could survive should His flames reach their zenith?
When David describes YHVH’s action, he uses imagery common to the cultures of the ancient Near East. Each of the terms paints a picture that strikes terror in the hearts of archaic men. But today we live in a desacralized world. We think of earthquakes in terms of tectonic plates, not the movement of the gods. We think of smoke as carbon, not anger. We think that fire is nothing more than combustive energy and coals are but leftover disintegration. Our world is not the world of the ancient gods. Consequently, we are not shaken, singed or chocked. We don’t believe in an angry God. We embrace a God of love, care and forgiveness.
But what if we are mistaken?
Topical Index: kindled, hara, anger, Psalm 18:7-8
[1] Wood, L. J. (1999). 736 חָרָה. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament .
Skip at his very finest. I am awed and humbled with gratitude. Thank you!
So many times in my life I needed someone to be angry: to be livid with fury at what I was facing, and at what I was seeing. I looked around. I saw apathy, self justification and blindness instead. I learned to be furious at apathy, self justification and blindness! When it comes to sin, there is no other way to care.
His anger is what assures me, a widow and an orphan, that He cares. It is my most comforting assurance that love is true for me. I know He loves me because He is willing and able to go to battle for me. That also means that I don’t have to defend myself. He is capable and willing. Rest time for me. Halleluah!
So, Skip, what are you saying? Were the ancient Israelites concerned about the “movement of the gods”? Much of what they did would be considered today as superstitious activity, i.e., casting lots. Who today cast lots to make a decision that would change their lives forever? With that in mind and your comment about “earthquakes” and “movement of the gods,” are you saying that all the natural disasters we have are brought about by God either as punishment for wrongdoing or for mankind to wake up and stop the degradation of worship of Him before He does something really drastic? Or, are they not significant at all? Jesus showed what he could do with inclement weather by calming the storm so as to abate the fear of his apostles. He and his Father could both control any situation including the weather at any time they choose. But, how do we distinguish between it just being a storm or one perpetrated by God? He certainly has reason to be extremely angry with mankind today what with all the rejection of His laws and mankind needs something from Him to nudge them into the correct worship of Him. But, from where does it come?
Maybe you’re asking too much of my exploration. Maybe all that I am saying is the David used cultural motifs and understanding to write poetry about God, and if we ignore the context of his century, we will end up with a lot of questions like the ones you raise.
True, Skip, but we live in this century and we must deal with the problems surrounding us today. With that in mind, respectfully, my questions remain.
Honestly, Amadeus, one can not really respond to your question w/out taking into consideration such things as HARP, chem trails and the fall out of atomic testing and it’s effect on weather.
and don’t forget places like Singapore actually order typhoons when the air quality goes bad.
All that to say this: it’s freaky to me, in this day and cyber age, if anyone actually BELIEVES that man doesn’t control the weather. and those that do it probably are more then a little familiar w/the Scriptures, and will twist both to their benefit.
That kinda brings in the question of whether ( <word play) God retains His sovereignty over the hearts of men, to move them according to His Will and Purpose. For example; The Messiah, in describing the time of the end of the age, speaks of wars, earthquakes and weather (among other things). He never says who causes the earthquakes and weather, only that it happens. Are wars an act of men or a judgment from God? Who's really in charge? God says He is, you can believe what you want, but how do you think it's going to turn out if it turns out to be men? 🙂
YHWH bless you and keep you……….
Well, strictly speaking, prophecy is is history foretold, correct? 😉
In any event, while the enemy may be the hand that is working the puppets bringing about the judgement of YHVH. Like when the enemy was granted access to Job there was line in the sand, his life, in this regard Job could choose to honor or not honor YHVH, in the condition that he was left with. He chose to honor and his end was better then his beginning.
If it is our common enemy wreaking havoc in the world, YHVH has already st the boundaries and the expectations, the enemy has maintain w/in those parameters, there will be no deviation from YHVH’s will.
Weather or not the enemy likes or man understands it, is immaterial. 😉
Thanks for the rebound on the word play.
In regards to your statements, I couldn’t agree more. I would only add this, that in the fourth day of creation God speaks of light and authority (rulership), and though it may have something to do with the sun and moon, it probably speaks more towards learning. When the lights are on you can see the couch in the room in order to avoid it, (greater light) however, stumbling over the chair in the darkened room is also another method of ascertaining it’s location. (lesser light) Seems as though the moon is waning these days.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
YHWH bless you and keep you…..
But you overlook the Egyptian modalities in the fourth day. Take a look at my suggestions on Genesis as tribal accounts within the culture of those who left Egypt.
Thank you for your response Skip, I have considered your suggestions and find them both accurate and informative, and I agree with what you wrote concerning them. It’s not that I overlooked them as much as maybe didn’t address them from that perspective.
In the last few years, I’ve been working, off and on, on familiarizing myself with the text of Gen. 1 (especially) and 2 and have began to see a pattern forming that I only sensed was there before. I won’t go into detail here because of space considerations, but suffice it to say that alongside the narrative there exists a foundational pattern that concerns the formula (for lack of a better term) of how things work. ie; day three is about the reproduction of plant life, but the principle goes farther than plants. The other “days” seem to match that pattern as well.
Of course the major concern is that I’m quite aware we often “see” what we’re looking for, as that is a gift given for abundant rulership and stewardship, and yet I’m continually driven back too it and often confirmed concerning it. I’d appreciate your prayers and those of this community concerning these things as they’re proving to be important to the times we live in.
YHWH bless you and keep you……….
First, I think what you meant to say is that the TYPICAL view of prophecy from the Christian perspective is that prophecy is history told in advance. This is NOT the Hebrew view. That leads to a lot of issues right from the beginning.
Secondly, attributing disaster to the hand of the enemy doesn’t appear to be Hebraic either. Yes, it is also typical, but in the Tanakh the Accuser has almost NO power at all, and certainly NONE that is independent of YHVH. As far as I can tell, the idea that the “enemy” wreaks havoc in the world in opposition to the sovereignty of YHVH is simply incompatible with a biblical worldview.
Operative phrases “doesn’t appear” and “as far as i can tell”.
We both know he is not going to announce himself or parade around in neon colors so we know he’s working, on those things we can agree.
And, again, i’m interested in learning Biblical Worldview, i’m not interested in dropping i consider to be Truth based on ‘doesn’t appear’ and/or ‘as far as i can tell’. 😉
Your absolutely correct concerning the prophetic aspect of scripture, however that doesn’t seem to dismiss the very real possibility of these things playing out if a true turning (repentance) doesn’t occur. It would seem (my opinion) that a large portion of the problem is the lack of understanding of where the battle lies and what is our part in redirecting faith appropriately. Thank you for your continuing effort in this direction, you’re a blessing to us all.
YHWH bless you and keep you….
Just an interesting note on prophecy I read today:
“Hence there is a fundamental difference between a prophecy and a prediction. If a prediction comes true, it has succeeded. If a prophecy comes true, it has failed. A prophet delivers not a prediction but a warning. He or she does not simply say, “This will happen”, but rather, “This will happen unless you change.” The prophet speaks to human freedom, not to the inevitability of fate. ” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
http://www.rabbisacks.org/on-not-predicting-the-future-vayechi-5776/
I like that !
Of course he maintains His sovereignty, but our problem is that we don’t have eyes to see it. When it’s all over, we will know. But until then, we will remain limited in our perspective because we can’t see what He is doing. This is not an excuse. It is a function of human existence. Without a reliable ex-human point of view, it all just looks like darkness in a mirror.
Oh, i don’t know…cuttingedge.org has a revolting high success rate at lining up Scripture with world events and ‘predicting’ probable movements and activities on the grand scale. And when i say ‘revoltingly high’ i mean, i can’t remember the last time they missed the mark.
I do not intend to exchange that kind of knowledgeable, critical thinking, for ‘biblical worldview’, no matter how hebraic it may be. That being said, they have a totally different calling and place in a believer’s experience and they maintain it with integrity and humility.
I find their understandings as invaluable as yours. Understanding Biblical world view is valuable but i doubt i will drop all i’ve learned from other sources because they don’t line up with it completely, especially when what i have learned has been proven out.
Yes, we do live in this century, and barring the appearance of a prophet AUTHORIZED by YHVH, we will not know what the events we witness mean because there is no way to know until AFTER the event is over and someone from OUTSIDE the human frame tell us what the event was all about. So, we get to live in ambiguity, much as the rest of humanity did for 1000’s of years except in those instances where God sent someone to tell them what it meant.
In the meanwhile, guess.
Hell hath no fury to equal the wrath of God. Ask those who didn’t make it on the Ark; ask Pharoah; ask the residents of Jericho; ask the Jews when the Babylonians showed up. Edwards got it right as evidenced by millions who still claim it to be the most famous sermon ever preached in America. A wrathless God is no God at all, just as a loveless God would be.
Have you noticed that the phrase, “Wrath of God” appears 10 times in the Bible (KJV); nine of them in the New Testament?
I expect this attribute of our holy, righteous God to be on full display again soon, as richly deserved for our disobedience.
We cannot run and we cannot hide.
We are not going to be ruptured, released or excused.
We are going to face the music … and it sounds like Wagner and not Mozart.
There is a collectiveness to the guilt, I cannot fully comprehend: From Adam to me, we are all guilty.
I may be found righteous (Torah observant) or even clean (Messiah’s blood covering).
I am still going to have to answer for not DOING more… but…
“He delivered me, because He delighted in me.”
“For He did not take of the angels to place His habitation into:
but the seed of Abraham, He took.”
Great article Skip! Thank you so much for the wonderful Israel trip! I love learning from you! LIfe is too short to learn so many truths that do matter.
Yes! “….. Because the fire of God may be quenched when it first begins, but the longer the flames consume, the more difficult they are to extinguish. The water of repentance is most effective when used immediately.” Just as a natural fire occurring, the sooner/earlier we put that out the better before it spreads further. IF only we come to realisation of the transgression earlier than later, and, to repent/turn around to seek His Face soonest possible.
Alas, we often make belief that all’s well, in spite of that nudge in the spirit/conscience.
Why shouldn’t YHWH be angry when we continue to walk in rebellion of His Torah ways, which have been clearly spelt out?! Being a righteous YHWH/ABBA, He wouldn’t judge us on the unclear stuff we are confronted with. Shalom!