“Like a Burning Fire”

In chapter 19 of the book of Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah was basically at his wits end.  The people of Israel were so extreme in their backslidden state that they were burning their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal.  The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the Valley of Hinnom and to prophesy to the elders of the city and the elders of the temple as witnesses. This valley was where the child burnt offerings were made along with the infant sacrifices.  The Lord said this valley was filled with the blood of innocents.  Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, was a detestable place where dead carcases and other filth and garbage were also taken, and a fire was continually kept there for the burning of it.  The Valley of Hinnom translated into Greek is gehenna.  Jesus referenced it as an allusion of what hell would be like.

After Jeremiah prophesied in Hinnom and then in the temple about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its people, the temple priest, Pashhur, had him beaten with 40 lashes and his hands, neck, and feet put in stocks.  This was a tortuous device that caused the body to be bent almost double.  The priest released Jeremiah the next day thinking that would shut him up.  Jeremiah became so distraught that he said of the Lord in chapter 20:9 , “I will not make mention of Him nor speak anymore in His name.” In other words, he was done.

He was giving up.  He would never prophesy again.

In the next breath Jeremiah says, “But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.  I was weary of holding it back and I could not.”  Jeremiah had been discouraged and disillusioned, but he received a new surge of hope.  A new sense of determination rose up in him.  Divine perspective created a new fresh wind blowing inside of him.  He would continue to be God’s voice and trumpet God’s message of repentance.  He would get bolder and braver.  He was not going to hold back the precious words of the Lord. In the natural, fire alters landscapes. Fire consumes anything in its path. Any object or human flesh subjected to intense fire will become unrecognizable. It’s original shape and structure undergo a radical transmutation.  For instance, a cardboard box turns to ashes.  A metal bracelet melts into a twisted altered shape.  A plastic container melts into a blob.  Skin on the forearm becomes charred and must be debrided and removed.

The changes that occur are permanent.  What once was can never return to its original state.  

That’s the power of fire!!!! And I heard the Lord say, “This is the hour of returning to My Word.  Don’t hesitate another moment.  Dive deep into My holy Word that cuts like a two-edged sword that will divide your soul from your spirit as deep as the marrow of your bones.    You can no longer afford to walk in your flesh.  You need the fire of My Word to alter the landscape of your heart.  You need the fire of My Word to burn inside of you until you become unrecognizable. My Word can totally transform you.  It can change the original structures so that who you thought you were; you no longer are.  What you assumed you looked like; you will no longer be.  When your flesh is consumed by My fire, My glory will then cover you.  Oh, precious one,  eat My Word and treasure My words more than your necessary food.  Ask Me for more fire and let Me, the Word of God, burn in you until We are one!!!  It is time to arise and be bold.  It’s time to arise and speak the truth of My Word.  Don’t hold back.  Get bolder and braver!!!