The Word That Burns Like Fire

The Word That Burns Like Fire

Jeremiah 23:29

“Is not My Word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

The Word of God is like fire, according to Jeremiah. We know that fire burns—but that’s not all it does. Like a hammer, fire can consume and destroy, but those same burning flames can also cleanse and purify. Fire gives light in the dark and warmth when it is cold. Those are really great things.

Let’s talk about the burning process first.

Jeremiah 5:14

“…Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them.”

That Word of fire that consumes sounds terrible until you understand what is being consumed. The Word burns away hypocrisy, self-righteousness, idolatry, and worldliness. It burns away the clutter of the world and makes room for Christ in our hearts.

Malachi 3:3 tells us that the Messenger of the Lord “will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver.”

Silver is purified when the silversmith places it in a crucible and sets it directly into the hottest part of the fire. As the silver heats up, it begins to melt and the impurities rise to the surface, where the flams burn them away. As the impurities clear, the silversmith knows the silver is pure when he can see his reflection in it.

God uses His Word in the same way. He applies the heat, causing the impurities in our hearts to surface. Then the Word of God becomes the fire that burns—destroying sin, pride, and unbelief—until all that remains is the reflection of Christ in the believer’s heart.

That refining process was experienced by two disciples on the road to Emmaus after Christ’s resurrection:

Luke 24:32

They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

That is the purifying fire of the Word of God. It cleanses and makes pure those who hear it with open ears.

But that Word of fire also provides light—and we’ll look at that tomorrow.