God: The Everlasting Fire that Consumes

“as Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in the same way as these, are exhibited as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 1:7

“Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire FROM Yahweh.” Genesis 19:24

“For indeed our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29

“Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans and put fire in them. Then they placed incense on it and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them, and they died before Yahweh.Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘It is what Yahweh spoke, saying, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be glorified.”’ So Aaron kept silent.

“Then Moses called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, ‘Come near, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.’So they came near and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, shall weep over the burning which Yahweh has brought about.You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, lest you die; for the anointing oil of Yahweh is upon you.’ So they did according to the word of Moses.

^“Yahweh then spoke to Aaron, saying, ‘Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations—and so as to separate between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to instruct the sons of Israel in all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them through Moses.” Leviticus 10:1-11

“Remember the day that you stood before Yahweh your God at Horeb when Yahweh said to me, ‘Summon for me the people so that I can tell them my words, that they may learn to fear me all of the days they are alive on the earth and so that they may teach their children.’And so you came near, and you stood under the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire up to the heart of the heaven, dark with a very thick cloud. And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard a sound of words, but you did not see a form—only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he charged you to observe, and he wrote them on the two tablets of stone. And Yahweh charged me at that time to teach you rules and regulations for your observation of them in the land that you are about to cross into to take possession of it.

“So you must be very careful for yourselves, because you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not ruin yourselves and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or female, a replica of any animal that is upon the earth, a replica of any winged bird that flies in the air,a replica of any creeping thing on the ground, a replica of any fish that is in the water below the earth. And do this so that you do not lift your eyes toward heaven and observe the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven. But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people of inheritance to him, as it is this day.

“And Yahweh was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan and that I would not go to the good land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance.For I am going to die in this land; I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you are going to take possession of this good land.Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God that he had made with you and make for yourselves a divine image of the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden, for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:10-24

“For a fire was kindled by my anger, and it burned up to the depths of Sheol, and it devoured the earth and its produce, and it set afire the foundation of the mountains.” Deuteronomy 32:22

“So Ahab sent word among the Israelites, and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah approached to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him.’ But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don’t let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire on it.Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he is God.” Then all the people answered and said, ‘The word is good!’

“Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don’t set fire under it.’ So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped about the altar which they had made. It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or is using the bathroom, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!’ So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. It happened as noon passed, they raged until the time of the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no one paid attention.

“Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near to me,’ so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that had been destroyed. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.’ With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench which would have held about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed it on the wood. Then he said, ‘Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.’He said, ‘Do it again!’ They did it again. He said, ‘Do it a third time!” So they did it a third time.The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled with water.

“It happened at the offering of the evening oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, ‘O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all of these things by your words.Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again.’ Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which was in the trench it licked up! When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, ‘Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!’Then Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; don’t let any man of them escape!’ So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi of Kishon and killed them there.” 1 Kings 18:20-40

“So Ahaziah sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty men, and he went up to him while he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, ‘O man of God, the king says, “Come down.”’Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!’ Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

“So he again sent another commander of fifty and his fifty men. He answered and said to him, ‘O man of God, thus says the king, “Come down quickly!”’Then Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!’ Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

“So he again sent a third time a commander of fifty and his fifty, and the commander of the third fifty went up and came and knelt down on his knees before Elijah and entreated him. He said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes. Behold, fire from heaven came down and consumed the first two commanders of fifty and their fifties, so then let my life be precious in your eyes.’ Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah, ‘Go down with him. Do not be afraid because of him.’ So he got up and went down with him to the king, and he said to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel from whom to inquire his word?—therefore the bed upon which you went, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.”’” 2 Kings 1:9-16

“And when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.And the priests were not able to go into the house of Yahweh, for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house.When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loyal love is everlasting.” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3

“Yahweh tests the righteous, but the wicked and the lover of violence his soul hates. He will rain coals on the wicked. Burning sulfur and scorching wind will be the portion of their cup.” Psalm 11:5-6

“From the brightness before him his clouds passed over with hail and coals of fire. And Yahweh thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice with hail and coals of fire. And he shot his arrows and scattered them, and many lightning bolts and routed them.” Psalm 18:12-14

“Look! The name of Yahweh comes from afar, burning with his anger and heaviness of cloud. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire. And his breath is like an overflowing river; it reaches up to the neck to shake the nations with the sieve of worthlessness; and a bridle that leads astray is on the jawbones of the peoples. You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute, to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel. And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones of hail. Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh; he strikes with the rod. And every stroke of the staff of foundation that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres, and he will fight against it with battles of brandishing. For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday; indeed, it is made ready for the king. He makes its pile of wood deep and wide; he makes fire and wood abundant. The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.” Isaiah 30:27-33

“‘Now I will be on high,’ says Yahweh, ‘Now I will be lifted up, now I will be lifted up. You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire. The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire. ‘You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.’ Sinners in Zion are in dread; Trembling has seized the godless. ‘Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?’” Isaiah 33:10-14

“Yahweh has a sword; it is full of blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams, for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And wild oxen shall go down with them, and steers with strong bulls. And their land shall be drenched with blood, and their soil shall be fattened with fat. For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution for the strife of Zion. And its streams shall be changed to pitch and its soil to sulfur, and its land shall become like burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be in ruins; forever and ever there will be no one who passes through her.” Isaiah 34:6-10

“For look! Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the storm wind, to give back his anger in wrath, and his rebuke in flames of fire. For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword, and those slain by Yahweh shall be many.” Isaiah 66:15-16

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel who were prophesying in those days for years that I would bring you against them? And so then in that day, on the day of the coming of God against the land of Israel,’ declares the Lord Yahweh, ‘my rage will come up in my anger. And in my passion, in the fire of my wrath, I spoke that certainly on that day a great earthquake will be on the land of Israel. And the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven and the animals of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence; and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on the earth will fall. And I will call against him in all of my mountains a sword,’ declares the Lord Yahweh, ‘And the sword of each person will be against his brother. And I will execute justice with him with a plague and with blood and torrents of rain, and hailstones; fire and sulfur I will cause to fall on him and on his troops and on many peoples who are with him. And so I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Ezekiel 38:17-23

“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. Since it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give rest to you who are afflicted and to us as well at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our witness to you was believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

“For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God, ⁶ by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by being inundated with water.But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

“Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed.

“Because all these things are being destroyed in this way, what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness,while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.” 2 Peter 3:5-13

“After this in the visions of the night I was looking and there was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightful and exceedingly strong, and it had great iron teeth, and it was devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the other beasts that preceded it and it had ten horns.I was considering the horns, and look, another little horn came up among them, and three of the earlier horns were rooted out from before it, and there were eyes like the eyes of a human in this horn and also a mouth that was speaking boastfully.

“I continued watching until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing was like white snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool and his throne was a flame of fire and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued forth and flowed from his presence; thousands upon thousands served him and ten thousand upon ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and the books were opened.

“I continued watching then because of the noise of the boastful words of the horn who was speaking; I continued watching until the beast was slain and its body was destroyed, and it was given over to burning with fire. And as for the remainder of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but a prolongation of their life was given to them for a season and a time.” Daniel 7:7-12

“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army.And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. And the rest were killed by the sword of the one who is seated on the horse—the sword that comes out of his mouth—and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” Revelation 19:19-21 

“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10

“And another third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself also will drink of the wine of the anger of God that has been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath, and will be tortured with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torture went up forever and ever, and those who worshiped the beast and his image did not have rest day and night, along with anyone who received the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11 

“And I saw a great white throne and the one who was seated on it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and a place was not found for them. And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

“But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8