Topical Bible: Fire: Heating

◄ Fire: Heating ►

Jump to: Torrey's • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

In the Bible, fire is frequently mentioned as a source of heat, serving both practical and symbolic purposes. From the earliest times, fire was essential for daily life, providing warmth, cooking food, and serving as a tool for various tasks. The use of fire for heating is evident in several biblical narratives and laws, reflecting its importance in ancient Near Eastern culture.

Practical Uses of Fire

1. Warmth and Comfort: Fire was a primary source of warmth, especially during cold seasons. In the New Testament, we see an example of this when Peter warms himself by a fire in the courtyard of the high priest during Jesus' trial. "Now the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And Peter was also standing with them, warming himself" (John 18:18).

2. Cooking and Food Preparation: Fire was indispensable for cooking, as seen in the preparation of meals and offerings. In Genesis 18:6-8, Abraham prepares a meal for his divine visitors, which would have involved cooking over a fire. Similarly, the Israelites were instructed to roast the Passover lamb over a fire (Exodus 12:8-9).

3. Craftsmanship and Industry: Fire was used in various crafts, such as metalworking. The refining of metals, a process that requires intense heat, is mentioned in the Bible as a metaphor for purification. "The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart" (Proverbs 17:3).

Symbolic Uses of Fire

1. Divine Presence and Guidance: Fire often symbolizes God's presence and guidance. The pillar of fire that led the Israelites by night during their exodus from Egypt is a prominent example. "By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Exodus 13:21).

2. Judgment and Purification: Fire is also a symbol of judgment and purification. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24) serves as a vivid illustration of divine judgment. Additionally, fire is used metaphorically to describe the refining process of believers' faith. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials, so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7).

3. Holy Spirit: Fire is also associated with the Holy Spirit, as seen in the events of Pentecost. "They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:3-4).

Cultural and Religious Practices

In the context of ancient Israelite religion, fire played a crucial role in sacrificial rituals. The burnt offering, one of the primary types of sacrifices, involved the complete burning of an animal on the altar, symbolizing total devotion to God. "The priest is to burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD" (Leviticus 1:9).

Fire's role in heating, both practically and symbolically, underscores its significance in biblical times. It was a vital element in daily life, religious practices, and as a representation of divine interaction with humanity.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Mark 14:54
And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Whether the Fire Whereby the World Will be Cleansed Will be of the ...
... which will have the power to cleanse the surface of the world, will be of the same
species as the fire to which we are used, since the heating power therein ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the fire whereby the.htm

Whether the Father and the Son Love Each Other by the Holy Ghost?
... For we say that fire warms by heating, although heating is not the heat which is
the form of the fire, but is an action proceeding from the fire; and we say ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the father and the 2.htm

Whether Peace is a virtue?
... For, though fire by heating, both liquefies and rarefies, there are not two powers
in fire, one of liquefaction, the other of rarefaction: and fire produces ...
//christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether peace is a virtue.htm

Chapter Iii Precious Answers to Prayer
... that it was impossible to go through the winter with such a leak."Our heating apparatus
consists of a large cylinder boiler, inside of which the fire is kept ...
/.../muller/answers to prayer/chapter iii precious answers to.htm

That the Ultimate Reason for Believing Miracles is the Omnipotence ...
... the flesh of Plato is exempt; the chaff so chilling that it prevents snow from melting,
so heating that it forces apples to ripen; the glowing fire, which, in ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 7 that the ultimate reason.htm

Whether in Christ There is Only one Operation of the Godhead and ...
... of this kind of thing for his work: thus to heat is the proper operation of fire,
but not of a smith, except in so far as he makes use of fire for heating iron ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether in christ there is 2.htm

Preaching the Gospel, Healing the Sick
... most unwillingly consumed by the tubercular patient, who believes her disease to
fall under the heading of "fire" and knows that anything so heating will only ...
/.../the fulfilment of a dream of pastor hsis/chapter xxii preaching the gospel.htm

Whether the Brave Man Acts for the Sake of the Good of his Habit?
... Now the proximate end of every agent is to introduce a likeness of that agent's
form into something else: thus the end of fire in heating is to introduce the ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether the brave man acts.htm

Proof that the Anomoean Teaching Tends to Manich??ism.
... as examples of each), each being that which the other is not"are at variance with
each other, cooling being the peculiarity of ice, heating of fire; so if in ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 35 proof that the.htm

Prayer and Desire
... The early Methodists had no heating apparatus in their churches. They declared that
the flame in the pew and the fire in the pulpit must suffice to keep them ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/bounds/the necessity of prayer/iv prayer and desire.htm