When I hear the words “consuming fire” the image that comes to mind is of a massive forest fire, probably in California, that stretches from horizon to horizon. Black, oily smoke fills the air, the underside of which is lit with a relentless orange glow that steadily encroaches.

Yet, the fires that God inhabited are not mindless, devouring storms. When God first appears in a fire, it is a simple bush. Moses is attracted to it because, notably, the bush is not consumed. Next, God leads the Israelites through the desert, becoming a pillar of fire that guards them by night. Once again, there is no mention of the fire being destructive. It is protective, a safeguard. Much later, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are thrown into a furnace for refusing to bow down to an idol. The fire is so hot that the guards who throw them in are burnt alive, yet God walks in the fire with the three Jewish men, keeping them from being consumed.

So, in an odd twist of fate, Esh Oklah, the Lord is a Consuming Fire, often demonstrates his supreme sovereignty by inhabiting fire that does not consume. Or does it?

Not all consumption is the literal destruction of property or people. Indeed, other verses in the Bible describe God as a fire that purifies, literally removing the dross from people and societies. As a perfect being who cannot withstand sin, it makes sense that his holiness would literally burn it away, eliminating it from his presence. Thus, rather than being chaos incarnate, as our human experience with fire suggests, Esh Oklah is a God who consumes to protect his people, both from outside evil and themselves.