Life Walk Bible Lesson 82 — When God speaks, He keeps His Word
6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
How are God’s ways higher than our ways, then, you might ask — God goes on to announce His ways in the next two verses:
12 “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace;
the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
It is clear that God has good plans for the Righteous.
When God Uses Water and Fire for Cleansing, and Testing
Regarding physical possessions that had become defiled, or unclean in any way due to the contamination of disease or death, God told Moses in Numbers 31:23, “everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water.”
This was a physical application whereby people or objects would be purified, sanitized, or cleansed for use, so as not to transmit disease, mold, or leprousy in any of its forms, whether in the body, or in a building, or in a piece of clothing, or any physical object.
By Spiritual application, we find in the Book of 1John, the Apostle John describes cleansing by water, (of God’s Word), by the Holy Spirit, (the fire of God which came upon them, and in them, on the Day of Pentecost) and by the blood of Jesus (which was poured out on the cross, for the forgiveness of our sins, and brought to the heavenly altar for our salvation and access to the fulness of the Kingdom of God. [1John 5:6, 8]
Psalm 66:8-14 [CEB]
8 “All you nations, bless our God! Let the sound of his praise be heard!
9 God preserved us among the living; He didn’t let our feet slip a bit.
10 But You, God, have tested us — You’ve refined us like silver,
11 trapped us in a net, laid burdens on our backs,
12 let other people run right over our heads — we’ve been through fire and water. But you brought us out to freedom!
13 So I’ll enter your house with entirely burned offerings. I’ll keep the promises I made to you,
14 the ones my lips uttered, the ones my mouth spoke when I was in deep trouble.”
Isaiah 43:1-2
1 “But now, says the Lord — the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched and flame won’t burn you.”
Beliefs on this passing through water and fire at the time of death, and the dread of it, are scattered throughout ancient documents, both in Jewish and in Early Christian writings. One of these is the History of Joseph the Carpenter, kept in the Library of Jerusalem, in which we find the life and death of the husband of Mary, Mother of Jesus.
In at least one of the writings of the early Church, there is mention of going through fire, or crossing a river of fire in a boat (by the wicked) and it would be for the righteous like water. But specifically in verse 13 of the New Testament Apocryphal account of the History and death of Joseph the Carpenter, husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus, the passing through a river of fire, was described in this manner, in the prayer of Joseph when he knew he was about to die:
13 “O God! Author of all consolation, God of all compassion, and Lord of the whole human race; God of my soul, body, and spirit; with supplications I reverence you, O Lord and my God. If now my days are ended, and the time draws near when I must leave this world, send me, I beseech You, the great Michael, the prince of Your holy angels: let him remain with me, that my wretched soul may depart from this afflicted body without trouble, without terror and impatience. For great fear and intense sadness take hold of all bodies on the day of their death, whether it be man or woman, beast wild or tame, or whatever creeps on the ground or flies in the air. At the last all creatures under heaven in whom is the breath of life are struck with horror, and their souls depart from their bodies with strong fear and great depression. Now therefore, O Lord and my God, let Your holy angel be present with his help to my soul and body, until they shall be dissevered from each other. And let not the face of the angel, appointed my guardian from the day of my birth, be turned away from me; but may he be the companion of my journey even until he bring me to You: let his countenance be pleasant and gladsome to me, and let him accompany me in peace. And let not demons of frightful aspect come near me in the way in which I am to go, until I come to You in bliss. And let not the doorkeepers hinder my soul from entering paradise. And do not uncover my sins, and expose me to condemnation before Your terrible tribunal. Let not the lions rush in upon me; nor let the waves of the sea of fire overwhelm my soul— for this must every soul pass through — before I have seen the glory of Your Godhead. O God, most righteous Judge, who in justice and equity will judge mankind, and will render unto each one according to his works, O Lord and my God, I beseech You, be present to me in Your compassion, and enlighten my path that I may come to You; for You are a fountain overflowing with all good things, and with glory for evermore. Amen."
The Apostle Peter describes a life tested by fire, to prove genuine faith:
1Peter 1:6-7
6 “You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials.
7 This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
The Insatiability of Water and Fire
Proverbs 30:15-16
The leech has two daughters: “Give, give!” There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”:
16 the grave and a barren womb, a land never filled with water, and fire that doesn’t say, “Enough!”
Promised and Reiterated from the Beginning: The Penalty for Rejection of God’s Ways
Isaiah 30:8-15
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, inscribe it on a scroll, so in the future it will endure as a witness.
9 These are rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the Lord’s teaching,
10 who say to the seers, “Don’t foresee,” and to the visionaries, “Don’t report truthful visions; tell us flattering things; envision deceptions;
11 get out of the way; step off the path; let’s have no more ‘holy one of Israel.’”
12 Therefore, the holy one of Israel says: Because you reject this word and trust in oppression and cunning and rely on them,
13 your sin will be like a crack in a high wall; it bulges, about to fall: suddenly, in an instant, it breaks!
14 Its breaking is like the breaking of a storage jar that is totally shattered. No piece from among its fragments will be large enough to take fire from a hearth, or to dip water from a cistern.
15 Therefore, the Lord God, the holy one of Israel, says: In return and rest you will be saved; quietness and trust will be your strength — but you refused.”
God always gives us the choice between life and death, and tells us the best of the two: choose life. [Deuteronomy 30:18-20]
Choosing Life on the Narrow Road
God Speaks to Ezra [Also known as Esdras] about the narrow way, [See also: Numbers 22:26; Matthew 7:14] as a choice in following God, and the water that is on one side of the road and the fire on the other side.
2Esdras 7, [CEB] specifically in verses 1-9
1 “When I finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the previous nights was sent to me again.
2 He said to me, “Rise, Ezra, and hear the words I have come to speak to you.”
3 I said, “Speak, my Lord.” He said to me: “A certain sea is set in a spacious place so that it can be deep and vast,
4 but its entrance is set in a narrow place, like a river.
5 If anyone wants to go to the sea to see it or to rule over it, how can he come into the broad place unless he passes through the narrow?
6 Another instance: a city is built and positioned on a broad plain, full of all good things.
7 Its entrance, however, is narrow and located on a precipice so that there is fire on the right and deep water on the left.
8 There is a single path located between them, between the fire and the water, and the path has only room for human footprints.
9 If that city is given to someone as an inheritance, if the heir doesn’t pass through the danger, how will the heir receive the inheritance?”
We know that Jesus Christ is the Heir, Who passed through the danger ahead of us, just as the Angel of the Lord did for the Children of Israel while they travelled through the wilderness. [Exodus 14:19; 23:20; Psalm 2:1-12] As co-heirs with Christ, then, we too must enter by the narrow way.
Sirach 15:16-20 [CEB]
15 “If you choose to, you will keep the commandments, and keep faith out of goodwill.
16 He has put fire and water before you; you can stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
17 Life and death are in front of human beings; and they will be granted whichever they please,
18 because the wisdom of the Lord is great; He’s mighty in authority, He sees everything,
19 His eyes are upon those who fear him, and he knows every human action.
20 He doesn’t command anyone to be ungodly, and He doesn’t give anyone a license to sin.”
Even King Solomon declares, in Proverbs 18:21 NIV, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
In ancient times people thought that fire, water, wind, stars, lights, etc., were gods and so they worshiped them.
Wisdom 13:2 [CEB]
“Instead, they thought that all these things — fire or wind or quickly moving air or a constellation of stars or rippling water or the sky’s bright lights that govern the world — were all gods.” [Genesis 1:
In ancient Egypt, for example, God sent the ten plagues which represented the things they worshipped against the people of Egypt, sparing the Children of Israel whom He was about to rescue out of slavery.
Wisdom 16:16-18 [CEB]
16 “Even though the ungodly denied any knowledge of you, it was Your strong arm that afflicted them. They were pursued by strange rainfalls that never stopped, and by hailstorms and downpours. They were pursued by a fire that consumed everything.
17 The most unusual thing about this fire was that it showed that it was stronger than water, which normally quenches any fire. Yet the universe itself comes to the defense of those who do what is right.
18 At one point the flame did die down, so that it might not destroy the creatures that had been sent but only punish them. The ungodly noticed and realized it was God’s judgment that was hunting them down.”
When God Destroys by Water, or by Fire
Genesis 6 — Total destruction by Flood
Genesis 19 — Total Destruction by Fire
The Ancient Book of Jasher, in chapters 17-19, gives the detailed reasons why God decided to destroy these five cities by fire. The society had become so depraved, morally, ethically, financially, sexually; violence and all manner of criminal behavior prevailed, so that if anyone travelled to these cities they were either starved to death, tortured, and then most cruelly killed, in whatever way happened to please the residents of these cities.
God’s anger against them was so great that because only Lot was found righteous, like Noah before the Flood, God gave Lot a chance to rescue any family members willing to go with him to escape the destruction which killed the humans and their animals. In this way God cleansed the earth of the defilement in it, by fire. No longer can we argue about Abraham’s negotiations with God, about saving the righteous, for only Lot was found to be righteous, as is made plain in these chapters.
On another occasion God gave the same chance to Rahab to save her household, before Jericho was utterly destroyed, and its inhabitants killed by the sword for their wickedness.
Clearly, ample time is given to repent, to rescue, and then to utterly cleanse everything from all wickedness, over and over again throughout history. It is God’s way of doing things so far as we have seen.
Sirach 39:29-31 [CEB]
29 “Fire, hail, famine, and death — all have been created for vengeance
30 the teeth of wild beasts, scorpions, vipers, and a sword punishing the ungodly with destruction.
31 These things gladly do what he commands. They will be ready for his service on the earth, and they won’t violate his word when their time comes.”
Just as Noah and his family were saved through the flood, Lot and his family who believed, were saved through the fire. Love does that.
Look at the example Jesus gives regarding the giving of the Holy Spirit to those who desire Him:
Luke 11:11-13 [NKJV]
11 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
As we have seen, scorpions, and serpents represent the work of evil spirits of destruction, and death, unlike the Holy Spirit Who gives life.
Wisdom 10:6 [CEB]
“When the godly were about to be wiped out, Wisdom saved a man who did what was right. He was able to flee from the fire that descended on the five cities.”
Let’s look at something the Apostle John saw by vision:
Revelation 9:10
9 “In front they had what seemed to be iron armor upon their chests, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses racing into battle.
10 They also have tails with stingers, just like scorpions; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.
11 Their king is an angel from the abyss, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon, and whose Greek name is Apollyon.”
2Peter 2-3 The earth will ultimately be destroyed by fire, and recreated.
