Covenant Fire

If you’ve ever watched the tv show Survivor, then you know the famous line, “fire represents life” as long as you have fire you have life in the game.  In fact, the first thing a team can win, the most coveted 1^st prize is a flint so they can create a fire.  They need fire to boil water to drink, cook food, stay warm, have light at night…  Fire is a lifeline.  

Biblically we can find fire woven in and out of the books and stories from Genesis to Revelation.  

We see fire used for sacrifices, to destroy, to invoke judgement, for deliverance, evidence of the Holy Spirit, and more. It’s also used when talking about covenants.

In fact, the first use of the word FIRE in the bible is in Genesis 15:17

“And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.”

The first mention of the word fire in the bible has to do with God’s covenant with Abraham, whose people God used to bring forth Jesus into this world for our salvation…. 

Relationship with God in the Old Testament involved fire in many ways.  The Hebrew word in this verse for fire is (aysh) es 

It’s found in the Old Testament 379 times

Here are a few I have listed for you to look at on your own.  

Exodus 3:2 “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”

Exodus 13:22 “He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”

Leviticus 6:13 “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.”

2Chronicles 7:1 “When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.”

Zechariah 3:2 “’For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

I find it so beautiful how the imagery of a fire is used in our relationship with our God.   We can find it used in our relationship with Holy Spirit as well.  This is most likely the first person of the trinity we think of when we hear the word fire.  Well, what about our relationship with Jesus?  Wouldn’t it make sense that fire would be involved there too? Of course it would. 

I’d like to unfold something for you today that the Holy Spirit has been slowly but intricately unfolding for me.  

Turn with me to Mark chapter 5:28 

Everyone is touching you, but you ask who “touched you”?  They were like, what in the world is He saying,  it makes no sense…because everyone was touching him.

Let’s look at the original language here.. the word for “touch” here is haptamos  a form of the verb Hapto and means to fasten to, make adhere to, specifically to fasten a fire to a thing, to kindle, set on fire

This woman was looking for healing, yes, but what she was reaching for was Jesus’s identity and a covenantal “touch”  

Back then and there are many articles you can find from age that show the culture they lived in believed the spirit of a person was intertwined in the hem of their garments.  They believed it was an extension of their spirit.  So, by reaching for the hem, which is a tassel on his robe, she was reaching to fasten herself, kindle a fire with, adhere herself to the spirit of Jesus.  That is a covenant type of relationship.  In fact, this word is used everywhere it says Jesus touched someone to heal them.  It’s an intimate word.

Knowing this we can look see this view point tells us when we come into a relationship with Jesus today, we are adhering ourselves to him, we are kindling a fire with Him.  

God’s covenant with Abraham included a physical fire, our relationship with Him, via Jesus includes a spiritual fire.  And a baptism of the Holy Spirit is described as being immersed in the fire.  There is fire in covenant with God!

Now, Let's take this further... Peter, denying Christ... This is about to get crazy.

This story is found is all 4 of the gospels. 

All 4 accounts place Peter in the courtyard

3 of the four have him “warming himself by the fire” (mark, luke and john)when he denies knowing Jesus. 

When I was reading recently the phrase, he warmed himself by the fire really stood out.  Knowing what we know about God, covenant and fire we can see that as Peter is denying knowing Christ, He is also getting warmth of a fire from what we can describe as the “world” that’s who he’s sitting with..… Not Jesus…

We also have 2 accounts, Mark and Matthew that put Peter moving further away physically … both have him in the courtyard and then moving to the outside of that.  Showing not only a spiritual separation, but a physical one as well.

Luke’s account is by far the hardest for me to read… 

He has Peter warming himself by the fire the entire time, a fire it says “they kindled” meaning Jesus’s enemies…but guess what Greek word is used here for “kindling a fire?” … you guessed it, Hapto… and after Peter denies Christ 3 times and the rooster crows, it says “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.  I can’t imagine…

Mark’s account tells us that a rooster crows twice… some would view this as a contradiction,,, but this is significant as the number 2 in Hebrew represents covenant!  (Mark loves to use numbers to represent spiritually what’s going on physically! Just how he used 4 friends in the story in chapter 2 .. 4 represents open door or portal and they “4” friends made an open door where there was no way in…

If Peter, someone so out in front for Jesus, someone who walked on water, who witnessed the transfiguration, the disciple who verbally acknowledged that Jesus was in fact the Messiah… if Peter can deny Jesus, move himself away from Jesus relationally, deny having a relationship with Jesus … we have to ask, 

How do we stay near the flame of our relationship with the LORD?   How do we protect that place 

Well, what if I told you that it’s right here in the meaning of Peter’s name?

Simon- to listen, hear, obey and yield

Peter- the rock

We listen, hear, obey and yield to the Rock.  

What do we do if we have moved away from that flame?  We do what Simon Peter did… we acknowledge the wake up call!  

Repent..We run back to Him…we run back to Him and that fire.. we sit and we enjoy the warmth and the comfort of our friend, our LORD and our Savior… 

It’s simple really…. But we must know and remember that simple does not mean easy….. running back to Jesus … you know you should,, but it’s hard, or there’s something that feels like you just can’t do it… that’s spiritual warfare… moving past that moment and doing it anyway… that’s fighting.. that’s claiming the victory that Christ already won…

You know, the most valuable thing the Holy Spirit showed me in the story was about the fire…  John 18: 18

“Now the servants and the officers had made a fire of coals, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves, and Peter was with them, standing and warming himself.”

The original language here for “fire of coals” is 

Anthrakia  it came from the word Anthrax (on-thrax) and bible dictionary tells us that it was an expression used to stir up mental pain in another person who had wronged you…..

Anthrakia is only used one other time in the New Testament… 

That place is in John 21 where Jesus redeems Peter 3 times… wow, isn’t God amazing…

Let’s read John 21 beginning in verse 3

John 21:9…

“So when they got out on the beach, they saw a charcoal fire set up and fish on it cooking and bread.” 

But this time, John uses this word to set up Peter’s redemption… what should have been judgment on Peter, this fire… it was used to cook food and feed Peter.  Over a fire that would usually represent mental anguish, Jesus uses it to rekindle His relationship with Peter… Jesus says there’s redemption for you when you’re in fireside relationship with me…

And as Jesus redeems Peter 3 times.. (permanently) We see Simon Peter step fully into the identity of his name.. who he was always meant to be.. We see him in this moment, 

Listen, hear, obey and yield to the Rock… Then we see Jesus call him a new name… 

When He speaks to Peter he only calls him Simon son of Jonah .. He does this three times…

Simon we know means listen, hear, obey and yield.. 

Jonah means = dove… and where did we see a dove?? The Holy Spirit descended as a dove… 

So Jesus is taking Peter from being the one who 

Hears, listens, obey, and yields to the Rock to the one who

Hears, listens, obey and yield to the Spirit…. Which is coming !  

You see, God wastes nothing in your life… 

With Gideon, we read that God has Gideon destroy the idols of his father and then use that wood as fuel for fire to offer a sacrifice to God!  

God will use what has been hindering you and holding you back as fuel on the fire that will propel you into your destiny….