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Summary
- Fire in the Bible most often shows that God himself is present: the burning bush that “was not consumed”, the pillar of fire that led Israel, and the fire on Mount Sinai.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 both call God “a consuming fire”.
- Fire also stands for God’s judgment (Sodom and Gomorrah, Nadab and Abihu), his refining of his people (Malachi 3, 1 Peter 1:7), the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:3) and his word (Jeremiah 23:29).
- Not every fire is God’s: at Horeb “the LORD was not in the fire”, and James calls the tongue “a fire”.
- The lake of fire appears only in Revelation; churches read it as eternal punishment or as final destruction, and Catholic and Reformed writers treat the fire as an image of separation from God.
- The King James Version says “fire” 549 times in 506 verses, first at Genesis 19:24, though in the Hebrew fire first appears at Genesis 15:17, which the KJV renders “a burning lamp”.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- King James Version, quoted throughout: Genesis 3:24; 15:17; 19:24; 22:2, 6–7; Exodus 3:2–5; 13:21–22; 19:18; 24:17; 40:38; Leviticus 6:13; 9:24; 10:1–2; Deuteronomy 4:24; 1 Kings 18:36–39; 19:8–12; Isaiah 6:5–7; 43:2; Jeremiah 20:7–9; 23:28–29; Daniel 3:12, 24–28; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2–3; Matthew 3:11–12; 25:41; Mark 9:43; Luke 9:52–56; 12:49; 24:32; John 3:16–17; Acts 2:1–4, 38–39; 1 Corinthians 3:13–15; Hebrews 12:28–29; James 3:5–6; 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Peter 3:9; Jude 7; Revelation 1:14; 19:20; 20:10, 14–15; 21:8. Text from Bible Gateway.
- Word count and first occurrence of “fire” in the KJV: The King James Version of the Bible, Project Gutenberg eBook #10, counted 19 October 2026.
- Blue Letter Bible, Genesis 15:17 with Strong’s numbers, and lexicon entries H784 ‘esh, H3940 lappid and H8574 tannur.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 696 (fire as a symbol of the Holy Spirit), 1030–1032 (purgatory) and 1033–1037 (hell).
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 33, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.25.12, translated by Henry Beveridge, Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, volume 1, on 1 Corinthians 3:10–15, translated by John Pringle, Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fundamental Belief 27, The Millennium and the End of Sin, as published by the Ellen G. White Estate.
- Orthodox Church in America, The Orthodox Faith, volume IV, “Heaven and Hell”.
- Anglican Communion News Service, “England: Doctrine Commission Report on the Mystery of Salvation”, 3 February 1996.
- Assemblies of God World Missions, Life Publishers, and Assemblies of God (USA), About the AG.
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