Fire from on High

"And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering."

1 Chronicles 21:26

It's easy to gloss over a passage like this and miss the significance and personal application for us.  I confess I have missed it many times!  It is beautiful when God by grace removes the scales from our eyes and we see clearly something we never noticed before in His Word.  I pray today this is true for you and me.

David chose to number the people of Israel and the thing displeased the LORD.  After admitting his sin, king David was given three choices by God:  three years of famine, three months of being destroyed before their enemies, or three days of divine pestilence.  David chose to fall into the hands of God for three days "for very great are His mercies."  A grievous plague broke out and seventy thousand of the children of Israel were slain.  1 Chronicles 21:15 reads, "And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."  After purchasing the threshing floor from Ornan, David set up and altar to the LORD.  He made ready the sacrifice and prayed to God in heaven:  God answered Him from heaven with fire upon the altar!

When I was a little boy, I read the story of Elijah calling down fire from heaven to prove that God was the true God, not Ba'al.  I gathered some stones and piled them up in the shape of a small altar I had seen in my picture Bible.  I didn't have a sacrifice, but I balanced some pine needles from our tree carefully on top.  God didn't answer me with fire that day, but I knew He could have.  In scripture many times God answered with fire to show His divine approval.  God used fire as a revelation of His presence and power, both in leading His people and in judgment.  When King Solomon dedicated the temple, 2 Chronicles 7:1 records what happened:  "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."

I built an altar to the LORD as a boy not understanding the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has made the offering of animals obsolete for atonement.  Jesus once for all died to save and atone for sins of all who repent and trust in Him.  The covenant of the law has been fulfilled and we live in the days of the new covenant of Christ's blood.  The temple also was rendered unnecessary for worship, for those who are regenerated with the Holy Spirit are now themselves the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).  The only time we see fire come down from heaven in the New Testament by a person is when the false prophet deceives people by performing this particular sign which will convince many:  Revelation 13:13 says, "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

When I read the 1 Chronicles 21:26 passage, I immediately thought of when the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers on the day of Pentecost who appeared as tongues of fire over their heads.  Should we sacrifice an animal on an altar and pray that God answer with fire from heaven, we should expect nothing to happen.  God desires that the Holy Spirit fall upon His people who are called to be living sacrifices!  It is written in Romans 12:1:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  Jesus has been made a sacrifice for sin, and as receivers of His forgiveness and love we are to be living sacrifices unto Him.  May we expect such an outpouring of fire from on high as we pray and seek the face of our Saviour!

What would you rather see:  fire from heaven devouring the carcass of a dead animal, or the fire of the Holy Spirit consuming you as a living sacrifice?  A person filled with the Spirit of God is better than all the animal sacrifices offered from the beginning of time until now.  Let us prepare ourselves to see the LORD, breaking up our fallow ground as we seek His presence.  May God set His church afire for His glory!