The Lord Jesus says: “I have come to bring fire on the earth.”1 “He is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel,” says Simeon.2 Fire comes down from Heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.3 The Lord Jesus will be revealed from Heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who reject God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who consciously reject it. “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from Heaven. He will come with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.” Paul says.4 When Aaron took a pan full of burning coals from the altar to bring it before the presence of the Lord, filling his hands with finely-cut, fragrant incense, and bringing all this within the veil, and laying it upon the altar, so that the smoke of the incense covers the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant:5 here it happens in the opposite direction. The fire of the altar – coming from the presence of the Lord is thrown upon the earth.
The Old Testament echoes continually through the Book of Revelation. When Ezekiel sees the judgment of Jerusalem, he sees how the man who is clothed in linen is given the command to go in among the wheels, under the cherub, to fill his hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and to scatter the burning coals upon the city.6 This man is the one who has first sealed the foreheads of the men who were shocked by the gruesome things being done by the others. They were marked so that they would not be hit by the judgment of God.
The Lord will rain fire and sulphur down on Gog, when he invades the land of Israel, so that Israel will need seven months to bury their enemies.7 Fire will also be rained down on the cities of Israel itself if it forgets its Maker, according to the prophet Hosea.8 The Day of the Lord is coming. Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes.9 Surely the Day is coming; it will burn like a furnace10—fire as God’s judgment.11 “For a fire will be kindled by My wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below,” Moses says in his last song. This fire will devour the earth and its harvests and set the foundations of the mountains afire.12 David sings about this prophetically in Psalm 18:1–18. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because He was angry. Smoke rose from His nostrils; consuming fire came from His mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.13 Soon, after the completion of the thousand years of Peace and Righteousness on planet earth, fire will come down from Heaven and consume the enemies—‘God and Magog’ once again.14 The peals of thunder, voices and streaks of lightning and the earthquake all point to holiness and the judgment of God.15
• Angels follow and observe the whole process of the salvation of the Church, and of the redemption of Israel. The Apostles are called a display to the whole Universe, to angels as well as to men, 1 Corinthians 4:9.
• The angels hold their breath while following God’s plan of salvation for mankind, from the beginning to the end.
• Heaven is silent, in holy yearning, and is listening to man’s prayers. In this fullness of all the prayers of the saints of all the ages God’s honour is confirmed to the highest extent. And then the angels sound the trumpets of judgment, because now the number of the redeemed is complete.
Bible References:
1.Luke 12:49 2.Luke 2:34 3.Genesis 19:24 4.2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 NLT 5.Leviticus 16:12–13 6.Ezekiel 9 and 10 7.Ezekiel 38 and 39 8.Hosea 8:14 9.Joel 2:1–3 10.Malachi 4:1 11.Amos 1;4,7, 10, 12; 2:5 12.Deuteronomy 32:22 13.Psalm 18:8–9 14.Revelation 20:7–9 15.Exodus 19:16; Revelation 4:5, 11:19, 16:18
