Flame of Fire

Flame of fire is the chosen biblical symbol of the holiness and transcendent presence of God. The appearance of God to Moses in the burning bush — a bush aflame but not consumed (Exodus 3:2) — established fire as the medium of divine self-disclosure: the fire was not destructive but holy, the ordinary transformed by the divine presence. This pattern continues throughout the Old Testament: the pillar of fire guiding Israel, the fire on Mount Sinai, and the fire that fell on Elijah's sacrifice at Carmel.

In the New Testament, the risen and exalted Christ is described in Revelation 2:18 with "eyes like a flame of fire" (Revelation 2:18) — a detail from Daniel 10:6 now applied to Christ in his glory, signifying penetrating, holy judgment. Hebrews 12:29, quoting Deuteronomy 4:24, declares "our God is a consuming fire" — the flame-character of divine holiness persists from Sinai to the new covenant. Theologians have understood the flame symbol to express the intense, all-consuming operation of God's holiness in relation to sin, and his self-giving, self-disclosing presence in relation to those who draw near to him.