Who among us can live with the consuming fire?(Isaiah 33:14 NAS95)
We find this question in the midst of Isaiah, where the people of Israel are confronted with the specter of an Assyrian invasion. Against whom is this question directed?
The Father will discipline His children. God will be honored by His people. And He will do what is necessary to bring that about, things that are destructive and painful, that He might later rebuild and heal. It is a fearful thing for God’s children to live wayward lives, because God is not averse to “breaking bones” in order to get our attention and bring about repentance. Don’t mess with God. In that sense, this is a question of warning to the people of God.
On the other hand, it seems as though this question could be directed against the Assyrians. They have been chosen, unwittingly, it seems, to be instruments in the Lord’s hands to accomplish God’s work among His people. Other individuals and nations have been so used, and are even used today, for God to chasten and nurture His Church. But the Assyrians were intent upon, not fulfilling God’s purposes, but their own. He would use them to chasten. They would go on to destroy, to humiliate, to own them, that is, God’s people. And for that God would bring devastating judgment upon them. And so, the question would apply: “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?”
Just a pause in the flow of thought. God did, in the Gospel, pour out His consuming fire directly upon His Son, Jesus, who bore the penalty and punishment for our sin. He did this to save sinners, and to defeat sin. And God is still, and will always be, against sin.
The previous lines in our text are interesting: “Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless.” Wait a minute. Zion is not to be populated by “sinners,” but “righteous.” Who are these people? They are not to be “godless,” but “godly.” To whom are these phrases referring? Covenant people who are living sinful and godless lives? Or sinful and godless invaders who are now trampling the streets of Jerusalem and wreaking unbridled havoc on the people of God? It could be either one. It could be both.
When the author of Hebrews wrote “for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), he may have been getting his material from Isaiah 33 (or, 64 other OT references where “consume” and “fire” are mentioned). But the writer of Hebrews is clear about his audience. At this point he is writing to warn those who profess to be believers that we ought not trifle with God and His ways.
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