The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
Gill writes of this fire of the burnt offering: “This was what first fell from heaven, Leviticus 9:24,[1] and which in after ages was maintained by constant fuel put unto it, there being every day burnt offerings upon it…”
He writes further: “which was an emblem of the love of Christ to his people, which is ever in a flame and burning, and can never be quenched by the many waters of their sins and iniquities; nor by all the sufferings he underwent to atone for them; nor by all the meanness and afflictions they are attended with; his love is fervent towards them, and always the same.”
I believe that the fire never going out is also emblematic of the perpetual forgiveness offered through Christ’s sacrifice. Though the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, the perpetual burning was a reminder that God’s forgiveness through Christ is without end.
Gill says that this fire likely never went out until the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. He relates that the author of Second Maccabees claims the priests hid the fire in a place where the Babylonians could not find it and carried it with them into captivity. This seems incredible to me and in contradiction to what seems to have happened during the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel. This is no indication that God had refused to forgive them further. But it was certainly an indication that they needed something from God which they could not maintain on their own.
Imagine the burden of gathering fuel, watching the fire, and centuries of seeing the fire never die—only to have it all hopelessly and finally lost. No one can be good enough, watchful enough, or diligent enough to maintain the fire forever. Our soul’s eternal keeping must be in Christ’s care, or we are bound to be lost forever.
#ChristOurKeeper #UnquenchableLove #PerpetualForgiveness #BurntOffering #FaithInChrist
The Fire That Never Dies: What We Can’t Do, Christ Has Done
[1] Leviticus 9:24 (KJV)
And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
- Is your faith resting in your own efforts, or in Christ’s eternal keeping?
- Surrender the burden of maintaining the fire yourself and trust in the unquenchable love of Christ.
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