IS YOUR SOUL ON FIRE?
Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon, ‘When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to cast their light forward, in front of the menorah.’” (Numbers 4:1,2)
Good day, my friends. I pray you are well and hope you are keeping safe. In this teaching, I have focused on a widely known metaphor for Christians, Setting our Souls on Fire. Interestingly, this idiom is not found in Scripture but has been derived from Yahveh’s Word by the Christian band, Third Day.[1] However, this is a metaphor which may be used, when we are teaching about our love for Yahveh, our Holy God.
Is there Scripture which may support the notion of a ‘soul on fire’? Perhaps the closest verses which appear to have resonance with this metaphor, may have their roots in the notion of offering sacrifices. The first source comes from Torah, itself, Numbers 4:1,2. The menorah, with its seven lamps, was raised before the altar, with its lamps turned towards the altar. This gave sufficient light for the Cohen to conduct the sacrifices. This required quite a bit of time, at the beginning of the day and at day’s end, the times of the daily burnt offering, as well as the sacrifices for the various holy days. Thus, looking at this metaphor from a spiritual perspective, we may infer that setting our souls on fire must be for the long term and not merely a momentary phenomenon.
If this is the case, how might be set our souls on fire permanently, as the menorah was alight permanently, in the Temple, as long as the Tabernacle was assembled. We may find some help from Rav Sha’ul’s letters, Romans 12:1,2 – “I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you. In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh (present world). Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.” In this passage, the Apostle Paul is teaching us to offer our bodies, souls and minds as living sacrifices, totally given to Yahveh. This will allow Him to keep transforming our minds away from the things that attract many to our current world, to the world of God. As Paul writes, this will enable us to “. . . know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.” In other words, we are to abandon ourselves completely in Yahveh, enabling us to walk His narrow Path, His Way, with clean and holy minds and hearts.
Hebrews 3:1-5 shares with us – “Let brotherly friendship continue; but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves. Marriage is honorable in every respect; and, in particular, sex within marriage is pure. But God will indeed punish fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, “I will never fail you or abandon you.” The author of Hebrews 13, presumably Rav Sha’ul, continues the behaviours, which exemplify what it means to have our souls continually on fire for Yahveh and His Son Adonai Yeshua, the Lord Jesus. Specifically, he teaches us to receive strangers with open arms, such as Abraham received the three strangers who came to his home, as recorded in Genesis 18. Hospitality is one of the main activities of a gentle heart, one filled with the love of God. Then we are exhorted to treat others who are suffering, as if we were they. These are unable to care for themselves and need our help. The third theme of his teaching focuses on the sanctity of marriage and demand upon us to be pure within our marriage and not share our bodies with others outside our marriage. Finally, within the context of Yahveh’s promise to care for us, always, looking towards the day we are gathered to Him, we are to refrain from holding greed for money, fame or power within our hearts, for God has promised us He will never leave us.
CONSIDER: Are we walking forward on Yahveh’s path, with our Souls on Fire for Him and Him alone? Are we able to keep away from loving the world and all that it represents, even while we interact with the world?
ACT: Ask Yahveh to strengthen your heart and mind, allowing you to focus on His Way, Torah, and forsaking the evils associated with the world, even while you are required to interact with the world.
PRAY: Abba B’Shamayim, Father in Heaven. You are our King and magnificent Sovereign, the Ruler of the universe and the Lover of our souls. Abba, I pray You will guide and lead all of us, who believe in You and desire to follow Your Way, with our souls on fire. Help us to focus on what You have taught us in Torah, rejecting the temptations which emerge from the world. B’Shem Adonai Yeshua, Mashichainu, in the Name of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Beloved, may the God of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob bless you fully and richly.
[1] Soul on Fire, Brown B. et. Al., Thank you Music, Brentwood, TN, 2014.