5/17/2023 0 Comments God of fireFor example, to the Israelites at Sinai "the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire" ( Exod 24:17 cf. However, a number of passages focus on fire as synonymous with or in association with God's glory. It is not always possible to distinguish the presence of God from his glory for, indeed, glory is frequently a figure itself for divine presence. Also akin to Old Testament imagery is John's vision of Jesus with eyes "like blazing fire" ( Rev 1:14 2:18 19:12 ), again in judgment contexts. In the New Testament Paul describes the second coming of Christ as "in blazing fire" ( 2 Th 1:7 ), an appearance that carries overtones of judgment as well as mere presence. Deuteronomy 4:11-12 Deuteronomy 4:15 Deuteronomy 4:33 Deuteronomy 4:36 ). Similar to this is Yahweh's descent upon Mount Sinai "in fire" ( Exod 19:18 cf. Here fire is a manifestation of God himself, for Moses turned away from the sight "because he was afraid to look at God" (v. This is especially evident in the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses ( Exod 3:2-6 ). Its figurative or theological attestations are also numerous, however, generally relating to some manifestation of God's being or action.įire, as theophany of existence, communicates, first of all, the very presence of God. The usual word for fire in the New Testament is pur, the regular Greek translation of Hebrew es in the Septuagint.Īs a commonplace in ancient Israel, fire obviously is to be taken literally in most of the several hundred references to it in the Bible. The Greek word phos, also normally rendered "light, " occurs a couple times in the New Testament as "fire" ( Mark 14:54 Luke 22:56 ). The most prevalent term for fire in the Hebrew Bible is es. They represent both human fertility and the bounty of earth and have dominion over human life and well- being.They also seem symbolized the span of human life- many trios of godesses take the form of women in different ages.Ĭeltics reliefs often showed the trio of godesses carrying basket that probably contained fruits or vegetable, representing the bounty of the earth.One of the most arresting and suggestive metaphors in the Bible is that of fire, a phenomenon common to all cultures ancient and modern and one that lends itself to a variety of imagery. A number of celtics carvings and reliefs show a trio of female deities standing together.This trio godesses or triple mother seem have been considered particularly powerful by the celts. God and godesses also came in groups of three. And celtics legends often speak of people with three sons or daughters. welsh and irish wrote triads, poems with three lines that described three concepts. The celts were fascinated by things that came in threes.They made image of bulls with three horns and gods with three faces or heads. The lines sorrounding Belenus head may depect the warm, glowing rays of light emanating from the sun god. All his names include an element meaning either "bright" or "shining".Ī widely worshipped deity across mucu of europe, Belenus is also believed to be the celtics equivalent of Apollo.As with Apollo some Belenus shrines were built near springs, where worshippers went to drink water in the hope of cure.The springtime feast of beltane in celtic britain during with fire were lit to mark the lenghtening of the day and the bettet weather may have been linked with the worship of Belenus. Belenus also known as Bel or Belus, was a celtic god of light and the sun.
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