The Theme of Fire in Ezekiel

(All quotations in this section are taken from CSB unless otherwise specified)

Of all the books of the Bible, Jeremiah and Ezekiel speak of the fire of God’s judgement the most. So if we want to understand how the New Testament might view the fire of God’s judgement, and specifically the book of Revelation, then it would be wise to understand what the Old Testament has to say and how the word “fire” is used. So, let’s go through every instance this word is used to develop our understanding of “fire”

In the vision of the Lord’s glory, there was a cloud of fire (1:4), and something that looked like fire darting back and forth in the midst of the living beings (1:13).

Fire is spoken of as an analogy for Israel’s destruction and this is dramatized when Ezekiel throws his hair into the fire (5:4).

In another vision, there was a figure that looked like a man which had a fire appearance for half of his body (8:2).

In the parable of the useless vine, fire is used as a symbol for God’s judgement. Israel was compared to a useless vine that isn’t good or useful for anything except to be burned up. In the same way, God said that He would turn against them and make their land desolate. In this, God was speaking about the earthly judgements that would come upon Jerusalem (ch.15). Though Babylon would surely set fire to Jerusalem, the fire in this parable is still symbolic because of what God explicitly says in the text as well as the other parables in the surrounding context that are not supposed to be taken literally either.

Ezekiel 16:41 is in the context of the parable of the adulteress wife but the fire is specifically to be said to be burning houses. We can take this literally since we know that this literally happened. However, when it says, “in the sight of many women,” this represents all the nations around Jerusalem in which she would feel humiliated by.

Ezekiel 19:10-14 is a song of lament. It non-literally describes a vine’s branches and fruit being burned up so that they are no more. This represented the king and princes of Judah who would no longer have a scepter for ruling Israel anymore.

In Ezekiel 20:45-49 God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the forest and say: “This is what the Lord God says: I am about to ignite a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing flame will not be extinguished, and every face from the south to the north will be scorched by it. Then all humanity will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it. It will not be extinguished.” The context of the very next verse reveals that God is just speaking in parables without any interpretation and Ezekiel’s hearers may not have been taking him seriously because of it. So in the next chapter, God interprets Himself. However, He leaves this parable uninterpreted. When God said that the fire would not be extinguished, He certainly did not mean that it would be a fire that would last for an eternity. He also didn’t mean that their cities would be literally burned to ashes with nothing at all left. And neither did He mean that everyone would be burned alive. Nor did He mean that every single person would be destroyed because there certainly would be some survivors. The meaning of all this symbolic language is simply that God would destroy all that He has determined that He would destroy and no one will be able to stop what He has started until the job is finished. Also, whatever is in the path of this fire of judgement will not be untouched by it. Like a wildfire, it’s just going to keep going.

In Ezekiel 21, a sword is spoken of to symbolically represent God’s judgement of warfare and bloodshed among the people of Jerusalem. At the end of the chapter, fire is used to convey God’s judgement of death by the sword among their people (v. 31-32). God says, “I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow the fire of my fury on you. I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled at destruction.” This fire language is imagery to convey God’s wrath—His anger.

In Ezekiel 22:17-22, the house of Isreal is symbolically compared to dross from metals that God is going to throw into the fiery furnace to melt them. God says, “Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted within the city” (v. 21). Of course, this is all still symbolic language for God’s judgement. Perhaps what this meant in part was that their hearts would melt like wax, that is, sink down within them from dread (21:7). In 22:31 God also says “I have poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of my fury” (v. 31).

Ezekiel 23 is a parable about two immoral sisters and so the context here is non-literal even though it is mixed in with many literal things. God says, “I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire” (v. 25; NASB). I don’t take the cutting of the nose and ears or the consumed by fire or the being stripped of their clothes and jewelry (in the next verse) to be literal. The nose and ears could be referring to statues being desecrated and being stripped from clothing fits within the analogy of the parable to be viewed symbolically. While it is certainly true that the survivors could have been burned alive in their houses when their houses were set on fire, this doesn’t seem like the main thrust of the word here. Fire is simply indicating judgement. However, in verses 46-49, the fire here seems to be literal because God is speaking about all the other judgements literally. He says He will “burn their houses” (v. 47).

Ezekiel 24 is a parable about a boiling pot. This is undeniably symbolic.

Ezekiel 28 is a prophetic judgement against the King of Tyre who also in his pride and beauty represented the devil who was cast out of heaven. The judgement at the end speaks of being lit on fire from the inside out and being consumed down to ashes (v. 18-19). The fire within is probably representative of how his pride, fame, and wealth were the cause of his own destruction. The kingdom that the King of Tyre had built for himself was subject to the fire of God’s judgement but as far as how he was supposed to die, it was by the sword (v. 7-9). However, since he finally submitted to the stipulations of God’s warnings after so many years of his city being besieged, he did not end up dying violently and Tyre did not come to complete ruins (Ezek. 29:17-21; Jer. 27).

In Ezekiel 30:8 God says, “They will know that I am the Lord when I set fire to Egypt and all its inhabitants are shattered.” This same language is also used again in verse 14 and 16. The chapter consistently seems to be more literal in its descriptions of judgement but considering that when the word “fire” is used most of the time in this book, it’s symbolic, it would also make sense that here it is symbolic as well. Also, considering that “shattered” is used in the same sentence which is non-literal, it would also be congruent for the fire to be non-literal.

In Ezekiel 36:5 God speaks about the fire of His jealousy.

In Ezekiel 38:22 God says about defeating Gog, “I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur on him, as well as his troops and the many peoples who are with him.” I interpret these things to be literal because they are very descriptive and of the natural type of destruction that rained down from heaven to consume Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19).

Ezekiel 39:6 says, “And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord.” The interpretation of fire in this context could go either way since Gog and Magog are part of the same army that will be defeated in the last days (Rev. 20:8).

Finally, Revelation 20:10 says, “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (ESV). Jude 1:7 says “Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” Is Sodom and Gomorrah still burning to this day? Do they presently give us an example of eternal conscious torment by their continual burning? No, they have stopped burning because they were consumed. So is the “eternal fire” eternal in time or eternal in quality and effect? It obviously cannot be time so it must be the final effect of the fire. Whoever is thrown into that fire will eternally cease to be. However, considering that throughout this whole time of examining the word “fire” in the prophetic literature of Ezekiel and discovering that the fire is most often symbolic, is it also symbolic here for the “lake of fire”? There is a very high probability. This probability only increases when John clarifies this symbolic fire to what it literally is and he says, “This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14). John literally tells us that the lake of fire means to die a second time. So what do we make of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet who are tormented day and night forever and ever? I believe this is hyperbolic language to describe the completeness and finality of both their destruction and the full measure of their punishment. This is hermeneutically allowable because prophetic literature is by nature non-literal and uses various expressions of language just like we have seen all throughout the book of Ezekiel.

The warning God gives to the King of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:19 is that the fire would consume him to ashes and that he would cease to be forever. If eternal conscious torment were true, why didn’t God spice up the warning and tell him that his pain and agony would never end? The reason is because eternal conscious torment is not true. The final fate of all humanity apart from Christ is that they will cease to be forever.

For more on the Pit/grave/underworld, see Ezek. 26:19-21; 28:8-10, 18-19; 31:14-18; 32:17-32; Ps 49