The Fire and the Dove

The world, you might have noticed, is a white-hot mess, but that’s really nothing new. It’s been that way for several thousand years, although the mess has taken many different forms through the ages. The solution? The simple answer is Jesus, but what is it we want Jesus to do so that the problem is solved? Often, I find myself thinking like the disciples James and John when they learned that the folks in a Samaritan village didn’t welcome the messengers who had arrived to prepare things for a visit by Jesus as He made His way to Jerusalem.

“Lord,” they asked, “do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (see Luke 9:54, emphasis added)

Some manuscripts add “Just as Elijah did?”

You remember that story, right?

Elijah is taking on 450 prophets of Baal in an old-school “my God vs. your god” battle to the death on Mount Carmel. The competition went first and failed miserably when it came to getting their little-g god to bring fire on the bull they were sacrificing to Baal. Elijah mocked them.

“Maybe he’s lost in deep thought”, he said of Baal. “Maybe he’s on vacation or perhaps he’s just asleep.”

Baal never showed up, of course, and Elijah eventually took his turn. Then he doused the sacrifice he’d prepared in water and called on the big-G God of Israel.

“Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again,” Elijah said. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!’” (see 1 Kings 18:16-45 for the full story; emphasis added here)

That’s what I often want to see God do – bring the fire on the defiant enemies of God – and that’s what John and James were thinking. “But Jesus turned and rebuked them.” (Luke 9:55)

Why?

Fire in Scripture can represent God’s presence and glory. God is described as a consuming fire (Hebrews12:29), showed up as fire that didn’t consume a bush (Exodus 3:2), used fire to guide the Israelites by night (Exodus 13:21), and brought the Holy Spirit in the form of something that resembled flaming tongues (Acts 2:3-4). John and James were seeking the fire of God’s judgment, but Jesus had something else in mind. And when we feel tempted to seek the fire of God’s judgment on our enemies, we might want to factor in the dove.

I think RT Kendall, a Kentucky-born theologian and former pastor at Westminster Chapel, was onto something when he said, “People say, ‘I want the fire to fall’. So do I. But maybe we need to learn how to bring the dove down.”

It’s not either-or. It’s both-and. Bring both the fire and the dove.

Doves are a pretty off-shoot of the pigeon family, and while they are small, delicate, and nurturing, they also are extremely resilient. They can live almost anywhere. And they are versatile enough that they, like fire, show up in several different symbolic fashions throughout the Bible.

Poetically …

 Psalm 74:19 - “Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever.”

 Song of Solomon 4:1 - “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.”

 Song of Solomon 5:12 - “His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool.”

Descriptively …

 Isaiah 59:10-12 - “We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities.”

 Ezekiel 7:16 - “And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity.”

And as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

 In Genesis 8:11, Noah released a raven and it came back empty handed (or empty taloned).

Then he released a dove and it came back with a sign of life.

 In Matthew 3:16-17, Jesus is baptized and we are told, “…immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’”

When the dove – the Holy Spirit – came down to Jesus, what did it do? It “rested on him.” It was at peace. Comfortable. At home. Right where he belonged.

Sounds pretty good, right?

The Holy Spirit indwells us at salvation, but does He come down and rest? Or does He moan? Does he flitter uncomfortably?

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

In other words, don’t grieve the dove.

What does it mean to “grieve” the Holy Spirit?

Charles Spurgeon, the 19th - Century English preacher, described “grieving” as a “sweet combination of anger and of love. It is anger, but all the gall is taken from it. Love sweetens the anger, and turns the edge of it, not against the person, but against the offense.”

In other words, God loves us unconditionally and is pained by our sinfulness, by seeing us step outside of His will and into a big pile of you know what. It’s the ultimate empathy – the Holy Spirit hurts more for us than we even know to hurt for ourselves.

In Ephesians 4:31-32, Paul goes on to say, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Then he says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

If we want to bring the dove, we need to get rid of these things: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and all forms of malice. And embrace these things: kindness, compassion, forgiveness.

There are often times when we need to call on God to bring the fire, like when we are earnestly seeking His presence and glory, or if we happen to find ourselves facing 450 prophets of Baal. We just don’t want to grieve the dove in the process.

Discernment guides us when we don’t know what to ask God for. The Lord is simultaneously a quenching fire and a peaceful dove. As fire rests, so does the Dove. The Lord’s presence purifies as a fire and comforts like the dove. What does your current situation need most? His Fire? His comfort? Maybe you need both.

Regardless, call upon His name to meet you wherever you are.

The fire and the dove are always available.