Psalm 140

Fire and brimstone. We hear quite a bit of that from the Christian pulpit these days, and we find it (or at least a request for it) in this psalm, too: “Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire.” (vs 9-10)

That’s a great idea, isn’t it? Got enemies? Throw ‘em in the fire! There seem to be an awful lot of Christians who believe this is exactly what God will do to His enemies at the end of the age, so why shouldn’t we think along the same lines? On the other hand, there seems to be a growing group of Christians that would like to downplay or even deny the fiery aspect of God.

But, do we have to take either approach? Does it have to be either/or? If we associate God with fire, does that automatically mean He’s eager (or even willing) to burn His enemies alive?

Perhaps to best answer those questions, we ought to ask what, exactly, this fire is. Solomon had an interesting idea about those “burning coals” David wished on his enemies: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Prov 25:21-22)

What?! The fire is kindness? Could this really be true? Paul expounds on Solomon’s idea in his letter to the Romans: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.‘ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:19-21)

Great, we say. God says vengeance is His. This means we don’t have to get even—He’ll do it for us! No, actually that’s not what this verse means! The Greek words used for “vengeance” are literally translated out of righteousness and mean actions which are done out of righteousness, for the purpose of bringing everything else into alignment with what is just.

This means that God’s vengeance is not intended to inflict punishment, but to avert disaster! It is intended to turn the wicked around and win them back to love and trust in God. (That’s why God doesn’t want us trying to “take vengeance.” Our vengeance is nothing like His.) In short, God Himself adheres to Romans 12:21, not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good.

So, we don’t have to choose between a God who “uses fire on His enemies” or a God who does more “loving” things. God is fire! But His fire is love! And God doesn’t reserve some sort of fire for His “enemies” alone. Isaiah speaks of the righteous living in the “everlasting burnings” (Isa 33). With God, what you see is what you get, whether you’re righteous or wicked.

God is fire, and that fire is love! His fire is heaping kindness on wickedness; His brimstone is repaying evil with good. So, when the wicked are thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the age (Rev 20), maybe that means they are drowned in the unveiled, glorious love of God!