In the preceding post I gave information which showed us that God is a God of fire. His presence in the Old Testament was manifested as fire. The Hebrew people were not familiar with the technology which has produced the electricity that we are able to harness and use today without much thought. We live in an electrical universe. The planet earth resonates with an electrical frequency of 7.83 hrz, and interestingly enough, the human brain has been found to resonate with this very same frequency. The miracle of human life is simply the generating of electrical energy. When a person dies, this electrical field goes dead…it departs from the body and goes into another dimension. When God breathed the breath of life into Adam, he imparted this spark of life to him. He breathed into Adam, and behold, Adam caught the spark and became a living being. The very breath of God energized him, and he began to resonate with the very same frequency of the planet itself. What a miraculous God! A God of order and sense and infinite energy and power!
When Moses led the children into the wilderness, God began to teach them about his presence. He instructed them to build the Ark of the Covenant, and it was through this object that his very presence began to be made known to them. The Ark actually stored and discharged electricity, and this was shown to the people to be the very presence of God. This was the fire that God gave to the people which signified his presence and his power.
Let’s take a look at the concept of “strange fire.” Leviticus 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
These two men started a fire of their own. Instead of drawing upon the fire that God had given them, the very energy of his presence and power, they struck their own match, so to speak, and started a fire of their own; one that did not come from the true source. In the scriptures which I quoted in the previous post, we can see that God is fire. He is divine energy. His throne is fire, his eyes are of fire, his glory is fire, his judgments are fire, he manifests as fire all around. This fire is the true source. He led the children of Israel as a pillar of fire, and on the day of Pentecost, he divided the column of fire to be administered unto each and every believer as their very own source of divine energy. God himself came to light on the head of each and every believer, and to fill their very being with his power.
This is certainly a magnificent gift! The very fire of God can be dispensed to us, to empower us and energize us. So, what happens if we kindle strange fire? In Isaiah 50:11 we read another comment about strange fire: Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. this shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
When we strike our own match and kindle our own fire, (that which is not the true Spirit of God, his Holy Spirit) we can expect negative results. Our own fire may seem to be authentic, it may have the power to burn, it may emit a certain light, but it has no real divine power.
If our religion is kindled by our own hand, it may seem quite real to us. There may be a certain power in it. We may have power to excommunicate and shun, we may have power to hold a group together, we may have the power to collect large sums of money and carry out many projects, at home and abroad. However, these will never resonate with the true power of God, the energy of his Holy Presence which revitalizes itself and affects all who are touched by it with strength and power. When our power is in a lineage, a set of rules in a book called Bible Doctrine and Practice, in the power that we proudly hold to excommunicate and shun, we have kindled strange fire.
On page 122-123 of his book Keeping the Faith, Ben Giesbrecht makes some assertions that bear a closer look, for here he reveals the true nature of the heart of the Holdeman church. He has been expounding at some length on the lineage and the claims of being the one true church when he says this: ”Many would be the consequences of abandoning this vision. There would be AN IMMEDIATE LOSS OF POWER (emphasis mine.) We would make ourselves susceptible to the immense flood of diverse teaching and interpretation that abounds in our day,and there are many points of view that are brilliantly expounded. If we lack conviction that we are in the true faith, where truth is protected, we reach out to other options. The result is confusion and lack of unity.
This is a rather alarming thought. The power that Bennie speaks of is not the true power of the Holy Ghost, but rather the power derived from recognizing a lineage, performing rituals of excommunication and shunning, and teaching the doctrine of the One True Church. It is true, as I have said, that there is a certain type of power to be had outside the power of the Holy Ghost. Is this not strange fire? If we kindle a fire from our own works and rituals, is this not strange fire? This strange fire has no power of it’s own, but must continually be stoked and refueled by the ordinances and teachings of man. The consequences of kindling strange fire are explained in the scriptures, several of which I have quoted in this and the preceding article. Why does the church struggle, why does it drift? Why is it in disarray? Strange fire does not come from God, it comes from man and his efforts. It is legalism and self righteousness. It is a certain form of godliness, but it denies the power thereof. (2 Timothy 3:5)
Many will be the consequences of kindling strange fire. The men who are striking this sulfurous match should tremble with fear. The people are not innocent, if this is the fire they desire, instead of the true fire of God’s holy presence. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. this shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. (Isaiah 50:11) Sorrow will be the result of kindling strange fire. Beware, all who love strange fire! There is a source of divine power which will strengthen, enrich and enable true believers to be filled with love and mercy, compassion and the many gifts of the Spirit. Snuff out the strange fire and be filled with the fire the comes from above, the true fire of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit!
VOX POPULI 
Sometimes I think about how the church admires itself, how it comments that people observe us and are impressed. The world around us observes the sisters in their home made dresses and black head coverings, and is impressed, or so some would believe. This is such arrogance and pride. This is strange fire. When we believe that our appearance, our works, and our organized behavior has the power to draw a world of sinners, and bring them to salvation, we are deceived. We are denying the true power of God and replacing it with something that we have made all by ourselves. Please friends, wake up! Your clothing and rituals may indeed strike the fancy of some people, those who are also addicted to religion and religious practice. It has no real power to change lives. Very often those who are drawn to the church for these reasons only last for a short while, and then move on, in search of another artificial flame. The true power of God is shown in an entirely different way. If people would truly be filled with the Holy Ghost, the authentic fire from God, things would be much different. There would be no talk of the power of excommunication and shunning. Instead lives would be turned around and people would be instruments of God’s power in a way that has not formerly been seen. This is the fire I am hoping to see!
This reply is so true north! Pet sunday school talk is always about our witness and how the “outside” perceives us. It’s spoken with such humble tones and piety. Organized behavior is the true definition for holdeman’s. And people are not drawn to this. They maybe are until the REAL truth comes out….they see the strange fire! I have had friends from other faiths tell me this! I had someone not long ago ask who in the world makes all the mennonite rules?? COGICM are not witnessing like they think they are.
If in fact the Ark of the Covenant was a capacitor which stored and emitted God’s power, then should we not function in the same way? If we have received the Holy Ghost and are filled with divine power, should we not also function as versions of the Ark of the Covenant? The ten commandments, God’s law written on stone, were contained within the ark of the covenant, awaiting the time when they could be written on the tables of men’s hearts. If we have God’s Spirit and divine power within us, and his law is written on our hearts, should we not also have power?
In all my ponderings about the holdemans etc. etc., nothing has ever made as much sense to me as this teaching about strange fire. Thanks so much for putting it into this perspective.
I am really impressed with Isaiah 50:11. I have never noticed that verse. It seems that lately I am hearing about more and more “strange sparks”, man made ideas that have no rhyme or reason. Just a show of control and power. And yet people continue on, bowing down and submitting.
I appreciate your comments. I have put a good deal of thought into many of my posts and it is affirming if I can find that I was able to get my point across and share the contents of my heart.
The correlation between the electrical current of the human heart and the fiery power of God is a convincing argument for that being the beginning of life for the pro-life movement.