God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

c. Fire - the protection (purification) of life.

The ancient world did not have microbe killing medicines. The primary agent for cleansing and purification was fire. Garbage was burned to keep it from becoming a breeding ground for disease (Lev. 8.17). When disease had broken out, burning the infected person’s clothes was often the only way to stop the disease from spreading (Lev. 13.47-59). Fire also refined metals and made them pure and useful (Mal. 3.2-3). Throughout the Scriptures God uses the symbol of fire to speak about the purification of his people. The prophet Isaiah, for example, speaks about a day “when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning” (Isa. 4.4).

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(1) Matt. 3.11-12

(2) Acts 2.3-4

(3) 1 Thess. 5.19

(4) The Holy Spirit as the fire of God, constantly purifies the Church, protecting it from the infection that sin might bring.

Ibid. pp. 40, 110.

d. The Dove - the symbol of new life

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In Genesis chapter 8, when God has destroyed all life on the earth because of sin, only Noah, his kinfolk, and a group of animals remain alive on the ark. As they wait for the waters to subside, they send out a dove to see if it can find dry land. Initially, just like the Holy Spirit at creation, the dove “hovers over the waters” but cannot find a resting place and returns to the ark. It is sent out a second time and returns with an olive leaf indicating that the water level is lowering. The third time it is sent out it does not return and Noah knows that dry land has appeared and it is safe to come out of the Ark and start life on the earth again. In the Noah story, the dove becomes the symbol of new creation and new hope for the earth.