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In Deuteronomy, God's consuming fire explains why Israel must reject idols. In 3 Enoch, that name keeps fire, snow and hail from destroying one another, giving God's dangerous power a role in preserving creation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 4:24
Hebrew Bible
21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he is about to give you. 22 So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that good land. 23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.
3 Enoch 42:3
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
Then I went by his side and he took me by his hand and lifted me up on his wings and showed me all those things. I saw the waters suspended on high in Araboth Raqia' by (force of) the name YAH 'EHYE ASHER 'EHYE (Jah, I am that I am). And their fruits going down from heaven and watering the face of the world, as it is written (Ps. civ. 13): "(He waters the mountains from his chambers:) the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work". And I saw fire and snow and hailstone that were mingled together within each other and yet were undamaged, by (force of) the name 'ESH 'OKELA (consuming fire), as it is written (Deut. iv. 24): "For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire".
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Notes and References
“... Metatron then showed Rabbi Ishmael the secrets of the creation, and
how the various names of the Yahweh effected various aspects of it;
this must be the equivalent of the great 'oath' in 1 Enoch:
I saw water suspended from the height of the heaven of Arabot through the
power of the name Yah, I am that I am ...
I saw fire, snow, and hailstones enclosed one within the other without one
destroying the other, through the power of the name 'A Consuming Fire'as it
is written 'For YHWH your God is a consuming fire ...' (3 Enoch 42.2-3) ...”
Barker, Margaret
The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God
(p. 109) Westminster John Knox Press, 1992
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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