HEBREW WORD STUDY – A CONSUMING FIRE – KAESH  כאשׁ  

Jeremiah 20:9: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name.  But his word was in my heart as a burning fire and shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forebearing and I could not stay.”

Literally the passage reads, He was in my heart like a burning fire.  Burning fire in the Hebrew text is kaesh which is a destructive or all consuming fire as used in this context.  In Semitic literature a kaesh or consuming fire is a metaphor for passion. As Jeremiah was voicing his complaint to God, God allowed Him to enter His heart and feel His passion. When you feel it you just can’t contain it.

Have you ever felt a burning consuming fire, a kaesh, inside of you?  In my book Journey Into Silence  I share how I made a deal with God that if He would weep for me when my heart was broken I would weep for Him when His heart is broken.  Since that time there have been a number of occasions when God drew me into His heart and I could feel his passion.  For instance there was this real sour prune faced bitty of a woman who got on my disability bus and was just down right nasty and I told the Lord that one more word of criticism from her and I was going to overhaul her engine.  It was one of those times God called me to keep my end of my bargain and He drew me in His heart and I felt what He felt for Miss Nasty.  I felt God’s love, passion and broken heart for this woman.  I was so overwhelmed it was like a kaesh, a consuming fire and I couldn’t hold it in and I struggled mightily to hold back tears although I did promise God I would weep when His heart was broken. I tried to cover the tears but Miss Nasty noticed them and misunderstood. She thought she pushed me too far and apologized.  But that was not the reason for the tears, it was the love and broken heart of God that brought those tears. It was His kaesh.