The Shekinah-Word – The Atonement for Sin

The Divine Fire/Light/Lamp/Word, was on a tree-burning bush in the Old Testament and he was the Divine Fire/Word on the tree in the New Testament…the cross

Jeremiah 23:29 -“Isn’t my WORD like fire?” says the LORD.

This WORD OF GOD/DIVINE PRESENCE FIRE was also upon the altar, atoning for sins in the Old Testament.

Outside the tabernacle, the fire for the burnt offering was commanded to be kept burning; never was it to be extinguished. Leviticus 6:13 instructs, “The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” This is mentioned three times in this chapter (verses 9, 12, and 13). One reason the ongoing fire was so important is that it was started directly by God: “Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown” (Leviticus 9:24). This fire also represented God’s presence. “God is a consuming fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24). The Shekinah glory was visible in the fire at the altar of burnt offering. This ongoing presence of God reminded the Israelites that salvation is of the Lord.

The atonement, the burnt offering could only be made through Him, his fire, his Shekinah/Word.
Jeremiah 23:29 “Isn’t my WORD like fire?” says the LORD. In the New Testament, John the Baptist predicted that the Messiah would baptize with the Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16)

The continuously burning, divine fire at the Altar, of burnt offering, helped remind the Israelites of the reality of God’s presence and of their need for God. The sacred fire endured throughout the 40 years in the desert and likely beyond that, as tabernacle worship continued until the time of King Solomon and the building of the Jewish temple. When the temple was dedicated, God once again lit the fire on the altar (2 Chronicles 7:1).

The Rabbinic text confirms the atoning power of the heavenly fire/Shekinah.

Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 14:1
But the fire that is permanently burning on the altar atones for the sins of Israel

The Rabbinic text also confirms the Word/Shekinah himself is our atonement, and he unites with the sin offering to bring that atonement

Targum Jonathan on Leviticus 9:23
(Moses and Aaron said) “May the Word of the Lord receive your oblations with favour, and remit and forgive your sins. Then, instant, instantly the Glory of the Lord’s Shekinah revealed itself to all the people: and the Fire came forth from the Presence of the Lord and consumed upon the altar the sacrifice and the fat”.

This also explains how the sins of Isaiah were atoned for, by the burning coal of the heavenly altar, because the fire is the Shekinah, the Word, who removes our sins.

Isaiah 6:6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

This Word, the heavenly fire, the Shekinah became flesh/Yeshua (John 1:1). He/God the Word has always been the atonement for our sins, both in the Tanakh and New Testament.

Deuteronomy 32:43 he will…make atonement for his land and people.

Hebrews 1:3 And He (Yeshua) is the radiance of His glory (the Shekinah)… He had made purification of sins

1 John 2:2 He (Yeshua) Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world

Matthew 1:21 you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins