Perpetual Fire: Temple, Ritual, and Biblical Theology

Levitical law commands the priests to keep a fire perpetually burning on the altar of sacrifice. Why? This book seeks to answer this question by first exploring the ritual meaning of the perpetuity of the fire on the altar, and then using this ritual analysis as a foundation for a biblical theology of divine fire.

A pattern that begins with theophanies like the burning bush and scenes of divine cultic authorization in which fire falls from heaven becomes ritually inscribed in the symbolism ...