The Baptism of Fire and "Knowing" the Lord

After his first mention of the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost (2 Ne. 31:13), Nephi next said,

"But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me" (2 Ne. 31:14).

Looking carefully at this statement yields a valuable scriptural definition of a central concept, namely knowing the Lord. That last line of II Nephi 31:14, taken another way, says that once a person has "repented of his sins..., and has received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with...the tongue of angels," that he then "knows" the Lord.

Should it surprise us that upon entering this gate of baptism by water and the Spirit, becoming the children of Christ, we also enter into a relationship in which we know the Lord? Lest this be puzzling, we must remember that "knowing" and "omnipotence" are not equivalent terms. In this context, the "knowing" comes from "receiv[ing] the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive." (2 Ne. 31:18.) Hence, Alma said that as many as "have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen...do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God." (Alma 36:26.)

Consistent with this is the renowned prophecy that the time will come that the Lord will forgive the iniquity of his people, remembering their sins no more, writing his law in their hearts, and "they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me." (Jeremiah 31:33,34.) Hence the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost defines the grand pivot point not only for the old and new individual but also between today's society and the millennial society.

"Fire" in the Old Testament

Because the children of Israel provoked God in the wilderness, refusing to come into his presence, he withdrew from them their access to the Melchizedek Priesthood and its authority to bestow the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. The law would point them to Christ, but would not bring salvation in and of itself. The baptism of fire is one of the things which was typified in the performance of the Law. Just as their offering was placed on the alter and consumed by fire, so will the broken heart and contrite spirit, when placed on the alter before God, be consumed with fire and with the Holy Ghost. This imagery lends a new perspective to several monumental events in the Old Testament chronacles. For example, consider the priests of Baal versus Elijah the prophet, in which fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering that was layed on the alter before God, after it was emmersed in water. It is only the broken heart and contrite spirit offered before the Lord, which receives a mighty change through the baptism of fire, that can worship God in truth; for otherwise, the heart will be inclined to Baal. Consider also the dedication of Solomon's temple in which fire came down from heaven in the midst of the congregation and consumed the offering.

Threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite
[made reference to in "gate"]

David also witnessed a fire from heaven consume his offering. This occurred at the end of the three-day plague which killed 70,000 of the elders of Israel, because David had numbered the people. [This certainly is a commentary about God's opinion of man's supposing that greatness can be measured by statistical means, for when we focus on numbers, then popularity usurps principle as the primary standard.] When David "saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces." (1 Chron. 21:16.) After humbled David built an alter in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, he called on the Lord, and the Lord "answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering." (1 Chron. 21:26.) It was here and under these circumstances that "the Lord appeared unto David." (2 Chron. 3:1.)

See "Ornan" in the English Dictionary and OT Hebrew Lexicon

Fire

One of the best foreshadowings of the baptism of fire in the Old Testament is in the Hebrew word for "fire" itself.

"Would God that ALL the Lord's People Were PROPHETS"

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