The following are three instances of fire in the Bible. In Acts 28, Paul is bitten by a serpent driven from a bundle of sticks by fire. Moses sees God in a burning bush in Exodus 3. In 1 Kings 18 when Elijah challenges the fake prophets to see which god or God could bring fire down on an alter.

How is fire a curse and a blessing to mankind? Fire can help us cook stuff, get rid of stuff we don’t want, and keep us warm. On the other hand fire can hurt us, get rid of stuff we do want, and kill us.

God uses fire to describe His presence. In Exodus3:2 Judges 13:20 God used fire to show Moses that He was there. He uses fire to describe His passion in Hebrews 12:29 by describing Himself as a consuming fire. Purity in Acts 2:3-4 when He describes the Holy Spirit as a flame of fire.

Man’s ability to start, sustain, and control fire changed the world by we can kill bad stuff in food by cooking it. We can have warm food. There are forest fires in California. We can be tortured.