Job 1:16  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ASV
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                                                                                     Commentary

This was Not the "fire of God"! Whatever this was it was from Satan for God gave Satan the OK to do whatever he wanted to to Job except touch his person. vs 12.  The commentators make all kinds of wild assumptions and contradict each other even! Some say the Fire was lightening others say no it wasn't.

 The Hebrew word is  "esh"; found over 375 times in the OT it is the standard word for "fire" as that which came down on Sodom & Gomorrah & as the fire on the altar for burning animal sacrifices.

This verse is a good illustration of the mistake of trying to tell what the will of God is by providence. When idiots crashed planes into the WTC... was that the "fire of God"?  Was that God trying to "tell us something"? A so-called "God's wake-up call to the nation"?  How about the Challenger explosion? What was God "telling" us in that event?
Or any other event; like landing a plane on the Hudson River; or the Holocaust; or the Hindenburg disaster! Were all those events some kind of "message from God"?  And what makes any event to be a message from God? What if you look out your window and see the neighbor's cat cross the street and run into your back yard? Is that some sort of providential event whereby God is trying to tell you something?  How do you tell whether or not some providential occurrence is a message from God? Are suicide bombers delivering daily messages from God to us?
The answer to all that is a resounding... NO! God does ~Not~ speak by way of providence ladies & gentlemen.

 Beyond question He does absolutely ordain & control all things that come to pass in time & history right down to every movement of every last particle in the entire creation. But that in no way shows that He ~Speaks~ via providence. The Bible is crystal clear that God speaks in no other place but the Bible itself. Yeah I know... Psalm 19 says that the heavens do declare God's glory and Romans 1 says that men can see that glory being declared and are therefore without excuse... but that's a far cry from the giving of some "message" or "wake-up" call or "what is God trying to tell us" by way of some "current providential event".  No sir... God speaks in one place and one place alone...  Sola Scripture! It is there in the Scriptures that God is "trying to tell us" Repent or perish; Believe the Gospel or be damned.

Paul declared that...
Every  ~Scripture~ is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
 so that the man of God may be   ~perfected,  ~~fully furnished~~  for every good work. 2Tim 3:16,17

And ol Pete concurred when he said...
 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
  And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
  We have also a   ~~more sure word~~  of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2Pete 1:17-19

Trying to figure out what God is "saying" by providential events... or even direct speech from heaven apart from God telling us precisely what He means Himself only results in confusion. Behold...

John 12:28  Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29  The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

Seee...? Confusion. No one knew what the voice said except the Lord Jesus told us.

If God speaks through providential events then what need is there for the Bible? Go buy a good pair of binoculars and keep a sharp eye out for the next current event to occur in providence and then... tell me precisely what God said by it. Meantime... I'll keep reading my Bible thank you.

Job

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