Orthodox gather in Jerusalem for 'Holy Fire'PDFPrintE-mail
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Written by Chris Perver  
Friday, 06 April 2007 17:00
Holy fireOrthodox Christians are gathering in Jerusalem today for the annual "miracle" of the "Holy Fire". Thousands of Israeli police are being deployed in the old city, restricting access to vehicles and those who have permits to visit the site. Every year the Greek Orthodox Patriarch descends into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and recites certain prayers while the congregation chants. After the prayer is finished, an unusual flame emanates from the stone on which they believe Christ's body was laid, and ignites two candles held by the Patriarch. He then proceeds out to the congregation, and the unusual fire held by the Patriarch ignites candles held by the Orthodox pilgrims. Other unusual events happen in the building, with "fire" seen to be descending from above and blue flashes of light appearing. The fire apparently does not burn, and many people are seen to be placing their hands and heads in it, with no ill effects...

Quote: "The Holy Light is not only distributed by the Archbishop, but operates also by itself. It is emitted from the Holy Sepulchre with a hue completely different from that of natural light. It sparkles, it flashes like lightning, it flies like a dove around the tabernacle of the Holy Sepulchre, and lights up the unlit lamps of olive oil hanging in front of it. It whirls from one side of the church to the other. It enters some of the chapels inside the church, as for instance the chapel of the Calvary (at a higher level than the Holy Sepulchre) and lights up the little lamps. It lights up also the candles of certain pilgrims. In fact there are some very pious pilgrims who, every time they attended this ceremony, noticed that their candles lit up on their own accord! For a few minutes after Holy Fire appearance, if it touches the face, or the mouth, or the hands, it does not burn his divine light also presents some peculiarities: As soon as it appears it has a bluish hue and does not burn. At the first moments of its appearance, if it touches the face, or the mouth, or the hands, it does not burn. This is proof of its divine and supernatural origin. We must also take into consideration that the Holy Light appears only by the invocation of an Orthodox Archbishop.[1]

Lilia, my friend from Canada, emailed me about this event a while back. The "miracle" of the "Holy Fire" has supposedly has been happening for over a 1000 years, yet it is still largely unknown in Western Europe. But I don't believe the reason for that is because the West doesn't believe in miracles, as stated on the website. Belief in the supernatural and superstition flourishes where ignorance of the Scriptures has free reign, and that is why Satan is able to deceive these dear Catholic and Orthodox people (for the Catholic church also teaches its followers to believe in questionable "miracles"). It is very unlikely that Christ was ever buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, its geographic location does not fit the description given in the Scriptures. So why would God perform a most notable miracle in this place? And what is the purpose of the "Holy Fire" miracle? The Scriptures command us to test the spirits to see whether they be of God or not, 1st John 4:1. 

I believe the reason for this "Holy Fire" is, that the Orthodox and Catholic churches maintain religious rites and rituals that keep their adherents in spiritual bondage. This "miracle" gives the illusion that these people are truly following God. Unfortunately this phenomenon of "signs and wonders" is not limited to Eastern Europe. Since the Toronto Blessing a few years back, a belief and worship of the supernatural (signs and wonders that are not of God) has flooded Western Christendom also. The Bible also reminds us that during the tribulation period, the False Prophet will be given power to call down fire in the sight of men, and its purpose is to deceive people to worship the Beast and ultimately Satan himself. Let us be very careful to examine the Scriptures in light of what we see and hear, and let us believe not every spirit (1st John 4:1), for as the Bible states, many Antichrists (people taking the place of Christ) are gone out into the world.

Revelation 13:13-14 
And he (False Prophet) doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 

Source Haaretz, Holy Fire

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