James mentions "the tongue is a fire and set on fire by the fire of the "gehenna":
Genesis 1:1 (YLT)
G1067 γέεννα (
geenna), occurs 12 times in 12 verses
Jas 3:6
and
the tongue is a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body,
and is setting on fire the course of nature, and
is set on fire by the gehenna.
Acts 2:3
and there appeared
to them divided tongues, as it were of fire; it sat also upon each one of them,
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Isa 5:24
Therefore, as
a tongue of fire devoureth stubble, And flaming hay falleth, Their root is as muck, And their flower as dust goeth up.
Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, And the saying of the Holy One of Israel despised.
Isa 30:27
Lo, the name of Jehovah is coming from far, Burning is His anger, and great the flame, His lips have been full of indignation,
And His tongue is as a devouring fire.
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This "Covenantle" parable/story" in Luke 16 show a man's tongue burning and being tormented in a flame and asking Abraham to send a finger tip of water to him....
parable!
What about the rich man tormented in a flame Luke 16:24
Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary
Let's start by getting some background information on the situation in which Yeshua told this parable. Luke tells us that all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to the Messiah to hear what he had to say (Luke 15:1)..........
The self-righteous Pharisees and scribes, acknowledged by Yeshua as the legitimate religious teachers of the Jews (Matt. 23:1-3), should have been the ones telling these people of God's love for them. They should have been the ones teaching these sinners, exhorting them to return to God and receive His love and forgiveness.
Afterward, speaking primarily to his disciples but with the Pharisees (and probably the crowd) still listening in, Yeshua related the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-13).
The Pharisees, who were "lovers of money" (Luke 16:14), realized that the Messiah was alluding to them with this parable and took offense. They scoffed at Yeshua. The final part of his response to the derision of the Pharisees and scribes was the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
We'll now examine this parable in detail to grasp exactly what the Messiah was teaching about the kingdom of God:
LUKE 16:
22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried."
23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
24
And he sounding said "Father Abraham! be thou merciful to-me! and send Lazarus! that he should be dipping the tip of the finger of him of water and should be cooling down the tongue of me
that I am being pained in this Flame."
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First, notice that the rich man identifies Abraham as his father, just as the Pharisees did (John 8:39). The rich man (Judah) is now shown to be undergoing reproof, testing, and punishment in "this flame" (singular,
not "these flames"). It is quite obvious that the flame is not literal, because a wet fingertip on the tongue would do nothing to quench the pain inflicted by real flames.
The word rendered "torment" here is a form of the Greek verb
odunao, which literally means "grief," "pain," or "suffering." Predominantly, it conveys the sense of mental anguish,
not physical pain. Forms of this word are found only four times in the Scriptures, all in the writings of Luke. It appears twice in this parable, in verses 24 and 25. In Luke 2:48, it is used to describe the anxious distress that Mary and Joseph felt after they discovered the 12-year old Yeshua missing on the trip home from Jerusalem after the Passover feast. In Acts 20:38, it depicts the sorrow the elders of the Ephesian Church felt at Paul's farewell announcement that they would never see him again.
The rich man cries out from the symbolic darkness of Hades for comfort because of the suffering caused by the flame. The explanation of the symbolism of the flame will require a little background information....................
The fact that the rich man has
five brothers is a vital clue to his true symbolic identity. Judah, the progenitor of the Jews, was the son of Jacob through Leah (Gen. 29:35). He had five full-blooded brothers: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Zebulun (Gen. 35:23).
While the significance of this seemingly pointless detail has been neglected by scholars throughout the centuries, you can be certain that it did not escape the notice of the Pharisees and scribes to which Yeshua was speaking. They thoroughly knew their history and were extremely proud of their heritage.
Yeshua wanted those self-righteous Pharisees to know exactly who he was referring to with this parable.
This detail cements the identity of the rich man as the House of Judah, the Jews!
