Yesterday we introduced the word, “quench” in our devotion. We said that this words means to extinguish or suppress. There are seven other times in Scripture where this word is used and it refers to extinguishing a fire.

Matthew 12:20 quotes Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.” In Matthew 25:8, in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins we read, “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.'”

Three times in Mark 9, we see the same phrase used in reference to hell. It is a place where “Their worm dieth not, And the fire is not quenched” (verses 44, 46, 48). In today’s verse in Ephesians 6:16, Paul speaks of our spiritual armor.

Whether it is a campfire, a candle or a fiery thirst in your throat, “quench” refers to extinguishing a flame. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit is often symbolized with the metaphor of a flame. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

This is an obvious prophecy of Pentecost. At that initial baptism of the Spirit, the coming of the Spirit upon the church, Acts 2:3 says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”

So we conclude then to “quench” the Spirit is to extinguish the Spirit’s work. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (I Thessalonians 5:19).