burning bush
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Thanks 2ndTimothyGroup for your question. 'Baptism by fire' in your question is apparently referring to Biblical baptism by fire and not to the common expression referring to learning something new when thrown into a new situation that is frought with great difficulty.
Biblical baptism by fire would have to be a notion that people got from reading Matthew 3:11-12: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The spirit and fire together are in the Bible in several places, the day of pentecost being one of them. When a person becomes a believer, they have the gospel. As they go forth with the gospel, some believe and are saved but some reject the gospel and are not saved. The Bible uses the term fire to describe who is not saved and what things are sin to be done away with. In the Bible, fire is a picture of judgment for rejectors of the gospel. In physical terms, we see that fire consumes things and they are no more. If a person rejects God's offer of salvation, they will be done away with like the chaff mentioned in Matthew 3. Remember the parable language used in Revelation 11 to describe the two witnesses (who are a picture of believers). The two witnesses prophecy, meaning they share the gospel, but for those who oppose them and reject the gospel's offer of salvation:"fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies:" This does not mean that literal physical fire comes out of their literal mouths. Rather, it means there is a judgment side of the gospel for those who reject the true believers' gospel. The baptism being spoken of in Matthew 3:11-12, then, is a picture of how once people become saved (washed from from sin - the meaning of baptized), they will then be entrusted to carry the gospel, which has a message of salvation for those who receive it (the Holy Spirit being life and salvation) and a message of judgment for gospel rejectors (the fire metaphor, meaning destruction, being consumed with nothing left). The burning bush in the Bible was likely a picture of these two sides being present for one bearing the gospel, and Jesus was the word, the gospel, the bush I think.
Biblical baptism by fire would have to be a notion that people got from reading Matthew 3:11-12: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The spirit and fire together are in the Bible in several places, the day of pentecost being one of them. When a person becomes a believer, they have the gospel. As they go forth with the gospel, some believe and are saved but some reject the gospel and are not saved. The Bible uses the term fire to describe who is not saved and what things are sin to be done away with. In the Bible, fire is a picture of judgment for rejectors of the gospel. In physical terms, we see that fire consumes things and they are no more. If a person rejects God's offer of salvation, they will be done away with like the chaff mentioned in Matthew 3. Remember the parable language used in Revelation 11 to describe the two witnesses (who are a picture of believers). The two witnesses prophecy, meaning they share the gospel, but for those who oppose them and reject the gospel's offer of salvation:"fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies:" This does not mean that literal physical fire comes out of their literal mouths. Rather, it means there is a judgment side of the gospel for those who reject the true believers' gospel. The baptism being spoken of in Matthew 3:11-12, then, is a picture of how once people become saved (washed from from sin - the meaning of baptized), they will then be entrusted to carry the gospel, which has a message of salvation for those who receive it (the Holy Spirit being life and salvation) and a message of judgment for gospel rejectors (the fire metaphor, meaning destruction, being consumed with nothing left). The burning bush in the Bible was likely a picture of these two sides being present for one bearing the gospel, and Jesus was the word, the gospel, the bush I think.
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In almost every reference to God's fire, it is judgement. The Holy Spirit was not fire on the day of Pentecost. He had the appearance of fire. There is an old, exhausting hymn with a chorus that repeats "Let the fire fall". If Christians knew what they were asking, they'd never let those words out of their mouths.