HELEN SANDERS
7-22-2022
FAITHFUL IN THE FIRE
There they were in the fiery furnace. They had refused to bow to anyone but Jehovah God. They knew their God, but their God also knew them. They had been found faithful.
In Daniel 3:12 these three faithful Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made a stand. Of course, their enemies let the king know they had not bowed to the image. They reminded the king of his pledge to throw all who did not fall down and worship the image to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. They wanted to be rid of these “Jews” that served Jehovah. They had plotted against them by having the golden image built in the first place to supposedly honor the king. Their real motivation was to get rid of the three Jews because they knew these three faithful men would never bow down to any God but Jehovah.
King Nebuchadnezzar was very angry with them when they refused to bow at the sound of the music and worship his image. In Daniel 3:12b the king through pride and arrogance said, “…and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?”
In verses 16-18 they replied with, “…. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
In his anger the king bound them and threw them into the fiery furnace, but much to his surprise they did not burn up. And then he saw a fourth man in the furnace with them that the king said, “…Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
The king then called to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and told them to come forth from the furnace. All those that came to see them burn in the furnace saw that the fire had no power over them. They were still clothed, and the fire did not scorch one single hair on any of them. And, despite having been in a furnace of fire, when they came out, they had no smell of smoke on them.
Because of their faithfulness to make a stand for Jehovah God, the king reversed the decree about being thrown into fire and in vs. 29 said, “…. There is no other God that can deliver after this sort.” Because of their faithfulness to their God, the king promoted them in the province of Babylon.
When we make a stand for God and do it whether it means confronting death or life, God will be with us like he was with these three Jewish men. We cannot make a half-hearted compromised stand. It means that we must be totally sold out to God. It means no matter what comes our way we will not move from our loyalty to him. It means that we stand in the midst of the fiery battles that we will go through, knowing God is with us just like he was with the three in the furnace. Having done all, we stand! Our enemies will see what God has done, and perhaps it will bring them to their senses like it did King Nebuchadnezzar
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