THE BURNING FURNACE
- The Rainbow Team
- Apr 30, 2014
- 1 min read
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.”
Daniel3:17
God wouldn’t actually let these three godly men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, be thrown into the furnace, would He?
Their bold declaration surely was just an act of defiance to King Nebuchadnezzar’s tyrannical order to worship his golden statue. Surely God would provide a way of escape.
But He didn’t.
Or at least not in the way they had probably hoped—by avoiding that furnace. Imagine their thoughts as Nebuchadnezzar’s fury was unleashed and he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual.
Imagine how they felt as they were bound, in highlyflammable clothing, and carried to the furnace.
Imagine the terror they felt as the guards who were ordered to throw them into the furnace perished from its heat!
Had God abandoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego? Hardly!
Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and found the three men walking around, unbound and unharmed, along with a fourth man.
Scholars believe this was Jesus, preincarnate.
Too often we think that our faith should keep us out of the furnace: a health crisis, financial worries, troubling situations with our kids.
But being in the furnace doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us.
As promised in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
He will be right there in the furnace with you.
Lord God, thank You that I can count on You to be with me in every circumstance. Though evil threatens, You hold me in Your loving hands.
Amen.
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