April 12, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Daniel? Here’s today’s reading:
Daniel 3 (NIV)
The Image of Gold and the Blazing Furnace
1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. ...........Continue Reading
Every time I read this account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego I am floored by the fact that not only did they not burn in that fire it says you couldn’t even smell smoke on them! Have you ever stood near a campfire for more than 5 minutes and all you can smell in your hair and clothes is smoke and yet in the fire and they came out with no scent of fire or smoke!
God is amazing and when we put our faith in Him and refuse to put anything or anyone else before Him this same power and protection is available to us and yet we still struggle with fear…just mind blowing!
The fiery furnace where three young men are brought to the test. Will they go along with the crowd to save their own lives or will they stay faithful to God and be willing to deny their very own lives. Of course we know the answer looking back in history. But what if it was us during this time we are in now/ For Jesus does say; [ And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me , is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it]. Matthew 10; 38,39. It might not be actual death but it could be. The three men in this chapter were willing to die But they knew that God had the power to save them if it was His will. It turns out that God wanted to protect them to show Nebuchadnezzar and others His power and greatness. Who appears is one like Son of God. This is Jesus Christ. One of many times that He appears in the Old Testament. As a side note on Nebuchadnezzar after God revealed to him in a dream [ chapter 2] and what was going to take place He still sets up a golden image to be worshipped and not the True and Living God. Even willing to send the three young men into the fiery furnace when he knew who their God was. Such unbelief. But he did change his mind and made a decree that every people, nation, and language, that says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be totally destroyed.
There are a few things I love about this Biblical account. First is the courage of these three men to stand when everyone else is bowing…especially when the king singles them out and they still refuse. We all know what peer/group pressure/group think is like. Such a hard thing to go against the crowd, and yet it is the very things we should be prepared to do as believers. May our conviction of the truth grow so we can do the same when all eyes are on us. The second thing is the thing they say to the king: our God can save us, but even if He doesn’t, we are still not going to bow. That is true faith that frees God to do whatever He sees as best and believe Him in spite of what He does or doesn’t do. And third is the sheer miracle of being in a fire so hot that it kills those putting the men in, and yet the clothes of the men don’t burn, yet the chords that bound them did. And Nebbi is a typical person, struck by the power of God when it is right before Him, but not truly transformed by it. But it is tough for people who are used to being the main person and have people obey them to humble themselves to believe. And you thought there wasn’t a benefit to coming from a simple upbringing?
Daniel 3
Wednesday night study. We were still for a while discussing Holy Week and pilate thinking he wa in control along with the meatheads. They were all used as puppets to carry out Gods plans. How many times have we read Daniel Once again a king who thinks he is in complete control is used by God. And today we are encouraged as we read again of the faith that these 3 men had. Once again a reminder for us God is sovereign over ALL THINGS!!!!
Daniel 3 I did a Beth Moore study on Daniel many years ago and I always remember this chapter about those 3 young Jewish men who didn’t waver on their faith and go along with the crowd, they stood strong and their faith to stand up to that King and go into that furnace, I loved when King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and saw 4 people and said weren’t there 3 we sent in there, after he called the three out and saw that they didn’t even have a mark on them the King wanted to know their God, he said “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who sent his Angel and rescued his servants”. These guys were willing to give their lives up to the Lord but he protected them and saw them through for their faith.
The king has a dream about a statue then he gets the bright idea to make a huge one (ninety feet tall, nine feet wide) for all to worship. So when he hears that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego won’t worship it they are thrown into the fiery furnace. These men were built up in faith when God intervened so they could eat vegetables and when he revealed the dream to Daniel, so they knew that God could save them in this instance as well. And if he did not, he would still be the God of the Universe. So, for a second time, Nebuchadnezzar is shown the power of the One True God, and he praises him for it but we find out later on that he does not submit to the Lord. And the 4th person could be the Son of God or an angel sent by the Father to comfort and protect his followers. Psalm 91:14 Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
Daniel 3
I was thinking similar to Dennis about whether we would obey and stand for the Lord in the face of this adversity. I think we often make excuses, for ourselves and others that God would not expect this because we are not saved by our works. I do think that there are decisions that demonstrate a heart state of unbelief. Peter denied Jesus and was restored, Judas denied Jesus and was condemned. As we live, things may become more and more difficult for believers. It’s happening already! I think of the verses about being overcomers or enduring to the end, and I think that God does expect us to stand in obedience on the last day.
Matthew 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13, Hebrews 3:14
Overcome appears several times in Revelation 2 and 3.