Make no mistake, the king was furious. He wanted his people to worship him. Shadrack, Mishak and Abednego refused to worship the king’s statue and as such, the King had the three men thrown into a firey furnace. He had the furnace stoked to 7 times the usual heat. It was so hot, that the men that threw the friends into the furnace died from the heat. The king probably smiled a bit thinking that he made his point, and others would now worship without question.
Then, the king stood, astonished–he counted the people in the furnace. 1st they were walking around in the fire; just chatting and unhurt. Second, there were four people in the fire–not 3. The king was mystified. After a little while, to make things worse, the king had to call the men to come out of the furnace. They said good bye to the fourth person and walked out of the furnace completely unburned; their clothing not even smelling of smoke. All the folks saw the miracle, and the king, well, he changed the rules–from that point on, they were allowed to worship the one true God! If anyone else troubled them, that person would be ripped limb from limb. Once again, God revealed himself to the king. Then the king was left to make a personal choice whether or not to follow.
So many people look at God’s people and scoff. They watch the devotion and think God’s chosen are narrow-minded and ignorant. They would love to eradicate the world of all who follow the Lord. Still, at the end of the day, God shows Himself as large and in-charge. When He does, those who would be a critic are stunned and then changed. God can take care of Himself. He stands out in the most difficult of circumstances. We do not have to defend God, but, when we follow the Lord, He will protect and provide for us. When that happens, He gets the glory. We continue to follow the Lord and He continues to bless us. Nebchaduneezer would never be the same, and Daniel and his friends would continue to follow God and remain faithful all their lives. Daniel would change the world by remaining faithful–what a great incentive for us to do the same.
God Bless You
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[e] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[f] the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
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