Saved In a Fiery Trial

As Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared underneath a road and then emp … More

Courage

Although angry at these three young men for refusing to bow down to the image, the king did not order their immediate destruction, but instead offered them another chance. They steadfastly refused to worship the image and expressed their confidence that God was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace. They further stated that even if He did not deliver them they would not disobey God and His direct command of Exodus 20:4-6. In these days of compromise we need the moral and spiritual courage of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Enraged the king commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual (v. 19). Then he ordered a group of his strongest men to bind the three Jews and throw them into the furnace (v. 20). Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace (v. 21). If this fate seems horrible remember it is not to be compared with the second death in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). The fire was so hot that it killed the men who carried the three youths to cast them into the furnace (v. 22). They were thrown into the burning fiery furnace (v. 23). It appears that the king had some sort of peephole by which he could view these three men in this huge furnace. When he looked he saw that the only things that had been consumed by the fire was the ropes that bound them. Also he saw a fourth person walking with them in the flames which could have been none other than Christ Himself (vv. 24-25). Convinced by this great miracle he called them forth and decreed that no one could speak anything against the God of these three youths (vv. 26-29. Then he promoted them to higher positions (v. 30).

Application

When a person stands true for God, often his opponents will come to respect him. I want to stand true to the Lord no matter what people may say for or against me.

Daniel 3:19-30 (English Standard Version)


Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »