PODCAST
In The Fire
May 17th, 2017
Daniel 3:24-30
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s stubborn faith led them to the fiery furnace. The king ordered the furnace stoked to maximum heat. The men were tied up and tossed inside. It was so hot that the soldiers who did the tossing died. We are not told the crowd’s reaction to this terrifying scene–perhaps all was silent except the roaring flames. In any case, the king’s voice is soon heard, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” (v. 24). Where there had been three, there were now four. They were walking about in the midst of the flames and nothing had been burned, except the ropes that once bound them!
What a remarkable deliverance! No one, including the three men tossed into the flames, believed their deliverance was assured. They would be either martyrs or miracles.
This time, they were miracles. It was the divine presence that made all the difference. The fourth figure in the fire met them there. Three came out but the divine presence remained, ready to meet us in our fiery trial.
Author: Duane Brush
May 17th, 2017 at 9:36 pm
Last week’s story of Esther and now the “Fiery Furnace” are amazing accounts of God’s power and providence. It troubles me though, why the response in both stories is intolerance and mass killing. In the story of Esther it was the Jews lashing out at their enemies. In today’s story it is Nebuchadnezzar. Why do we skip over this part of the story in our devotionals?
May 19th, 2017 at 10:27 am
Ray, You raise a good point. Reflecting God is designed as a devotional guide supporting the scriptures being studied in the Adult Faith Connections curriculum. As a devotional we try to select scriptures that highlight the nature and work of God with the human responses to God’s self-revelation. Reflecting God does not serve the role of a commentary covering each verse and the issues that arise (Look to Illustrated Bible Life for that) . Our goal is to provide a thought that will be a helpful contribution to our readers devotional lives. I hope that helps.