Dan 3:1- Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold & commanded that all people fall down & worship the image that HE set up when they heard all kinds of music (not just one sound) or be thrown into a fiery furnace.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, were brought before the king & the king gave them another chance to worship the image but they answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter >
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
*They knew that the important thing was not to be kept from the destruction of the flesh, but from the king’s corrupted worship.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
*They couldn’t say they were serving God if they had given in to the king’s demands. If we are truly a child of God, we have the assurance that he loves us & is faithful to take care of us in any circumstance. We will sometimes endure things in life that we don't understand, or we don't have power over, but our aspiration is not in what this life on earth holds for us, but our eternal abode with Christ. We can have peace in the fact that he has promised that ..."Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. 2:9
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the
burning fiery furnace.
*They showed themselves faithful to God, so why weren’t they delivered? God doesn’t always deliver us from the fire, but he will take us thru it.
22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
*It is not wise to come against God's children; he takes it personal - ...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Mt. 25:40 / ...Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord Ro. 12:19
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellers, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
*This was surely a revelation from God as no man had ever seen his image save Moses in. Ex. 33;22-23. It must have been a glorious sight!
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Daniel:
Dan 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellers, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
*We have to be steadfast, unchanging if we are to please God. He expects nothing less that total devotion to him. >Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Ro. 6:16
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor. 15:58
*We can't conform to conditions or others opinions. Our obedience to God's word brings great reward!
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
*There was no way of escape -no one could survive
But God made a way >
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
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