DANIEL 3 THE FIERY FURNACE 3.    "Tie them up in their clothes and throw them in!" The king bellowed. The furnace was BLAZING! It was so hot that the soldiers who threw the men into the furnace were killed.  "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.  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 Abednego.  And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."  Daniel 3:21-23. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.  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."  Daniel 3:24-25. "That will put an end to their impudence", thought the king, well pleased with himself. But suddenly his face turned pale with terror!  “Didn’t we just throw 3 men, bound into the furnace? Look! I see 4 men, loose and Walking in the furnace, and the 4th is like—like—the Son of God!!  "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.  And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, 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 3:26-27. "Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.  "Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon."  Daniel 3:28-30.  Then the King sent letters to all the world again, This time telling the wonderful story, and saying that all people everywhere should reverence the God of the Hebrews, the God who saved His children from the Burning Fiery Furnace. Soon, the world will be faced with a test just like the 3 Hebrews faced back on the Plain of Dura. Earthly rulers are uniting right now  to pass laws that will seek to force all to obey a decree that goes against the Law of God.  "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Revelation 13:17 Soon all those who obey God will face their own 'Fiery Furnace' of persecution. This story is recorded to assure us, that even if no human being stands with us in that hour—Jesus will walk with us in the flames! May we pray earnestly now, so that when that time comes that the rage of earthly kings combine to destroy God's people; We will, in the strength of our Redeemer stand tall, as did the Three Hebrews on the Plain of Dura. Jesus promises— WE WILL NOT STAND ALONE The ‘FORM OF THE FOURTH' will be with us, and will soon put an end to man’s cruel and proud tyranny over his fellow man.

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