Cast Them into the Fiery Furnace - Daniel 3:20

In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow to nor worship the golden image King Nebuchadnezzar set up, and “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. 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 your hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated”, and in chapter three and verse twenty of his book Daniel shared how “Nebuchadnezzar” “commanded the most mighty men that were in his army”, where we read,

And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

The verse reads, “And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ...” Daniel began with the words, “and he commanded” or “and he, King Nebuchadnezzar, declared and ordered” “the most mighty men” which means “the strongest and most powerful male human beings” “that were in his army” or “who exited within his, King Nebuchadnezzar's, mighty force” “to bind” which means “to twist knots around and fetter” “Shadrach” whose name means “royal or the great scribe”, “Meshach” or “guest of the king”, “and Abednego” whose name means “servant of Nebo” . Daniel shared how King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the most powerful men within his military force to fetter “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”.

The verse continues, “and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.” Daniel added the words, “and to cast them” which means “and to throw them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” “into the burning fiery furnace” or “in the hot, ardent, fervent and painful fire-place”. Daniel said King Nebuchadnezzar ordered “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” to be thrown into the ardent and painful fire-place.

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how King Nebuchadnezzar ordered “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” to be thrown into the fervent and hot fire-place by the most powerful men in his military. There is so much more to this story, and we shall learn them in our next verses, but for now let us imagine what it must have been like to be “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”. Their faith in God was so strong that whether they were delivered out of the seven times heated fire-place or not, they would trust in Him. God wants us to trust Him like this as well, and when we yield our lives to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us the power of His Holy Spirit to trust in Him regardless of how heated our circumstances may be.

Next time Daniel shares how Shadrach, Meschah and Abednego, “were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".