Devotions for Saturday, August 5, 2011
Daniel 3:13-30
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego. Then they brought these men before the king.14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?s15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?s16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.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.
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.s20 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.s21 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.ss22 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.ss23 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 counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.s25 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.s
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.s27 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.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, in the province of Babylon.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
–The 3 Hebrew boys put the issue of the whole circumstance into their statement in verses 16-18. “God is able to deliver us from what you can do to us. Even if He doesn’t we will obey him.”
-The king got mad and threw the boys into the furnace. It was so hot that it killed the men who threw them in.
-God delivered them from the furnace. They didn’t even smell like smoke when they got out. When they were in there were 4 of them rather than three. The fourth was a “Christophanie”- an old testament appearance of Christ.
-When the boys got out of the fiery furnace the king gave glory to God because of their testimony. He promoted them and their God.
Application:
1. God blessed those who stand up for Him and for what is right. Standing up for what’s right has its costs, but the Bible teaches that God will bless those who stand up for Him. Even though these young men saw the effects right away, you may not, but this doesn’t mean that God won’t reward you. He will in His time! Stay faithful to stand up for Him.
- When we take a stand, people notice. You will be an encouragement to those who know that they should do what’s right and stand up for God. Those who are against you when you stand may end up promoting you when they see God work in your life. You never know! Your witness can count. Your testimony can make a difference.
Are you being intentional about your faith in God? Go against the flow!
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
What I got out of this is that, the three guys did not obey the man who wonted everyone to bow to him they said, No! and the man did not like that so he said Fine than you shall be burned in the fire. So the three guys still did not obey the man and was put in the fire, but cause of there trust in Jesus they did not die. But what I got out of it is that when you trust in Jesus so much he can make something you never knew was posable happen.
He is able to do the impossible. Very cool.
The end to this story is incredible! Abed-nego, Shadrach, and Meshach were three guys who stood out of the crowd among the people of Babylon. They refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar and worship his golden idol, even though it meant they were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Verse 16 – 18 is so powerful! It says: 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.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 told the king that had the power to kill them, that their God will save them from the fiery furnace and deliver us out of His hand, but if not we will die because we will not serve your gods, or worship the goldem image he had put up. These three guys were so brave and had so much faith in God that they put their lives on the line just to obey Him! The coolest part of the story was what happened next. God really did save the boys from the fiery furnace and lifted up with them to the king. When the king saw this he was astonished and gave glory to God because of all that he can do! The king realized that he couldn’t do such things like this and he accepted that the three boys honored and worship a god like our God! This story is so amazing because not only did it show how much faith that the three boys had, that God saved the boys because of how much faith and how much they honored God, but also that after the king Nebuchadnezzar saw what God could do, he accepted their wishes to only worship and obey Him.
I love this story and i this story and I think it’s a great reminder of how we should act today. I know i definetley get criticized for my relationship with God from people from school and sometimes even my friends, but they can’t do the amazing things God can and they need God just as much as all of us do. So why not stand out and show people what God can do? It’s always going to be worth it, and like Pastor Ben said, even if we can’t see God rewarding us now like the three boys saw God rewarding them, it’ll come! God loves us and we should love Him and honor Him! 🙂
Waiting for reward, and/or doing right regardless of reward I what separates those of faith from those who don’t have faith, and it’s the difference between pleasing God or not. Good stuff Mel!
That’s so true! It’s about doing it because it’s right and to please God not because you get a reward out of it!
The ending of this story is so neat! The 3 boys stood up for what they believed in, told the king who was ready to throw them in a fire, and they said that God would protect them! They literally were thrown in a fire, and because of there love and faith they had in God, he saved them. That is so cool!! When i read this story i think of the veggietales one “rack, shack and Benny”. They have a song where it says to stand up for what you believe in, God! Because He’s the one that’ll back you up, and stand with you 🙂 If we trust in God, amazing things can happen 🙂
Haha Lindsey I love you!
I think you guys might be the first veggie-tales generation!
I grew up with veggietales, i learned a lot lol 🙂
Ya Lindsey!! 🙂 and what o got out of this is that they believed in god so much that when they went in the fire thing that they weren’t hurt or anything so if you do believe in god good things will happen to you as lindesy said.
Mafalda- You are absolutely right. Remember though- God never promised that everything will be perfect when you stand up for Him. In fact, these boys did not say that God would deliver them, only that they knew He was able to.
If you stand up for God, you might have to pay a price for that. That being said, even if you have to wait until heaven, you will be rewarded for it one day!
Okay!! 🙂
As the story continues the three Hebrew boys followed God and did what they knew was right in God’s eyes, not some earthly ruler. It reminds me that we are to “render to Caesar what is Caesar;s but to God what is God’s”. That basically means that we are to obey the laws that have been set before us by our governing people until it crosses over what God says for us to do. Like in this circumstance, they knew that the Commandments says they were not to have any other gods before the one True God, and you should not make any graven images. They knew what was right and trusted God would be glorified regardless if they were kept alive or not.
Something that I came away with was that when we stand up for God and our beliefs others will see and that is part of our witness. Sometimes people do and say things to us to make us stumble, but that can be used for His glory. We should be praising God for whatever comes our way and know that He can deliver us if He chooses to do so. Sometimes it makes our faith stronger when our faith is tested. It can be a very good thing. My application is that when life comes my way I want to glorify God though every trial and strengthen my faith.
“16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.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.” What an awesome response! The word careful here means the same thing as necessary! So they said Its not even necessary that I answer you, but if I have to, the God that I serve can deliver me from this fire, and if he doesn’t know this, no matter what Im not worshiping any other false god and that includes you! That’s a pretty serious response to the man who is about to have you killed! lol Thats some serious boldness! I love that these guys said whether God save me from this fire or if i have to burn it Im sticking with God! This is something I struggle with, alot of times when life gets hard, Id say life was pretty hard for Shad, Mesh, Abed right about then, I give up on God. I try to do things on my own and I can turn my back when Im in a tight spot instead of running to God and trusting that he will keep me no matter how the situation turns out. But not Shad, Mesh, and Abed, they stuck with God and even if they had been thrown into the fire, they were dedicated to God no matter the out come! Are we will to stick with God even when things don’t work out the way we wanted? You have to make the choice now whether we are going stick with God or turn our back on him when we are in trouble! Take it from me, stickin with God is the way to go! 🙂
the end of this story is awesome! i liked how they didn’t worship that image and stood up for jesus.that is a reminder to stand up for jesus no matter what!
Allyson! You’re so right! It is a reminder and a good one at that. Nice job! You rock 🙂
Is this Allyson or Stephanie? Either way, I am excited you are on here today. Welcome aboard!
its allison.im just using my mom’s email.
Cool Allison! Glad you’re on here!
yea, im happy in on here 😀
the whole story is awesome becuase they never bent down and worth ship the stateu. they stood up for them self and the did what was right. The whole story has a really good lesson and it taught my to never stop in trusting god cuase he will always be there for when we need him, like what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego did they never stood down and that what got me. They did the coolest thing. that what i got out of todays story
Andrew, that is so cool man. I’m glad you learned that today. It’s a good lesson!
i agree with u andrew.what they did was really cool!
What I got out of this passage was that god can do anything if you believe in him and i liked that the guys who threw them in the fernice died because it was so hot and the boys got out of it because they believed in god and had great faith and they loved Jesus very much!!!!! 🙂 😀
Andrew- What does risky faith look like in your life right now?
That comment to Andrew was me. Apparently Meg used my IPad. 🙂
That’s is an awesome story and one of things that I got out of it was that your faith in Gis is so important. I also got that how we display God and how we let him lives through definitley can do some cool things. Just like at the end of the passage when nebuchadnezzar promoted their faith.
this is a great story and what i got out of it is what it has to do with our faith in god and how important it is.when we display him,it can do some awesome things.:D