A
Fire
Tried Faith
Daniel 3:19 -30
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and his facial expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then he gave a command that the furnace was to be heated seven times hotter than usual. He commanded
certain strong men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and to throw them into the furnace of
blazing fire. Then these [three] men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their turbans, and their other clothes, and
were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was
extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. But these three
men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up. Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king [looked and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw
three men who were tied up into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” He answered,
“Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the gods!” Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out [of there]! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors
gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies--their hair was not
singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar
responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and rescued His
servants who believed in, trusted in, and relied on Him! They violated the king’s command and surrendered their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or
language that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut into pieces
and their houses be made a heap of rubbish, for there is no other god who is able to save in this way!” Then the king
caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
DANIEL 3:19-30 AMP
Ok8kkk u by iyyh hjkn
P y7h7k 7yh78kolShadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego
This article is about the biblical story. For the Beastie Boys Song or EP, see Shadrach (Beastie Boys song) and An Exciting Evening at Home
with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Franz Joseph Hermann, "The Fiery Furnace; from the Book of Daniel, 3"; St. Pankratius, Wiggensbach, Germany. King Nebuchadnezzar
(left) watches the three youths and the angelic figure in the furnace (right), while the king's gigantic statue towers behind them (centre).
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three Jewish men thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, when they refused to bow down to the king's image according to chapter 3 of the book of
Daniel. The three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the form of the
fourth is like the Son of God".[1][2]
The first six chapters of Daniel are stories dating from the late Persian/early Hellenistic period, and Daniel's
absence from the story of the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace suggests that it may originally have been
independent.[3] It forms a pair with the story of Daniel in the lions' den, both making the point that the God of
the Jews will deliver those who are faithful to him.[4]
The Hebrew names of Daniel's friends were Hananiah (‫) ָהנְנַ נֲח‬, "Yah (i.e., Yahweh) is gracious", Mishael (‫לנֲָׁ יִ מ‬u
ֵ
c b, u"Who is like God?" and Azariah (‫) ָהי ְַרנֲח‬, "Yah has helped", but by the king’s decree they were
assigned Chaldean names, so that Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach and Azariah became
Abednego. Shadrach's name is possibly derived from Shudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)",
Meshach is probably a variation of Mi-sha-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is either "Servant
of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal, "servant of the god Nergal."
Daniel's absence from the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suggests that it may originally have been an
independent story; the word "Dura" (where the statue is erected) means simply "plain" or "fortress" and is not
any specific place; the Greek historian Herodotus mentions a golden image of the god Bel in Babylon, but the
gigantic size of this statue might suggest that its origins lie in folklore.[14] Note however that the size of the
statue corresponds to the size of the Temple (Ezra 6:3)[15] and the plain Dura is the opposite of mount Sion.
King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image in the plain of Dura (a word meaning simply "plain") and commanded that
all his officials bow down before it. All who failed to do so would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Certain officials
informed the king that the three Jewish youths Hanania, Mishael, and Azaria, who bore the Babylonian names Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and whom the king had appointed to high office in Babylon, were refusing to worship the
golden statue. The three were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, where they informed the king that their God would be with
them. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal, but
when the king looked he saw four figures, and not three, walking unharmed in the flames. Seeing this, Nebuchadnezzar
brought the youths out of the flames and promoted them to high office, decreeing that anyone who spoke against their
God should be torn limb from limb.[5]
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime.
Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.
When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
1 Peter 1:6-7 MSG
http://bible.com/97/1pe.1.6-7.MSG