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THE FIERY FURNACE: Which Version?
by Judith A. Brumbaugh ©2002,RFI |
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Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Jerusalem in 597 B.C. and took the Jews (all but the poorest people) into captivity. (II Kings 24: 10-16) It was the practice of the Babylonians (Chaldeans) to pick out the best and brightest from those conquered to prepare them for leadership: "... whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." (Daniel 1:4) Among those captured were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These were godly young men who refused to compromise their beliefs. They refused to defile themselves with the portion of the king's meat, nor to drink the wine. They insisted on "... pulse to eat and water to drink" for a period of ten days. (Daniel 1:12) At the end of the ten days, their "countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat." (Verse 15) The chief eunuch gave them each a Babylonian name: Daniel, Belteshazzar; Hananiah, Shadrach;
Mishael, Meshach; Azariah, Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and required everyone to fall down and worship this image. "And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." (Verse 6)
| "Our God ... is able to deliver us ..." |
Even though Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been given high-ranking positions in the kingdom, they refused to bow down to any pagan idols. The king was furious at their disobedience and commanded that they be brought before him. He asked them if it were true that they refused to "...serve my [Nebuchadnezzar's] gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" (Daniel 3:14) He gave them a chance to change their minds, but they refused. They replied: "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. 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. Then was Nebuchad-nezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated." (Daniel 3:17-19) "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." (Verse 21) The fire was so hot that the flame killed the men that cast Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace.
However, miraculous things happened. As they looked into the furnace, not only were the men walking around in the midst of the fire, unharmed, but the king saw a fourth man. He described this "man" as: "... the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25) The king then told the three to come out of the fire, which they did. "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." (Verse 27)
FIERY TRIALS DO COME
Are you or someone you know going through a "fiery trial"? What is your attitude? Do you have faith that God will be with you through whatever the storm may be? "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." (Isaiah 43:2) Remember, that God sees everything. He knows your hurts. It is in the midst of our worst trials that he can purify us and make us vessels of honor that He can use for His glory. But we must be willing to be purged; to be used for His service: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the LORD out of a pure heart." (II Timothy 2:21, 22)
A favorite verse that I have learned through adversity is Psalm 119:71: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes." You may feel that you can't, at the present time, "buy into that verse," but you will one day, if you don't grow weary and faint (give up doing things God's way.) (Galatians 6:9)
On the back cover of the publication, CPR for Wounded Hearts, I share a brief synopsis of how I, at one time, begged God to take my life because the pain (in the fiery furnace of life's circumstances) seemed too much for me to bear, but He delivered me: "Judith A. Brumbaugh asked, 'Why?' for many years while living through the ravages of a separation from her husband, children and home. She now understands "why" as she probably would not have experienced the close walk with the LORD, nor have taken a bold stand for biblical standards; neither would she have been a witness for the provisions which come from the LORD had she not experienced this walk.
"She has seen the hand of God send the 'raven' to provide on many occasions, including a crate of corn and $70 when she needed food to eat and gas for her car. By a series of supernatural events, she was miraculously delivered from a burning inferno when her car caught fire. She also had the rare experience of writing legal briefs and having two cases docketed before the United States Supreme Court without an earthly attorney.
GOD GIVES BEAUTY FOR ASHES
"During her walk through the valley of death, she became depressed, despondent and didn't want to live. Instead of turning to pills and secular advice, she chose to rely upon biblical principles. Her life was transformed from broken pieces into a vessel that now ministers to others who are hurting; a vessel that can say, 'It doesn't matter what your circumstances are, God can work a beautiful miracle if you stand on Biblical Principles.'"
You are the only one who can determine for you whether you're going to go through the storms of life with Nebuchadnezzar's gods or with the One (God) who has "... created all things ... " (Revelation 4:11) That will require much prayer, fasting and diligent studying of God's Word. We can choose sin or righteousness. We can become angry and bitter with life, or we can let God give us: "... beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ..." (Isaiah 61:3)
Now, this brings us back to the title of this article: The Fiery Furnace: Which Version? It is in the King James Bible that you will find recorded your source of power to stand in the midst of life's trials. Here it is revealed that what carried Shad-rach, Meshach and Abednego THROUGH this storm was the LORD: "... the fourth is like the Son of God." Many look to other gods to take them through the trials of life which are often temporary fixes and really no "fix" at all. Likewise, most "new versions' authors" falsely tell their readers that it was a false god that was in the fiery furnace: "the fourth is like a son of the gods" (represented by the idolatrous winged calf above). These three men, who were willing to die for Truth, could only be saved out of the the fiery furnace by the true and living God, not a pagan god (Baal)! "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ..." (Exodus 20:3,4)
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