What your enemies plan for evil

 

The beautiful story of how God rescued three Jewish men out of a fiery furnace, is found in Daniel 3.  The very specific way in which God orchestrated this miracle always amazes me.

These three friends of Daniel were called Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and they refused to bow down to a statue of King Nebuchadnezzar to worship him, and consequently were thrown into a fiery furnace as the King’s decree demanded. 

But here’s the thing.  The whole incident up to here was planned by their enemies.  We read in verse 8 that they reported the men’s non-compliance to the King with malicious intent, telling Nebuchadnezzar that these Jews paid no attention to him.  This resulted in Nebuchadnezzar reacting with rage and fury, and hearing that the men still refused to worship his statue from their own lips, he commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.  It was so hot that the men who threw the three friends into the fire were themselves killed by the flame and sparks from the fire. 

The Bible tells us very specifically that the men were wrapped in all their clothes round about and then bound up, this was of course so that the moment they entered the fire, they would become human torches. 

But God!  He appeared in the fire with them; He let the cords that bound them be burned off so that they could walk in the fire with Him; and when the King called them out, nothing about them were in the least burnt or singed, or even smelled of the fire.  A spectacular turn-around of events!  I am sure that their enemies were absolutely astounded – they had seen their carefully hatched-out plans work perfectly up to now, I mean the King had been informed of their transgression of his decree; he had sentenced them to certain death in the fire; they had watched them being thrown in said fire!

And the worst outcome of all as far as the enemies of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were concerned, was that the King then promoted them!  We read about this in verse 30. 

So my friend, are you in a fiery furnace because you refused to compromise your faith and enemies then stood up against you?  Rest assured, exactly what they planned for your evil, God will use and turn it around for your good!

Priscilla Koegelenberg

 

9 January 2022

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