The Three Hebrew Boys (Part V)

Dan 3:25 NIV) He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

Today we continuing with the story of the Three Hebrew Boys. In the last message we left off the story with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Yes, even though they honored God with their righteous efforts in an unrighteous land, even though they took their stand of faith and refused to worship an idol, even though they spoke the language of faith when confronted by the king Nebuchadnezzar's threat, and even though they remained in faith when the king turned up the heat, at the end of the day they were still thrown in the fire. No, God did not deliver them FROM the fire, but He did deliver them IN it.

When king Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, fully expecting to see the boys dead and consumed by the fire, he was surprised to see them alive. Not only that, but they were no longer bound and were freely walking around in the fire; and they had company. There was a fourth man in the fire with them. The translation I chose says that the fourth man looked like "A son of the gods."

The traditional King James Versions says, "The fourth is like the Son of God." The King James Version is one of just a few translations that liken he fourth man to the Son of God. Because of this "Son of God" reference, many have claimed that the fourth man in the fire was Jesus Himself. However, there is no evidence that would lead us to believe that king Nebuchadnezzar knew anything about Jesus or his physical appearance. Furthermore, three verses later the king made it clear who he thought it was, he said: "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." It is obvious that king Nebuchadnezzar believed the fourth man in the fire was an angel and not Jesus, but this does not diminish the miracle in any way. The bottom line is that the angel was there because God Himself sent him to intervene on behalf of His servants who were in trouble. The angel ensured that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were unbound and unharmed in the midst of the fire. The fire was raging, but it did not harm them. And it is interesting to me that they did not immediately come out of the fire. They walked around in it (unbound and unharmed), as if to say, "You hit us with your best shot and we are still here... by the grace of God!"

So what does this mean to you ? Let's seek to glean a few golden nuggets:

1. Being a child of God does not automatically exonerate you from storms (or fires in this case).

2. Even if you are facing a storm, God can make a way when there seems to be no way!

3. It's not over until God says it's over. God can send an angel, or even show up Himself, and turn any hopeless situation around.

4. God can bless you so mightily, right in the middle of the storm, that you actually enjoy yourself while the storm is raging all around you. You can be so at peace that you are not even in a hurry to get out of the situation.

5. If the enemy knew any better he would leave you alone. The more he messes with you, the greater your testimony and the more God gets the glory from your life.

Father, I thank You for showing up and showing-out in my life. Time and time again You have been there for me when I needed You the most. You have been the fourth man in my fire and I sincerely thank You for it and I will never cease to praise Your name. You have done so much for me that I am behind in my worship. And I thank You for continually wanting to do more in, with, through, and for me. I call upon You in the day of trouble and You answer me, deliver me, and manifest Your glory in my life. No matter what the enemy brings my way, there is nothing He can do that You cannot undo or bless me even while I am enduring it. I am fully persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able me from Your love, which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord! I declare this in Jesus' name. Amen