Chapter 30
Good Monday Morning to this week 30 of 2022
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
Il sera avec moi dans le feu
Là à mes côtés
Il sera présent dans la tempête
Recently I heard the version of this popular song translated to French and it reminded me of the story. Australian songwriters Chris Davenport and Joel Houston were both also going through difficult circumstances when they decided to write a song about a lack of resolution in their life and how, sometimes, our expectations and prayers don’t seem to lead to divine intervention. Also, as Joel asserted in a recent YouTube interview: “Confession precedes belief”. Sometimes we need to speak out spiritual truth even before we can fully apply it to the circumstances of our lives.
The inspiration for ‘Another in the fire’ came from a phrase you’ll find in one of the Old Testament’s most renowned miracles. Daniel 3 recounts how three devout followers of Jehovah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were commanded by a deranged king Nebuchadnezzar to bow down and worship an image of gold or be hurled into a fiery furnace. The three men refused, asserting that God “is able to deliver us from it” but then, with remarkable courage, added: “But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (v18). In a rage, Nebuchadnezzar stoked the furnace seven times hotter than usual, and had soldiers bind the men and throw them in. The flames were so fierce that the soldiers were incinerated instantly. But when Nebuchadnezzar looked, he saw four, not three, people walking around in the flames, totally unscathed. The Bible describes the fourth man as looking “like a son of the gods” and is widely accepted to refer to the pre-incarnate Christ. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stepped out of the fire without even “the smell of fire on them” , and Nebuchadnezzar fell to the floor, in awe of the living God.
They were loose, whereas they had been cast in “bound.” They were walking in midst of fire “in the midst of trouble” They walked up and down in the fire, not leaving it, but waiting for God’s time to bring them out. He angel of the Lord came down into the furnace; and Nebuchadnezzar here says , God sent his angel and delivered them; and it was an angel that shut the lions’ mouths when Daniel was in the den. Nebuchadnezzar calls them out of the furnace: He comes near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and bids them come forth and come hither. Come forth, come (so some read it); he speaks with a great deal of tenderness and concern, and stands ready to lend them his hand and help them out. He is convinced by their miraculous preservation that he did evil in casting them into the furnace.
The other in fire walked with them, then justice prevailed and they were called out by the one that caused the injustice!
Another in the fire!
Wishing you a good start to this week!
Philemon