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Tuesday, August 10 2010
The English word "furnace" originated from a Latin word, fornax, which meant an oven. "Furnace" is used to translate a number of different Hebrew and Greek words in the Holy Scriptures, but one of them, the Hebrew word pronounced aw-toon, meaning a place of fire, is found only in the book of Daniel (see The Prophets: Daniel). It referred to the Babylonian "furnace" that was used to cremate bodies (the Babylonians and other nations of Mesopotamia generally disposed of the dead by cremation; see Ancient Empires - Babylon). It was that crematorium that was the subject of Nebuchadnezzar's threat to burn alive anyone who refused to worship the idol that he created.
"3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 3:2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3:3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.3:4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 3:5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 3:6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." (Daniel 3:1-6 KJV)
"Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands"
Along with the prophet Daniel (see also The Royal Eunuchs), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were obedient to the true God. When they refused to worship the foolish king's idol, Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be cremated alive, with the arrogant boast "who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"
3:8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. 3:9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image: 3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 3:17 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. 3:18 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.
3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar 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. 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 3:21 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. 3:22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." (Daniel 3:8-23 KJV)
Nebuchadnezzar's question was soon answered. The LORD delivered His faithful ones out of the idolater's fire.
"3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 3:27 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.
3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort [see also Nebuchadnezzar's Dream].
3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon." (Daniel 3:24-30 KJV)
Fact Finder: What would have happened if righteous Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been cremated? Would that have affected their salvation?
See Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust
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This Day In History, August 10
410: Alaric the Visigoth captured Rome.
757: Aethelbald, king of the Mercians from 716, died. He became a chief king of a confederation including all of the Anglo-Saxon (Saxony is in Germany; the Anglos were a tribe of the Saxons) kingdoms between the Humber River and the English Channel. By 736, he was signing himself as the "king of Britain."
955: King Otto I of Germany defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld, ending a possible invasion.
1519: Magellan's 5 ships set sail to circumnavigate the Earth.
1557: The French army lost more than 14,000 men when they tried to block a Spanish army under Count Egmont at the Battle of Saint Quentin in the Spanish-French Wars. The Spaniards lost just 50.
1582: Russia ended its 25-year war with Poland.
1627: France's Cardinal Richelieu began the siege of the Huguenot fortress at La Rochelle with royal troops.
1675: The foundation stone of the Royal Observatory was laid at Greenwich in south London by order of King Charles II to improve knowledge of the positions of stars and thus aid navigation. John Flamsteed became the first Astronomer Royal.
1792: King Louis XVI of France was arrested after a mob stormed the Tuileries in Paris.
1804: Francis II became emperor of Austria-Hungary.
1846: The Smithsonian Institution was established in Washington as a center for scientific research. It was created from funds left at the bequest of British scientist James Smithson.
1876: Alexander Graham Bell made the world's first "long distance" telephone call, from Brantford to Paris, Ontario, Canada, a distance of 8 miles. Bell spoke with his father, Melville, and the conversation lasted 3 hours (coincidentally, Daily Bible Study is written about 10 miles from the Bell Homestead in Brantford, which is now a museum).
1911: The House of Lords in Great Britain gives up its veto power, making the House of Commons the more powerful House.
1913: The Treaty of Bucharest ended the Second Balkan War.
1920: The Treaty of Sevres was signed between Turkey and the Allied powers after the First World War, relieving Turkey of much of the land ruled by the Ottoman Empire (listen to our sermons The Ottoman Empire and The European World Wars).
1954: A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York, officially starting the St. Lawrence Seaway project. Construction of the 3,790 km. waterway took 5 years and opened Canadian and U.S. ports on the Great Lakes to ocean traffic.
1964: Pope Paul VI issued his first encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam, which stated his willingness to "mediate" in international disputes.
1966: A daylight meteor was seen from the northern U.S. to Canada. It was the only documented case of a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere and leaving it again.
