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able to deliver
Daniel 3:26-30 (JDV)
Daniel 3:26 Nebuchadnezzar then stepped up to the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Highest God – come out!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
Daniel 3:27 When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his agent and rescued his servants who trusted in him. They changed the king’s word and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Daniel 3:29 Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
Daniel 3:30 Then the king rewarded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
able to deliver
For three stories in a row, a pattern is developing. God’s people are put in danger because of their commitment to him, and he rescues them out of that danger. One moral that can be deduced from this pattern is that times of testing will come to us. But it is important to realize that we are not really the ones who are being tested. The conclusion of the matter, as Nebuchadnezzar found, is “there is no other god who is able to deliver.” Babylon was filled with deported peoples from numerous “peoples, nations and languages.” They had served many gods. Yet only the LORD proved faithful to his people.
LORD, when the fiery furnace comes, we will trust in you. Only you are able to deliver.