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welcome to angels in the Glen the events of Daniel chapter 3
are about to reread on a global scale that is to say this the elements that we're gonna see in this story of Daniel chapter 3 are going to unfold on a global scale to every people nation tribe and tongue okay it's not gonna be a movie it's not gonna be an article written about it that you just read about in the newspapers or you read about in a blog and then you go about your daily business it will be a reality for everyone and see what happens is King Nebuchadnezzar in this story sets up a golden image and he forces everyone in his realm to worship this image to bow down and worship this image and if they don't bow down in worship they'll be full they'll be thrown into a fire furnace and what we want to see is we want to unpack
this story and we want to better understand what's going on with this story because God wants his people to be ready and we're gonna see that these three men Hananiah Mishael and Azariah that's their Hebrew names in the story we'll see them as Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and when we see them in heaven we're not going to call them by their Babylonian God names we're gonna call them by their Hebrew names and and we're gonna see that they give us the pattern of how to be ready God wants his people ready they're not going to conform to the pressures of popular opinion they're not going to conform to the ways of King Nebuchadnezzar and fall down worship a false image they're gonna stay loyal to the
one true God despite despite the penalty of death and that's the pattern that we're gonna learn about and we can be at peace when these events unfold because God wants his people ready and he wants them to stay ready and once we understand the pattern of this we'll be able to go to Revelation 13 and see those same elements unfold and we'll go into more detail when we get to Revelation but I just want to give you a taste of what it's going to be like when we get there so that
you can unpack scriptures and dig deeper so what are we gonna cover right now the title of this lesson is fall down and worship we're gonna see that fall down and worship is the theme and repetition as we go through this particular chapter but before we get into that we need to do a very quick review of chapter 2 because we studied the Bluestone last time and we need to go through chapter 2 because it's right on the heels of chapter 3 and we just want to see that transition and make a key point it's important to understand that transition because the second thing that
we're gonna cover is views of prophecy you see Christians have different views of how to interpret the prophetic material in Daniel and revelation okay we're all trying to understand we're all trying to dig deep we're all trying to basically come closer to Christ and I want to show you the three different views that have emerged over the centuries and and are actually you know happening right now today I want to give a compelling reason for one of them okay and I'll unpack them when we get there and then we're gonna go and take a look at the story of how king nebuchadnezzar sets up a golden image okay with that let's just just jump right in and do daniel chapter 2 a quick review pick it up in verse 28 daniel 2 verse 28 there is a God in heaven this is Daniel speaking there is a God
in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days this was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed now if you've listened to the last lesson on Daniel chapter 2 you know that King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream he was troubled by it he wanted to know what it meant and he brings in his wise men and he says tell me the dream and give me the interpretation and they say we can't do it King you got to tell us the dream first finally Daniel comes in he says I'll tell you the dream give me some time and God gives
Daniel the dream and the interpretation and this was his dream King Nebuchadnezzar sees an image head of gold chest and arms of silver billion to have bronze feet legs of iron feet of iron and clay and a stone strike that image and it grows into a great mountain and when we studied that we saw that the gold represents Babel you Oh King our head of gold you're the kingdom of Babylon followed by another Kingdom inferior medo-persia followed by Greece followed by Rome followed by Europe okay the breakup of the Roman Empire divided your divided Rome or Europe and then we saw the stone strikes the image that's Jesus Christ's second return he destroys all earthly kingdoms and sets of his heavenly kingdom turns into a great
mountain fills the whole earth I want to lay this out on a horizontal timeline so you see this this is important for good moving into the next section in terms of understanding prophecy we saw the gold silver the bronze the iron and we moved through those kingdoms and we see Europe transitions from the barbaric States to modern-day Europe that we see today in the European Union now that being said we move into Daniel chapter 3 and we see king Nebuchadnezzar takes a different stance
okay he would go against a particular prophetic view so let's cover the views of prophecy and I putting this timeline up so you can see this you see the past the present and the future and then a small little - past
the future now there's three views of prophecy and it essentially is this there's preterism which will focus on the past that prophecy has largely been fulfilled in the past there's futurism that prophecy especially endtime prophecy in Revelation is way out in the distant future and then there's another view of prophecy called historicism I want you to see this on the timeline so you can see how they all interact now I put this box on that I put the cross of Christ there in 31 ad and I've tried to scale this as close as possible and preterism would say that that prophecy has been fulfilled in about 600 BC
to the time of Christ and even 70 AD that largely all the prophetic material that you read about in Daniel revelation are largely fulfilled for the most part in the past okay futurism would say way in the distant future and sometimes futurism will take parts of preterism and take little parts of it like the 7/7 week the last week in Daniel 9 and move that off way into the future and say that's when prophecy will be filled the last seven
years only the people who live in that time period will ever know about it you know we just don't know we don't live in that time only the people at the end but let me take a look at this take a look at this because this is Daniel chapter 2 if we overlay Daniel chapter 2 what we just learned so historicism basically encompasses the past present and the future and that's what we're going to teach in this course historicism we take a look at the metalman image and let's just overlay the middle man image on this particular time scale so you see Babylon
medo-persia Greece Rome divided Rome Europe and moving to today now if you take a look at the timeline that Daniel chapter 2 just gave us you'll see that it goes past preterism okay it goes past the cross of Christ and past 70 AD I mean Rome still continued to exist it was not crushed and destroyed at the time of Christ nor was it crushed or destroyed at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in fact Rome would crush and destroy Jerusalem okay and it continues on and so do the king ten kingdoms the ten kingdoms of the toes and we move through prophecy and
see this is the challenge with the interpretation of these prophecies if you look at preterism because preterism points to the past doesn't mean anything us to us today futurism is way in the distant future we are only those that will live at those times of the end very very end can know anything about it that those two views the past and the way in distant future don't really comfort me today okay and that's why I think the Bible teaches a different perspective it teaches
historicism and it says basically it's a continuum it encompasses the past the present and the future because God wants us to learn from the patterns of the past so that we can be comforted in the present and be ready for the future that's how historicism works and when we get to Daniel 7 I'm gonna point to you some specific reasons why the view of preterism and futurism and how they emerged as interpretations of prophecy okay why do we now consider those plausible explanations and I'll unpack
that in Daniel chapter 7 but for now I just wanted to give you a high-level overview of the broad views of how people interpret and I put this here for a reason because the timeline that we talked about in in Daniel chapter 1 in terms of the history of the world since creation I want to overlay the time prophecy of Daniel right here the successive kingdoms you can see that right there on the screen you can see from the Babylonian captivity all the way to 2000 ad you know that we're here in the present just just to the right side of 2000 ad and you see I'm gonna overlay preterism preterism is all in the past
okay futurism would be way in the distant future way beyond that time scale and historicism would say it encompasses all of that okay and what we're gonna cover in this course is that the time prophecies in Daniel the time times half a time that 1200 2300 evenings and morning's the 70 week time prophecy the 1290 to 1335 are all going to fit within that time period but I added one more element there if you can see that on the screen it says the events of Revelation 13 through 19 okay revelation 13 through 19 I believe wholeheartedly believe and you'll be able to examine the Scriptures yourself fit are about to happen just in the very near future okay we're gonna see this unfold in the very near future and you say wow 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 okay all those chapters are
gonna fit in the very near future yes because when these events unfold they're gonna unfold rapidly okay and when Christ returns that stone is going to strike destroy all these successive kingdoms and establish his eternal Kingdom that will never end and never be given to another people that's the three views of prophecy and I would say this Christ nature actually embodies historicism now you might say what what are you talking about what do you mean Christ's nature embodies historicism well just take a look at Revelation one for John to the seven churches that are in Asia grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come now that's reassuring to me because Christ says I am part of the past I am in the present and I am coming in the future okay encompasses all of that fact another verse in revelation 1 verse 8 I am the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come all those three are right there that is what historicism out past present and future because god is not the god of just the past I was ok that's that's good but that doesn't reassure me in the present and it doesn't prepare me for the future and certainly futurism wait boy in the future it's just like well I'm coming well how do I deal with life on a day to day basis in the present ok last verse I want to share with
you is this Revelation 1:19 John is told therefore right that things which you have seen that things which are and the things which will take place after these things you see Revelation works like that past present future that being said let's move on to the story of Daniel chapter 3 before we do that let's say a quick prayer father God be with us as we open up your word be with us right now here in the present by your Holy Spirit in Jesus name Amen pick it up in Daniel chapter 3 verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon now stop right there take a look at this what did we see in in the first verse right there king nebuchadnezzar sets up an image of golde now I'd ask you this he sets of an image of gold what was the image of the
that he he saw in his dream in Daniel chapter 2 yeah he saw something different he saw a head of gold but it had a chest and arms of silver belly and that bronze legs of iron feet of iron and clay you see what Nebuchadnezzar is doing by setting up this images he's basically saying I don't like the prophecy that was told to me by Daniel through his god even though he paid homage to Daniel and said Wow your God is the god of gods surely he's a revealer of mysteries because he revealed that mystery to him but now King Nebuchadnezzar saying yeah I don't want my kingdom to end I don't want it to transition to an inferior Kingdom the kingdom of silver to meto Persia I don't want it to continue to transition to other kingdoms
I want to establish my rule continually forever that's essentially what he's saying by setting up this gold image okay what does he do here he then pick it up in verse two then Nebuchadnezzar the King sent word to assemble the say traps the prefix the governors the counsellors the treasurer's the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the province to come to the dedication of the image that nebuchadnezzar the king had set up can you imagine this he sets up this image and he brings all the important politicians he brings his cabinet he brings the House of Representatives he brings the Senate he brings the Supreme Court he brings the Commerce Department he brings the Treasury Department he brings the governors of all 50 states he brings representatives and senators from the states
anyone is who's who in the political realm he says come on you're gonna come here and we're gonna dedicate this image okay and now what does he do let's pick let's keep going in this verse verse 3 then the say traps the pre frets the governor's the counselors the treasurer's the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the province were assembled for the dedication of the that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up by the way notice the number of times set up is going to occur during this particular chapter 3 we're gonna pick that up when we get to Daniel chapter 8 and beyond because something will be set up keep going and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up there it is again verse 4 then the
herald loudly proclaimed to you the command is given o peoples nations and men of every language that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn the flute the lyre the track and the soldier the bagpipe and all kinds of music you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up pretty simple when the music plays fall down and worship the image the King has set up but keep going look what happens if they don't verse 6 but whoever does not fall down in worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire I find it interesting that they use the word immediately there's no there's there's no time delay here you don't fall down and worship you're going right into the fiery furnace a furnace of blazing fire verse 7 therefore at that time when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn flute lyre Trigon psaltery bagpipe and all kinds of music all the peoples nations and men of every language fell down and
worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up there it is again I would say watch the number of times the terminology fall down and worship the golden image occurs in this chapter if you have your Bible just mark it lightly with a pencil or highlighted or something it's a significant point let's keep moving along verses 8 for this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews they responded and said that Nebuchadnezzar the King Oh King live forever you O king have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn flute lyre Trigon psaltery bagpipe all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image but whoever does not fall
down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire now there are certain Jews who you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon namely Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he's they're referring to as their Babylonian names these men O king have disregarded you they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up stories getting interesting here let's keep going let's keep moving through verse 13 then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach Meshach and
Abednego then these men were brought before the King Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up now if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn the flute the lyre the tribe and the soldier and bagpipe and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made very well but if you do not worship you will immediately be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire and what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands now I think you've got the picture Nebuchadnezzar sets up this image everyone's to fall down and worship when they hear the music okay apparently these these Chaldeans come and they're like hey we've got accusations the Jews aren't doing this namely hand Anna Shadrach Meshach
and Abednego Hananiah Mishael Ezra they're not falling down they're disregarding you King King says hmm let's find out about this because I have placed them in a in a position of authority because I found them to be 10 times smarter than all the others in my realm let's talk to them let's see what's going on here let me let me check this out myself this is odd and so what does he do he says if you do if you do bow down well great if you don't you're gonna be thrown into the fiery furnace curious to see how Nebuchadnezzar
Shadrach Meshach and Abednego we respond pick it up in the next verse Shadrach Meshach and Abednego replied to the king o Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and he will deliver us out of your hand O king but even if he does not let it be known to you O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up what a remarkable simple categorical statement these three young men conveyed
to King Nebuchadnezzar a very simple answer King you know what we we don't really have a very complex answer for you you asked who can deliver us out of your hands yea our God can deliver us our God can deliver us but you know even if he doesn't deliver us should he somehow decide not to we're not going to bow down and worship the image which you have set up we're not going to worship your gods you see Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are demonstrating that they are more loyal to God than even the persuasion and penalty and coercion of death you have to think about this Shadrach Meshach Abednego what do they value in life what do they value based upon the statements that they're making here one they don't value their lives they don't mind being thrown into the furnace what are they saying they're saying we find value in worshiping the one true God now implicitly implied what we know is if
they were to bow down what Commandments would they be breaking that's right they'd be breaking Commandments one and two you shall not worship any other God and you shall not bow down to any image okay so they're like no we're gonna be loyal to the law of God we're not going to do that we only worship the one true God we're not going to do this and so let's see what King Nebuchadnezzar says verse 19 then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with a wrath and I should say this before we get into this verse can you imagine the scene and the pressure that they must have experienced as they're interacting with the king I mean the say traps the prefix the governors the magistrates the treasurer's everybody's around there watching this
scene unfold and they're like uh-oh uh-oh this isn't good for those guys this is terrible and despite the attention they are a witness to the one true God despite the penalty of death and despite the peer pressure to conform I mean we all face peer pressure every day how often do what might we cave how often might we compromise because we just want to smooth things over we want we don't want people to think ill of us or we don't want to we don't want to bring attention to ourselves so we might compromise slightly here because who would have known who would have known
that you know well they bow down and worship but in their hearts they probably didn't feel it or mean it but no they're not even they're not even saying that no we're not going to demonstrate that we're gonna demonstrate fidelity and loyalty to the one true God verse 19 then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach Meshach Abednego he answered by giving orders to heat this furnace seven times more than it was usually heated he commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in order to cast them in the furnace of blazing fire then these men were tied up in their
trousers their coats their caps and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire verse 22 for this reason because the Kings command was urgent and the furnace has been made extremely hot the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego but these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up now I don't know about you but have you ever been to a very large bonfire I remember years ago I was at a bonfire and there was it was there it was probably at least 15 feet high I mean they were throwing crates furniture everything onto it I couldn't believe how much fuel they had for that fire and there was a certain distance that I could only get close to it and it was like and I remember it was cold it was wintertime and you had to stand at a certain distance but as soon as you because it was so blazing hot I want to say I had I had to be at least 2530 feet away because it was just so hot and I remember if you took one step closer it was just searing you and you had to like stay back there was only one certain band of area that we were all trying to be around and I can't even imagine I can't even imagine if someone were to throw someone on top of that bonfire I mean that would just instantly kill them consumed them was that hot I can't imagine what it must have been in ancient Babylonian times okay here we see it was a real fire because the men that actually threw them into the fire are slain immediately but they're thrown in let's keep going along let's see what happens in this story verse 24 then Nebuchadnezzar the King was astounded and stood up in haste he said to his officials was it not three men that we cast bound into the midst of the fire they replied to the king certainly okay he said look I see four men loose and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods you know I believe that God is with us God is with us just like he was with Shadrach Hananiah Mishael and Azariah okay I believe this is Jesus Christ they're right with them in the fire and their faith in God is a testament to what they knew and studied about God when they were in Jerusalem because I believe they were students of the Bible I believe they were students of the Old Testament that's all they had at the time because in Jeremiah 42 11 I believe they knew this verse in Jeremiah 42 11 it says do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you are now fearing do not be afraid of him declares the Lord for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand I believe they knew this scripture understood this scripture assimilated this scripture so much so that they were able to say King hey this is a really easy answer yeah we're not gonna bow down and serve you our God is able to deliver us but even if he doesn't we're still not gonna bow down and worship and so too we need to be reminded today God is with us no matter what difficult trial fiery furnace we may face in Hebrews 13 it says this verse 5 makes sure that your character is free from the love of money being content with what you have for he himself has said I will never desert you nor while I ever forsake you look at verse 6 so that we can say more specifically so that we can confidently say the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid what will man do to me that's the scripture that I want embedded in my heart that's the scripture that I want to be rooted and grounded in I want to establish my life on the rock of Christ on the rock of his word on the rock of these scriptures verse 7 remember those who led you who spoke the Word of God to you and considering the result of their conduct imitate their faith be just like them have that same faith Jesus Christ is the same to date today and forever there again you see the principle of historicism right there Jesus Christ is the same today yesterday and forever past present future last scripture I want to point out when Jesus leaves his disciples is about to ascend to his father Jesus came to spoke spoke to them saying in verse Matthew 28 verse 18 to 20 all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age now that's reassuring that God is with us no matter what that's a promise that you can tuck away no matter how difficult life may be no matter how crushing life may be no matter what financial are difficult to human could be going through that god is with you let's keep going let's pick it back up in Daniel 3 verse 27 the say traps that prefix the governors in fact I don't have this scripture up on the on the screen but pick it up in verse 26 then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire he responded and said Shadrach Meshach and Abednego come out you servants of the Most High God and
come here then Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire and in verse 27 we see this they come out of the midst of the fire thus a traps the prefix the governors and the Kings high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their heads singed nor wear their trousers damaged nor had the smell of fire even come upon them not even the smell of fire had come upon them no I have friends that I regularly talk with and engage with witness - they smoke even some of my relatives smoke and I they know I don't smoke and it's okay but I ate it but you know what happens when I leave the room or leave the house or whatever I do what am i smelling of course they smell like smoke I'm just in with someone smoking a cigarette can you imagine someone being thrown it into a burning blazing fire walking
about and then King Nebuchadnezzar's come out they come out not even at the smell of smoke is on them this was a miracle this was God's intervention directly and I want to say this the biggest takeaway that I can say about this story and we'll unpack it a little bit more is this Shadrach Meshach and Abednego the despite the threat of death are a witness to the one true God because not only is King Nebuchadnezzar witnessing this but everyone in the government the prefix the se traps everyone that magistrates are all
witnessing this in real time and they're witnessing the manifestation of the fact that they were in no way harmed by the fire even though the men that threw them into the fire were slain by it so it was a real fire and so what we learned from this is when we stay faithful and loyal to God we spread the gospel we witness to the one true God I mean how else could have denied shatter Hananiah Mishael and Azariah how else could they have pointed in a greater capacity and spread the word and made it go viral on social media how could they have spread this had they not been faithful I mean here the entire the king and the kingdom understand
something a miracle happened something real happened because of their faithfulness you see they are in a sense authentic Christians despite the threat of death because I believe there's greater significance and meaning when we are 100% dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ than if we just have one foot in the world and one foot in church or one foot in the world and one foot studying the Bible or one foot in the world and one foot trying to do good okay we need to be wholly dedicated just like Hananiah Mishael and Azariah because there's coming a point in time when the loyalty to our truth to the one true God will be tested for all mankind we're gonna unpack that when we get to the end of this lesson the question is what do you value what are the things that you value you know do we value our walk with the Lord if
we value our walk with the Lord then we must value the Bible we must spend time in the Bible you know I looked at a study once of and this was this is dated back in the 90s but how much time people were spending watching TV especially youth teenagers and they were spending about 20 hours of TV every week 20 hours now their number one activity was sleep they slept about 58 hours a week if I recall the study properly after that their next biggest activity was school at 32 hours a week and the third activity that they spent their time on was was television at 20 hours a week and I was just curious I remember I was speaking before a group of yous at the time and I read them the entire chapter of Daniel chapter 3 to them out loud and I knew I would have a tough crowd that they would allow me to read the entire chapter because they were like they really need to do keep their attention and everything and so I read them and I asked them afterwards I said I said how long did it take me to read Daniel chapter 3 because I made my points and everything and they had a few guesses and everything and I think
I remember I said it took me exactly five minutes the pace that I was reading I said it took me five minutes and I said do you know how long it would take you to read the entire New Testament at the same pace that I was reading Daniel chapter 3 there's a few guesses I said you know it would take me about 17 hours and I said to them you know if you want to have the faith of Hananiah Mishael and Azariah if you want a closer relationship with God then you've got to value this Bible you've got to value the Word of God and I said right now you're spending 20 hours a week watching TV I'm not saying that's bad or good or indifferent I'm just saying that's what you value I said however
you could if you wanted to I'm not recommending it I'm not necessarily saying you should do this but you could read the entire New Testament in 17 hours during that one week and you'd still have three hours per TV their eyes started to get big I said now I'm not saying you should spend the entire week reading the New Testament but you could do it you could read it out loud if you spent two two-and-a-half hours a day reading the New Testament now I'm not asking anyone to spend that kind of time but how much time I ask you what do you value in your life what do you value yes we have families we have children we didn't take of we have relatives we have responsibilities that work on everything but after all that you know are we carving out time to read God's Word because this is where our faith comes from faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God whether we read it whether
we hear someone talk about it or that we study it whatever but this is so important to our walk God wants his people to be faithful rocks spreading the gospel letting his light shine through them it's not in our own power it's not in our own wisdom it's not in our own abilities even though God has given us talents and abilities but it's about bringing light and attention to Christ Jesus to his word and salvation to all men and women and children and every people nation tribe and tongue and people okay let's pick it up in Daniel chapter three again verse 28 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any God except their own God therefore I make a decree that any people nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be torn limb
from limb and their house is reduced to a rubbish heap in as much as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way then the King caused Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon now I want to ask you this what's interesting about this story is they stay loyal to the God of heaven they refused despite they refused to bow down and worship the image but they are actually drawn closer to Christ Himself to God himself by being thrown into the fire and here's what I want you to understand God doesn't do God did not deliver them from the fire he delivered them in the fire that's a big difference God did not deliver them from the fire he delivered them in the fire and how often do we want to say Lord take away this trial for me take away remove it from me I don't even want to deal with it I'll admit I pray those prayers Lord I don't I don't want to deal with this situation I don't want to take this away from you
remove it from me it's too much for me Lord and God says no you want to be drawn closer to me I'm gonna put you in the fire I'm gonna put you in the fire but I'm gonna deliver you in the fire and that which you has been binding you that's been binding you and holding you back those bounds are gonna be loosed fall away and you know what you're gonna walk around with me in the fire and it's not gonna harm you and you're gonna be drawn into a much closer relationship with me in the fire you know we talked about hey who wants to be drawn closer to Christ and closer to God I bet many of us would raise our hands both our hands probably I are we willing to go through the fire God wants us to come to fire he's in the fire he's in the fire
and so I just want to encourage you if you're going through the fire allow God to work allow God to bring you and draw you closer to him because there's nothing greater than that and as we go through the fire we become a witness to the world because of our loyalty to God and because of our faith in Christ Jesus and because we value the things that are in this Bible we value Christ we value His Word we value his ways and so what we want to do next time in this next lesson is we want to take a closer look at fire
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at fire in the Bible and how God's presence is referred to as a burning fire okay we're going to unpack scriptures that point us more about God's presence and the fight and in his presence in terms of a burning fire but we also want to take a closer look at the nature of fire okay because we're gonna see I want to bring out some very specific scripture verses about fire and how that it's good to be in the fire it's good to be near the fire and we're also gonna take the lessons that we've learned in this particular story
and we're gonna apply it to endtime revelations and we're gonna see all the elements that unfolded here we saw setup we saw a fall down in worship we saw there would be a whole bunch of other elements we're gonna review in next time so there are links below to study guide you can print them out you can review them you can help them they'll be helpful in your studies you can write on them you can choose them to share you can use them to teach or you can just use them for your own personal study
let's close in prayer father god I just pray that everyone who's going through a fiery trial would just allow it to happen and that you would be that with them in the midst of the fire and then anything that is binding them or constricting their their spiritual walk with you that they would fall away and they would walk in the fire closer to you in Jesus name Amen
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