“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.” Daniel 3: 25
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| Fervor Cross. |
Once upon a time there lived in the far away land of Babylon a great king. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. What a terrible name for a man and it must have been more terrible for a boy. He was a great, strong king, and he loved his own way. One day he set up in Babylon a great image or idol of gold, and ordered every one to worship it. Great plans were made. It was arranged that at a certain time when the people heard the sound of “the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer” that everybody should fall down and worship the great idol of gold. If any should refuse to worship he would be cast into a burning, fiery furnace.
When the music sounded all the people fell upon their faces. Did I say all the people? I was wrong. There were three young men who refused to bow before the idol. They were Hebrew young men with names as strange as the name of Nebuchadnezzar: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They worshipped the living and true God, and Him only, and they refused to worship anything made of gold. So they were taken and bound and cast into the furnace of fire. The soldiers thought they would immediately perish, but when they looked again into the furnace they saw them walking unharmed in the midst of the fire, and the strangest of all strange things they saw. They saw not three men but four. They came running to the king. The king himself went to the furnace and looking in 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.” God Himself had entered into the fiery furnace and kept His loyal servants safe from harm.
That is an old, old story. But I can tell you a new, new story just like it. It happened not very long ago. A man with another strange name—his name was Shackleton—set out in a great strong ship called the “Endurance” to find his way to the South Pole. His ship was crushed to splinters in the ice and he and his companions nearly lost their lives. Leaving the wrecked ship they made their way across ice and snow and sea to South Georgia Island, and there Shackleton and two of his companions, Worsley and Crean, made their way across the Island, a perilous march of thirty-six hours, over ice mountains, down dangerous chasms, and once they let themselves over a thirty-foot waterfall by a rope and finally came to the whaling station. For a year and a half they had been in the lonely ice world and the first to meet these three strange looking men were two little boys belonging to the station, who fled from them in terror.
When they had been warmed and washed and clothed, after their long and lonely journey, Sir Ernest Shackleton said to his companions, “It seemed to me often that we were four, not three.” His companion Worsley said later, “Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.” And Crean confessed that he, too, had felt the presence of the great unseen Companion.
So you see whether it is in the fire, or in the ice fields, God cares for those who trust Him, and always with us is our unseen Comrade, who says:
When the music sounded all the people fell upon their faces. Did I say all the people? I was wrong. There were three young men who refused to bow before the idol. They were Hebrew young men with names as strange as the name of Nebuchadnezzar: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They worshipped the living and true God, and Him only, and they refused to worship anything made of gold. So they were taken and bound and cast into the furnace of fire. The soldiers thought they would immediately perish, but when they looked again into the furnace they saw them walking unharmed in the midst of the fire, and the strangest of all strange things they saw. They saw not three men but four. They came running to the king. The king himself went to the furnace and looking in 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.” God Himself had entered into the fiery furnace and kept His loyal servants safe from harm.
That is an old, old story. But I can tell you a new, new story just like it. It happened not very long ago. A man with another strange name—his name was Shackleton—set out in a great strong ship called the “Endurance” to find his way to the South Pole. His ship was crushed to splinters in the ice and he and his companions nearly lost their lives. Leaving the wrecked ship they made their way across ice and snow and sea to South Georgia Island, and there Shackleton and two of his companions, Worsley and Crean, made their way across the Island, a perilous march of thirty-six hours, over ice mountains, down dangerous chasms, and once they let themselves over a thirty-foot waterfall by a rope and finally came to the whaling station. For a year and a half they had been in the lonely ice world and the first to meet these three strange looking men were two little boys belonging to the station, who fled from them in terror.
When they had been warmed and washed and clothed, after their long and lonely journey, Sir Ernest Shackleton said to his companions, “It seemed to me often that we were four, not three.” His companion Worsley said later, “Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.” And Crean confessed that he, too, had felt the presence of the great unseen Companion.
So you see whether it is in the fire, or in the ice fields, God cares for those who trust Him, and always with us is our unseen Comrade, who says:
“Fear not
For I have redeemed thee;
I have called thee by thy name,
Thou art mine.
When thou passest
Through the waters
I will be with thee:
And through the rivers
They shall not overflow thee;
When thou walkest through the fire,
Thou shalt not be burned;
Neither shall the flame
Kindle upon thee,
For I am Jehovah thy God
The Holy One of Israel;
Thy Savior.”
