HDWN? It’s getting hot in here…

Y’all, what’s up!!! You’ve survived another Monday! You’re on fire! Much like some other people might be later in this post…. (ooo foreshadowing).

So, let’s do a little housekeeping before we get into this week’s post! So….. THE PODCAST TRAILER DROPPED!!!!!!! Wow! GLORY TO GOD!!! I am beyond excited for this new adventure! I plan to drop podcasts weekly like the blog… that being said, they will probably alternate in subject matter to keep things fresh! For instance, if the podcast talks about a Bible story, the blog might talk about walking out your faith and vice versa. I just wanted to put this out there, in case you feel a slight shift!

If you haven’t listened to the trailer yet, you can find it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It’s only 60 seconds - it will literally only take a minute!

Now for this week’s post… we’re continuing our study session (or spilling tea, whatever you prefer) of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! This week is a fiery read!

Remember that dream old King Chad had about that giant statue? Well, let’s just say he felt inspired… This dude built a giant 90ft tall and 9 ft wide golden statue of himself. He set it on the plane of Dura in Babylon. He has to be seen in all his glory, right? King Chad gathers all the government officials he can think of - advisors, governors, treasurers, magistrates, rulers of provinces, you name it! They all stood before the statue of King Chad and assembled for the dedication of King Chad (Gold Edition) (Daniel 3:1-3).

A loud-mouthed herald (I’m not saying that to be mean; they’re entire job is to be loud) proclaimed, “Yo! Errbody in the club gonna bow down! Every tongue and every nation: let’s play a game. I’m Simon. Simon says when you hear the sound of (listen carefully to this long list) a horn, a flute, a zither, a lyre, a harp, a drum… you know what? When you hear any music at all, you need to fall face down and worship Giant Gold King Chad (hither known in this post as Goldie Chad Jr.). Whoever doesn’t do what Simon says will be cast into a fiery furnace to melt to death. Thanks for playing!” (Daniel 3:4-6)

Take a wild guess at what everybody and their mama did… yeah, they fell down and worshiped Goldie Chad Jr. every single time they heard music (Daniel 3:7). Ugh could you imagine? What if it was a bop you really wanted to boogie to? Nope, you gotta fall on your face and worship a big statue. Mood killer.

Here’s where things start getting hot…

Some Chaldeans (those troublemakers) took this opportunity to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews. They yapped to King Chad like a bunch of chihuahuas, “You’ve said everyone must bow when they hear insert long list of instruments here, right? And you’ve said that anyone who doesn’t has to be thrown in a fire, right? Well, there are these Jews that you appointed to daggum manage a province of Babylon. You remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Well, time to make good on your word, King Chad. they’re ignoring you. They're not worshiping your gods or your statues, pal” (Daniel 3:8-12).

King Chad absolutely flips his lid. He ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him, and so they were (king’s order, you know?). King Chad angrily interrogated them, “Uh, y’all… what the heck are ya doing? Is this true? That you don’t serve my gods or worship my statue? You realize it’s made to look like me, but gold, right? Major disrespect, big dogs… actually no you’re not big dogs, just dogs. Actually, let’s see - if you’re ready, when you hear music, you’re going to fall face down and worship. You know what happens when you don’t worship? You. Get. Tossed. In. A. Blazing. Fiery. Furnace. And what god will save you from that? (Daniel 3:13-15).

Y’ALL… what God can save them??? As if LITERALLY IN THE LAST CHAPTER, KING CHAD DIDN’T THANK AND PROMOTE DANIEL BECAUSE OF THE WORK HE DID THROUGH GOD. Like what??? And that should tell you how harmful and blinding your ego can make you when it gets too big.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego start speaking with their chest, dawg. “Woah there, Chad. We don’t need to give you an explanation. If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from your fire. But even if He doesn’t rescue us, we still want you to know we aren’t gonna sit here and worship that wacko busted-lookin’ statue or the gods you serve. Uh-huh!" (Daniel 3:16-18). Y’all that’s some BIG faith right there… outright admitting that God might not save you, and you’re still gonna face the heat? Good grief, I’m sweating already!

If you thought, “Well King Chad can’t get anymore made than he already is, right?” you’d be WRONG. King Chad’s entire facial expression changed as he saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stand up to him. He. Was. LIVID. He gave an order to heat the furnace 7x more than he normally did. He commanded his best soldiers to tie up the 3 Judahite Boyz and throw them into the furnace (Daniel 3: 19-20).

Now, get this… the fire was so incredibly hot that the men who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire DIED. AND THEY DIDN’T EVEN GO IN THE FURNACE. The boys were tied up in their trousers, pants, shirts, head coverings, robes, and everything (this is important) and thrown into the fire. Literally, the king was so urgent and the flames were so hot, that the men who threw the Judahite Boyz in kicked the bucket (Daniel 3:21-22).

So, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are tossed into these flames. I mean, by the sound of it they might as well have been standing on the sun or have been thrown into a volcano!

Suddenly, something caught King Chad’s eye, “Wait bro, I thought we just threw 3 dudes into that fire?” Of course, his bros were like, “Oh for sure, yeah. Just three. Uh, what were their names again? Like Sad Hat, Mean Hat, and A Bendy Goat? Those guys” (Daniel 3: 23-24).

Bro starts freaking out (this might as well be Inside Out 2 with all the emotions this guy is going through). “Y’all!!! There’s 4 guys in there! 1-2-3-4!!! They’re not tied up… and wait… one looks like a son of the gods!” (Daniel 3: 25).

Gee, guys… I wonder who that was….

King Chad approached the door of the furnace and yelled, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! You servants of the Most High God - COME OUT!” Like bro… you JUST threw them in. Make up your mind! So what do these guys do? They just walk out of the fire. All of the government officials gathered around the Judahite Boyz, and they saw that the fire had 0 (ZERO) effect on their bodies or their clothes. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and they had literally no smell of smoke on them!

King Chad completely changed his tune, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angel and rescued the servants who trusted Him! They totally disobeyed me and risked their lives rather than serve a god who wasn’t theirs. THEREFORE, if anyone of any nation, tongue, or people says anything offensive about the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their house will be turned into a garbage dump” (he really likes to turn people’s houses into garbage dumps) (Daniel 3:26-39). King Chad then rewarded the Judahite Boyz (Daniel 3:30).

And that’s the story of the fiery furnace! Maybe you understand better now why we sometimes refer to God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit as “the 4th man in the fire”! What do you think will happen next? I’m excited to find out!

I hope you have the greatest week! Send me any prayer requests to me through this website or through my socials! See ya soon!!!