晨興聖言-挪亞、但以理和約伯...(W3-3)
第三週 • 週三
晨興餧養
但三17~18 即便如此,我們所事奉的神,也能將我們從烈火的窯中救出來;王阿,祂必救我們脫離你的手。即或不然,王阿,你當知道,我們決不事奉你的神,也不敬拜你所立的金像。
23 …這三個人,都被捆着落在烈火的窯中。
在但以理三章,撒但設計謀,要藉尼布甲尼撒的盲目,引誘神失敗選民中的年輕得勝者拜偶像(1~7)。尼布甲尼撒造了一個大金像,高六十肘(九十英尺),立在巴比倫省的杜拉平原(1)。…尼布甲尼撒將大臣和各等官員,並各省的官員,都招聚來,為他所立的像行開光之禮,且下令各族、各國、各方言的人,都要拜他的金像(2~5)。凡不俯伏敬拜的,必扔在烈火的窯中(6)。
但以理的三個同伴,就是被擄的猶太人中年輕的得勝者,抵擋鬼魔的敬拜,而遭迦勒底人控告(8~12)。迦勒底人妒忌但以理和他的同伴,就用他們拒絕拜金像為根據,在尼布甲尼撒面前控告他們(但以理書生命讀經,三一至三二頁)。
信息選讀
尼布甲尼撒大發烈怒,試誘年輕的得勝者,再給他們機會拜他的金像,並威脅要把他們扔在烈火的窯中(但三13~15)。
三個得勝者回答說,『即便如此,我們所事奉的神,也能將我們從烈火的窯中救出來;王阿,祂必救我們脫離你的手。』(17)他們對尼布甲尼撒的回答不但無禮,且非常大膽(16~18)。但他們的回答,仍然有天然的想法。他們說神能將他們從烈火的窯中救出來。事實上,神不需要將他們從窯中救出來;祂將他們留在窯中,卻使火失效(25)。
尼布甲尼撒怒氣填胸,向年輕的得勝者變了臉色。他吩咐人把窯燒熱,比平常更熱七倍。又吩咐他軍中的幾個壯士,將得勝者捆起來,扔在烈火的窯中(19~21)。…壯士都被火焰燒死,年輕的得勝者被捆着落在烈火的窯中(22~23)。
那時尼布甲尼撒感到驚奇,對謀士說,『我們豈不是把三個人捆起來扔在火裏麼?…看哪,我見有四個人,並沒有捆綁,在火中行走,也沒有受傷;那第四個的相貌,好像神子。』(24~25)這第四個就是基督。基督來與祂三個受苦、遭逼迫的得勝者同在,並使這火成為令人愉悅、可以在其中行走的地方。
我們天然的想法是:我們需要離開我們環境的火。我們會以為,我們如果有一個麻煩的丈夫或煩人的妻子,就該禱告,求神拯救我們脫離這樣的情形。但主會說,『我不喜歡救你脫離你婚姻生活的這個處境;我要把你留在那裏,我要來使你的環境成為令人愉悅的地方。』
當仇敵把我們扔進火窯中時,我們應當知道,我們不需要求主來救我們脫離。祂會來與我們同在,在我們的受苦中照顧我們,使我們受苦的地方成為愉快的處境。…主如何與那些在巴比倫受苦的得勝者同在,今天也照樣在我們的受苦裏與我們同在(但以理書生命讀經,三二至三五頁)。
參讀:但以理書生命讀經,第三至五篇。
WEEK 3 — DAY 3
Morning Nourishment
Dan.
3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the blazing furnace of fire, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O
king. But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will
not serve your gods nor worship the golden image that you have set up.
23 And these three men…fell into the midst of the blazing furnace of fire
bound up.
In
Daniel 3 Satan’s strategy was to seduce the young overcomers among
God’s defeated elect in the worship of idols through Nebuchadnezzar’s
blindness (vv. 1-7). Nebuchadnezzar made a great image of gold, sixty
cubits (ninety feet) in height, and set it up in the plain of Dura in
the province of Babylon (v. 1)…Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the
high officials and all kinds of officers and all the rulers of the
provinces to come to the dedication of the image that he had set up, and
he commanded all the peoples, nations, and languages to worship his
golden image (3:2-5). Whoever did not fall down and worship was to be
thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace of fire (v. 6).
Daniel’s
three companions, the young overcomers among the Jewish captives, stood
against the devilish worship and were accused by the Chaldeans (vv.
8-12). The Chaldeans were jealous of Daniel and his companions and took
their refusal to worship the golden image as grounds to accuse them
before Nebuchadnezzar. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 27-28)
Today’s Reading
Nebuchadnezzar,
in rage and fury, tempted the young overcomers by giving them another
chance to worship his golden image, with the threat of throwing them
into a blazing furnace of fire (Dan. 3:13-15).
The
three overcomers answered, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the blazing furnace of fire, and He will deliver us
out of your hand, O king” (v. 17). Their response to Nebuchadnezzar was
impolite and very bold (vv. 16-18). Yet there was still something of the
natural thought in their response. They said that God was able to
deliver them from the blazing furnace. Actually, God did not need to
deliver them from the furnace. He kept them in the furnace and made the
fire of no effect (v. 25).
Nebuchadnezzar
was filled with fury, and the countenance of his face was changed
toward the young overcomers. He commanded that the furnace be made seven
times hotter than usual, and that certain mighty men in his army bind
the overcomers and throw them into the blazing furnace of fire (vv. 19-
21). The mighty men were slain by the flame of the fire, and the three
young overcomers fell into the blazing furnace of fire bound up (vv.
22-23).
Nebuchadnezzar
was astonished and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men
into the midst of the fire bound up?…Look, I see four men loose, walking
in the midst of the fire; and they are not harmed. And the appearance
of the fourth is like a son of the gods” (vv. 24-25). This fourth one
was Christ. Christ had come to be with His three suffering,
persecuted overcomers and to make the fire a pleasant place in which to
walk about.
Our
natural thought is that we need to leave the fire of our circumstances.
We may think that if we have a troublesome husband or a bothersome
wife, we should pray and ask God to deliver us out of such a situation.
But the Lord would say, “I do not like to deliver you from this
situation in your married life. Instead, I will keep you there, and I
will come and make your environment a pleasant place.”
When
the enemy throws us into the furnace, we should realize that we do not
need to ask the Lord to deliver us. He will come to be with us and take
care of us in our suffering, making our place of suffering a pleasant
situation…As the Lord was with those suffering overcomers in Babylon, so
He will be with us in our suffering today. (Life-study of Daniel, pp.
28-30)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msgs. 3—5
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