Saturday, December 17, 2011

God Is A Consuming, and Non-Consuming Fire

Deuteronomy 4:23-24 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.  For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.


In Daniel chapter 3 King Nebuchadnezzar makes a big ol' image of gold. He erects it in Babylon, and is going to have a dedication service. He invites all the leaders to come to the celebration. At the celebration, he has a little musical number planned. When the musicians strikes up a cord, all the attendees are to fall on their face before this image and worship it. (I think if I were there, I would have liked to be a harp player. It would be hard to play a harp and bow down to an image at the same time).

That's a bit of a pickle for Daniels friends Rack, Shak and Benny (as Veggie Tales calls them). You see, they know the above text of Scripture. They know they are not to fall down before any image and worship it as God. And to make matters worse, the consequence for disobeying King Nebby's command is death by fire; to be thrown into a consuming fire.

If you remember the story, they do not fall down before the image. They trust their God is able to either protect them from being killed by fire, or give them grace in the midst of their sentence of death. The King is so angry that he calls for the furnace to be heated to the max. It is so hot that those who throw Rack, Shak and Benny into the fire, die themselves.

Our God is a consuming fire. Yet our God is also able to not consume in the midst of fire. The three men filled with faith are met in the fire by help. Whether Jesus came as a Christophany (a physical appearance of Jesus before His incarnation), or God sent an Angel; the men are kept safe in the midst of the consuming fire.

Do you fear standing for Jesus in the midst of the trials of your every day life? Never forget that the God of heaven is a consuming fire, He is jealous for your heart to worship Him alone. And also, our God is able to keep you safe in the midst of a consuming fire.

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