Commentaries:
The Bible shows that God has a pattern of throwing His people right into the heart of the fire, so to speak, at important junctures in history, or we might say right into the heart of the issues that pertain to His purpose. He does this primarily for His glorification, as a witness, and for our preparation. He forces us to confront challenges we might otherwise withdraw or run from.
He did it with Noah and the Flood. He did it when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. He did it with Joseph in Egypt, with Moses and the Israelites in the Exodus from Egypt and their pilgrimage through the wilderness. He did it with Daniel in the lions' den, and literally with these three men in the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar.
We find ourselves living in the end-time Babylon grown to the greatest extent of its evil, anti-God influence. We are confronted by the fact that His people of old came through their trials because God delivered them. Now we are commanded to "come out of Babylon." However, this is no longer literally possible, because it is a worldwide, organized system. We can still come out of it spiritually by resisting it, not allowing it to influence our decision making and therefore our conduct and our attitude.
We have read of the encouraging victories of God in behalf of His people. But we also have read of the evidence of Israel's weaknesses and failure, and it helps for us to understand their weaknesses, because we are cut from the same cloth.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Where Is the Beast? (Part 7)
They could see the rage in Nebuchadnezzar's face, but they also saw God. Where did their powerful conviction come? This kind of conviction does not arise "on command," at the spur of the moment. It is the product of the demonstration of God in the lives of these three young men before this time, before their lives were on the line. Their faith had grown and matured over a period of time.
God is always the same. What God says through Paul in I Corinthians 10:13 applied to them just as it applies to us. God knew what they could endure. They also knew that He would provide a "way of escape." Because of this, they told the king, despite his threats, "Even if God does not choose to protect us, we still are not going to bow down to your image."
Have we ever considered why more "mighty deliverances" do not occur to us? It is because we spend so little time fellowshipping with God that we do not see Him as an immediate and vitally important part of our lives. As a result, the physical "evidence" we see around us overwhelms us.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Do You See God? (Part Two)
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