"And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
He answered and 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."
I was actually reading in the Book of Mormon the Isaiah chapters. It is translated a little differently than in the Bible. It is referring to the destruction of Babylon being a type for the destruction at the Second Coming. It made me thing about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego being cast into the fiery furnace for not bowing down to Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. They were cast into the fiery furnace, visited by the Lord, and came out with not even a smell of smoke upon them.
This is what happens to the righteous and then the wicked at the Lord's coming.
"I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones, for mine anger is not upon them that rejoice in my highness.
And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames."
(2 Nephi 23:3, 8) (compare Isaiah 13:3, 8)
What I noticed is the wicked destroyed at the Lord's Second Coming turn to look at one another. Not the Lord but others, and their faces are as flames. They are being destroyed, yet they do not look to the Lord. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are cast into the fiery furnace and survive. Why?? I think it's in verse 23 when it says they "fell down bound". I always thought it just meant that when tossed into the furnace they simply fell down. Now I see it as the "sanctified ones" in Isaiah. They fell down and called upon the Lord to save them. And he did! We can walk through fire and not be destroyed if the Lord is by our side. It all depends on the purposes of the Lord. In this case it was to testify that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego does in deed delivery them out of Nebuchadnezzar's hands. It also shows me that I need not be afraid of even nuclear holocaust because the Lord will be with me if I turn to Him and ask.
Day 1428
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