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Daniel 3:8 You are commanded... Day 291

Good afternoon fellow pilgrims,

There is a lot in prophetic books about the future that is hard to understand.  But stories like this of things that actually happened can also be a challenge.  So here are a couple of thoughts that I hope you find helpful.  God has certainly challenged me as I wrote these things.

Blessings,

Jeff 

Just pondering what 6th petition means in light of persecution and coercion.  I would like it to mean that those inspired by evil (either sin or the devil) would be restrained from issuing such decrees.  That way, I would not be tempted to publicly save my skin by bowing down.  But I am convicted by just writing those words.  For I see that I am tempted and have already yielded to the temptation to save my skin privately numerous times.  These are much subtler circumstances like not wanting to offend people by a "2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2"  Specifically thinking about Critical Race Theory is Marxist at the root and that Marxism is not compatible with constitutional republic.

The other point to ponder is how does the fiery furnace relate to the fulfillment of the Genesis 3:15 promise.  None of the characters here are directly related to the messianic line.  But both Mary and Joseph's ancestor lived through these events.  We are not told where they were, but since Daniel is part of the scripture, these ancestors would have known the story and wondered about the meaning.  I like to think about what such passage mean to me, as if they were written for my personal application.  Yet these events are recorded for the original audience.  The Jews were in exile because they had yielded to idolatry.  Here were 3 young men of Judah that refused to follow the path of their fathers to compromise. 

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