Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-09-15
The Fiery Furnace
COMMENTARY ON TOMOR-
ROWS SUNDAY SCHOOL Les
SON, DANIEL 3.
BY e E. WALKER. D. D.


of the Chaldes had most excellent SER
rendered anv religions princinle. and
n was in fact their adherence m COM
mon sensa nracticaI wisdom and fnith
which had made them SO valuable as
servants of the state. Az that time
Nebucha dnezxar was not fntolerant of
other religions. He had made con-
quests Of other people. who had been
brought to he tributary to his realm:
hut he had not vet done apght 10 mako
a state religion to which those people,
whom he had conquered to his reign
and added to his realm must conform
But in orr lesson today he shows that
at last he had come to the point where
he was TO be intolerant of any other
religious faith but his own. and was
going by force to convert everybody
to bow to his royal will. and worship
the gods which himself patronized
n.ro,x
Time: 3. c. about 6So.
Place: Babylon.
Verses II. About 70 years after the
temperate and wise young Hebrews
Babylon the king erected great i'm
age nearly, IL not quite, a hundred feet
high and about ten feet broad. 1t is
not certain whom or what the image
was supposed to represent. The king
called meeting OF the civil, legal and
executive onicefs OF the realm, and to
them gave Instructions concerning re-
CURED homage Tor the golden image.
S-lz. Tnere were certain Chaldees'
accused the Jews OF failure to comply
with the royal mandate. Their de-
signs worked-up to certain point.
1919. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS showed the
bitterness OF MS nature. notwlthstand-
Ing the exaltatlon OF his royalty in the
estimate OF TINS world. by flying into
rage. he commanded that the three
oHenders should ne put under immedi-
ate arrest, ana De arralgned before his
majesty. He asked them to plead
guilty or not guilty. He threatened
that IL tney were guilty tney would
surely De thrown into the flames, ana
ne challenged any god TO denver them
OUT OF ms mighty hanos.
10. Shadrach, Mssohach and Abed-
nego answered., and said to the king,
y Nenuchadnezzar, we are not careful
10 answer thee IN rms matter. This
must not De regarded as IN any degree
the spirit or fmpudence, or of Drag
gadoclo, but exactly expressed their
position.
II. IT Il be so, our God whom we
serve Is able TO deliver us from the
burning merry furnace,--This IN answer
10 the KING 3 cnanenge, VINO Is tnat
God that shall be able to deliver you
out OF my handsr They said, our
GOD IS abe TO denver-the one whom
we serve supremacy, and whom alone
we worship He has power greater
imam any earthty power-and he viii
deliver US out OF thine hand, Q king.
10. our II not--oe II known unto
thee, y kin9-Here Is the expression or
the dignity or these humble Hebrews,
They' TOO, could enunciate a royal de-
cree-that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship the golden image which
thou hast set up. Image worship and
the serving OF false gods go together;
and these Jews declared that they
would engage In neither.
~ men was Nenuchadnezzar full OF
fury-therefore he spake, and COM
manded-He TOOK no time for consider
alton or consultation, but gave I'M
mediate and peremptory Oral orders
that they should heat tho furnace ono
seven times more than It was wont to
be heated. The furnace was in all
PROBABILITY q crematory for the reduce
ing Of dead bodies to ashes. Such gen.
orally were made very hot. as 1t was
the desire to burn to ashes as soon as
possible.
20. And he commanded the most
mighty men that were in his army
He had boasted his power; now he
would make a display Of 1t as impress
sive as possible to bind Shadrach,
Meschach and Abed- neso-As If they
needed to be bound; but the king
would impress them and Others of their
utter helplessness, when he was turned
against them-and to cast them into
the burning fiery furnace. 1t is hardly
probable that they had any idea of be-