Sapate Tisema 3, 2023
The Fiery Furnace
Ko e Fōnise afi
DANIEL 3:23
THESE THREE MEN, SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO, FELL BOUND INTO THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE.
TANIELA 3:23
Pea ko e toko tolu ko ia, ‘a Setaleki, Mēsake, mo ‘Apetenikō, na‘a nau tō ki he loto fōnise afi kakaha kuo ma‘u ha‘i.
This well-known account is about far more than a mean old king, three faithful Israelites, and a fiery furnace from which God delivered them. No Israelite, whose mind was steeped in the stories of old, could hear the Aramaic word attun ("furnace") without thinking of its equivalent in Hebrew-the kur. And where is the kur? Egypt. This place of Israel's ancient exile is the "iron furnace [kur]" (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4). How did the Lord get Israel out of Egypt's "iron furnace"? He sent his "angel" or messenger to lead them to freedom. Out of the Egyptian furnace, Israel emerged unharmed because the Lord their God delivered them by the hand of his messenger.
Likewise, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego embody Israel, cast into the new "Egyptian" furnace that is Babylon, ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar, who plays the part of Pharaoh. The Lord "sent his angel and delivered his servants" from the furnace (Dan. 3:28), just as he did in Exodus. This story, therefore, is a sort of acted-out promise of the future exodus of Israel out of Babylon and back to the promised land. And as with every biblical exile/return, it foreshadows the final, perfect exodus of salvation accomplished by the Son of God for us.
Holy Father, as we walk through fires of suffering in this world, deliver us by your merciful might.
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