"Is not My Word like fire! declares the Lord."
Jer. 23
This last week in our women's bible study I was reminded of these words spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah and I remembered how God's Word has been like a refining fire in my life. In the bible fire is often used as a picture of God's judgement but it's also used as a symbol of purification. The Book of Malachi tells us God will refine and purify His people like gold and silver. Perhaps you are familiar with the process of refining precious metals. The refiner sits at a fire hot enough to melt crude gold, a minimum of 830 degrees! As it melts the impurities rise to the surface so the refiner is able to skim them off. During the process he keeps a keen watch on the precious metal because if the gold is left in the fire too long it will be destroyed. The refiner knows the gold is fully refined when he is able to see his image reflected in it.
There is a story in the Old Testament Book of Daniel which gives us a wonderful picture of our Refiner's fire. In the early chapters of the book we are introduced to three young men: Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego who lived in Jerusalem about 600 years before Jesus. At that time Babylon was a powerful country and the King Nebuchadnezzar was ruthless and evil. He laid siege to Jerusalem, burned down the temple and the city and carried off these three teens to Babylon where they entered into his personal service.
King Nebuchadnezzar was a mighty and powerful king; there was no other like him. He made an image of gold 90 feet high, set it up in the plains of Babylon and gave the order throughout the land that at specified times all the people were to fall down and worship the image. Whoever did not worship would be immediately cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. When word came to the King that Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego would not bow down and worship the golden image, he flew into a violent rage and ordered the furnace to be heated up 7 times more than normal. He commanded his men to tie up the boys and throw them into the blazing fire. They were tied from their feet to their heads and thrown into the midst of the furnace. The fire was so hot that the flames killed the men who carried Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego. In the Book of Daniel the story continues:
"These three men fell into the midst of the furnace of the blazing fire tied up. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and ...said: 'Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?...Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!' Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the furnace and said, 'Shadrach, Mishach, Abed-Nego, come out you servants of the Most High God!' They came out of the midst of the fire...and those gathered around saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them." Nebuchadnezzar responded...'Blessed be the God Who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him...there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.' (Dan. 3, emphasis added)
The flames did not burn Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego, nor did the fire consume them. But what did burn and what was consumed were those things that bound them, the ropes that held them captive. They entered the fire tied up; they came out of the fire loosed. That's the Refiner's fire! "Is not My Word like fire!" declares the Lord.
What things are there in your life that bind you; what things hold you captive? It was for freedom that Christ set us free, the Apostle Paul writes. Are you free? Or are you tied up like Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego were before they went into the fire? They were bound, the bible tells us, from their feet all the way to their heads. That's bound up! You can't move when you are tied up to that extent. Yet some of us are so bound up by worry that we can't get through one day without any anxiety. Perhaps you are bound by resentment for someone who has hurt you so deeply you aren't able to offer forgiveness. Maybe what binds you is something that other people can see, such as an addiction. Maybe you are so bound up by your own personal guilt or shame - an abortion or affair - that you can't tear yourself loose for a moment to seek forgiveness from the only One Who can set you free.
"Is not My Word like fire!" declares the Lord. What do you need to take into the refining fire of God's Word?
God says in His Word that He will purify us and refine us like gold. Remember the description of the refiner of precious metals who sits at the fire and watches intently so that the metal doesn't get too hot and become destroyed? Our God, our Refiner, does not just sit at the fire and watch. Our God goes into the fire with us!!! He was the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego and He will be in the fire with you! He loves you! As gold is precious so are you! You do not become gold after you go through the fire. In God's eyes you are gold; the fire is just to purify you.
"Is not My Word like fire!" declares the Lord. Are you struggling to break free from sin, from hurt, from lack of worth? What do you need to know for your life? What do you need to take into the Refiner's fire? The answers are in the Word of God.
Through reading and studying His Word, my prayer is that we would fall deeper and deeper in love with the Refiner; and that the fire of His Holy Word would purify us, loose our bonds, restore what needs to be restored so that when He looks upon us He will see His reflection, His image, and we will bring Him glory. If it's been too long since you have opened His Word, today is the day. And remember precious one, He goes into the furnace with you. The words of King Nebuchadnezzar ring true today as they did thousands of years ago: There is no other God Who is able to deliver in this way.
