In the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, master candy maker Willie Wonka decides to let five people into his factory. He sends out 5 golden, glorious tickets in chocolate bars to be found. Each time a child finds one of the tickets, they shout from the rooftops of the prize they have won and wait in anticipation to the day they will be able to enter the factory. When the day comes, and they are escorted beyond the gates, they are led from room to room, and wonder to wonder. Wide eyed and overwhelmed at times, the factory holds so many amazing secrets, it is almost hard to believe, and in a single tour, there is no way from them to behold all of the glorious wonders within.
The Bible is like the chocolate factory, each book or room holds new and amazing, glorious treats for our spirit man to partake of. In 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says: "But," says the Torah, "Whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away. Now, "Adonai" in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is freedom. So all of us, with faces unveiled, see in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.
I have always struggled with the phrase "we are changed from glory to glory". What does that mean? It hit me like a fizzy lifting drink last night as I began to do a word study for "Stranger in the Fire." The more I am in the Word, the more I go to its roots and research the Hebraic meanings of not just the words, but of the Hebrew writing and word pictures, the numeric context of the words and how they amplify the doctrine, I am being changed from glory to glory. The best thing is, God didn't send out 5 golden tickets. He sent His son so that we can all enter beyond the gates and go from room to room in His word and transform us all from glory to glory.
16 Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go answered the king, "Your question doesn't require an answer from us. 17 Your majesty, if our God, whom we serve, is able to save us, he will save us from the blazing hot furnace and from your power. 18 But even if he doesn't, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will neither serve your gods nor worship the gold statue which you have set up." 19 N'vukhadnetzar (Nebuchadnezzar) became so utterly enraged that his face was distorted with anger against Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go. He ordered the furnace made seven times hotter than usual. 20 Then he ordered some of the strongest men in his army to tie up Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go and throw them into the blazing hot furnace. 21 So these men were tied up in their cloaks, tunics, robes and other clothes, and thrown into the blazing hot furnace. 22 The king's order was so urgent and the furnace so overheated that the men carrying Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go were burned to death by the flames. 23 These three men, Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go, fell, bound, into the blazing hot furnace. 24 Suddenly N'vukhadnetzr sprang to his feet. Alarmed, he asked his advisers, "Didn't we throw three men, bound into the flames?" They answered the king "Yes, of course, your majesty." 25 But he exclaimed, "Look! I see four men, not tied up, walking around there in the flames, unhurt; and the fourth looks like one of the gods!" 26 N'vukhadnetzar approached the opening of the blazing hot furnace and said, "Shadrakh! Meishakh! 'Aved-N'go! You servants of El 'Elyon! Come out, and come here!" Shadrakh, Meishakh and 'Aved-N'go emerged from the flames. 27 The viceroys, prefects, governors and royal advisers who were there saw that the fire had no power on the bodies of these men - not even their hair was singed, there clothes looked the same, and they didn't smell of fire. Daniel 3:16-27
Have you ever asked the question "Why did Jesus go into the fiery furnace with them?" He could have saved them without being in the fire. We are talking about a God that simply speaks and worlds are created. I received some amazing insight by breaking down the words "fire" and "furnace" in the Hebrew. We saw fire symbolize God's presence in "The Fire By Night", but it takes on a different look in the book of Daniel. Fire is made up of the Hebrew letters Alef (ox, strong) and Sheen (teeth, devourer), thus meaning The strong devourer. Think about a wildfire and how it devours and consumes whatever is in its path. It brings destruction. When you look at how Hebrew letters are also numbers, these two letters have a numeric value of 301. And when you look at the words that equal 301, one of the words is fortress. Proverbs 18:10 in the New Living Translation reads, The name of the Lord is a strong fortress, the godly run to Him and are safe. When you think about the three Israelites in this story, what did they do? When ordered to bow down before a golden statue and worship it, they ran to God, their strong fortress. They even declared, "Even if he doesn't save us" they wouldn't leave the strong fortress of God, what faith!
Looking at the 301 as fire, it gives a long list of words but the last two caught me off guard.
301: fire, the fire of God, lightning, anger, zeal, ardos, war, heat or scorching, flashing, existence, being, THERE IS
There is was in the fire with them. The king yelled out "it looks like THERE IS a fourth man in the fire that looks like one of the gods!" (paraphrased) I don't know about you, but that connection made me want to shout. Then as Rabbi Jason Sobel says, "But wait, there's more" happened.
I went from the fire to the furnace and started looking at the breakdown and meaning of this word in the Hebraic as well, and what I discovered gives the answer to why Jesus was in the furnace with them. Furnace, or kuwr, is made of up of the Hebrew letters Kaf, Vav, and Reysh.
Kaf means cover, to open, to allow or to atone.
Vav means join or to connect two things that are separated from one another.
Reysh means head, master, leader or the prince.
What happens in the furnace? Isaiah 48:10 explains: Look, I have refined you, but not [as severely] as silver; [rather] I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. The furnace is the place of refining and purification. It is there He reveals Himself to us and perfects us as we walk with Him. But it goes further. The number 7 is most often looked at as the number of completion, but it is more. 7 also represents spiritual submission to the will of God. Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated 7 times hotter than normal, knowing there was no way they could survive it. In fact the people who threw them into the flames died just being close to the furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego walked in spiritual submission to God, and when brought out of the furnace, they were complete. Their clothes were in tact, not a single hair was singed and the didn't even smell like smoke. When the enemy tries to bring you to his version of completion, just remember when you are in spiritual submission to God, Jesus will bring you to true completion.
Here is where it gets interesting. When you remove the word Vav from the word furnace, it takes on a whole new meaning. This new word becomes Kar. Kar means LAMB. The Lamb of God was in the furnace with them. Now let's look at the numbers again. Kaf is the number 20, meaning redemption. Reysh is the number 200 and descries a tension between the insufficiency of man and the sufficiency of God. Therefore they make up the number 220 and when you look at the Hebrew words that total 220 you see something incredible. 220 not only means lamb, it means: chosen and choice one, as well as bright, clean, pure; unalloyed.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, the chosen and choice one, stepped into the fire to make them bright, clean, pure and unalloyed, just as Isiah 48:10 describes. He went into the fire with them, not just to save them, but to walk through the purification process WITH them. God showed them His promise from Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong, be bold, don't be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. These boys showed strength and boldness when they refused the king's order to worship an idol. They were not afraid when faced with the furnace and said "He will save us, but even if he doesn't, we will not bow down." God went with them into the furnace and did not fail them, and did not abandon them. This is true for us today. He wants us to live the same way. No matter what type of furnace we are faced with, He will be the stranger in the fire to them, but the Almighty Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world to us. (John 1:29). He will never fail or abandon us, and He will turn the enemy's fire into His refiner's fire.
I am including references and links to the different sources that I used for this post. The Word is living and breathing and will transform us from glory to glory when we seek Him in it. I hope these references help you in your daily study of His word.
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