Three Children

Description

The three children in the fireplace
At the time of the captivity of the Jews by the Babylonians, when Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonians, the prophet Daniel lived among the Israelites. The king had appreciated Daniel’s morals, honesty, knowledge and made him a great ruler, leader of all his satraps.

Daniel chose as associates three great young Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and placed them in great positions in the kingdom.
Once, King Nebuchadnezzar put and made a huge statue of him, 40 meters high and ordered: “When the trumpets blow, all my subjects fall to the ground, worship my statue. Whoever does not prostrate, let him be thrown into the furnace and burn.”
The trumpeters blew and all the people treis_paides_naboyxodonosoras_mesa4 fell on their knees and worshiped the golden statue of the king. But the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (whose Hebrew names were Ananias, Azariah and Mishael), did not worship. They knew that only the true God should be worshipped.

Someone betrayed the three young men to the king. He called them to appear before him:
– King, and we respect you and serve you faithfully. But our faith in the true God says that we should worship no one else but God alone.

– As much as I value you, I will order you to be thrown into the fire. Do you not know that my decree is, whoever does not bow down, shall be thrown into the furnace? You are going to meet your God right now. Why, what do you think? Who can save you from the furnace?

– We have an answer, king. He who created the universe, the earth, the sun and the stars, the plants, the animals, the people. He can save us even from the flame of the stove.

Nebuchadnezzar got angry. He ordered the furnace to be rekindled seven times longer. Its flames reach up to 30 meters high and the three young people are thrown into this terrible furnace. As the king said, so it was.
The crowd that had gathered expected to see the three lads burn instantly. But the miracle happened, as Ananias, Azarias and Mishael believed: an Angel of the Lord appeared with them in the middle of the fire. The flames moved aside. Like a cool breeze, like the dew that falls from the sky at dawn, so was the center of the hearth.
The king’s men ran to tell the miracle: “We put three in the furnace, now there are four. Not only do they not burn, but they walk around in the flames happily and sing.’
Everyone saw the miracle. The three young men, in the middle of the furnace with the great flames, healthy and happy, chanted: “Bless the works of the Lord, the Lord. We praise and exalt the Lord forever and ever.”