Author: Jay Lehman

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’ “ (Daniel 3:16-18).

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:6-7).

Around 600 BC, the king of Babylon raised an imposing golden image of himself on the plain of Dura.  King Nebuchadnezzar instructed all his government officials to worship the statue when the music played.  Three Jewish exiles among the group refused to worship.  Nebuchadnezzar offered them a second chance but they did not need one.  Their mind was made up, they would worship God alone.

Look at their incredible statement of faith at the top of this page.  In essence, they were saying, “We have faith to believe that God can deliver us from the furnace, but even if He does not, we are all in.”  Staring at what appears to be certain death in the furnace of blazing fire, this is quite a claim.  Notice that their faith is not tied to their physical rescue, but to the God who is in control.  With or without physical deliverance, their faith is in the one true God alone.  Their faith is not dependent on an outcome.  It is dependent on a person; the character and person of God Himself.

But God did deliver them from the fire.  When the king peered into the furnace, “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, ‘Look!  I see four men loosed and walking about in the middle of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’ ” (Dan 3:25).  I believe the fourth person in the fiery furnace was Jesus Himself coming to their rescue.  And He is coming to your rescue in the fiery trials of life.

His rescue may not be a physical deliverance from your trials.  But His presence and peace are always with us, available to deliver us from the fires of fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, and loss.  “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus was in the fiery furnace, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.  He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:1-2).

“So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.  Then He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.’ “ ‘  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:7-10).

” ‘I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land.  Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,’ declares the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:14).

Ezekiel found himself in a valley of exceedingly dry bones.  Ezekiel prophesied as God commanded him and the bones were covered with muscle, tendons, flesh, and skin.  But no life flowed through them.  Ezekiel prophesied again and the four winds blew.  The awakening bones were filled with breath and became a great army.

God follows Ezekiel’s vision with an explanation that this wind of breath is a picture of the new spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ that will come to us as part of the promise and provision of the new covenant (see Ezekiel 37:11-14).

The wind that brought the bones to life was the Spirit of God.  And it is a foreshadowing of the same wind that will bring life to us.  “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).  “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting … And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:2,4).

God’s rushing wind, the Spirit of Christ has brought life to us.  “Since the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11)

Jesus was in the valley of dry bones, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

“Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel … Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” ‘ “ (II Samuel 7:8,16).

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

In II Samuel chapter 7, King David makes plans to build a permanent temple to replace the tabernacle as a dwelling place for God.  For His part, God makes a promise to David that his house and kingdom will be established forever.  We know the rest of the immediate story.  King David’s kingdom did not last.  Soon after his son Solomon’s reign, it fell apart.  So what does this promise mean that David’s kingdom will be established forever?

We see the first hint to the answer in Isaiah chapter 9.  In this prophecy of the coming Messiah, the child born to us will sit on the throne of David.  His kingdom will be re-established; this time with Christ Himself on the throne.  Jesus is the promise of II Samuel 7.  Jesus is the promise of a kingdom that lasts forever.

Jesus is not only the spiritual fulfillment of the promise to King David, He is also the physical fulfillment.  Jesus was born in the line of David.  “And when He had removed King Saul, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’  From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus” (Acts 13:22-23).

Our savior king, our shepherd king is Jesus!

Jesus sits on the throne of David, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

“He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.  So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands” (Psalm 78:70-72).

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15).

Shepherd David was taken from the sheepfolds to be a shepherd to God’s people.  As King David, this is exactly what he did.  Psalm 78 recounts that King David shepherded Israel with integrity and skill.

The shepherd theme often comes up in the Psalms that David wrote.  The most famous of which is Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”  Shepherd David was a prototype for a greater good shepherd to come.

John chapter 10 is a tender message from Jesus identifying Himself as the good shepherd.  In verses 1 to 11, the shepherd themes that emerge are: the shepherd enters by the door, the sheep hear My voice, I call My sheep by name, I lead them out, they follow because they know My voice, I guard the door to the sheep, I give abundant life to My sheep.  And finally, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

The ultimate love of Jesus, the good shepherd, for His sheep was on display when He gave up His life for His sheep.  If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you are one of His sheep.  And He will lead you to the safety and provision that you long for.

Jesus was present in the sheep fields, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

“So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her.  And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.  Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel’ “ (Ruth 4:13-14).

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

The story of Ruth begins with Elimelech and his wife Naomi and two sons moving from Bethlehem to the land of Moab.  Then Elimelech dies.  His two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth.  Then the sons each die.  So Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem but asks her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to stay with their Moabite people.  Orpah finally stays, but Ruth declares her loyalty to Naomi, and goes to Bethlehem with her.

Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem with no resources; no money, no husbands, no land.  Naomi announces to her Bethlehem friends, “Do not call me Naomi [Pleasant]; call me Mara [Bitter], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20).  It is a dark place for the two women.

But God provides a redeemer for Naomi and Ruth.  As Ruth is gleaning, gathering the leftovers from the harvest, she finds herself in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi, so also now a relative of Ruth.  Boaz learns who Ruth is and after some back and forth, chooses to redeem Ruth.  Boaz takes on the role of kinsman-redeemer, a legal transaction in which someone enters into an obligation to redeem a relative facing extreme hardship.  And Boaz does this for Ruth.

Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer.  Jesus was born a Jew (“born under the Law”) to redeem the Jews.  Jesus came to His own, His kinsmen, and they received Him not.  And His redemption has now been offered to the whole world.  We, like Naomi and Ruth, had no resources to save ourselves.  We have thrown ourselves totally upon the mercy of our redeemer Jesus Christ.  And based on our faith in Him, Jesus has come to our rescue.  Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer!

Jesus was present in the fields of Boaz, because Jesus was there from the beginning!