Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the street filled with cats, and the angry cat disappeared and….
They were riding the bicycle/time machine full speed down a street that was filled with cats! There were hundreds of cats all around them! Shane yelled, “This looks like the same place we just left, how did we get back here again?” The Professor said, “Ooops!” He was swerving the bicycle/time machine from side to side trying to avoid all those cats! The cats were meowing and hissing and showing their teeth! They did not look one bit friendly! The Professor slammed on the brakes, Shane slid his feet on the ground, and the bicycle/time machine slid to a stop up against a tall shiny statue that looked like it was made out of pure gold! The statue teetered for a moment, then came crashing down on the ground in a cloud of dust! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Immediately a large group of soldiers came running up and used ropes to set the statue back up. While they were setting the statue back up, Shane looked around and said, “It kind of looks like the same place we were at before, except this time there are people everywhere!” Shelly was standing next to him holding the kitten that she had brought from the adventure of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. She said, “My kitten is so scared that it is shaking! I don’t think it knows any of these cats! We might be in the same place, but I think it a different time!”
Now the statue was sitting up again and the Professor, Shane and Shelly finally got a good look at it. It was a golden statue of a man with a crown on his head! It was 90 feet tall and was perfect except…. now its golden nose was smashed flat against its face. When the soldiers saw that the golden statue now had a flat nose, they were very angry. They drew their swords and started to come after the Professor, Shane, and Shelly. The Professor said, “Ooops!” The Professor, Shane and Shelly got on the bicycle/time machine, and the Professor said to Shelly, “Turn the handle so we can get out of this place before we get killed!” They began pedaling as fast as they could, and the Professor shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear! And then….it didn’t happen! That’s right! The bicycle/time machine didn’t work! The Shane yelled, “What went wrong? Why didn’t we leave this place?” Shelly answered him, “I couldn’t turn the handle because I was holding my kitten! The soldiers were coming so fast, there was no time to explain this to you!”
They went flying down that street, swerving from side to side to miss all the cats! The soldiers were running as fast as they could, and some of them had spears! They began to throw spears at the Professor, Shane, and Shelly! Just then the Professor yelled, “Look up ahead! There is a strange-looking small brick building, let’s hide in there! They rode the bicycle/time machine right through the door of the small brick building, and the soldiers were just behind them!
Then it happened! The bicycle/time machine slid out from underneath them! The Professor, Shane, Shelly, and the kitten went sliding across the floor and slid right into huge piles of wood! The wood was not dry and sweet-smelling! It was slimy wet with some kind of oil, and the building smelled bad! The soldiers stopped outside the door and pointed and laughed. They laughed so hard that they fell on the ground and rolled around! Some of the soldiers said, “Let’s leave them in there! It will be fun to watch in a little while! Shane whispered, “Why are they so happy that we are in here? And what is that awful smell?” Shelly answered, “It kind of smells like smoke from a very greasy, oily fire.”
Just then there was the sound of a loud trumpet! Outside there was the noise of a huge crowd of people who came running from every direction! They all crowed into the area in front of the statue. Then there was loud music from many instruments, and all the people fell flat on their faces in front of the statue. The soldiers quit laughing at the Professor, Shane and Shelley and the soldiers went and joined all the people that were bowing down to the statue. The Professor, Shane, and Shelly took the bicycle/time machine and quietly got out of that strange little brick building. They went and hid behind some bushes. Shelly took the time to turn the handle on the bicycle/time machine so they could get out of there fast if they needed to. Then they noticed that there were four people in that whole crowd who did not bow down to the statue. One of them was obviously the king, but who were the other three?
The king was angry with those three men who would not bow down to the statue. He gave them one more chance to bow down or else they would be burned alive in the furnace, but the men said, “If you throw us into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from the furnace. He will save us from your power, O king. But even if God does not save us, we want you, O king, to know this: We will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Daniel chapter 3, verses 17-18)
The king was furious! He ordered the furnace to be lit and the 3 men to be thrown in when it was good and hot! The Professor whispered, “That brick building we were in must be the furnace that they use to melt and shape metal! No wonder the soldiers thought it was funny when we went in there to hide! They thought we would get burned alive!” Shelly took the Bible out of the bicycle/time machine’s storage bag and turned the pages until she found the book of Daniel. She said, “This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel chapter 3.” Shane asked, “Do they really get thrown into the furnace?” Shelly answered, “Yes they do, but when it happens, everyone gets a big surprise.”
Just then one of the soldiers threw a burning piece of wood into the brick house! The inside of the house was instantly filled with flames as all that oil caught on fire. The flames came shooting out the door and out of every crack between the bricks! It was the hottest fire that they had ever had in that furnace! Some of the biggest soldiers dragged Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the furnace. As they were throwing them into the furnace, flames came shooting out of the door, and the soldiers fell down dead!
Suddenly, someone in the crowd pointed to the furnace and said, “Look at that!” The Professor, Shane and Shelly left the bushes and ran forward to look into the furnace with the crowd of people. In the flames they could see the men walking around! They were not tied up anymore, and the fire was not hurting them. Then Shane said, “Hey, I see four people in there!” Shelly jumped up and down and said, “That’s the surprise! God sent someone to help them! Some people think that there an angel in the furnace with the three men, but other people think that it’s Jesus himself in there!” The king called for Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to come out of the furnace. When they came out, they did not have any burns, and they did not even smell like smoke! No one noticed when the fourth person in the furnace disappeared. The king said, “The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is the true God, He saved them!”
Then the king noticed that the nose of his statue was flattened, and he yelled, “Who punched my statue in the nose? I’m going to kill them!” The Professor, Shane, Shelly, and the kitten ran to the bicycle/time machine. Shelly grabbed the kitten as they jumped on and began pedaling! But… the bicycle/time machine did not move! The back tire was spinning, but they were not going anywhere! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shane yelled, “The tires are covered with oil, that’s why they are spinning!” The king and the soldiers were almost there! They pedaled faster and faster, but the bicycle/time machine did not move. Shelly yelled, “Professor, try shifting it into high gear anyway, let’s see what happens!” So, the Professor shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear!
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the street filled with cats, the solders and the king disappeared and….
Application:
Read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel chapter 3.
This story teaches us to trust God no matter what happens.
Question to think about
- Did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego know what was going to happen to them in that furnace? No, they knew that God was capable of rescuing them and that He might choose to do that, or God might choose not to rescue them
- Did they trust God to take care of them? Yes, they did! They knew that no matter how it turned out, that God would never leave them.
- If God had not rescued them from the furnace what would have happened to them? They would have been in heaven with God!
Read Matthew 28:20b “and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”
In the Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 8 says, “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake (abandon) you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Jesus promises to always be with us, just like He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in that furnace.
Spend some time in prayer, ask God to help you always to trust him because He will never leave you, He will go with you through everything in life and take care of you!