Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - Barbecue Anyone?

Daniel 3:19-20 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.

If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot. ~Korean Proverb

Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger. ~Chinese Proverb

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools. ~Albert Einstein

No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched. ~George Jean Nathan

Anger is short-lived madness. ~Horace

Anger blows out the lamp of the mind. ~Robert G. Ingersoll

Spite is never lonely; envy always tags along. ~Mignon McLaughlin,

Temper tantrums, however fun they may be to throw, rarely solve whatever problem is causing them. ~Lemony Snicket

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to. ~Author Unknown

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Buddha

We have all heard many quotes regarding anger, there's probably a few you're thinking about right now. But even all these famous quotes, all these 'sought after' people of wisdom - the Bible has clearly shown an example - Not too many stories show the idiocy of out-of-control anger as that of King Nebuchadnezzer. The boys did not spit in his face, they did not stomp on his crown, they didn't kick sand in his face - they simply refused to bow down to some gold he had melted. Boy, did that make him mad.

First thing he does - he turns the heat up seven times in the furnace. Which seems a little silly to me. You're going to die from flames at "regular" heat - just like you die from seven times hotter heat. But, anger is not rational. He also calls on his strongest men to throw them into the furnace. Even though Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have already said they accepted the terms of not bowing down and knew they would be going into the furnace, the king felt that the use of his strongest soldiers in this situation was necessary.

Anger + Pride = Bad Combination. Stay tuned to see what happens. . . .