🗿a golden statue🎶music🔥a hot furnace🛡️not hurt🙌praise
The story in Babylon.
The big ideaThe Bible tells how three friends stood firm for God, and the king saw them safe.
How it works
The Bible tells how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon built a huge golden statue, taller than a house, and ordered everyone to bow to it when the music played.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, three young men from Judah, stood up straight and tall. They would bow to God alone.
The king was furious. He ordered the furnace made hotter, and the three friends were put inside.
Then the king jumped up in surprise. He could see four people walking about in the fire, not tied up and not hurt at all. The three friends came out with not even a smell of smoke on them.
The story in order.Three went in. How many did the king see?
Example 1: Count the people
Three friends were put into the furnace.
The king saw four people walking in the fire.
4 - 3 = 1
So the king saw one more person than the three who went in.
Example 2: Why three friends stood tall
Everyone else bowed when the music played.
The three friends stood up straight and tall, because they would bow to God alone.
They stayed quiet and steady, even when the king gave them one more chance.
Example 3: What a furnace is
In those days a furnace was a huge brick oven, used to bake bricks.
It got very, very hot.
The king ordered it made hotter, but the fire did not hurt the three friends at all.
Example 4: Put the story in order
First the king built the golden statue.
Then the music played and the people bowed.
The king was furious and the furnace was made hotter, and last the king shouted praise.
Words to know
furnace
A huge oven that gets very, very hot.
statue
A figure made of stone, wood or metal.
herald
A messenger who calls out a king's orders.
trust
To count on someone to keep you safe, even when it is hard.
Watch out
The three friends did not bow. Everyone else did.
The king saw four people walking in the fire, but three friends had been put in.
The three friends came out and were not hurt at all. There was not even a smell of smoke on them.
The statue was made of gold and taller than a house.
Try it
What was the statue made of?
What did the three friends do when the music played?
How many people did the king see walking in the fire?
Did the fire hurt the three friends?
Friends are teasing someone. What is brave?
Answers: 1. Gold · 2. They stood up straight and tall · 3. Four · 4. No · 5. Stand up kindly
Try at homeWith a grown-up, talk about a time it was hard to do the right thing when others did not, and what could help you stand tall.
For grown-upsThis story has a fire in it, so read it at your child's pace and stop if they want to. Ask what the three friends decided and how they stayed calm, rather than what the fire looked like.
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