“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits (around ninety feet tall and nine feet wide): he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up: and the stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The herald came out and cried aloud, To you it is COMMANDED, O people, nations, and languages,

That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, YE FALL DOWN AND WORSHIP THE GOLDEN IMAGE that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into midst of a  fiery furnace.

Therefore at that time, when all the people hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of, all the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused  The Jews.

They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego;  these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick,  ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace:  and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

If it so be, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hath set up.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury , and the form of his visage (facial expression) was changed against  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that the should heat the furnace one seven times more that it wont to be heated (was usually heated)

And he commanded his most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

These men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down into the midst of the fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?  They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose,  walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt (unharmed); and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither (here). Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire.

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed (affected) nor the smell of the fire had passed on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” Daniel 3:1-28 KJV

Ahh, the fiery furnace. Kinda reminds me of Ed Sheeran, not that he is in a spiritual battle but then again..

My heart truly does go out to him, he has tried to stay neutral, a sweet spot many of us have tried in the world, a place where you know your true thoughts are going to be met with a vehement meltdown from all those who pretend to be your friends.
Many just try to avoid the topics and refrain from expressing any opinions.

But you know, there comes a time in all of our lives that we have to stand and often it is forced.

Old sayings about the middle of the road.

True friends do not try to force their beliefs on us, we were created to be individual and I do not believe for one minute that all those who kept screaming about the starving Gazans really give a hoot about any of it, if they really cared about these issues there would be many other places mentioned, where needs are far greater and humans are truly being slaughtered.

They would not be taking to their social medias, standing on stages, raking in millions, flocking to interviews, no, they would actually being doing something to help. not just trying to force everyone else to bow when told, to believe what they are told, and do as their told and that is not freedom.

We all know the day is coming when the world will be told to bow before the antichrist and if no one is standing now, how are earth will they stand then?

The world upheaval is all a practice run for that day.

It is ultimately a battle for souls.

The story of Nebuchadnezzars statue is the perfect example, all  the world bowing down, worshipping this monstrosity because they were told to.

The influence of music today is truly horrifying, it is not by chance, it gives the enemy the perfect tool to sway and control minds into allegiance to causes, people, and doctrines that they do not even understand, completely thoughtless to where this may later lead, because those whom they idolize have told them this is what they are to do.

Idols being the operative word.

Back to Sheeran, now he is being called names and ostracized, being picked apart, article after article.

I personally can’t help but to believe looking in the mirror at his own redhead, that he never thought twice about the little Bibas brothers when footage of October seventh aired and the family footage of the two beautiful little boys, having their mother’s gorgeous red hair, playing, laughing, being children, kidnapped and slaughtered because they were Jews.

No other reason. They had done nothing.  They were children. They were born Jews.

That is just taking these into consideration, not even discussing all the other people who were slaughtered, babies murdered, and those kidnapped, who really were starved.

The Jews have always been persecuted.

Redheads were also persecuted in ancient times simply because they had red hair. Hated, ,maligned, villainized, and even killed because of hair color.

How ridiculous is that?

As ridiculous as people are now, using the same old lies of satan to spread the same hate.

Nothing has changed, same mentality only now proclaiming how smart we all are, when in truth no intelligent being would believe that humans are to be judged on ethnicity.

This is the same hate spewed in times past at native Americans, African Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, and even still Asians and does anyone believe that even though the Jews are the current target that things could not change in the future and other groups will come back up on the most hated list?

Just as ridiculous as people being hated and persecuted because they had blue eyes, which again in ancient times set one up for some serious hatred and cruel persecution.

Mr. Sheeran, had he lived in the distant past would he himself be hated and persecuted because he is a blue eyed redhead, which technically his eyes are stated to be blue-green, which is indeed a true color and rare which would have made him even more suspect to witch hunters and werewolf chasers.

He needs prayer to stand and be an example, he can lose millions of followers, he can lose fake fans but at the end of the day if he can stand and know he stood for his own beliefs, whatever that may be, that is priceless.

It is not about what we believe, because we are all different and we are entitled to our own beliefs, it is about being forced by society to bow to whatever music they are playing and worship whatever image they are selling.

Once we start bowing, we will be forced to always bow, and just as we see playing out now, everyone is at his throat pulling this direction and that direction when he wanted to stay out of it and that is his right.

I do not claim to know anything about him other than what has been in the news, but it seems someone is always in the news, we have too much news, too many people with too many opinions and too many forums to share it all.

Mention of blue eyes, Prime Minister Netanyahu hit the nail on the head in his address to the UN.

Israel has constantly been forced to defend their position, their country was attacked, no other country in the world would be expected to justify not only their response to the attack and murder and abduction of their citizens, but also their very existence.

It was awesome.

So much bowing going on as all these countries bow to terrorists, it is quite ironic.

Example: Two farmers lived side by side, one sees the wolf coming and instead of calling for help in fighting off the wolf, he decides to frighten his neighbors sheep toward the wolf thinking the wolf will bypass his cattle and be satisfied feeding on the neighbors flock.

However, trying to run prey toward a ravenous wolf to save oneself may work for awhile in keeping the wolf well-fed but after that wolf  has devoured  all the animals on the neighbors farm, he will grow hungry again and who do you think will be on the menu? The one who agreed to fed him in the first place.

Javier Milei, I have no right whatsoever to use his first name only in my title, but I did!

He gives the distinct impression that he could achieve first name only status, he has a big personality and his UN address deserves two thumbs up, and a blue ribbon for his speech.

Whether anyone appreciates it or not, a person who says what they think and stands for their beliefs in this current society is a priceless treasure.

We have been hanging out at this crossroad for awhile now and we see more and more pressure to give in, go with the flow and just bow to the world but as in our story above, courage to stand is blessed.

Of course, we have to accept Jesus and live for him to partake of him and his deliverance, but often in the life, those of us who are saved find out that the journey to Christ often begins with having to stand for our beliefs in the face of ridicule, mocking, and hatred and we are blessed in doing so.

In  a world of carbon copies all bowing to the latest craze, be willing to stand, even if you stand alone.

The law of the universe is as we sow we reap, and those who are just keeping this hatred going and stirring up strife and cruelty are only stirring it up to be heaped on them in later days.

Especially spewing hatred that they don’t even believe, like those that who are paid to protest and cause trouble for others, those who go with it just to fit it,  will find that it will one day come back home.

One day they could find themselves the target of that same hatred and persecution, this is why Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have then do unto us.

Galatians 6:7: ” Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap.”

Like I always like to say, I know there are people who could read this and laugh, that they don’t even believe in God or the Gospel that I preach, but God does not need anyone to believe in him, He is the self-existing creator

Refusing to believe in him, in no way alters his design for human life.

It’s like the old belief that the earth is flat, and that leeching sick people of all their blood will save their life, when instead it actually killed them.

History books are full of stories of people with really bad ideas convincing other people that they are really good ideas, but history in the end tells the tale and I shudder to think how this generation will be viewed by those of the future, if the Lord tarries.

To wrap it up, Don’t bow down just because everyone else is, what we bow before will become what we are enslaved by.

I suppose thinking about all these blue-eyed dudes I guess we better get out the garlic cloves.

Have a wonderful day!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2026/ Rev. N. Brown Johnson