The Regular Guys Bible Study
The Regular Guys Bible Study podcast -- RGBS -- is a podcast for regular guys by regular guys (not theologians) studying the Bible together. It's brought to you by a couple of goofy guys who just want to study the Bible together and show you that anyone can read and study the Bible. In fact, you SHOULD read and study the Bible yourself. We're here to show you how we do it, and, hopefully, we can have some fun along the way.
The Regular Guys Bible Study
Daniel 3
We read Daniel 3 and sit with the courage of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to say “even if not,” asking what obedience looks like when outcomes are uncertain. We also laugh at the noisy band list, question the golden image, and wrestle with forced worship versus true faith.
• why the golden image likely wasn’t a statue of the king
• who bowed and why refusal stands out
• the “even if not” posture of real faith
• what the furnace scene shows about God’s presence
• angel or theophany in the fire
• Nebuchadnezzar’s awe versus repentance
• obedience over sacrifice as a core theme
• practical courage when pressure demands compromise
Send text via the link at the top of the description and tell us we’re idiots or geniuses—either way, leave a comment
You are listening to the Regular Guys Bible Study Podcast, the Bible study for regular guys by regular guys. We are your host, Ken and Steve, and we are just regular guys studying the Bible together, not theologians. Alright, welcome, welcome, welcome, everybody.
SPEAKER_02:Hey Ken, I I heard you met a guy.
SPEAKER_03:I see what you did. Steve is alluding to that I started a new job at Meta. So my real-time job, the job that actually makes me money instead of costs me money, is uh now with Meta. So thanks for letting the whole world know that, Steve. Our the whole world of our list.
SPEAKER_02:You put it on LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_03:That's true. That's true. But um, oh man, uh one of the people at um at uh my onboarding week said, Oh, you know what? I can find anybody. I can find anybody's stuff online. And um, like uh I don't know, later that evening she she comes up to this whole group of people that we're hanging out with because I made all these little friends, and she goes, Okay, are you you have a podcast, don't you? It's like, oh man, the regular guy's Bible study. That's me. That's me. Now I have to clean up my act and act like a Christian. That's no, I that's not. You're supposed to be doing that all the time. I was, I was the whole time. Yes. I'm just joking, Steve. Sometimes I I make little jokes. I'm sometimes I'm a joker. Sometimes they're funny. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
SPEAKER_02:Uh all right. Well, we're on chapter three of Danielle.
SPEAKER_03:Good old Daniel. Daniel chapter three. Uh, I apologize, guys. We keep skipping weeks every now and then because of work.
SPEAKER_02:And we're probably gonna skip next Monday, too.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that's true. Next Monday is um a special day for us. All right, so so we're doing we're we're on right now for Daniel. We are on an every other week um uh broadcast.
SPEAKER_02:So it's hard during the holidays, though. There's a lot of stuff going on.
SPEAKER_03:You're right, it really is. Um, but we should be able to do several in a row, I think, after that, unless we just don't feel like it. But I think we feel like it, Steve. I feel good.
SPEAKER_02:You know why? Because I'm gonna read the first section and then you can read the second.
SPEAKER_03:The second section's a lot longer, Steve. I say we switch things up today.
SPEAKER_02:Why do you think I suggested it?
SPEAKER_03:All right. Well, as always, guys, the whole point of this is to encourage you to read your Bible. Right? That is is that right, Steve? Isn't that what we're trying to get people to do? We want.
SPEAKER_02:I'm I'm trying to encourage you to read the Bible. And you're trying to turn it around.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, no, but this is in general in your life, not about the this is not about the podcast, but the one of our goals for this podcast is that you people to read it on their own and say, how could we ever come to that conclusion?
SPEAKER_02:Yes. After they've read it, they'll be like, those guys are idiots.
SPEAKER_03:Those guys are complete idiots. This is very obvious what this is saying, and it is uh just you know, whatever it is. Um, and actually, you know, after you read something, you can leave us comments. Leave us comments. We've got a link if you go to any of these descriptions.
SPEAKER_02:We've had a flood of comments lately, haven't we?
SPEAKER_03:We have. Um, but you know what? I'm staying on top of them. And um all all one of them. Maybe. Um, but anyway, um uh my whole point is you can go uh it what does it say? Send send text or something like that on the link on our description. Do you even know what it says, Steve? You don't even know what it says. You don't I don't even know where it is at the very top of the description of this podcast. It will say something like send text, and you can click on that link. It's a link that'll take you to a spot where you can just fill it in and say, you guys are idiots. Um, that's fine if you want to say that. You could also say, you guys are the smartest people in the world, and it really helped me out a lot. Um, um, that'd be cool. That would be really encouraging for us. But you know, any kind of comment is great. Um, anyway, if you haven't read Daniel chapter three, go do it now and then come back. All right. Let's go, Steve. And we're back.
SPEAKER_02:All right. Chapter three. King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it upon up on the plain of Durah in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces or of the provinces to come to the dedication Yeah, I know. Come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. That seems repetitive. And the herald proclaimed aloud, You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Nebuchadnezzar. You know, having to read this out loud, I noticed a lot of different things I didn't notice before. And one of those is you could make this paragraph half the size if you took out that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. It's like in there 16 times or something.
SPEAKER_03:That is true. That's a good point. Um, and it seems to be um you could also just make it shorter by there was just a lot of repetitive stuff in there. Um, I think we should continue reading, though, personally, Steve. Oh, go ahead. Yeah, let me go. Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans, Chaldeans, came from uh came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declare to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in a furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneco be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now, if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace, and who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshat, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the fire, the he ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated, and he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these me then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace was overheated, and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. He answered and said, But I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace. He declared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire, and the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered toward together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of the of those men, the hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any God except their own. Therefore I make a decree, any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way. Then the king crum promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. That was a lot. That was a lot. I think I did it pretty well, though. You you did. I was impressed with myself.
SPEAKER_02:Do you think he got this idea to build a thing out of gold because his head was gold in the uh previous dream?
SPEAKER_03:That's a good question. I didn't think about that. Um but I will say this everything I've ever seen about this, like uh like VeggieTales has a story of this where King Oh, very historically accurate. Very historically accurate. I mean, it sounds like he was an eggplant. Um and um so but they had him in that story, he'll he built a golden image of himself, but it does not say it was of himself.
SPEAKER_02:And it's almost impossible that it was humanoid in shape, because six cubits is only like nine feet, and this thing was ninety feet tall. The slightest little wind or push would knock this thing over.
SPEAKER_03:So this is more like a large po post.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's like an obelisk.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, an obelisk or a monolith.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like space odyssey. But even that would be somewhat unstable. Or maybe it was on a uh pedestal or something.
SPEAKER_03:Or dug in the ground or something, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it just seems like really weird um uh ratio of height versus width.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, nine, let's see. Uh what did you say? 90 feet?
SPEAKER_02:90 feet tall by nine foot wide. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's uh oh. That's really 90 feet.
SPEAKER_03:That's 30 yards. Sorry, it's easy for me to it's easier for me to think in yards. In terms of football. Um, all right, 30 yards and then just three yards wide. That's yeah, this is a this is like uh just a post or or I mean it could be like a a tree trunk that had been sunken into the ground and then added stuff to it. You know, something like that. But but uh okay, your question though about do you do I think the dream had something to do with it? It's possible. This thing could represent him, right? He is the leader and um he seems to enjoy the worship of people. So the the fact that some people represent uh when they talk about this, I've heard I've heard met sermons, by the way, where they say he erected an in a a statue of himself.
SPEAKER_04:But it doesn't say that.
SPEAKER_03:It doesn't say that. But I can see how it might represent him, but I don't I have no idea.
SPEAKER_02:So I did come across this article that was saying that in this time period it wasn't uncommon that some sort of pillar or something would be made after a conquering of a people's where they'd all be brought out to pledge their um loyalty or fealty to the new king.
SPEAKER_03:But this is not this is beyond that, right? This is or is that the same thing uh according well it might be the same according to Nebuchadnezzar? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But because it's worship of this thing.
SPEAKER_03:Um there's one thing I noticed in verse seven. So he sets this thing up, and in verse seven it says, Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Um, and then later, you know, they came and said, These three guys, these three Jews, aren't doing it. But what really struck me about verse seven, you know, it sounds like 90% of the Jews did too.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, that's a good point. I hadn't really thought about that.
SPEAKER_02:But we don't really know where this is. It there may not be other Jews there.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe, but it says, um, you know, they did conquer the Jews, and it says, you know, all the people's nations and languages fell down. So it is a place where there are multiple nations that they've conquered there. Right? Or there wouldn't be different languages and different nations and peoples. Right. So I think it's highly likely that there are Jews in this group, but they're just going along with what the leader says to do.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and it sounds to me like it's not just the general run-of-the-mill people, it's more of the rulers of the land, like the city planners, organizers, um, city council, mayor, governor. It doesn't sound like Joe Schmoe farmer is in this list.
SPEAKER_04:You don't think so?
SPEAKER_02:Why not? Because a farmer is not a satrap, prefect, governor, counselor, treasurer, justice, no but magistrate and all the officials of the provinces.
SPEAKER_03:Let's see.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, you're right. Those are the people that gathered.
SPEAKER_02:But you know, and I have to say, if I went somewhere and they said, You have to do this, or you'll get thrown in a fiery furnace, that to me sounds like a hostile workplace. I think they have a case here for a lawsuit.
SPEAKER_03:Hmm. Maybe they should go to Nebuchadnezzar and as the judge and uh complain. You know one thing I notice about Nebuchadnezzar? Man, he is a violent dude.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, he is. It's that's his answer to everything.
SPEAKER_03:It's it's always like just rip someone limb from limb or burn them in a fire or feed them to lions. Just destroy somebody.
SPEAKER_02:Again in verse 29, if if they don't worship the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, tear them apart.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's almost like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are going, yeah, great. He loves he's saying we're that our God is good. No, we'll hold it. It's like you don't need to rip people apart if they say something bad.
SPEAKER_04:But um all right, what else you got, Steve?
SPEAKER_02:So there's no mention of Daniel here. Where do you think Daniel is?
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, I noticed that as well, and I have a note about that. I think Payne. All right, let's hear no, because I don't I just alright. My thought is he is out of town.
SPEAKER_02:Oh. See, my thought is he's high enough up that these guys are afraid to call him out.
SPEAKER_03:Uh maybe so, but you know, he's running, he's ruling Babylon. All of Babylon.
SPEAKER_02:So he might get on his bad side.
SPEAKER_03:No, but he might also might not even be in the city right now. Um he could be in another place traveling around.
SPEAKER_04:Um but if he is there, I'm a little disappointed in him because he's not saying anything.
SPEAKER_02:Isn't he the one writing this?
SPEAKER_04:Um I don't think so. Uh let's see. How do I find this?
SPEAKER_02:I think you just ask AI. Who wrote Daniel?
SPEAKER_03:Uh did you ask it already?
SPEAKER_02:No, I didn't. Alright, I just didn't want to interrupt you.
SPEAKER_04:Who wrote the book of Daniel? Dang it, why is it not working? Who oh who wrote the book of Daniel? I couldn't hear it.
SPEAKER_03:All right. So tradition does say that Daniel wrote it himself, but scholars mostly point to an unknown Jewish author around the second century BC during the Maccabean period. So, in other words, it could be Daniel himself, or it could be someone um later writing about Daniel. But tradition does hold that it is Daniel. Um that that is AI, it's not necessarily um accurate.
SPEAKER_02:But it's convinced it's right, and that matters for nothing.
SPEAKER_03:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:That is so what's a trigon? Um or a trigon.
SPEAKER_03:Um you know you want me to ask AI about that?
SPEAKER_02:No, I already did. Okay. It's some sort of triangle-shaped combo, like a harp or a guitar like thing. But it's like a stringed instrument. It doesn't have a neck. A stringed instrument, though? A stringed instrument.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Yeah. Um yeah, I you know what's funny is when I hear the way it's written, this that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, triggon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, that just to me sounds like they're just a bunch of people banging on things. Uh like if you've ever been to a junior high band concert, um and they're tuning their instruments. Well, and for junior high, it can be during uh it can be after that too. It's actual performances. Oh, and you're sitting there, the you're just trying not to see, just trying not to laugh.
SPEAKER_02:It's like but that's the way it sounds like it doesn't sound like there's a tune here. They could have said, when you hear the music, do this, but it apparently sounded so bad they had to say this other stuff here. When you hear something that's like an instrument of some sort, whether it sounds good or not, you better start worshiping it.
SPEAKER_03:And they don't say when you hear this tune, it's every kind of music. They're all it's like they're all playing random. So I don't know. Maybe it's just to bank make a bunch of noise so that people hear it, so that they can keeps the bears away. Uh okay, so does bear spray, but they are not bringing out bear spray here, see?
SPEAKER_04:Alright. Um what else do you got, Steve?
SPEAKER_02:Alright, so 16 through 18, but particularly 18. What if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. These guys have some cojones.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, they do. Um you know what's interesting is I sometimes like get mad at myself for my lack of faith.
SPEAKER_02:But I get I get mad at you too for that.
SPEAKER_03:But but they had faith, right? That that God would protect them. But the truth is they said, yeah, you know what? Even if God decides not to do it, it's alright. We're not gonna we're not gonna serve another God.
SPEAKER_02:Because we have not soiled ourselves before our God, we'll be fine.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. It's not quite what it said. It's not about soiling themselves. Well, you know what I mean. They didn't they didn't poop in their cloak. Um wouldn't make a mess, would it?
SPEAKER_02:It'd just kind of fall out.
SPEAKER_03:Well, if their coat was dangling in the wrong spot. I think that's how you soil yourself in a cloak. I don't know, Steve. Anyway, um yeah, I think this is I you know, it's like I find myself praying for someone to be healed or praying that God will get me through a situation or whatever. And you know, having the faith that God will do it, but if he doesn't, it's okay. That's I think that's the kind of faith that I would like to have.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So me too. Um what else you got? Uh let's see.
SPEAKER_03:Um okay, well, just some some things to note. Uh it's not they're not I have nothing spiritual here, Steve. But I think it's hilarious that he heated this thing so so stinking hot that the people who threw them in died as they threw them in because it was too hot for them.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not sure hysterical is the right word, but well, um it's I think it's funny.
SPEAKER_03:You can't say it's too soon, Ken. You can't say that. I mean, this is a long time ago.
SPEAKER_02:It has been a while. What 2600 years, something like that?
SPEAKER_03:Something like that. So I don't think I think it's not too soon. I think we can say it.
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah, but um so and also I I struggle to understand what this furnace looked like uh to be able to actually walk in it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I don't I don't understand all of that either, but I assume it's heating the palace, right?
SPEAKER_02:Well, see that article I found said that a temporary like kiln or what something would have been set up to create this statue or this whatever this thing is. Um and it could be the thing that was used to help make it.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, maybe. But I was just assuming this was a furnace to heat the castle when it in the winter, but maybe not. Yeah, I don't know. Then it would be underneath the castle or something. I don't know. I should have I should have looked that up. I just kind of assumed I knew what it was. But it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be having a giant furnace underneath my castle.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and then he probably wouldn't be he'd probably be less comfortable heating. It up seven times hotter.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I think I'm wrong. Um, let's see, what else did I have here about that? Oh, oh, and um, you know, it's interesting, you know, it's always amazing, you know, they they weren't burned up in this thing, and that there was a fourth person walking around that was probably shining like the sun or something that well he said he looked like a son of the gods.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:So there had to be something different about something was different about that guy walking around. Um, so um speculation that I read said it's probably an angel, but it could be Jesus or whatever. Right. Um but um go ahead.
SPEAKER_02:I was gonna say, do you think old Neb was the only one that could see the fourth person? Or do you think everyone could see four people?
SPEAKER_04:I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:It doesn't say. Um he might have been the only one with a really good look into the furnace, but there might have been a couple of people nearby that could see in. I it's not clear on that.
SPEAKER_02:I guess it doesn't really matter one way or the other.
SPEAKER_03:Um but what I was gonna say, not only were they not killed, they didn't even have the smell of fire on them. I know that's the first time I've noticed that when I'm reading this. I mean, I knew their hair wasn't singed, but they didn't even smell like burning.
SPEAKER_02:And if I have a fire in my fireplace in the house, my clothes will smell like fire.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. You know, we had a um a little uh fire ring going last night. Um, because by the way, we did look it up, we're under a burn ban, but what we did was legal um in our little fire pit. Um, and you know, we did some marshmallows and stuff because I have kids home. And um adult kids, but they wanted to do it and it was fun, but I had to throw everything I was wearing into the dirty clothes, and I had to take a shower before I went to bed, even though I wasn't sweaty, because I just stunk like smoke. Yep. And um, they had no smell of any they had nothing, no smell of smoke.
SPEAKER_04:Um all right, so go ahead.
SPEAKER_02:Once again, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the God of the Jews. And earlier, when they were saying, you know, we're not gonna bow down to this guy, this thing, they should have brought up you remember when Daniel told you about your dream? That's the God we serve, the one that told you your dream. You know, I maybe then you would have been like, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But I was thinking about this, and it never indicates in the first chapter in that story where where they say um we can't bow down to any other gods. And I guarantee you, Nebuchadnezzar was okay bowing down to any god if he thought it would serve him, right? Yeah, and so he might have this mindset that you know I you're sure they can invested all this money into this stupid thing that they should worship this too, but also they can also, he's not saying they can't worship the God of Israel, they can still do that, but they need to worship this pole, this golden pedestal that I've erected as well. And so I can see how Nebuchadnezzar in his not so infinite wisdom. I was gonna be nice and say ignorance, but it's no, that's a little too nice. In his arrogance, yeah, that's a better word, um, would think that this is not a problem. And then he and then, of course, in his furious rage, as he always does, some does stupid things. Um, but you still kind of wonder what the future holds here because he said you can't say anything bad about the God of Israel, right? The God of the Jews. Is that uh what did he say? Uh you can't, therefore I make this decree. Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid to ruin. For there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. Um, which so he does believe that the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is more powerful than all other gods in this area. But I believe he still thinks there's other gods.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I think you're right. So I have a question for you.
SPEAKER_04:Yep. Is it really worship if you're doing it because you're threatened with death? Like being thrown into a fiery furnace. Is it really worship? I can tell you what it's not. It's not worship of God.
SPEAKER_03:Because it is a complete lack of faith in God, in the real God.
SPEAKER_02:I asked that because you know there's a parallel here with heaven and hell. You can accept Christ as your savior and be saved before you get thrown in a fiery furnace.
SPEAKER_04:That's true. That is true. But what do you do with that? Uh what do I do with which? What? What do I do with what?
SPEAKER_02:Well I don't personally I don't think you're saved if your reasons and motivation for doing it are merely to avoid hell.
SPEAKER_03:Ah Well the Bible says, Steve, if you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, then you will be saved. Now there's a lot you can say that like you could say, well, if you are trying just not to go to hell, then you don't really think Jesus is Lord. You're just you're just trying to do you're just trying to say something that will get you out of hell.
SPEAKER_02:Um it's like buying insurance.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and as I've learned, insurance doesn't pay for Jack Diddley squat.
SPEAKER_04:True.
SPEAKER_03:Um but yeah, I think uh it comes down to the heart of the person, and we cannot be judged over their heart, um, but uh only Jesus uh can do that.
SPEAKER_02:So well, and I think the other difference is we're we're being offered the love of God and it's it's complicated, you know, because he's this holy God that we don't really understand what holy means, but we're separated from him because of that, and through Jesus it's the only way to get to him. Yeah. It's all hard. Somebody smart out there, figure it out.
SPEAKER_03:You know, maybe a theologian or something something should do a podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that'd be cool.
SPEAKER_03:Instead of just two idiot guys, I mean regular guys. Regular guys. Regular guys. Um so okay. So let me ask you this, Steve. What does what we just read, what does this story tell us about God?
SPEAKER_02:I'd say it tells us he's pretty darn powerful if he can keep even the smell of smoke off of you and uh in this fire.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I think um I think it also says that God rewards obedience. And in fact, somewhere, where does it say uh darn it? I need to search. Where's my search? They move things around on this app. Okay, here it is.
SPEAKER_04:Where does it say to obey is better than sacrifice?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I know that Jesus said I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
SPEAKER_03:Let's see. First Samuel 15 22 um has uh I don't like that version. Behold, behold, to to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fats, fat of rams. So um God desires our obedience. Um not not necessarily a sacrifice, but obedience. Um sometimes that includes a sacrifice, but we need to be ready to obey. That's all I'm saying.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. But that's all I've got, Ken.
SPEAKER_03:That's all I got, too.
SPEAKER_02:Um, that's good timing.
SPEAKER_03:Is it? Because we're both done at the same time?
SPEAKER_02:We're both done, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:All right, yay! Woohoo! Woohoo! Woo! Oh, where's the there we go? Thank you, everybody.
SPEAKER_02:Oh thank you guys. Chapter four. Chapter four looks a little long. We might, depending on the content, we might split that up. Maybe.
SPEAKER_03:All right, well, I'll take a look. I'll start reading it tomorrow morning. Me too. All right, all right. Well, guys, we really appreciate you listening, and uh, we will catch you on the flip side. Peace out. The regular guys Bible study is a chasm LLC production, all rights reserved.
