Strange how two people can look at the same thing but see it differently. Israel saw only a devouring fire on the mount and kept their distance. Moses saw God in the fire and entered into the midst of it. There is no cause to fear the fire when God is in it.
The “fiery trials” spoken of by Peter always do three things: first, they loose us from our bondage; second, they give us an awareness of our Divine Companion; and third, they bring glory to God. The three Hebrew children are an illustration of these three truths.
Isaiah promises, “...when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” And so it was with the courageous three in Daniel. The king’s testimony of them was, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth man is like the Son of God.”
It’s that fourth Man Who makes the difference in the fiery trials of life. When old John on Patmos describes this fourth Man he says, “...his feet [were] like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,” (Dan.3). No wonder we are told “...glorify ye the Lord in the fires.”
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie
My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
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