Even If He Does Not

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16–18, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Impossible situations call for a God of all things are possible. But in the case of these three, it didn’t matter. Of course, “the God [they served was] able to save [them] from” the “blazing furnace.” But their faith was not dependent upon Him doing so. They knew that God’s greater purposes sometimes call for His people to not be rescued, as has happened many times in Church history. So, they did not bow down to the statue that the king had made. Even after given another chance to do so. Their response? “We will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.“

So, they were thrown into the fiery furnace. A furnace so hot that the soldiers who threw them in perished. “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!'” (Daniel 3:24–26, NIV 1984).

In this case, God’s greater purpose was served by delivering the three. It caused king Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful person in the world at that time to acknowledge and praise “the Most High God.” “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:3, NIV 1984).

My Advice – What statues (“images of gold“) have we erected in our lives that we bow down to? That we all too easily fall down to worship? Or that distract us from serving and worshipping the one true God?

“Then they [the rulers, elders and teachers of the law] called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.'” (Acts 4:18–20, NIV 1984).