In The Fire
We humans are fickle. Unpredictable. Prone to vacillate wildly between what’s good and bad for us, what’s helpful and harmful. Hilarious and relatable memes show the split personality that is an epidemic of the human condition. “Me: ‘I want to get trim and healthy’; Also me: (eating my weight in tacos in one sitting)”. “Me: ‘I need to save for retirement’; Also me: ‘I need to fill my garage with sports equipment I’ll use only once.’”
Maybe one of the most profound and dramatic examples of this behavior is found in the book of Daniel. Chapter 2 recounts a dream King Nebuchadnezzar had. A seemingly shrewd leader, he charged Daniel with not only interpreting his dream but telling him what he dreamed in the first place! Yikes! Can you imagine? No way to fake that! Daniel approached the king with humility, taking not a shred of the glory for his ability to solve this mystery. Instead, he glorified God.
After Daniel described the king’s dream down to the most minute detail and interpreted it, the king seemed to have seen the light. He said (Daniel 2:47)..” Truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery”. Daniel received a massive promotion and was entrusted with major responsibilities, including the appointing of three men over the affairs of the province of Babylon. They were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. All this is recorded at the end of Daniel, chapter 2. Side note: this could also be a prequel to Veggie Tales’ “Rack, Shack & Benny”. Silly songs. If you know, you know. And you’re welcome.
We read in verse 1 of chapter 3 that King Nebuchadnezzar made a massive image of gold. Wait- what? Is this the same guy who just saw a miracle performed by the one and only true, capital “G” God? Now he is having a ginormous idol built? If that weren’t bad enough, he took it to a whole different level, commanding all people groups and nations to bow down to the idol when the music played. But wait… there’s more! If all the people didn’t bow to the idol, the punishment was to be burned alive in a fiery furnace. Needless to say, people bowed. Everyone, in fact, with the exception of three brave and steadfast men. Yep, you guessed it! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Like Daniel, these men knew the real God and they knew His law. They knew that commandment one is this: “You shall have no other gods before me” and they took it seriously. Even to the point of death!
Talk about being the odd man out (times 3)! These men refused to conform. The king, clearly confused, asked why they weren’t joining the masses and bowing to the statue. We can practically feel their steadfast confidence leap off the page as we read in Daniel 3:16-18. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not (or ‘even if’ in some versions), be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Mic drop.
Basically, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saw their situation as a win/win. Behind door number 1 was a miracle, in that God would deliver them from a blazing fire. Behind door number 2, God would still deliver them, as they would die in the here and now, but would live with Him in eternity! They did not sell out their faith in God for the acceptance of their peers, neighbors or rulers. Devotion and obedience to the highest ruler (big ‘G” God)!
As you can imagine, the pride-filled and clueless king was furious by the fact that these 3 men would not bow and would not conform. Their faithfulness to God was a giant blow to the king’s pride and he didn’t handle it well. Read Daniel 3 beginning in verse 19 to see how the story ends, but for today, let’s ask ourselves some questions:
Who or what do I bow to?
Fear?
The crowd?
Money?
Fame or notoriety?
Power?
People/relationships?
Take a few minutes to really think about that, then let’s surrender it to God when you’re ready.
Lord God, we confess that, while it’s easy for us to scoff at the people of old who caved to fear and the pressure of those around them, we too fall terribly short. Wanting to fit in, gain favor, and be liked are just a few reasons we put you on the shelf of our hearts. Forgive us, God. We are weak, but you are so strong! Give us a burning desire to please you first. To seek you first. To love you more than anything or anyone, no matter what it costs us. May you reign supreme in our hearts. Give us courage and strength and boldness to stand in a culture that is so perverse and corrupt, hostile to the things of God, especially the gospel Your word tells us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing and we see that on full display today. Empower us to stand firm. We desire to be steadfast in the faith, loving you and loving others; never compromising or trading your truth for the lies (sometimes referred to as “my truth”). We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ mighty, powerful, death-defeating name we pray, amen.