Faith In The Fire Series

Daniel: Faith in the Fire (7)

Text: Daniel 3:13-30

So last time, we saw that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to the image that Nebuchadnezzar built. They weren’t making a big scene out of it, but some jealous Chaldeans reported them, and they were brought before the king…

And I love this passage that we’re going to look at today, because it is a very clear picture of what faith looks like.

Let’s go to Daniel chapter 3 (READ Daniel 3:13-30).

So Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury. He’s in a rage.

And we talked about this a little last time. The world loves it when you engage in its sin, because when we as Christians don’t do that… and when we hold to our convictions and stand strong – it condemns the world and convicts the worldly. Sinners want to be affirmed in their sin. They want it normalized and affirmed because it helps dull their conscience. They’re still guilty before God, but when they are affirmed by everyone around them, it helps put that out of their mind. It takes it from the forefront.

And even Christians… Christians who stumble… guess what? They don’t want to be around other Church members… they stop gathering, because they feel convicted. The solution isn’t to run away. It isn’t to seek affirmation from the world. The solution is to repent. To be honest with God and say, “Yes, God, I am sorry for my sin. I am sorry that there are still areas where my heart loves idols, and the world has a strong pull on me. Give me the strength and grace to repent. Give me a holy hatred for sin, and help me to love You more and more.”

But Nebuchadnezzar… he’s filled with fury. He’s mad. And he orders the furnace to be heated seven times more than it usually was. That serves no purpose in the execution of these guys… it’s just that Nebuchadnezzar is an overly dramatic bipolar, narcissist.

And so, the three Hebrew young men are brought in… and Nebuchadnezzar begins by asking, “Is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image I’ve set up?”

He’s basically saying, ”Hey maybe these boys didn’t know… or understand… but I’m going to give you another chance to deny your God, and worship this idol… this false god. I’m going to give you another chance, now that you see this blazing furnace, and feel it’s heat. Just bow to the world and its master, and all will be well.

And it’s interesting… because again, Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t just say, “Bow down to the image.” He says, “When you hear the sound of the music – bow down.” And as we saw last time, these instruments were from every corner of the Babylonian empire, and even beyond. So the idea here is that this was a multi-cultural music ensemble.

It’s a picture of how all the world is bowing down to Satan and false religion.

But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are like, “No! No, we won’t bow down. We don’t serve false gods. We don’t worship demons. We aren’t going to conform to this world. We are going to trust in God, and we’re going to stand for God.”

And catch this… “We’re going to trust in God, and we’re going to stand for God EVEN IF He doesn’t deliver us from this terrible death.”

Look at verses 16-19 again (READ).

Man, I love that! That’s faith!

And I once heard a pastor say, “Well, these boys did that because they had nothing else to lose.”

But let’s examine that claim… Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, at this time, had been appointed to high ranking positions in the government. They were among those officials that the king summoned in verses 2 and 3.

And that also explains to us why Daniel wasn’t here. Daniel is above those ranks. He’s exempt from this. So it wasn’t like Daniel compromised. He was higher rank, so he wasn’t subject to this command… but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego… they were lower rank… but still… they had good positions.

So, they had good paying, government jobs. That meant that they lived in nice homes, had nice things, they had plenty to eat, certain privileges in life… in-fact, they may have even been living better now in Babylon than they had in Israel. Basically they had all the things in Babylon, that you and I have in Babylon… THE WORLD. They had just as much to lose as any of us… and maybe even more. Not to mention their own lives.

But they understood that a life of ease in this world could not compare – couldn’t even begin to come close to what awaits us in eternity. They were looking for the kingdom whose Builder and Maker is God.