“Even If He Don’t”
Daniel 3:16-18
READ TOGETHER DANIEL 3:16-18 (NIV 1984)
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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."
ILLUSTRATION… Will God Come Through (p)
Tom and his new wife loved each other dearly. They had made such grand promises to each other at their wedding ceremony and the ceremony was absolute perfection and storybook. Life was good the first month, but then Tom lost his job and his wife was going to school full-time and could only work part-time. They moved to a small studio apartment and bumped into each other often and tempers flared more than they wished. Then Tom’s father grew ill. Then the car started making a warping sound every time it turned left. Then a bike which was a wedding gift got stolen. Then the TV started showing everything with a greenish hue. Tom had been out of work for six months and they were now using up the last of their wedding gift money to live. They had even taken back some wedding gifts for gift cards to buy groceries. The stress level was making Tom physically sick and he could not sleep.
It was some time in the third month that Tom decided to begin each day praying for his new bride and the tsunami of horror that was their life. Bad things kept happening. Things kept breaking. Bills came in they could not pay. Credit cards were maxed. Every day Tom prayed that God would make a way. It was after they decided to pawn their wedding rings in the sixth month that Tom found it difficult to pray.
Where was God in all of this?
It had been three months of faithful praying; would God come through in providing him a job?
Why was life so hard all of a sudden?
It was the morning that he was to go and pawn their wedding rings that Tom knelt by the bedside as usual and felt like he had a choice. Would he pray once more? Would he continue to pray or give up? Would he just let out a curse at God and forget his faith or stick with the faith he knew was in his heart? What would he do? Would God come through?
BACKGROUND OF DANIEL 3:16-18
Our passage this morning has some interesting background to it which includes a huge statue and a huge command to do something wrong. Daniel 3:1-6 creates for us the background for verses 16-18 which are the verses we read together this morning. Daniel 3 begins with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon making an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide. I can imagine that the image is of him, but we don’t actually know. He then summons all of his government officials and all his musicians to dedicate the image to his glory and I can only assume to his false idol gods. The dedication involved bowing down to an idol and worshipping it. The message from the king went out in verses 5-6: “As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (the three men mentioned in verses 16-18) were among the government officials summoned. As believers in God Almighty, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had a choice as they stood there on the plain in the crowd of people. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could bow down to the huge statue and betray their God, their faith, and their heritage (Exodus 20:4-5, Leviticus 26:1). Bowing down was something that they could do if they so chose. The king commanded all the officials to do it and made no exception for them. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could also with great integrity refuse to bow down and maintain their faith in God (Joshua 23:16). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were commanded to do something morally wrong against God. What would they do? As the story goes, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego decided not to bow down to the huge golden statue and faced the fiery furnace consequence.
READ TOGETHER DANIEL 3:16-18 (MSG)
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up."
THOUGHTS DANIEL 3:16-18
These verses in Daniel 3 are by far some of the best verses on faith in the entire Bible in my opinion. These men are faced with being tossed into a furnace. That is not some metaphor for something else; these men are to be tossed into an actual furnace and actually burned alive for not bowing down to an idol.
VERSE 16
In verse 16, these men responded with respect for the King of Babylon. They were not disrespectful or angry or belligerent in their response to the king. They had made a decision not to bow down to the idol and they would not change their minds. They decided not to get into a debate about the morality of what they were faced with. Their faith had made up their minds. Their way of life with God had made up their minds. Following the Scriptures had helped them make the decision.
VERSE 17
The three men proclaimed what they believed to be true about God in verse 17. They believed God would save them in the fiery furnace. They had committed themselves to a life of faithfulness to God and would accept whatever happened as a result.
VERSE 18
I love verse 18 because in the back of their minds, the three men understood that it might not be in the will of God for them to survive this ordeal. It was a test. Would they bow down to an idol or would they adhere to their faith? Death might come to them. They assured the king that they would follow the path of faith no matter where it led them. Verse 18 sheds light on what true faith looks like which concedes that God’s will is done in our lives on His timetable and in His way and we accept what He does and does not do.
ILLUSTRATION… Commanded to do Something Wrong (p)
You will remember that Tom had been out of work for six months. It just so happened he lost his job right after he got married and so desperately needed a job to prove to himself and to his new bride that he could provide for her. Tom eventually went to the temp agency and got a job at a cell phone company. He was so happy the first day he arrived. He knew he would be getting a steady paycheck finally and things were looking up and felt God blessing them. He ended up working in the call center helping to activate phones. He went though the first day and got acquainted with everything and it was great! The second day of work came and he was training on how to activate phones along with other new hires. He had someone sitting with him showing the ropes off and on throughout the day.
The first call came in and he activated the cell phone as the salesman instructed and checked all the options the customer wanted. Everything went fine. At the third call, the person training him sat down pointed to a few options on the screen to check even though the customer did not want these options. “I’ll tell you later,” the person whispered. Tom checked the boxes as instructed and then the call ended a few minutes later.
The trainer explained after the call, “It’s okay to check some of the boxes and add features to the plans if you want. It makes you look more productive to the folks upstairs. Your numbers will be bigger and better. Bigger and better means you keep your job.” Tom asked, “Aren’t I adding features the person doesn’t want, hasn’t ordered, and doesn’t want to pay for? Why would I do that?” “Yes,” the trainer answered, “but everyone does it. The customer gets their bill and then just calls in to take it off when they notice. If they don’t call or don’t look at their bill, then the company makes money. It’s how it is done. Everyone does it. If you want to keep your job, you’ll need to do this.”
The trainer then stepped away to help another new employee. Tom sat at his desk stunned. He was just trained that he would need to cheat people in order to keep this new job that he desperately needed. He shook his head. Then another call came in for him to help with. What would he do?
READ TOGETHER DANIEL 3:16-18 (HCSB)
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up."
SUMMARY FOR DANIEL 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego proclaim that God is able to save them.
These three men faced the fiery furnace proclaiming that God is able to rescue them.
These three men marched to their death stating that even if God doesn’t save them, they will serve Him anyway.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego matured in their faith to the point that faith in God was absolutely a way of life. Faith is not believing in God when things go our way or only when things are easy. Faith is trusting in God no matter what people say, no matter what we feel, no matter what we want … true faith in God is facing life’s flames and staying with God and trusting in Him.
What happens to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? If you are not familiar with this Bible story, I am NOT going to tell you how it ends. I want you to read it for yourself in the rest of Daniel chapter 3. What we should be most concerned with is how you and I would react in a similar situation. What we should be concerned with is do we believe God saves and rescues us. What we should contemplate is that does our faith require God to act the way we want Him to or does it allow God to be God and us to be His servants.
CHALLENGE
Trust that God will rescue you, but even if He doesn’t believe in Him and His ways!
Trust that God’s will is absolutely the best path for you!
When life that is burns down around us, maintain our absolute faith in God!
READ TOGETHER DANIEL 3:16-18 (ESV)
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 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, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
