The warden asked the prisoner if there was anything he would
like to eat before the execution. He said, "Yes, I would like
mushrooms. I've always been scared to try them for fear I'd be
poisoned." Here was a man who was brave because he had nothing
to lose. This is all together different from that bravery that acts even
when there is everything to lose. This last kind of bravery we see in
the 3 Jewish friends. They stood erect when the law of the king
was-bow or burn. They deliberately disobeyed the highest law of the
land. They refused to conform to the orders of Nebuchadnezzar even
though they knew the envious eyes of their enemies would see and
report them. They were fully aware of the demand and the penalty,
and that they would be found guilty. And yet they refused to bow,
for they were conscience of being watched by greater eyes than those
of their enemies.
A little boy wrote an essay on bravery, and in it he said, "Some
boys is brave because they always play with little boys, and some
boys is brave because their legs is too short to run away, but most
boys is brave because somebody's lookin." In spite of his poor
grammar he had a good grasp of the motivating power of the presence
of someone loved and respected. A child will take real risks
and attempt feats of bravery when he knows he is being watched. So
it is also for a child of God. Assurance of God's presence and His all
seeing eyes upon you gives courage to face any task, and reject any
temptation. The major cause for the fluctuation in the Christian life
is the variation in our awareness of the presence of God.
When God is near we cast our fear, and we fight with zeal and
joy, but when he's not we're a sorry lot to be in His employ. The
sense of God's presence is a key to victorious living. These three
Jewish officials in a foreign land were surrounded by idolatry, and
yet they were deeply aware of the presence of Jehovah. Their faith
was visibly confirmed by God when he actually became visible with
them in the fiery furnace. It was their awareness of somebody
looking, as the little boy said, that made these men so brave, and that
someone was the Lord. This is what enabled them to be
non-conformist when it cost. They were willing to risk every value in
life and life itself for the value of loyalty to God. As might be
expected Nebuchadnezzar was not impressed with their loyalty, for
to him it was an act of disloyalty. When the informer told him of
their refusal to bow to his idol he went into a royal rage and ordered
them to be brought to him immediately.
It took awhile for them to be brought to him, and it gave him
time to calm down. He could have had them thrown into the fire
without a hearing, but he gave them a chance to speak for
themselves. In verse 15 we see him giving them another chance to
bow and be spared. Opportunity to disobey God never knocks only
once. What was a generous chance to gain mercy from
Nebuchadnezzar's point of view was only a temptation to the 3 Jews.
Here they were in the presence of the most powerful man on earth,
and they knew he would not hesitate to destroy them if they defy him.
Nebuchadnezzar wanted 100% loyalty, and he was determined to get
it by burning all who would not obey him.
It would have been the most natural human thing to do to
rationalize your way out of this dilemma. After all, they could have
argued that if we bow and live we will be in a better position to be
servants of God and the Jewish people than if we are dead. Certainly
just this once could not hurt that much. It would be just one bow
and they would be free, for they had the king's word. He was trying
to be fair about the whole thing, and so maybe we should go along
with him just his once. Whether or not they had any such thoughts
we do not know, but these would be the perfectly normal
rationalizations that would tempt the believer to give in and forsake
his position of absolute loyalty.
In verse 16 we see their response to this offer. In the Amplified
Version it says, "It is not necessary for us to answer you on this
point." There was no quibbling or hesitation. They made it clear to
the king that his treats had no power over them. They had made up
their minds to be loyal to God and nothing could alter their
determination. They were not afraid of death as much as they were
afraid to depart from the path of duty and loyalty to God. They felt
it would be futile to defend themselves. There are occasions when
defense is useless and silence is proper. Jesus said by His silence
before Pilate, "I do not need to answer you in this matter." A
believer never needs to defend his loyalty to God. The king would
not find their defense intelligible anyway, and so it would be casting
perils before swine. When men have no concept of absolute loyalty to
a supreme God it is futile to try and convince them of its value. Our
duty is to be loyal to God regardless of its offense to men.
In other matters of state they were loyal to the king, and they
were obligated to give answer to him, but in their relationship to God
they had no need to answer him or anyone else. In this matter they
said they had no need to speak to him at all. We have here a clear
example of the principle that Jesus laid down when He said, "Render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that
are Gods." These three Jews had given the king their loyalty
and service in all matters of government, but now that he is asking
for them to render to him the loyalty that belongs to God alone, they
refused. They are captives, but they are free also, for no power can
take away the freedom of a man to be absolutely loyal to God.
Absolute loyalty is extremely rare because the cost can be
extremely high. It is possible for all, however, because no one is
really ever compelled to be disloyal to God. The will is always
involved. These three had no fear, for they were assured that God
was able to deliver them, and even if He did not, they would go down
with the ship of loyalty rather than bow to a false God under
pressure. Lincoln said in 1839, "Many free countries have lost their
liberty, and ours may lose hers, but if she shall, be it my proudest
plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted
her." Lincoln's loyalty to liberty was not conditioned. He didn't
fight for it only as long as it was easy, but even unto death. This is
the kind of loyalty that makes great men. In Rev. 2:10 Jesus says,
"Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life."
Absolute loyalty is the ideal toward which all believers are to aim.
God is able to deliver is to be our constant theme. These three Jews
had many examples of God's deliverance in the past to assure them,
and we have even more. The poet has recorded a partial list.
Rescue him, or Lord, in this his evil hour,
As of old so many buy Thy mighty power:
Enoch and Elisa from the common doom;
Noah from the waters in a saving poem;
Abraham from the abounding guilt of heathenesse;
Job from all his multiform and fell distress;
Isaac, when his father's knife was raised to slay;
Lot from burning Sodom on its judgment day;
Moses from the land of bondage and despair;
Daniel from the hungry lions in their lair;
David from the Goliath;
And the wrath of Saul;
And the two-Apostles from their prison-thrall.
They had much evidence of God being able to deliver, and yet
they did not presume to demand such deliverance. They did not
know for sure that He would deliver them. God's ways were above
theirs and they knew that God's men can also perish for being loyal,
and so they made it clear that even if God does not deliver them it
does not alter their stand. Like Job they say, "Though He slay me
yet will I trust Him." This is where their absolute loyalty really
shines.
A loyalty that does not depend upon conditions is an
unconditional commitment. This is what gives a Christian courage
and determination. Bunyan wrote, "I am going on, sink or swim,
come heaven, come hell, Lord Jesus catch me if Thou wilt, but if not,
I will venture in Thy name." There are mysteries we cannot
understand, and we must often suffer for reasons we know not why,
but the only road to travel that will enable us to arrive in glory at last
is the road of absolute loyalty.
