Daniel 3

Tonight I am hurting. The tears are flowing freely. So I turn to one of my favorite lessons in the Bible, Daniel 3. This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you are not familiar with the story, the short version is that these three men refused to bow down and worship the gold statue the king (King Nebuchadnezzar) had made. King Nebuchadnezzar threatens to throw the men into a blazing furnace if they do not obey him. "and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? ¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" (Daniel 3:14-15) These men stand firm though. Here is their response, Daniel 3:16-18, 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."

I have the "True Identity" Bible and has a little side "At issue" about trusting God, looking at verses 17 and 18. Here is what it says, "Perhaps you asked God to protect your baby, but you lost him. Or you pleaded with God to heal your mother's cancer, but she died. Or you begged God to save your marriage, but your husband left you. If God is so powerful, then why does He allow these things to happen? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God could save them, but they also trusted Him even if He chose not to do so. When life doesn't go the way you'd hoped, and you're stuck in the furnace, will you choose to trust that God is still good?" Ouch. How many times have I decided I couldn't trust God anymore because life wasn't looking like I thought it should...I have done that way too many times. It is trusting God even when things look the complete opposite of how I think they should look.

Continuing on with the story, the men, fully clothed, are bound in ropes and thrown into the furnace. The furnace is so hot that it kills the soldiers who threw them into the furnace. Picking up the story in verse 24, "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."²⁵ 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." ²⁶ 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!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, ²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

I think it was three years ago that our Tuesday morning Ladies' Bible Class did Beth Moore's Daniel study. It was incredible and I will never forget it. I don't have my workbook with me, but there are a few things stuck in my memory from this particular story. A biggie was verse 25, that they were walking around in the fire. They didn't sit down and moan and complain about the situation they were in or just sit and wait for something to happen. They walked. They kept moving. We have to keep moving and walk through the fires in our life. The other biggie that I will never forget is in verse 27, They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. The only thing that had burned on them was the ropes that had held them captive. Their bondage. They were not harmed. I could never say things like Beth Moore, and I wish I had my workbook here with me to review my notes. Sometimes we are put through a fire to burn our bondage. I know that this fire I am walking through right now, it is my bondage that is being burned. Not me. I will not be harmed. God is using this fire to set me free. There were many other things that really hit home with me in this study and I will have to get my workbook and share more, but I feel ill-equipped to try and talk about this too much without my notes. But for now, for tonight, with my tears and my heart-break, I will choose to continue to walk, knowing that God is right there walking through the fire with me.