Friday, October 24, 2008
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Fiery Furnace Faith
One of the most well-known Bible stories has to be the story of the three young Hebrews who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down and worship the image set up by a pagan king and God's subsequent rescue of the three men. Hardly a year went by it seemed without that being one of the stories that we learned in Sunday School. And, it has much to attract us to it. Young people who love God. A powerful and egocentric pagan king. The classic battle between young and old, small and big, good and evil. And a classic ending, as good prevails and the heroes are vindicated. But, this is much more than just a good story.
Nebuchadnezzar II reigned as king of Babylon from 605-562 BC. Daniel interpreted the dreams of chapter 2 in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, so around 603 BC, as a result of his wisdom, Daniel was placed in a high position in Babylon and made ruler over the entire province of Babylon and all of its wise men (Daniel 2:48). At Daniel's request, the king appointed three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as administrators over the province of Babylon and Daniel remained at the royal court (Daniel 2:49). Sometime after that, Nebuchadnezzar made a 90 foot high image of gold and set it up on the plain of Dura. At the dedication of the image to which all the government officials had been summoned, King Nebuchadnezzar had it decreed that:
"This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 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" (Daniel 3:4-6).
The instructions were crystal clear. When the band played, everyone was to fall down and worship the image. Those that didn't, that part was extremely clear as well. It was the fiery furnace for them.
On the test run, all went pretty well, except that some of the astrologers noticed that "there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon — Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:12). King Nebuchadnezzar flipped out and ordered for the young men to be brought to him. "Is it true?" he asked. And he offered them a second chance. We will get the band to play the music and then they could do what they were supposed to. And he repeated the consequences of disobedience and added, "Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" (Daniel 3:15).
Notice the boldness and faith of these three young men. Thank you king, but we don't need a second chance. It won't do any good or make any difference. We are guilty of not bowing down. "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter" (Daniel 3:16). We anticipate and expect that we will be thrown into the furnace as you have said. How's that for bold? In the face of the ruler of the entire world! Faith knows a greater Ruler! And they spoke their confidence in God: "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" (Daniel 3:17). That by itself would have been an amazing statement of faith, but it gets even better! They continued, "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" (Daniel 3:18). They would not compromise their faith in God, even if he did not come through for them in the way that they wanted him to or expected him to! They were willing as many people of faith have been through the centuries, to be martyrs rather than bow to anything less than God himself!
You simply have to admire that kind of faith. And we have to ask ourselves, how would I fare if I was asked? Do I have fiery furnace faith or would I disappoint myself and God? Do I really believe and am I willing to speak my belief in a powerful and able God? And would it make any difference to me or my actions if he didn't come through? Faith cares only about God and little about the consequences!
If Nebuchadnezzar had been furious with rage before (see Daniel 3:13), his rage multiplied by at least seven times. And he ordered the furnace heated up seven times hotter than normal. Wood burns at 300°C so that would take the temperature of the furnace to 2100°C. That's hot! Steel melts at 2500°C — any hotter and the furnace would have melted! And the three were bound and thrown into the fire. It was so hot that those who threw them in perished (Daniel 3:22)!
And then something amazing happened! The king leaped to his feet. Three men had been tied up and thrown in. "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods" (Daniel 3:25). So he calls to the three servants of the Most High God to come out and they came. And all of the government officials examined them and discovered that not only had the 2100°C fire not harmed them, their hair was not singed, their robes were intact, in fact, they didn't even smell of smoke! The king changed his tune and now declared:
"Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any God except their own God" (Daniel 3:28).
And now, the king's royal decree was changed so that anyone who would say anything against this God who saved these three in such an amazing way, would be killed and their houses destroyed! And the three young men were promoted in the province of Babylon.
I'm sure that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would tell us that they were nothing special. They were ordinary young men with faith in an extra-ordinary God. And he came through for them in a big way. That was really excellent. But even if he hadn't come through in the way that he did, he is still the only One that is worthy of our trust and worship! God, give us no-matter-what, fiery furnace faith!
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