The following devotional is the first in a short series focusing on Daniel 3: Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.'” (Dan 3:16)
The setting is this: “King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.” (Dan 3:1-2).
This image may have been inspired by the one Nebuchadnezzar saw in his famous dream, only with one crucial difference: Rather than having just a head of gold, this image was made completely of gold! Perhaps Nebuchadnezzar, in his pride, was making a statement. Maybe he was defying any nation that would try to overthrow Babylon. Maybe he was even defying the God of Heaven who predicted the downfall of his great empire. We can speculate, but all we know for sure is that the king set up the image of gold and gave the following order: “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.” (Dan 3:5-6)
It would seem that the people of Babylon didn’t have a problem with this concept, for the Bible records: “as soon as they heard the sound of the . . . music, all the peoples . . . fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” (Dan 3:7). This isn’t too surprising, really. These people were, for the most part, idol worshippers, and the idea of bowing to an image was not foreign to them. But there were three people on the plain of Dura that day who had a major problem with bowing to the image: “But 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.” (Dan 3:12). Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego — Daniel’s three Hebrew friends!
The king was infuriated by their belligerence. He had them brought before him, and he threatened them severely: “if you do not worship [the image], you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Dan 3:15)
But the three Hebrew boys didn’t even flinch. Their response? “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter”!
Now at this point in time, I might have felt a pretty BIG need to defend myself ! After all, there WAS the reality of the fiery furnace to contend with! But not Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego! Why not? Because they recognized the truth! When Nebuchadnezzar said “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”, these boys knew immediately that THEY were NOT the ones on trial! It was God’s character being challenged. It was God who was on trial!
And if Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego were NOT the ones on trial, then there was NO REASON for them to defend themselves! These boys knew their God. They knew He was big enough to defend Himself. And because they knew their God, they could, with confidence, say: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 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.” (Dan 3:16-17)
Shadrack, Mechack and Abednego understood something that most Christians today do not: God is in control, and His army that surrounds us is ten times bigger than the one we see!
So often when we are faced with similar challenges, we tend to react as if WE are the ones on trial, when this is often not the case at all. It is God! If we could just recognize who is really on trial, it would be so much easier for us to STOP worrying about our OWN skin and leave the worrying to God. If we would just put our trust in Him, then we, too, could respond with confidence: “We do NOT need to defend ourselves . . . The God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us . . .”
Father God, when I am on trial for my faith and obedience in you, help me to remember that You are the one being challenged, not me! Help me to remember that You are ALWAYS in control, and that Your army is 10 times bigger than the one I see! Help me to STOP worrying about my OWN skin, and instead, to place my trust in you!
Please see Sunday’s edition of The Illustrator for The Fiery Furnace, Part 2.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org
(To access the entire “The Fiery Furnace” mini-series, please click here.)