Study #17 - Practicing what you preach? (Daniel 3)

This section of Daniel and the story told there may be my favorite part of all of Scripture. Not only is it an incredible story, it is also an incredible description of what Faith is all about. You see, this is the culmination of all of the faithfulness that we have already seen from Daniel and his three friends as the three young rules of Babylon are thrown into the fiery furnace. Sound like fun?

After all that they have been through and all of the proof that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have given of their love for and devotion to the Creator-God, Nebuchadnezzar still doesn’t understand. He has demonstrated his own foolishness or insanity by continuing down the same losing path that he has been on while continuously expecting to gain different (presumably more favorable) results. Even so, he has still not learned his lesson and these young men are about to give him a lesson that he will never forget.

When faced with the likelihood of imminent death by fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tell King Nebuchadnezzar that they will not bow to his god(s) regardless of his threats. Further, they explain to him that they do not need to defend themselves (Daniel 3:16, NIV) in his presence. They are leaving their defense in the hands of God. We might look at this story and ask if the Scriptures are teaching that civil disobedience (rebellion against man’s rule or authority) is OK. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although these young men are refusing to obey the king, it is only because they are submitting to a higher authority. It is important for King Nebuchadnezzar to realize that he is not the ultimate authority.

In fact, they have so recognized the higher authority of God that they even call into question the authority, the power, the ability of the king to carry out his own orders against them. In verse 17, they begin with the word, “if.” “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace…” is almost a challenge to the king authority but it is not a universal challenge. They are challenging his ability (or authority) to do anything against THEM. They have faithfully submitted themselves to their God, the Creator-God and as a result they expect Him to deliver them from any harm. Just as Abraham proceeded with the plans to sacrifice Isaac while expecting God to deliver Isaac from the execution, these young men expected God to intervene and deliver them from the king’s death sentence.

But this next part is the best part of all. If you like stories of courage, this may be the best one of all time. They tell the king that their God, the Creator-God, is able to deliver them from his hand. However, they also tell him that if He chooses not to deliver them, they will still remain faithful to Him. That, my friend, is an incredible display of faith and of faithfulness. The confidence that these young men had in this God of Heaven was so incredibly strong that they would willingly go through the fire for Him, if He required it of them.

Thought: Occasionally, a member of the Secret Service Presidential Protection Service is required to “take a bullet” for the President. Soldiers often are committed to harm’s way so that the rest of us can live in peace and safety. Police Officers sometimes are called upon to be shot at or to be physically assaulted while working to protect us, our families and the values that we hold dear. In each of these cases, extreme courage and devotion are required. However, they still don’t compare to the courage and devotion shown by these three young men.

These young men were willing to go to a fiery grave for a God that they had never seen. Their belief (confidence in Him) was so strong that they never even questioned His authority, His ability, and even His intent to deliver them from their impending “doom” at the hands of the king and his men. Their confidence in the Living God was so great that they questioned the ability of the king to carry out his own orders, and this in one of the greatest empires of all history.

What level of confidence do you have in the living, Creator-God? Do your actions confirm or deny the words of faith that your mouth speaks? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not only had extreme faith but their actions confirmed the words that their lips spoke. With His help, we can also have that kind of faith, that kind of confidence in our God. It is not just a good idea, it is what He requires of us.

By His grace, there is more to come….

Study #16: Rational v. Irrational (Daniel 3)

I once heard insanity defined as, “Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results each time.” The Scriptures (probably Paul) put it a slightly different way by using an agricultural picture when he said, “…whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7, KJV) Anger, especially extreme anger, has this same effect on people.

King Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t thinking clearly. Rage had spilled over from his heart to the point that he was no longer a rational man. He was completely consumed with his anger. This was exactly the point of the writer when the church at Ephesus was instructed to, “Be ye angry, and sin not….” (Ephesians 4:26, KJV) When we allow our anger to take us from rational to irrational beings, we cannot any longer be yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit within us so we cannot help but act in a sinful manner.

There is no indication that Shadrach, Meshach and Abedneggo were hard of hearing or that they were not present when the orders were given the first time. If this had been the reason for the King’s leniency, it would probably have been mentioned. The fact that no such excuse or reason was given is a direct testimony to their perseverance and dedication under the greatest of pressures: a direct threat on their own life.

Therefore, when the King repeated his instructions to these godly men, he did so in an angry, furious rage. He was completely irrational and he repeated the earlier instructions while simultaneously expecting that he would get different results the second time. What he failed to recognize was the fact that their dedication to the Creator-God was precisely what made them so valuable to him. If, in fact, they had been the same as all of his other wise men, they would all have been executed for failing to tell him his dream together with its interpretation. It was precisely their connection with this one, true God that gave them the power and authority to bring him what he asked for.

Thought: We often face circumstances in our lives that we are unable to understand. Since we cannot make sense of these circumstances, we often react in anger. We permit our anger to become rage and we react emotionally and sinfully. We fail to recognize that God has had a hand in bringing these circumstances into our lives. We also forget that He does nothing without considering how it will impact us and how He can use the circumstances to make us more like Him, more like what He has designed us to be.

The angry reaction is what is natural to us because our basic, natural person is one whose very nature is sinful. However, God puts His divine nature within us via the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the moment of our salvation. With His nature indwelling us, He expects us to be continually more conformed to His glorious image. This means acting and reacting in love rather than in anger, something we cannot do as long as we are being ruled by our (natural) emotions.

In our more lucid moments, let us resolve ourselves to being increasingly yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit in our inner being so that our outer actions will look more and more like the work of Jesus, the Christ.

By His grace, there is more to come….