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| To Part 4 |
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your
gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.
I can envision Satan appearing before Yahweh with the sons of God asking permission to go after Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego). He probably regurgitated the same argument to Yahweh that skin for skin, these men would give in and bow to Nabu rather than face the fiery furnace (cf. Job 2:4-5; Dan 3:2-6), but neither Job (Job 13:15a) nor these three Hebrew men (Dan 3:17-18) succumbed to that which terrorized men. Satan was wrong again about godly men who never claimed to be perfect. Satan would be incorrect about Daniel, too, when his B.I.N. time arrived (Dan 6:10).
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were monotheistic in their belief; they recognized that only Yahweh was worthy of worship (Dan 3:18; cf. Ex 20:1-5; 34:14; Deut 6:4;), not this golden deaf, dumb, and dead idol they called Nabu on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. They were willing to die than be guilty of betraying their love for Yahweh (Dan 3:18; cf. Deut 6:14-15; cf. Jn 14:15).
After the eyes bulging and the jaw-dropping testimony of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah during the dramatic dedication ceremony, Daniel would not be challenged or required to bow before Nabu upon his return. None of the wise men of Babylon is going to call for Daniel’s removal as chief administrator of the wise men of Babylon by the decree of the king (Dan 3:29). If anything, he was encouraged by the but if not faith of his faithful friends that bolstered their position among their enemies.
The heat got turned up on Daniel’s three friends because it was reported to the king by some envious racially profiling Chaldean priests,
All eyes were on the king inquiring of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if what was reported was true that they refused to fall down and worship the image. I can only imagine that the image was aglow from the sun beaming down upon the golden surface of the statue. There was an eerie hush that settled upon the crowd, the instruments were silent; the air was tense.
And he [Nebuchadnezzar] commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace (Dan 3:20).
And he [Nebuchadnezzar] commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace (Dan 3:20).
Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace (Dan 3:21).
All that could be heard was the crackling, sputtering, popping, whooshing, and demonic roaring of the fiery blaze within the furnace of death to come. Ensigns were flapping and snapping sharply in the wind. But the crowd was stunned in silence.
When those mighty men valor from Neb’s army bound and took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the furnace, they had to get very close to the intensity of the flames to be able to literally throw these three Jewish men into the fire (Dan 3:20). The heat radiating from the furnace was so intense, as ordered by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:19), that the clothing of these soldiers ignited into flames as they threw the three Hebrew men into the fiery furnace; this was their reward for laying their hands upon God’s men. Insulated by the flames, these Babylonian soldiers were left screaming in agonizing horror as their own personal fire consumed the life out of them for all to see (Dan 3:22).
When those mighty men valor from Neb’s army bound and took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the furnace, they had to get very close to the intensity of the flames to be able to literally throw these three Jewish men into the fire (Dan 3:20). The heat radiating from the furnace was so intense, as ordered by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:19), that the clothing of these soldiers ignited into flames as they threw the three Hebrew men into the fiery furnace; this was their reward for laying their hands upon God’s men. Insulated by the flames, these Babylonian soldiers were left screaming in agonizing horror as their own personal fire consumed the life out of them for all to see (Dan 3:22).
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace (Dan 3:23).
The loss of life of his warriors of valor was meaningless to Nebuchadnezzar; too many men to count who have died under his command. With their horrific deaths, all he could do and say was this.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king (Dan 3:24).
Look! he answered, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God [“like a son of the gods,” NASB] (Dan 3:25).
The form or appearance of the fourth in the furnace is believed to be the pre-incarnate Christ, regardless of how Nebuchadnezzar interpreted this fourth Man in the furnace. Indeed, Jesus delivers us or is with us in our time of troubles (cf. Isa 43:2; Heb 13:5); Nebuchadnezzar observed that there were four men walking in the fire. Later in extolling these men, he referred to the fourth man as an angel (Dan 3:28).
(Dan 3:26) Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High [literally, the Highest] God [the Most High used by Neb: Dan 3:26; 4:2, 17, 24, 25, 32, 34], come out, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.
(Dan 3:27) And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. It was undeniable what had taken place before their very eyes!
(Dan 3:28) Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
(Dan 3:29) Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this (emphasis mine).
Notice he didn’t denounce any of the gods of the Babylonians! But he did confess that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was very powerful,
There is no other God who can deliver like this.
The plot of the wise men turned out to be a flop. When Daniel makes his reappearance, he will not have to be concerned with the golden image on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon, and neither will Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah ever again. It looks like the body of the snake grew without the head being present! I told you these wise men of Babylon were foolish; I think the word that I used was “stupid?”
(Dan 3:30) Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
The but if not faith of these men impacted an entire empire; how many had turned to the God of the Jews is unknown. This is the last time we hear of these three men specifically from the biblical record (cf. Heb 11:34). We cannot imagine the possibilities of a but if not faith, a faith that unhesitatingly chooses death over disobeying their love for Yahweh. Such faith can be intimidating to us. If we compare such a quality of faith to our own, it is almost certain that our faith will pale and shrink in comparison, to that of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
You may be thinking to yourself; there is no way I could ever have a B.I.N., but if not, kind of faith like Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, or Daniel. The fiery furnace and those hungry lions, whew, nobody told me that prospect could be a part of Christianity!? Admittedly, for most of us, our Christian experiences don’t resemble those experiences of believers in Old Testament times.
Rom 15:4 would indicate we need to know about this quality of this but if not faith. Jesus was crucified; all of the apostles were martyred but John. Paul tells Timothy that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12). People wear ornamental crosses around their necks as jewelry, but this is not what Jesus had in mind,
Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Mk 8:34).
Do we think that if we stay weak and ignorant that this somehow determines the degree of intensity of the temptation Yahweh will subject us to when Paul said,
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13, emphasis mine)?
Daniel & Associates were not hypocrites; they didn’t fake godliness. None of them could have done what was recorded without the help of the Holy Spirit. These men were committed to Yahweh and lived a godly life day after day as a conquered people carrying out their official duties in a foreign and hostile land, never to see their homeland again. They were prepared and disciplined in their faith. What was the secret behind their B.I.N., but if not kind of faith?
Believe it or not, this is going to sound overly simplistic, but it is far more profound than we can ever imagine; their rule of life was the Word of God. Their commitment to the Word and love for God revolutionized their lives and glorified Yahweh. They had a positive influence on those around them, regardless of who was governing, whether the Babylonian (Dan 3:27-30) or the Medo-Persian (Dan 6:25-28) empires, like no other believers in their time. They didn’t choose to be great, but Yahweh was glorified by their B.I.N. kind of faith.
Who would have ever thought that a radical and revolutionary but if not faith could emerge from four young godly men forcibly removed to Babylon? They didn’t allow the circumstances of life to determine whether the truth of God was to be applied in certain situations or not; unknown outcomes were not a factor! Such a B.I.N. kind of faith made a dramatic difference in their world; the same quality of faith can make a difference in ours, too!
They didn’t invent a B.I.N. kind of faith, but when Nebuchadnezzar came into Jerusalem in 605 B.C., we saw it in action immediately with these four godly and gifted young men being carted off to Babylon for something greater than they could have ever imagined: from gloom to glory! Rather than crying out to Yahweh, “This isn’t fair!” they chose to activate their faith instead, believing and trusting that Yahweh was in control of every event that entered their lives. Whatever the outcome, good or bad, this is how a but if not faith sees and responds to things in or out of our control.
Who would have ever thought that a radical and revolutionary but if not faith could emerge from four young godly men forcibly removed to Babylon? They didn’t allow the circumstances of life to determine whether the truth of God was to be applied in certain situations or not; unknown outcomes were not a factor! Such a B.I.N. kind of faith made a dramatic difference in their world; the same quality of faith can make a difference in ours, too!
They didn’t invent a B.I.N. kind of faith, but when Nebuchadnezzar came into Jerusalem in 605 B.C., we saw it in action immediately with these four godly and gifted young men being carted off to Babylon for something greater than they could have ever imagined: from gloom to glory! Rather than crying out to Yahweh, “This isn’t fair!” they chose to activate their faith instead, believing and trusting that Yahweh was in control of every event that entered their lives. Whatever the outcome, good or bad, this is how a but if not faith sees and responds to things in or out of our control.
God uses those who love His Word and love Him enough to obey Him for His glory, no matter what. That, my friends, is a B.I.N. kind of faith, a but if not faith that loves Yahweh’s Word and loves who He is – the I AM! <><
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| End of Series |
