Month: October 2013

God’s definition of good is different from the way we might typically define the term. We read Scriptures like Romans 8:28 and then we wonder why bad things happen to good people. Evidently, God sees good in different ways than we are accustomed to seeing it.

In Monday’s post, I discussed the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego as they refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. True faith prompted these young Jews to confront the challenge and confess the Lord to the very face of the world’s most powerful earthly ruler. They made the right decision, but what was the result?

Our definition of the word good would lead us to believe that God would reward these three young men by saving them from the fiery furnace. But God has bigger plans and a greater good in store.

Nebuchadnezzar, filled with rage at the audacity of these young men to disobey him, commanded his men to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was usually heated (Dan. 3:19). He had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego bound and thrown “into the midst of the burning fiery furnace” (Dan. 3:21). He was so angry that he didn’t even take the time to strip them of their clothes. Daniel 3:21 says they were bound “in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their outer garments.”

It seems that Nebuchadnezzar’s furious command caused his mighty men of valor to get too close to the dangerous, “exceedingly hot” flames of the furnace (Dan. 3:22). As they threw in the three Jews, the fire killed Nebuchadnezzar’s men.

What happened next shocked everyone.

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]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?” (Dan. 3:24).[/box]

As they peered through the flames, they counted not three, but four men walking around in the midst of the fire. That which had bound them was now loosed, and the fourth individual looked like one who was sent by God.

This past weekend, Emily and I were able to attend a congregational retreat for the Riggs church of Christ in Chapel Hill, TN. It was a cold Saturday morning to be outdoors, so the fire pit was a popular place to be. The smell of the smoke from the fire lingered on our clothes long after we left the retreat. When Nebuchadnezzar called the three men from the furnace, they came out and looked as though they hadn’t even been around a fire. Their “hair … was not singed nor were their garments affected” (Dan. 3:27). This one is my favorite detail: “the smell of fire was not on them.” God doesn’t do anything half-way, does He? He is truly an awesome God.

Is my faith like the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego? It’s one thing to refuse to bow in a crowd of people who bow around you. It’s another thing to refuse to bow to the face of the one who has commanded that everyone bows before him. It is still yet another thing to refuse to bow and to allow the enemy to bind you and throw you in a furnace. These men trusted in God. He works all things for good.

That’s why I say that God’s definition of good must be different from the way many of us define it. We would not consider losing our lives to be good, yet these faithful three said that if God chose not to deliver them from the death of the furnace, then “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” (Dan. 3:18).

True faith confounds the enemy. They won’t understand why we do what we do, but it makes perfect sense to us: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

True faith confirms the promises. The most powerful man in the world had God’s people punished for not bowing down to his image, but God was still on the throne that day, and He demonstrated that through this incredible miracle. God doesn’t work in miracles today (John 20:30-31; 1 Cor. 13:9-11), but that doesn’t make His promises less true, nor does it make His Word less authoritative.

Note that God did not deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego from the fire, but in the fire. And God will deliver us, too. He is still “able to deliver us” from our fiery trials today (Dan. 3:17).

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:7).[/box]

He was the most powerful man in the world – and he had a hot temper. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t respond well when someone failed to do whatever he commanded them to do. In Daniel 2, the king threatened to kill the Chaldeans by cutting them in pieces and making their houses an ash heap (Dan. 2:5); all of this if they could not tell him what he dreamed the previous night. Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t playing around.

When he decided to erect a golden image and commanded that everyone in his kingdom worship it, he threatened them with their lives.

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace (Dan. 3:4-6).[/box]

You know what happened: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego didn’t bow. They were brought before Nebuchadnezzar and given a second chance to worship the image, but refused to do so to the king’s face! “Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury” (Dan. 3:19). He commanded his men to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was usually heated, then he commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego be thrown in.

This is not a story for the faint of heart. Notice three types of hearts that are represented here.

First, notice the heart of the king (3:1-3). Many scholars believe that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (back in chapter two) got him thinking about his kingdom. God enabled Daniel to see into the future and to tell Nebuchadnezzar that the mighty Babylonian Empire wouldn’t stand forever. Perhaps the image he had made in chapter three is an image of himself. Maybe he called all of his kingdom’s dignitaries to Dura to test their loyalty to the Empire and to him as the king. It seems that his heart is filled with pride coupled with fear. His faith is an egotistical faith in himself.

Second, look at the heart of the people (3:4-7). No one is faithless. Everyone believes in something, though they may not possess the right beliefs (cf. John 8:24, 32; 17:17). The key is the object of one’s faith. Where were the masses when the instruments played? They were on the ground, of course! They feared for their lives. They knew the consequences of not bowing before the image, so they bowed: “all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up” (Dan. 3:7). When we put our faith in men, we are sure to be disappointed (Job 14:1). When we base our religious actions on any degree of peer pressure (including governmental pressure), we will find our faith to be fickle and our lives to be pointless.

Finally, look at the hearts of the three Jewish men (3:8-12). They knew God’s commandments.

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. (Exo. 20:2-5).[/box]

They were not willing to compromise their beliefs – even with the threat of death. They boldly confronted the challenge and confessed the Lord. They knew that He could deliver them through whatever means were in accordance with His will for them (Dan. 3:13-18). They trusted God and they obeyed Him.

If your faith that strong? Now there’s a difficult proposition. Yet, why can’t our faith be as strong as theirs was? The fact that the age of miracles has ceased doesn’t mean that our faith should be any less strong than the people in the hall of faith (Heb. 11; cf. John 20:30-31).

It seems that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had accessed a two-fold key to strong faith: true trust in God and in His Word, and relentless obedience to His commands.

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You (Psa. 119:11).[/box]