Able to Deliver

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."—Daniel 3:16-18

God is able to do more than we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). When faced with the grim realities of life that confront us at every turn, we are made more aware of our state before God. In our passage for today, we have three Jewish men: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego serving in the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar during the time of the Jewish exile. Nebuchadnezzar was a self-assured monarch in love with his own power and fame who built a great golden statue of himself that was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. Rather than simply have the statue for posterity, he commanded that it be worshiped, and if anyone refused they were to be immediately cast into a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, while loyal to Nebuchadnezzar as king, could not and would not worship the image. When their refusal to worship was made known to Nebuchadnezzar, he had them brought before him where they were questioned. Their response showed their belief in God. Under the penalty of death, they would not worship an image, and if God so desired, He could save them from the furnace. But even if He didn’t, they still would not bow and worship the image. They would rather die than offend Almighty God.

Enraged by their response, Nebuchadnezzar commanded that the furnace be made hotter than ever before and that they be thrown in, tied up and fully dressed. It was so hot that even those who threw them in were killed (Daniel 3:22). But right after they were thrown in, Nebuchadnezzar saw four men walking around in the fire, unbound. He questioned his men, wanting to know how this could be, since there were only three cast into the fire, but there were four walking around! He said, 

"But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods"—Daniel 3:25.

Whether it was an angel or Christ appearing in the Old Testament we do not know, but what we do know is that God delivered them. The three men were taken out of the furnace, perfectly fine and unsinged by the fire. God acted for their preservation, which resulted in an official royal proclamation and their promotion! He is able to take the worst of circumstances and transform them for His glory! Hallelujah!

The point of the story is that God is able to save and help those in times of crisis and great need. Even if He doesn’t save, He is still loving, good, kind and just. He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine, He is able to work miracles to save us from the calamities we face, but even if He chooses not to, we have the faith to believe and know that whatever happens to us is for His glory and our joy (Romans 8:28). Our lives are not our own so that whatever we do, we do it so that His power can be seen in us. I pray that each of us might have a trust like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I pray that as we stand for Him and refuse to bow down to the gods of this world, He might make His name known to the pagan rulers and leaders of this world. And when He does, it is my hope that others will see, hear, and know that God is the only God, the Savior of the world. Amen.