As I read the book of Daniel, I couldn’t help but think of an old children’s song from a time when my kids were in vacation Bible school:
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego . . .
Three faithful boys who wanted to know how to grow . . .
In the love of the Lord.”
It’s a cute tune, but it’s the kind that gets stuck in your head and loops over and over and over again. It actually becomes kind of irritating, and I start to think of this book as just a collection of children’s stories. So in reading the book of Daniel, I was very excited to rediscover the power of these stories. Daniel is a book of hope and deliverance for God’s people facing tough times, and we have certainly faced tough times over the past year.
The book of Daniel is written at a time when Israel was in exile. King Nebuchadnezzar had besieged and conquered Jerusalem, and carried away the temple treasure and many captives back to Babylon. In his efforts to integrate and change the people of Judah, he recruited young men of Judah’s royal and noble families into the palace to be trained for royal service. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the best and brightest of all of Judah, and they were chosen. They were given Babylonian names, trained in the language and literature of Babylon, given the food and wine of the king, and after three years entered royal service. They performed their royal jobs very well. Essentially, they were molded into good Babylonians . . . or so the king thought.
There are many stories and visions of bravery, hope and deliverance in this book, but I’m going to focus on the first story about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar issued an order for everyone in the kingdom to bow down and worship his golden statue. Those refusing will be thrown into a blazing furnace. Despite all the training and pressure to conform, Shadrach, Meshach and Adednego refused to compromise their faith and worship the golden statue even at the risk of their deaths. Their response to the king is stunning:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up”
Wow, that is complete confidence in God’s authority over every ruler, over every situation and over every outcome. That is the kind of faith that Jesus recognized in the Roman Centurion, the kind that understands how power and authority work, and who really has it. It is the kind of faith that trusts God no matter the outcome, and the kind of faith that doesn’t conform to the culture around it. God did rescue Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the furnace and they went on to even higher positions in Babylon. I want that kind of faith, but without the testing that these guys had to endure.
Three key takeaways for me from this story:
· Although Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego successfully and effectively worked within the Babylonian society, they were never fully conformed to the culture. Their identity was rooted in God of Israel. I need to be the same way. Romans 12:2.
· Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted in God’s goodness. No matter the outcome, they placed their hope and confidence in God – not in some king, government or anything else. I need to make sure my hope, confidence and trust doesn’t get misplaced into something else.
· When faced with difficult times, I can look to these young men (and the whole book of Daniel) to give me hope that God will deliver his people in the end. My calling is to stay faithful to my identity in Christ.
So, I’m sure the old vacation Bible school song will continue to rattle around in my brain, but when it does I will reflect more deeply on these three young men, how they are incredible examples of bravery, of being in the world but not of the world, and most importantly, how God delivered them from the blazing furnace.