Being devoted is not enough to bring a miracle
Faith's fight does not take place in Panipat or Armageddon. It is happening in your mind and mine. The battlefield is not somewhere else but in the mind. As we experience pressure, distress, or persecution because of the gospel, we often imagine it to be a physical experience. Truth be told, it comes to mind first. It is in the mind that we decide whether to trust Jesus as our saviour or to deny Him.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jewish but were placed in Babylon’s top positions. A gold idol with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 6 cubits was made by Nebuchadnezzar at that time.
Then he called the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, rulers, and all the other officials in his kingdom to come together (Daniel 3:1-18).
Did you notice that the king did not invite any ordinary people? High-ranking officials in his kingdom were ordered to worship the idol. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow because in their minds - their identity did not lie with that nation. They identified themselves with their God even though they were high officials under a king. While the king had commanded the people to bow down to the idol, God had commanded, ““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 or serve them” (Exodus 20: 4,5). God's Word was their foundation and they stood by it. We are in this world but not of this world.
We have to always keep this in mind. We belong to the kingdom of God. We are a king and a priest. Even when I travel in a government bus previously, I always felt like I was travelling in a kingly chariot. Even if you sitting in the floor, have the thought that you are a king.
Abednego, Meshach, and Shadrach stood not just because they were devoted to God. They wouldn't have seen a miracle if that were the case. We all know that the king would not have known about these three men not bowing down in such a huge crowd. There would have been people nearby who would have been waiting to tell this to the king. The king became furiously angry (Daniel 3:13). It is not good for them when a great warrior king who made Babylon reach the pinnacle of its glory got very angry. This king won many battles and destroyed Solomon’s temple.
As any other man, these three men did not faint when they stood before this mighty king. It was their knowing that determined whether it would be a happy or sad ending. In the end, it was not their zealous devotion to God, but their understanding of who God was determined their fate. Devotion isn't enough; you must know that God is good. You must know who your God is in order to win this fight of faith. Nebuchadnezzar asked them if what he had heard was true. They were given another opportunity to bow to the idol or warned that they would be thrown into the furnace if they failed to do so.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 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.”
Daniel 3:16-18
Their confidence in God is evident in their actions. There was no doubt in our minds that they believed in a good God who will rescue them from the hands of the king and from the burning furnace. This verse's second part causes some confusion. Many people think they would have sacrificed their lives even if God did not rescue them. If you read carefully, you would understand that they meant the king mercying them and not punishing them. How else could they stay alive to not worship the golden idol, after being burnt to ashes in the furnace (if God did not rescue)? By doing so, they were letting the king know that even though he spared their lives out of mercy, they would never bow to his idol. Even if the king extended goodness to them, they would refuse to obey him or bow to the idol. Without a doubt, they understood that God would surely save them. This knowledge is very much needed for us in these last times.
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