Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand O king,. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3: 16-18 (Daniel 3)
An arrogant king makes an image of himself, possibly using gold taken from Jerusalem, and then mandated its worship. When the three Hebrew boys did not comply because their God’s law forbade it, some Babylonian astrologers tattled on them. The star gazers didn’t want the foreigners to make the local gods angry and bring down curses, and the king of a great empire just wanted to affirm in everyone’s mind, that he was indeed, the center of the universe.
The strong words of the three Hebrew men brought the full wrath of the king raining down. These men stood before the one who thought he held their fate in his hand, and informed him he did not. The king, in his fury, had a furnace heated up as hot as possible just for them, but their steadfast faith wasn’t shaken. They chose the possibility of death for worshiping the One True God, over living in disobedience to God.
In the end, the three men came out of the furnace without even a heightened temperature and all recognized the saving power of God. They were promoted to greater esteem and the king of a vast empire was humbled in the knowledge that there was One True God……and it wasn’t him.
If your faith, in action, was proof enough to convict you, what would the crime be? Where is your absolute loyalty? What will you be standing for when everyone else has left the building? The answers matter a lot!
Love,
Gretchen