There is another in the fire

In the bible in the book of Daniel chapter 3 we read about three young Jewish men Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego who refused to bow down to the King of Babylon who was called King Nebuchadnezzar. 

A huge statue was set up and the rule was that when the music started to play then everyone must fall down and worship the golden statue.  Everyone was told that if they did not obey this then they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. 

This to me is an example of having no choice in a situation!  You are being told to do something but it isn’t a case of having the freedom to make your own decision because the choice is either obey the rules or die.  What appeared to be compliance from the majority was actually for many of them just fear of dying.

Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were one of those who did not want to bow down to the golden statue.  They believed in, trusted and worshipped God.  These men had been given important jobs over the region of Babylon, they were trusted and respected men who weren’t in the habit of being rebellious or untrustworthy.  Their reluctance to bow to the statue wasn’t because they had an issue with authority or wanted to rebel, they knew deep down that it was not right to bow to or worship a golden statue when they already worshipped the one true God, and certainly didn’t feel that they should do something they weren’t comfortable with, just because they had been told to, and just because everyone else was doing it and because there was no choice.  They made a choice where there was no choice.

As in many situations where people tell on others, there were people in authority who noticed that Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego weren’t complying and decided to tell the King, knowing full well what punishment that would mean for the three men. 

The King confronts the three men and they have another chance to comply and bow or face a terrible death.  They tell the King – “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  This really annoyed the King!  What defiance and disregard for his golden statue how dare they!

The King is so furious that he orders that the furnace be heated up even seven times hotter than usual.  The furnace was so hot that the soldiers themselves were killed by the flames of the fire as they took Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego down to throw them in the furnace.

This is the situation.  The threat of the furnace was bad enough but now it is seven times hotter, hot enough to kill those who were throwing them in.  They are also tightly bound with ropes.

King Nebuchadnezzar suddenly notices something, he can see four men in the fire and is sure that there were only three thrown in bound with ropes.

²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, ²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

I think if we were in this situation and we felt it was right to stand up for what we believed in we would hope that somehow we would avoid the furnace altogether, that would seem like the best outcome, because how would we survive going through such a horrific and traumatic experience without coming out the other end completely broken or worse.

I love how in this situation God performs an even greater miracle than helping them escape the fire or avoid the fire or survive the fire.  He allows the fire to become even hotter than it was originally expected to be.  He allows them to be arrested and tied up and thrown in while the soldiers holding them burn up and die.  Once they are fully in this situation which is as bad as it can get let’s be honest, he doesn’t just sustain them and help them survive, rolling out the other end coughing and spluttering covered in soot and ash but alive.  He does more than that.  He brings them through completely unaffected by the fire and they are promoted in their jobs also.  Our God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or even think or imagine.  The best outcome that you could think up, God is able to do more than that (taken from Ephesians 3:20).

Once they are fully immersed in the worst situation ever God is with them.  It becomes noticeable to others that they aren’t alone in this situation as they seem to be coping far better than expected.  It is clear to anyone nearby that there aren’t three people in the fire, there’s actually another in the fire right there with them.  When they walk out of the fire they don’t stumble out smoke billowing from them and their hair singed on end.  The fire has not harmed their bodies or singed their hair. The last part of this really gets me – “There was no smell of fire on them”.

There are times when we realise in the thick of the fiery furnace of our difficulties that there is no way that we could be coping with this alone.  We realise that God is with us.  Not only is He with us but when we come out the other side, there are times when others wouldn’t even be able to tell by looking at us or talking to us the depth of the trauma that we have just been through.  We have been through a fiery furnace yet there is not even the smell of fire on us.  In these situations we know that there was another in the fire with us.

Being a Christian does not mean the absence of difficulties.  Following God means we have His help in the midst of difficulties.

Turning to Jesus is as easy as saying “sorry, thank you, please.” “Sorry for the sins that I have committed, thank You Jesus for dying for me, please forgive me and come into my heart and life in Jesus name Amen”.

Take heart, take courage, yes you are in the fire but there is another in the fire standing with you and He will bring you through the other side.

Copyright – Jo Le Page written based on reading the bible and own thoughts and experiences.