The Fiery Furnace

Yesterday’s sermon was delivered at our little country church by a missionary the church helps support.  He serves here in America, not abroad, and focuses on strengthening and healing marriages.  I liked his sermon from the beginning because it was centered on Daniel 3 – the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. I love that story.  His point was that no matter what sort of trial – what sort of fiery furnace – we find ourselves in, we are never alone.  Jesus is there, too.

Okay, I’ll admit that I drifted off from listening  for a while in the middle there – but only because I got caught up thinking about the scene.  Now Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not newcomers to the faith or to Nebuchadnezzar.  They were young boys when ‘Ole Neb took over Jerusalem and they were conscripted with their friend Daniel into service at court.  They successfully stood up to Neb’s officers when Daniel asked not to be made to eat the rich, unclean food at court, and three years later, when the king himself interviewed the four young men, he “found none equal to” them.  The Bible says that when he questioned them, they were “ten times better” than anyone else the king of Babylon knew.  They were treated well, given nice homes and good jobs.  No hardships for these guys.

Later, the four had another run in with the king over a dream.  While the fearsome threesome prayed, Daniel interpreted a dream for the ‘Ole Neb – and witnessed to him about God. Neb was impressed and made Daniel ruler over a province and the threesome administrators. Their homes were upgraded and life was good.

So, now, presumably years later, Neb is at it again.  He creates a huge idol and demands that everyone worship it.  Uh, oh.  Our faithful three know they can’t comply and they don’t. They also, based on faith and past experience, know that God will intervene and save them.  Here’s where my mind starts making a movie of the day.  Even though they were men of great faith, they had to be nervous.  I think this is evident when they tell the king that if he throws them into a furnace God will save them, but even if He doesn’t they won’t change their minds.  Can you imagine them, standing together, their hands tied behind their backs?

Meshach whispers to his pal next to him, “Abe, what do you think, how are we going to get out of this one?”

Abe will shake his head, “There’s not a cloud in the sky, so it looks like a huge rain is out.”

Shad might enter the conversation then, “Wind, guys, wind.  God’s going to send a wind and dust storm to blow out the flames and let us escape. We’ll never even get close to the heat.”

I imagine they got a little quieter as they watched the workers stoke up the furnace and make it way hotter than normal, especailly when nothing happened to rescue them.  Maybe they even got a little shaky as the king screamed for them to be thrown in and the soldiers grabbed them.  (I would have been really shaky by now!)

As the soldiers pushed them forward, Meshach may have noticed that the hands of the man holding his arm were cold, nervous. Maybe he whispered a prayer for him. Maybe his own hands were cold now, his heart pounding. The last few yards to the open door were covered quickly, and even when the soldiers accompanying them ignited and fell, the threesome walked on, together and on their own.  Once inside, it took them a few seconds to realize they were not on fire.  Another couple of  seconds to allow their eyes to adjust to the light and to begin to comprehend that they were standing in the flames without harm. Shadrach may have laughed at the surprise of it.

I wonder how long it took for them to see the other guy.  The fourth guy standing in the room with them.  I’m thinking that under the circumstances, once they saw Him, they knew who was there.  Now, they wouldn’t have known Him by the name we call him, it would be a couple hundred years before He is called Jesus, but I feel real certain they knew that this wasn’t another human or even an angel.  I just know that they recognized the fourth guy as God himself in the form of a man.

Could they have been standing in a fiery furnace with goosebumps?  I have them as I think of it.

So what’s this to me beside a story I first heard as a child in Sunday school? I have never been sideways with a king and thrown into a furnace, (I got a speeding ticket once, but it was in the fall and the weather was rather crisp). I have, however, gotten sideways with life and felt as if everything I worked for was going up in smoke.  I also have no doubt that I’ll be in hard times of one sort or another in the future.  I just hope that I keep this real fiery furnace in my mind when those days come.  Our trio could have recanted, compromised  and bowed to the world.  They might have been able to rationalize that they did it so that they could ‘fight another day’.  I hope and pray that I can always stay strong and not give in to fear.  Why? Because I want to stand in the middle of the flames, feel the cool air on my face and talk with Jesus.