Faith Like The Three

I'm pretty sure you've all heard the story.

I have. It's the story of the fiery furnace. In the Bible, in the book of Daniel, the story goes something like this...

King Nebuchadnezzar built an image of himself out of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide (that's a lot of gold and mildly vain, in case hadn't noticed). Then he called all of his officials to the dedication of the image and told them to bow down to it when they heard lots of music playing (that's really vain, in case you hadn't noticed). Three Jews, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (more commonly known by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) refused to bow down to the image.

Nebuchadnezzar wasn't too happy about this, so he called in the three Jews and told them to do what he said. If they didn't, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused again, so the king order the heat on the furnace turned up (7 times hotter than usual; that's a lot of fire) and had them tied up and tossed in. It was hot enough that the soldiers who threw them in were killed by the flames. Nebuchadnezzar was probably sitting and gloating when he realized that their were four guys walking around in his furnace. He asked his guards "Didn't we throw three guys into that furnace? And why does that fourth one look like a son of God?" Nebuchadnezzar then called to the three Jews and told them to come out of the fire, which they did. He realized that God had protected them and decreed that God was God (slightly obvious at this point) and that anyone who disagreed would have Bad Things happen to them.

I'd heard this story many times, but when I read through it recently, one part in particular caught my eye. When the king told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to bow down to the image, they said the following:

"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."

I was amazed by the faith that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had. They were sure that God would rescue them from Nebuchadnezzar if they were thrown into a furnace. Impressive as that is, what I find even more awesome is that their faith was not dependent on God saving them. They told the king that even if God did not save them from the furnace, God was God, and they could never turn away from him.

They understood that our faith in God should be strong not because of the things we will receive or the things that God will do for us but because He is God. I pray for faith like that.