Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand. Daniel 3:16-17
The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is one of the first stories you heard about if you grew up in church. As children we sang the song about the 3 men cast into the fiery furnace and how Nebuchadnezzar said they would never last, but God was there, and He would never let them go. It was one of the more exciting stories we learned along with Daniel in the Lion’s Den. As an adult, the story is even more fascinating and teaches so many amazing promises.
King Nebuchadnezzar had made a gold statue – a false God. He had proclaimed that all people were commanded to fall down and worship this false God when they heard the music, no matter their language or nationality. Those who don’t comply will be incinerated. When the king found out that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not bowing down to the gold statue, he had then brought before him as they were basically the only people not following the rule. He told them again what was going to happen to them if they didn’t comply and asked who the god is that would deliver them out of his hands. They never wavered in their response, even knowing what was coming. The king was so angry that he had the furnace heated to 7 times the normal temperature. The three were bound up and thrown into the fire, which was so hot by this time that it killed the men who threw them into the furnace. Soon the king looked into the fire to not only see the three men, unbound and walking around, but also a fourth man with them. The king knew exactly what was going on. He knew that their God had delivered them. He called them all out of the fire and made a new decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way,
That king became a believer that day and probably a whole lot of other people as well. Some great lessons from this story that mean more to me as an adult are:
· God is always with us in the fire. He isn’t overseeing the situation, He is right there with us.
· Did you happen to notice what was the only thing consumed in the fire? The shackles were the only thing that appeared to be consumed in the fire. Our fiery trials are often what sets us free from what is really holding us captive.
· No other god – false god or person – can ever rescue us in the way our Heavenly Father can. Even though these 3 men were refusing to bow to a false god, often our false gods send us directly into the blazing furnace.
He was there for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and He is there for us too.
Scripture to Claim:
…for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. Daniel 3:29b
