Fiery Furnace
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Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King 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 deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 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.”
The story of Shad, Rack, and Benny made famous by three young vegetables was a favorite of mine as a child. VeggieTales has been a long time favorite and a great resource for teaching young children Bible lessons. The problem...sometimes the VeggieTales version of a story is all some people get. And I’m not just talking about people that went to church as kids but stopped, I’m talking Christian family, Christian school, church camp, youth group kind of people. I know because that’s my job. I’ve met people that are still confused about how many animals got on the ark. People who don’t get why David wanted so many rubber duckies. People who still think King Nebby was just really into chocolate bunnies.
Again, love VeggieTales over here (save yourself some postage on the hate mail), but because they’re writing children's versions of these stories, there is some difficult, adult content that gets left out. In our passage from Daniel 3 today, we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response to King Nebuchadnezzar’s demand. It becomes clear quite quickly how aware they were of the severity of the situation in the latter half of their response. “But if not”...as in “if we die today.” Tribulation is one of those uncomfortably common themes in the Bible.
In fact, another passage that is a part of the lectionary today deals with it as well, intentionally I’m sure. Revelation 2:8-11. Verse 10 reads, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death...” It’s one of those passages I’ve read a handful of times as it comes up in a daily reading plan but when you actually take the time and comprehend what you're reading, think about the words more than just to check that box, it makes you audibly go, “oof”. “Be faithful unto death.” It’s one of those things we don’t really face in North American Christianity often and I pray that you never do. I hope that I never have to face such a situation, but I pray that given the opportunity I’m able to faithfully quote our three Vegetable friends, “My God is strong and able...but if he chooses not, He is still good.”
Here’s the thing, these men weren’t simply disobeying Nebuchadnezzar and remaining faithful to God because they thought he would deliver them. They weren’t just looking for the safest way out of the situation. They worship their God, our God, because they knew that he could save them. That he was that powerful. That he had reign over the whole world, not just within the realm of Israel. They worshiped him because they believed he was the only true God. I must admit, sometimes I seem to only want to follow God because I know he’ll give me safety and peace and I have to assume I’m not the only one. My prayer and challenge is that we don’t simply lay our loyalty down to the closest being that will grant us what we want, give us the outcomes we seek, or bring safety to our household. Revelation 2:10 seems to be saying that it won’t always workout on this side of eternity. Praise the God that is powerful. The one that knows no limitation. The one that is able to rescue you from any dreadful circumstance...regardless of whether or not he does. Worship him because he is in fact that almighty.
