If you’re not familiar with the story of the narcissistic king who in a fit of rage had 3 young men (who, by the way, had been among the king’s favorites up until then) thrown into a blazing furnace, you’ve got to read it! It’s found in Daniel chapters 1-3. 

The king in the story was Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The 3 young men were devout Jews who had been taken from Jerusalem when they were in their teens, and brought into captivity in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Their names were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

In a nutshell, Nebuchadnezzar had a 90 feet tall golden statue made. Once finished, he ordered that when the people heard instruments sounding, they were to bow down and worship the statue. Apparently the king wasn’t sure that his people would be all that eager to obey and thus make him happy, so he added a P.S. to the order:“And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” Daniel 3:11. 

The king’s order presented a problem for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. As Yahweh worshippers, they would never bow to pay homage to an idol. 

So when a few Babylonian wise men who thrived on causing trouble found out that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego weren’t on their faces when the instruments blasted, they dashed off to tattle to Nebuchadnezzar.

The furious king wasted no time ordering that the noncompliant culprits be brought before him. To his credit, he did offer Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego another chance to bow and worship his idol. But the young men’s response made his rage burn even more, causing him to order that the fiery furnace be cranked up until the blaze was 7 times hotter!

So what had the young men said to the king? 

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We do not need to give you a reply concerning this. If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

At first their answer sounds like a contradiction. They began with “The Lord will deliver us”. I believe those faith-filled words were a declaration not only to the king, but to themselves, to each other, to God, and to any and all who were listening. “God’s in charge, and rescuing us from that furnace is no big deal to Him. And while He’s rescuing us, He’ll prove to you that your power is no match for His own!” (Who knows? Maybe prior to being captured in Jerusalem they had learned scriptures like Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Whatever the reason, these Jewish boys had faith!) 

And yet they said, “But if not…”.  Were they second guessing themselves? I don’t think so. The ring of confidence in their response tells me they knew their God would deliver them.

So then why would they say “But even if He doesn’t…”? I think it was Nebuchadnezzar’s unbelief that their words were addressing. The arrogant king had just said to them, “Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?” He truly thought that he could go toe to toe with any deity and win! Can’t you just see the smirk on his face as he informed the young men that their God couldn’t deliver?  Maybe the king thought that within minutes he would hear Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s screams of torment from the furnace. Or perhaps he imagined that just before they were tossed into the furnace, he would have the satisfaction of seeing them beg for his mercy as realization dawned on them that their God hadn’t come through for them after all.  

What he didn’t anticipate was just how deep the young men’s faith in their God ran. I wonder if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abnego guessed what was going through Nebuchadnezzar’s mind and used their words to address his thoughts. They didn’t doubt that Yahweh would deliver them, but they wanted to assure the king that they would never bow, no matter how huge or ornate his statue was, even if it meant a torturous death. Yahweh was the only God truly worthy of worship, period! Their words also declared to Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet-master, satan, that no other being in the universe would ever turn them away from their trust in the only true God. 

And so, as we continue reading Daniel 3, we see that God did, in fact, deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But I am pretty sure that the story didn’t play out how they’d thought it would.  I imagine that the deliverance they anticipated was nothing short of an 11th hour rapture! Maybe a chariot coming from heaven to whisk them away from the clutches of the guards. Perhaps they believed God would turn Nebuchadnezzar into a pile of ashes while 3 angels walked in and escorted them from his palace. Instead, the 11th hour passed, and at the proverbial stroke of midnight they were picked up and tossed into the very place they thought God would deliver them from. The delivery did come, but not until after they had been tossed into the flames and stayed there long enough to look at their fiery surroundings and realize that they hadn’t been abandoned! God had NOT left them, but instead went with them! No doubt they were in awe! And so was Nebuchadnezzar, who rubbed his eyes to make sure he was clearly seeing 4 men, not 3, in the furnace. God did, indeed, show him who had the most power!

Those young men didn’t serve God because He would deliver them, however He delivered them because they served Him!

Sometimes deliverance looks like a fiery chariot or an angel. Other times it looks like miraculous multiplication of oil or fish and loaves. But there are times, too, when deliverance comes as the Holy Spirit whispers truth in the middle of the whirlwind of the enemy’s lies. Deliverance sometimes looks like Jesus holding your hand in the midst of the fire. He does that! 

There is a Hebrew word that means to deliver, to help, defend, preserve, rescue, make free, obtain victory, bring to safety, heal, and to save. That Hebrew word is “yasha”.

Yasha is the root word in Yeshua, which is Jesus’ Hebrew name. Yeshua means salvation!

Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation (yeshua). This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Jesus, Yeshua, is our salvation and our deliverer. His very name assures us of that!

Abba, You ARE my deliverer! Whether my own personal “fiery furnace” is looming in front of me, or I’m already surrounded, let my heart, my hope, my faith find their solid footing on You, the Promise Keeper. Thank You for promising that You will never leave me. And as I remember that, help me, Holy Spirit, to look and find Jesus standing right beside me…no. matter what!