Daniel begins with a siege and exile of Judah. This is the first of 2 exiles the Israelites will face. The Babylonians, led by king Nebuchadnezzar, takes over the nation, but takes back with them some of the smartest, handsomest, strongest and best of the Israeli men. Four of the young men taken to Babylon are Daniel (whose name was changed to Belteshazzar), Hananiah (whose name was changed to Shadrach), Mishael (name changed to Meshach), and Azariah (changed to Abednego).
(Back to the story now!) Not too long after being taken to Babylon, the king Nebuchadnezzar decides to have a gold statue built in his honour. He is a pretty humble guy, so he decides to have it built 90 feet tall, 9 feet wide...and summon everyone to come to the dedication of this idol. Now, Daniel is never mentioned in this story so it is unclear as to where he is during this time. Perhaps he was away on an assingment, or perhaps he actually was there and decided to go along with the crowd. We don't really know. What we do know, is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Rack, Shack and Benny...as told by Veggie tales) are there, and they don't appreciate what they see. As the story goes, the king tells everyone that at the blow of the trumpet, they are to bow down and worship the idol-those that don't will be cast into a fiery furnace. The trumpet sounds, and everyone but the 3 friends bow down and worship the gigantic image of the king. The King doesn't like this...so he summons them to him. Now, as much as he doesn't appreciate their refusal to bow, he does seem to be a generous king and he offers them another chance. He suggests that maybe they didn't hear the trumpet (of course, seeing thousands of people falling to their faces should have been a clue). He gets everyone set up, and again blows the trumpet, forcing everyone to their faces in adoration and worship. Again, the friends refuse. This time, the King is furious and gets the furnace heated up seven times hotter, and brings Rack, Shack and Benny back to him. Now this is where the story gets really interesting in my opinion. These 3 guys have been looked upon as incredible examples of faith. We tell their story, and talk about how they knew that God would deliver them from the furnace. But we seem to miss the part that, they accept the fact that God may not save them. Verses 17 and 18 recount what they say:
"...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. BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF GOLD YOU HAVE SET UP"
There are a few key words here..."God is able" and "even if he doesn't". This, in my opinion, is the key to what true faith is. We often have this idea that faith is believing without a shadow of doubt that God will rescue us. We believe that God will give us what we want, because we have faith and are asking it. But I don't believe that that is true faith. That is arrogant faith. These 3 men show what true faith is. It is believe that God is able. Believing that God has the power, and has complete control. But then it is also the knowledge that, while God is able, he may not answer the way we want. These guys were willing to enter the fiery furnace. They were willing to DIE!. They didn't know if God would even save them...they knew he COULD, but they accepted that "even if he doesn't".
We can learn a lot from these 3. They aren't mentioned in the Faith Hall Of Fame in Hebrews 11 (wait, let me check again....nope. Not there), but in my mind they are the perfect example of what true faith is. We need to set aside our arrogance. We need to stop telling God how he should respond. We need to lay aside our 100% certainty that God will answer "in this certain way", and instead remember that, while God is more than able to save us...he may not. True faith is accepting that God may not. These 3 guys were willing to die with that knowledge. Now, we know that God did in fact save them, which is an amazing miracle. But the point, in my mind anyway isn't that God saved them. It's that they were willing to stand up, even if God didn't save them.
So next time someone tells you that something is going to happen because they have faith ("I'll get the job because I have faith", "We'll be safe because I have faith...whatever it may be", remember that God is much bigger than this right here right now. He is more than able to provide, protect, and prosper...but he may not! THAT, my friends, is what true faith is. That is what we can learn from this incredible story of 3 friends, willing to stand up when everyone else bowed down.
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