Scripture Daily

Context No. 1132 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 3:13-18: in context

13Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these men were brought before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar, enraged, gives Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego one last chance: bow to the golden image when the music plays, or be thrown into the furnace, and who is the god who can deliver you from my hand? Their answer is one of the memorable statements of faith in scripture. We have no need to answer you in this matter, they say. If we are thrown in, our God is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you that we will not serve your gods or worship the image you have set up.

The heart of their faith is the phrase but if not. They begin with confidence: our God is able to deliver us, and they believe he will. But then they add the words that make their faith unbreakable: but if not, we still will not bow. Their obedience is not conditional on being rescued. They would love to be delivered, they expect God can do it, but even if he chooses not to, even if the furnace consumes them, their answer to the king does not change. This is faith at its purest, faith that trusts God's power without demanding a particular outcome, that will serve him whether or not he saves them the way they hope. Much of what passes for faith is really a bargain, I will trust you if you deliver me, and it collapses when the deliverance does not come. The three men had cut that bargain out entirely. They knew God could rescue them; they left it to him whether he would; and they had settled in advance that their loyalty did not depend on the answer. That but if not is what real trust sounds like, and it is exactly the kind of faith that walked into the fire and found the fourth man waiting there.

Is my faith a bargain that trusts God only if he delivers me the way I want, or can I say with the three, our God is able, but if not, we will still not bow?

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