Trusting God in the Furnace

February 19, 2022

Have you ever felt cornered or called out by someone who looked down on your faith? They put you in a situation where your choice is to renounce in some large or small way some aspect of your faith, or risk losing power, position, and opportunity? Such events can be compounded by other personal circumstances like financial insecurity, or health concerns. What do you do when you “need this job” but are forced to choose between what is right and what you need? Which do you listen to or which speaks loudest: your faith or your fears?
Fortunately, the Bible broadly and the book of Daniel specifically contains many stories about how to stand for your faith in a hostile culture. There is probably none more famous than the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace. Watching, what happens to them and how they handle it, can give a window into our own circumstances. It shows how we can fight for our faith, and how we can trust God in the midst of the furnace.

DEVOTION DEMANDED VV. 1-7
The story starts with a big statue of Nebuchadnezzar being constructed. Evidently, the king was worried about the unity and loyalty of his subjects, so he decided to unite them in their worship, admiration, and devotion to him. The king commanded everyone at the same time to all bow down before the statue to demonstrate their allegiance. He wanted everyone to realize that ultimate power and authority was in him.
Though I doubt we will ever be faced with a statue that we are expected to grovel in front of, believers are frequently put in situation that test their allegiance. Where do our loyalties lie? What is most important to us?
What will make us give up, change, or modify our commitments to serve God?

DISOBEDIENCE DISCOVERED VV. 8-15
The three Jewish youth did not make a big deal about it, but they refused to worship the statue. When forced to pick between God and man, they chose God. The king confronts them, and makes both the requirement and the punishment explicit. He gives them a second chance to obey. The king makes his motives in setting up the statue explicit when he says in verse 15, “what God is able to deliver you out of my hands.” The king is drunk on his own power and desires everyone to acknowledge his supreme authority.

DEFIANT DEFENSE VV. 16-18
It says that the three youth answer the king. One wonders if they had a spokesperson or if maybe one of them said each part. However they did it, they gave one of the most amazing responses in scripture showing they had complete confidence in God.
• Confidence in God’s Authority – They did not feel the need to even give an answer to the king. They believed that God and not Nebuchadnezzar was the one who was ultimately in charge. Their lives were in God’s hands not the king. They knew what they did, and they did it on purpose.
• Confidence in God’s Power – They knew God had the power to deliver them. They were not trapped by the weakness of a God who would not come to their aid. They knew that whatever happened God would deliver them from the hands of the king. God was not powerless. God was not passive. God was active. Whatever happened to these three will be an act of deliverance.
• Confidence in God’s Wisdom – “But even if he doesn’t…” Underline those words. They are extremely important. It revealed that these three trusted God to do what was best…and that may mean that they would die in the furnace. They have complete confidence that God would make the right decision. They served God not because he did what they wanted him to do, but because he knew what was best. And they were willing to follow God anywhere…even into the fiery furnace.

DIVINE DELIVERANCE VV. 19-27
The king’s rage, which had been building up to this point, boils over. He rages and his face is contorted.
He stokes the fire to seven times as hot. It is so hot that those who are commanded to throw them in are consumed by the fire. Once in, though, the youth are not consumed. Not just that, but there is a fourth individual seen walking inside the furnace with them. Nebuchadnezzar summons them to come out, and they just stroll out of the furnace with their clothes and hair unharmed by the fire. They did not even have the smell of fire on them.
Such an event demonstrates a couple of important lessons for God’s people:
1. Obedience to Godless Commands Produces Death – The only people who died in this story were the soldiers charged with throwing the three youths into the furnace. Many times we acquiesce in an attempt to save our own skin. In doing so, we put ourselves in greater risk. Jesus repeats this idea in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
2. God Does Not Save Them From the Furnace; He Is With Them In It – Many times we pray and yearn for God to remove trials from us. And I think that is okay. We are told to pray in the Lord’s Prayer “lead us not into temptation,” but we also need to realize that God uses trials to perfect us and draw us closer to him.
As James 1:1-2 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Trials purify and perfect us, and they teach us to depend on God.
God many times chooses not to protect us from the trial but rather to be present with us in the midst of the trial. He wants us to trust Him so completely that we do not fear the fire. He wants us to trust his presence and provision as we go through it. As Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
3. Sometimes the Safest Place Is In the Furnace – This is not a call to recklessness or stupidity or thoughtlessness. God desires that we exercise wisdom. But all throughout the scriptures are constant reminders that sometimes God’s path leads in directions that do not make sense to our reason. If we refuse to obey until we understand and approve, we risk not just missing God’s blessing but also experiencing greater calamity. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”