Daniel 3:13-18 [Even If He Does Not... Unchanging Faith]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. In the passage above, King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who is said to have been the greatest king among the kings of Babylon, called Daniel’s three friends and forced them to bow down to the image he had made. And if they would not bow down, he threatened that they would be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and burned to death. We can see his pride in the words above:

"...and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? (v. 15)"

To trust in oneself in this way is pride. The Bible tells us that King Nebuchadnezzar was able to have such great authority because God had allowed him to have it (Daniel 4:28-37).

2. Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were bold even before such a proud King Nebuchadnezzar and did not fear death. What was the reason they could be so bold (vv. 17-18)? And do we also have such faith?

3. Through Daniel’s three friends, we can consider whether our faith is perhaps a faith that only wants to believe what is beneficial to us. If our faith is a kind of “faith that seeks only blessing,” believing that if we believe in Jesus we will receive blessings and only good things will happen, then when tribulation or suffering comes upon us, we may not be able to face that situation boldly by faith. Instead, we may become confused, shaken, and offended; and in more serious cases, we may even come to resent Jesus and leave Him. Jesus is the One who gives us profit (Heb. 12:10), but this does not mean that only good things will happen to us. This is because, in order to give us profit, Jesus may allow not only good things, but also things that seem bad to us (Eccl. 7:14). Therefore, through Daniel’s three friends, we must learn what “true faith” is. For “true faith” is not only faith when He does good to us, but also unchanging faith even when “He does not” (v. 18).

[Decision and Application]

The faith shown by Daniel’s three friends in the passage above was faith that God would deliver them, and at the same time faith that, even if He did not, they still could not disobey the word of God. Relatively speaking, the former kind of faith may be easier for us to have, because it is faith that expects deliverance. But the latter kind of faith is faith that still believes even when God does not deliver me according to my desire, and therefore it may be a faith not everyone can possess (2 Thess. 3:2).

In order for us to have the latter kind of faith, that is, the faith that says, “even if He does not,” we first need to know and believe that God is the “Almighty God,” with whom nothing is impossible.

Job 42:1-3 "1Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?..."

Romans 4:16-18 "16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace... 17...God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations..."

When we have this faith that “God is the One with whom all things are possible, even raising the dead,” then even if things do not happen according to what we desire, we can still believe in and follow Jesus to the end without being shaken, just like Daniel’s three friends. In the end, because Daniel’s three friends did not bow down to the image made by King Nebuchadnezzar, they were “cast into the fiery furnace heated seven times more than usual.” Yet the result was not death. Rather, they lived, with not even one part of them singed, and with no smell of fire upon them (Daniel 3:27).

Thus, the faith of Daniel’s three friends, who denied their own desires and sought to believe in and follow God to the end, is indeed the great faith that we must follow.

Luke 22:41-42 "41And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."

Amen.