Faith Under Fire - May 11

Read Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, 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. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Reflect

Cultural norms and government edicts can sometimes be in direct opposition to God and His Word. Have you ever been put in a position in which you’ve had to obey God rather than man?

For a long time, the culture of the United States and much of the western world was profoundly influenced by Christianity. But tragically, according to the American Worldview Inventory of 2020 the United States is rapidly becoming a post-Christian nation (Dr. George Barna, Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University).

In response to his university’s research, Len Munsil, president at ACU, commented: “As Christians, we are called to be ‘salt and light;’ to transform the culture around us by sharing biblical principles and living according to God’s truth. The latest research shows just the opposite is occurring…What we are seeing is an American Christianity that is rapidly conforming to the values of a post-Christian secular culture.”

In other words, people who identify as Christians in the US are acting less like Christians and more like the rest of the world. As a result, our culture is rotting as morality declines at an incredible rate. In addition, Christians who seek to be biblically faithful are finding themselves in hot water with the government more and more often over issues like abortion, prayer in public, marriage, transgender ideology, etc. Honestly, it is alarming and unsettling to think about what it may be like for Christians here in the future.

Today’s passage is a familiar one from the Book of Daniel. As judgment on Judah for not faithfully following Him, God allowed Judah to fall to Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, many Jews were killed, and many others were taken captive and deported to Babylon. Daniel 1 lists Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as among the young men that were taken to be taught the language and culture of the Babylonians.

You see, King Nebuchadnezzar knew that the key to maintaining control of the exiles was to assimilate them into Babylonian culture. In other words, they needed to stop acting like Jews and start acting like Babylonians. Daniel 1 records that he didn’t just educate them, he sought to alter their very identities by changing their names from names that exalted God to names that exalted pagan deities. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah became known as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 1:7).

But these 4 were not easy to brainwash or control. They grew to be successful and highly respected advisors to the king so they must have obeyed the laws and protocols of the kingdom. Unless, of course, those royal edicts conflicted with the law of the Lord, their ultimate King.

Daniel 3 records that King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden image set up and commanded that everyone fall down and worship the image whenever the music played. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow their knees to anyone except the Lord God and they were found out (Danial 3:12). Today’s passage records their bold and faithful response to the accusations. Even though they knew the consequence of not worshiping the image was a fiery death, they knew they needed to trust God and obey Him. They knew that God was fully capable of rescuing them but they wouldn’t have known if He actually would or not. They confidently declared that either way, they were going to obey God and not worship idols. Miraculously, God did rescue them with a 4th man appearing in the fire (Daniel 3:23-25). Many theologians believe this 4th man to be the pre-incarnate Christ.

The world will always be an uncertain place and hostilities toward God’s people will always be possible. So, we need to decide now, before we are put into precarious positions like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were. Are we going to act like Christians in this culture or not? Are we going to serve God or serve man? When our faith is under fire will we bow our knees to the gods of this world to save our own skins? Or, will we boldly and faithfully worship the LORD God, come what may?

Respond

Lord, when my faith is under fire, I know what I want my response to be. I want to be as bold and steadfast as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But sometimes, I fear my faith will fail when put to the test. I believe that You alone are God! I don’t want to serve anything else. Please increase my faith, give me courage, and hold me fast. Amen.

Reveal

Prayerfully evaluate your way of life. Is your dedication to Christ evident in your lifestyle? Do you act like a Christian or just like the rest of the world?