Staying In The Fire

“Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.” (Da 3:26 AV)

 

One wonders why the three children remained in the fire once they realized it had no power over them.  Why not come out and dare Nebuchadnezzar to throw them right back in?  Why not come out and incredulously declare God the victor?  Why not come out and walk away as though you were invincible?  Why remain in the fire until your enemy calls you out?  One reason might be security.  As long as they were in the fire, they were safe from anything else Nebby might dream up.  Perhaps the most compelling reason to stay in the fire was the presence of the Son of God.  While amid the furnace, one like unto the Son of Man kept company with the three children of Israel.  That would have been the greatest reason to remain in the fire.  We will never know why.  There have been countless sermons, no doubt, preached on remaining in the fire.  Many offer reasons as to why one should remain.  One thing is for certain, there was a purpose for remaining in the fire and one shouldn’t seek escape from the fire until the will of God declares a change.  By the way, the purpose for remaining in the fire may not be for you at all.  It may be for the benefit of someone else.

We can probably remember a time when the LORD had us go through hardships so that others might see the power of God resting on us.  Others needed to see how real God was so He asked us to endure hardship so that He might be exalted.  This is what happened in the fiery furnace.  Nebby thought himself to be a god.  At the time, he was the world’s greatest ruler.  He conquered every inch of land he could reasonably reach.  Dozens of cultures and nations served him at his pleasure.  The grandeur of Babylon was second to none.  Other than a river that ran under the city, it was impregnable.  No offense would succeed until the Medes and Persians thought to damn up the Euphrates and enter the city from underground.  The walls of the city were hundreds of feet high and thick enough to carry chariot traffic.  The hanging gardens are still considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Nebby was at the height of any ruler before him or those who would follow for a very long time.  His word was golden.  In his mind, there was no greater.  Nor ever will be.  The vision of the statue made of five different materials was lost on him.  He may have been the head of gold, but four others would rise and take his place.  The last would be the kingdom of God Himself.  Instead of a reality check against what he thought of himself, this motivated him to construct an image like that which he dreamed of, and force others to worship that image as to say Nebby was and always will be the greatest of all rulers.

Now stood three Jewish men who refused to bow the knee to Nebby and his image and they were thrust into the furnace heated seven times hotter than it was ever heated before.  When they should have died instantly, they more than survived.  A fourth, like unto the Son of God met them in the furnace and they remained there well and good without any harm coming to them at all.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have easily walked right out of that oven.  What could Nebby possibly do to them?  But they didn’t.  They stayed amid persecution so the power of God could rest on them.  They did so that someone else who truly needed to learn a lesson that could come no other way would do so.  Nebby never did learn this lesson.  The next chapter of Daniel reveals the madness to which Nebby was driven because of his all-consuming pride.  But the children of Israel did their part.  They abided in the flame for the benefit of someone who needed to see the glory of God.  This abiding is not easy.  It may require we remain in circumstances that we could easily change.  It may mean that instead of walking out when we could that we remain longer than come think we should that a life might be irreversibly changed.