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Daniel: The Unshakable Kingdom of God in a Shifting World
Glory in the Fire
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One of the most vivid demonstrations we have in the Bible of living courageously is found in Daniel 3, our text for today as we continue our series in the book of Daniel. It’s an incredible show of courage as Daniel’s three friends trust God and let him govern their lives, rather than their fears.
Today is Mother’s Day, and I want to say at the outset: this passage and sermon is for everyone – but I think it has a particular importance for the women we honor today. Because: The kind of faith on display in Daniel 3 is the kind of courageous faith that mothers embody in ordinary life, often without recognition, often without guaranteed outcomes, often standing firm in the fire when the outcome is completely unknown. But first, let’s set the scene in case you missed the last couple weeks.
Daniel is found in the Old Testament. The events in it take place from about 586 B.C. to about 535 B.C. Babylon is the setting – one of the neighboring nations of Israel, which was occupying Israel at this point in time. Daniel is an Israelite man who gains the Babylonian king’s trust because of his ability to interpret dreams as we saw last week – though Daniel gives God all the credit. As a result, Daniel is put in charge of an entire province, where he brings along three guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Or, as they’re called in Veggie Tales: Rack, Shack, and Bennie.
Chapter 3 focuses on these three guys. In the first few verses of chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue out of gold and commanded all the people to bow down to it whenever they heard the worship music begin. This thing was enormous – 90 feet tall, and nearly 15 feet wide. Anyone who didn’t bow down faced the consequence of being thrown into a furnace of fire. This was not a backyard bonfire. It was an industrial smelting furnace. With that, let’s turn to 3:8-12…
So, these guys who are loyal to Nebuchadnezzar point out that the three Israelites aren’t following his order. The Aramaic in verse 12 (remember, a good chunk of Daniel is written in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew) is actually even more pointed than the English suggests. The accusers tell the king that these men “do not pelach your gods” – and pelach (peh-LAHK) means devoted, wholehearted cultic service. These men are withholding not just a posture of bowing to the statue – they are withholding their allegiance.
What’s interesting is that in verse 8, where it says they “denounced” the Jews, the Aramaic says they “ate pieces” of the Jews – it’s an idiom for slander. (Idioms are one of the hardest things to translate because of the cultural understanding of the idiom in the original language that doesn’t exist in the second one.) These men didn’t just report about the three guys; they devoured them. Maybe you’ve found yourself in some situation where you did the courageous thing, but ended up in hot water anyway. Of course, that’s what makes it courageous – there’s risk involved. If there were no risk, courage wouldn’t be needed. Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego are right there with you. Let’s read 3:13-15 now….
Notice what Nebuchadnezzar does here. He offers them a face-saving exit. He’s not looking for martyrs – he wants compliance. Countless of God’s people have faced this exact kind of moment.
And then he asks a rhetorical question: “What god will be able to recue you from my hand?” Nebuchadnezzar had already seen God's power in chapter 2, but seeing isn't the same as submitting (and it was dream revealing and interpretation, not saving from fire). He acknowledged God's power as the revealer of dreams and then went right back to building his empire on his own terms. That's a very human response. How often do we praise God, acknowledge his grace and forgiveness, read the Bible, pray, and so forth…and a few minutes/hours/days later we’re caught up in unbiblical behavior, relationships, or activities? We’re not so different from Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps. And scholars believe chapter 3 here is likely years after chapter 2. So, it’s not like one day he’s in awe of the God of the universe and the very next day he’s positioning himself above God. But the question for these three men remains: will they let their fear of him be bigger than their God? Let’s read 3:16-18…
Right here we see the courage of these three men. They recognize the calling on their lives to be faithful to God, to live as he called them to, and in the face of persecution and even death, they don’t back down.
In verse 18 we see this brief phrase: “But even if he does not.” In Aramaic it’s two words: ve-hen laʼ. In many ways, those two words are the theological heart of this entire passage. The three guys acknowledge that they may get delivered from the fire, or they may not. They leave it in the hands of God. But they are not going to worship the king’s idols, and they are not going to let their fear become bigger than their God – regardless of what happens.
This really is the faith of a mother. (And a father…but “dad’s day” is a few weeks out.) The faith in verse 18 – the faith that says, “but if he does not” – this is the faith of moms. It’s the faith of those who have prayed for their children for years, maybe decades, without a guarantee. It’s the faith of the mother who buried a child, and yet still got up on Sunday morning. It’s the faith of grandmothers who planted seeds in grandchildren they never saw come to faith. It’s the faith of those who’d like to be mothers, but it hasn’t happened. That is “But if not” faith. It’s trusting the God who is worthy whether or not he delivers on our timeline. And we see that faith kind of faith in moms, and in these three men. Let continue with 3:19-23…
Notice the detail the text gives us: they were thrown in the fire bound, and wearing all their clothes – their robes, trousers, turbans, and other garments. Why such detail? Because in a few verses, every single item on that list is going to come out completely unharmed. Not even singed. Not even smelling like smoke. The passage is specific about what goes in so that we understand the miracle of what comes out. Now Daniel 3:24-25…
So, two unexpected things here. First, the men who were bound are now loose and whole in the fire. The chains are broken and they are standing. This is, of course, striking and unexpected.
What’s also unexpected is that there are four men in the furnace. The king notices this and starts singing the song our choir sang earlier. OK…he doesn’t do that. He says that the fourth man “looks like a son of the gods.” This is Babylonian pagan cultural language and we shouldn’t expect anything else. What he’s seeing, however, is the presence of God in the furnace with the three men. Christians throughout history have interpreted this as a pre-Christmas appearance of Jesus. Whether or not you land on that level of specificity about the fourth man in the fire, the theological point made is clear: God is with them in some way. God does not watch the fire from the distance; he enters into it with them, and with us. Whatever the furnace may be that you feel you’re in, God is with you.
And if you want to see that most clearly in Scripture: look at the cross. Jesus enters fully into human suffering. He doesn’t redeem us from a safe distance. He goes in. The one who walks with his people in the fire ultimately walks into death itself – and walks out, leaving the tomb empty once again. Now 3:26-27
So, they come out and there’s not even the smell of fire on them. Some people come through genuine, prolonged suffering without the “smell” of it on them – no bitterness, no cynicism, no corrosion of faith. They’ve been in the fire, but the fire hasn’t defined them. The God of the furnace kept them whole. We likely all know someone like that: someone whose identity is so wrapped up in Jesus that the challenges and difficulties and hurts of the world just don’t stick to them or define them – they continue to live with Christian joy, love, grace, kindness, and so forth, no matter what comes at them. They are inspiring people to be around. Hopefully we find our identity in Christ so strong that we too live like that. Continuing in 3:28-30…
It’s an amazing turn of events. I don’t think Rack, Shack, and Bennie probably appreciated when the king said people “will be cut in pieces and their houses turned to rubble if they speak against God” – but what he said was kind of out of their control; it’s not like he gave them a chance to review or edit what he was going to say. The king clearly needed some discipleship mentoring. New believers, if that’s what we can call the king is here at this point, are messy like that sometimes. Heck, long-time believers can be messy like that sometimes. Regardless, the three guys are saved from destruction, and God vindicates them in their faithfulness.
Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s own words, however, when he says: “they trusted in him” (v. 28). Their deliverance is connected to their trust, and he recognizes that. Now, that trust was not a mechanism they used to control God and unlock deliverance – it was the posture that honored God before any outcome was known. It’s this faith that says, “but if God does not” and sees God as worthy of trust and praise, and glory either way.
I said earlier we aren’t maybe so different from Nebuchadnezzar; but we also aren’t so different from these three guys. Every single one of us is called by God to live for him, and bow down to no other god – whether that’s a gold statue, another human, money, position, or power…the list goes on. We all have this same choice: to live for God or to live for something else.
Many of us, however, struggle to follow God’s calling. It seems too risky. We play it safe. We want comfort. We want to minimize risk and reduce fear. We make lists – whether consciously or not – of why we can’t follow God’s calling: not enough time, not enough money, not enough talent, not enough energy, not enough “fill-in-the-blank.” Too old. Too young. Too risky.
But if we put all those fears on one side of a sheet of paper, and on the other side simply write 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit' – the balance sheet tips in God's favor. The question is: Do we actually trust that?
When I was 22 years old…so 10 or 11 years ago…I taught a Sunday school class for three-year-olds. I think it was the scariest thing I’d done up until that point in my life. Top five for sure. It certainly had some of the biggest feelings of fear associated with it that I’ve ever experienced. (I re-visited those feelings when I taught a 3rd-5th grade class here a couple months ago!) I had no idea what I was doing. I was just a post-college ski bum in Sun Valley, Idaho…and I was asked to teach this class. I was asked a week or more in advance – so I had time to prep. But when I stepped into the classroom, I felt like I was stepping into that fiery furnace. If I’d been asked to teach these kids how to ski, I could have done that in a heartbeat – give me three or four hours on the snow with them, and I’ll have them all riding the chairlift. But this was a whole different animal. It was a moment of saying “yes” to God and “no” to my fears. But I just might not be here if I hadn’t done that. Teaching that class planted a seed that got me involved in the life of the church in a new way and living for God more courageously.
However: Too often we let our fears win the day because our trust of God is too small; our fears become bigger to us than God. And believe me, I could share stories about that from my life as well – leading this church, as husband and father, and more. When we let our fears get bigger than our God, our fears are going to win.
So: How big is your God? If you ask me – and let’s pretend or a moment that you have asked me – I’ll tell you how big my God is. My God is HUGE:
That’s how big my God is. And that’s bigger than any fear I’m going to face in this life or the life to come. So how about you? How big is your God and your trust of him? Bigger than your fears?
We’ve seen it in the mothers and grandmothers and women of faith in our church and in our families who have walked through fire with quiet strength and fierce love and a deep trust in a God whose timeline they couldn’t control. Who prayed for decades. Who got up when they didn’t feel like it. Who kept going to church and kept opening the Bible and kept praying the same prayers year after year, not because they had a guarantee, but because they knew their God was worthy. Their faith looks a lot like verses 17 and 18: “The God we serve is able to deliver us. But even if he does not…we will not serve or worship the image of gold that you have set up.”
For those of you for whom today is hard – whose mother has died, or whose children are far from God, or who never had the mother you needed – I want you to hear this too: the God of the Bible, who is Lord of lords and King of kings, is the God who walks into the fire. He is not watching from the outside. He is the fourth figure in the furnace with you. And if you are in the fire today, you are not alone. God cares for you, loves you, and is with you.
For all of us: Where is God calling you to live courageously for him? Does the addiction seem safer and more comfortable than freedom from it? Does loneliness seem safer than the risk of joining a Bible study or prayer group? Does pride prevent you from having compassion and seeing another’s point of view and understanding their heartache? What’s on the list of fears keeping you from taking a step forward in following Jesus and serving, leading, and reaching out? Is there a friend on the outside of the kingdom of God, and some fear prevents you from leading them into the Kingdom?
Our God is able to deliver us. And even if he does not, or it happens in ways and timing we would never have expected — we don’t want to bow to any other. He alone is worthy of our praise, devotion, and trust. I think deep inside every one of us has a sense that God is calling us to live more courageously for him in some way – to take a risk and do something bold. If you haven’t had that sense, I’m hear to tell you: he is calling you to this. But too often we let our fears get the best of us and we end up living for them rather than living for God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show us that we don’t have to bow down to those fears. Rather, we can take them head-on, let God be God, and bring him glory in the fire. Let’s pray…Amen.
Today is Mother’s Day, and I want to say at the outset: this passage and sermon is for everyone – but I think it has a particular importance for the women we honor today. Because: The kind of faith on display in Daniel 3 is the kind of courageous faith that mothers embody in ordinary life, often without recognition, often without guaranteed outcomes, often standing firm in the fire when the outcome is completely unknown. But first, let’s set the scene in case you missed the last couple weeks.
Daniel is found in the Old Testament. The events in it take place from about 586 B.C. to about 535 B.C. Babylon is the setting – one of the neighboring nations of Israel, which was occupying Israel at this point in time. Daniel is an Israelite man who gains the Babylonian king’s trust because of his ability to interpret dreams as we saw last week – though Daniel gives God all the credit. As a result, Daniel is put in charge of an entire province, where he brings along three guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Or, as they’re called in Veggie Tales: Rack, Shack, and Bennie.
Chapter 3 focuses on these three guys. In the first few verses of chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue out of gold and commanded all the people to bow down to it whenever they heard the worship music begin. This thing was enormous – 90 feet tall, and nearly 15 feet wide. Anyone who didn’t bow down faced the consequence of being thrown into a furnace of fire. This was not a backyard bonfire. It was an industrial smelting furnace. With that, let’s turn to 3:8-12…
So, these guys who are loyal to Nebuchadnezzar point out that the three Israelites aren’t following his order. The Aramaic in verse 12 (remember, a good chunk of Daniel is written in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew) is actually even more pointed than the English suggests. The accusers tell the king that these men “do not pelach your gods” – and pelach (peh-LAHK) means devoted, wholehearted cultic service. These men are withholding not just a posture of bowing to the statue – they are withholding their allegiance.
What’s interesting is that in verse 8, where it says they “denounced” the Jews, the Aramaic says they “ate pieces” of the Jews – it’s an idiom for slander. (Idioms are one of the hardest things to translate because of the cultural understanding of the idiom in the original language that doesn’t exist in the second one.) These men didn’t just report about the three guys; they devoured them. Maybe you’ve found yourself in some situation where you did the courageous thing, but ended up in hot water anyway. Of course, that’s what makes it courageous – there’s risk involved. If there were no risk, courage wouldn’t be needed. Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego are right there with you. Let’s read 3:13-15 now….
Notice what Nebuchadnezzar does here. He offers them a face-saving exit. He’s not looking for martyrs – he wants compliance. Countless of God’s people have faced this exact kind of moment.
And then he asks a rhetorical question: “What god will be able to recue you from my hand?” Nebuchadnezzar had already seen God's power in chapter 2, but seeing isn't the same as submitting (and it was dream revealing and interpretation, not saving from fire). He acknowledged God's power as the revealer of dreams and then went right back to building his empire on his own terms. That's a very human response. How often do we praise God, acknowledge his grace and forgiveness, read the Bible, pray, and so forth…and a few minutes/hours/days later we’re caught up in unbiblical behavior, relationships, or activities? We’re not so different from Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps. And scholars believe chapter 3 here is likely years after chapter 2. So, it’s not like one day he’s in awe of the God of the universe and the very next day he’s positioning himself above God. But the question for these three men remains: will they let their fear of him be bigger than their God? Let’s read 3:16-18…
Right here we see the courage of these three men. They recognize the calling on their lives to be faithful to God, to live as he called them to, and in the face of persecution and even death, they don’t back down.
In verse 18 we see this brief phrase: “But even if he does not.” In Aramaic it’s two words: ve-hen laʼ. In many ways, those two words are the theological heart of this entire passage. The three guys acknowledge that they may get delivered from the fire, or they may not. They leave it in the hands of God. But they are not going to worship the king’s idols, and they are not going to let their fear become bigger than their God – regardless of what happens.
This really is the faith of a mother. (And a father…but “dad’s day” is a few weeks out.) The faith in verse 18 – the faith that says, “but if he does not” – this is the faith of moms. It’s the faith of those who have prayed for their children for years, maybe decades, without a guarantee. It’s the faith of the mother who buried a child, and yet still got up on Sunday morning. It’s the faith of grandmothers who planted seeds in grandchildren they never saw come to faith. It’s the faith of those who’d like to be mothers, but it hasn’t happened. That is “But if not” faith. It’s trusting the God who is worthy whether or not he delivers on our timeline. And we see that faith kind of faith in moms, and in these three men. Let continue with 3:19-23…
Notice the detail the text gives us: they were thrown in the fire bound, and wearing all their clothes – their robes, trousers, turbans, and other garments. Why such detail? Because in a few verses, every single item on that list is going to come out completely unharmed. Not even singed. Not even smelling like smoke. The passage is specific about what goes in so that we understand the miracle of what comes out. Now Daniel 3:24-25…
So, two unexpected things here. First, the men who were bound are now loose and whole in the fire. The chains are broken and they are standing. This is, of course, striking and unexpected.
What’s also unexpected is that there are four men in the furnace. The king notices this and starts singing the song our choir sang earlier. OK…he doesn’t do that. He says that the fourth man “looks like a son of the gods.” This is Babylonian pagan cultural language and we shouldn’t expect anything else. What he’s seeing, however, is the presence of God in the furnace with the three men. Christians throughout history have interpreted this as a pre-Christmas appearance of Jesus. Whether or not you land on that level of specificity about the fourth man in the fire, the theological point made is clear: God is with them in some way. God does not watch the fire from the distance; he enters into it with them, and with us. Whatever the furnace may be that you feel you’re in, God is with you.
And if you want to see that most clearly in Scripture: look at the cross. Jesus enters fully into human suffering. He doesn’t redeem us from a safe distance. He goes in. The one who walks with his people in the fire ultimately walks into death itself – and walks out, leaving the tomb empty once again. Now 3:26-27
So, they come out and there’s not even the smell of fire on them. Some people come through genuine, prolonged suffering without the “smell” of it on them – no bitterness, no cynicism, no corrosion of faith. They’ve been in the fire, but the fire hasn’t defined them. The God of the furnace kept them whole. We likely all know someone like that: someone whose identity is so wrapped up in Jesus that the challenges and difficulties and hurts of the world just don’t stick to them or define them – they continue to live with Christian joy, love, grace, kindness, and so forth, no matter what comes at them. They are inspiring people to be around. Hopefully we find our identity in Christ so strong that we too live like that. Continuing in 3:28-30…
It’s an amazing turn of events. I don’t think Rack, Shack, and Bennie probably appreciated when the king said people “will be cut in pieces and their houses turned to rubble if they speak against God” – but what he said was kind of out of their control; it’s not like he gave them a chance to review or edit what he was going to say. The king clearly needed some discipleship mentoring. New believers, if that’s what we can call the king is here at this point, are messy like that sometimes. Heck, long-time believers can be messy like that sometimes. Regardless, the three guys are saved from destruction, and God vindicates them in their faithfulness.
Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s own words, however, when he says: “they trusted in him” (v. 28). Their deliverance is connected to their trust, and he recognizes that. Now, that trust was not a mechanism they used to control God and unlock deliverance – it was the posture that honored God before any outcome was known. It’s this faith that says, “but if God does not” and sees God as worthy of trust and praise, and glory either way.
I said earlier we aren’t maybe so different from Nebuchadnezzar; but we also aren’t so different from these three guys. Every single one of us is called by God to live for him, and bow down to no other god – whether that’s a gold statue, another human, money, position, or power…the list goes on. We all have this same choice: to live for God or to live for something else.
Many of us, however, struggle to follow God’s calling. It seems too risky. We play it safe. We want comfort. We want to minimize risk and reduce fear. We make lists – whether consciously or not – of why we can’t follow God’s calling: not enough time, not enough money, not enough talent, not enough energy, not enough “fill-in-the-blank.” Too old. Too young. Too risky.
But if we put all those fears on one side of a sheet of paper, and on the other side simply write 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit' – the balance sheet tips in God's favor. The question is: Do we actually trust that?
When I was 22 years old…so 10 or 11 years ago…I taught a Sunday school class for three-year-olds. I think it was the scariest thing I’d done up until that point in my life. Top five for sure. It certainly had some of the biggest feelings of fear associated with it that I’ve ever experienced. (I re-visited those feelings when I taught a 3rd-5th grade class here a couple months ago!) I had no idea what I was doing. I was just a post-college ski bum in Sun Valley, Idaho…and I was asked to teach this class. I was asked a week or more in advance – so I had time to prep. But when I stepped into the classroom, I felt like I was stepping into that fiery furnace. If I’d been asked to teach these kids how to ski, I could have done that in a heartbeat – give me three or four hours on the snow with them, and I’ll have them all riding the chairlift. But this was a whole different animal. It was a moment of saying “yes” to God and “no” to my fears. But I just might not be here if I hadn’t done that. Teaching that class planted a seed that got me involved in the life of the church in a new way and living for God more courageously.
However: Too often we let our fears win the day because our trust of God is too small; our fears become bigger to us than God. And believe me, I could share stories about that from my life as well – leading this church, as husband and father, and more. When we let our fears get bigger than our God, our fears are going to win.
So: How big is your God? If you ask me – and let’s pretend or a moment that you have asked me – I’ll tell you how big my God is. My God is HUGE:
- My God is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end.
- My God is all powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving.
- My God spoke the entire universe into being with a word.
- My God can part the Red Sea.
- My God provides manna from heaven.
- My God made water come out of a rock.
- My God makes the lame walk and the blind see.
- My God makes all things new.
- My God became flesh and dwelt among us.
- My God forgives me of all my sin.
- My God can bring life out of death.
- My God got up on the cross.
- My God got put in a tomb.
- And my God walked right out of that tomb.
That’s how big my God is. And that’s bigger than any fear I’m going to face in this life or the life to come. So how about you? How big is your God and your trust of him? Bigger than your fears?
We’ve seen it in the mothers and grandmothers and women of faith in our church and in our families who have walked through fire with quiet strength and fierce love and a deep trust in a God whose timeline they couldn’t control. Who prayed for decades. Who got up when they didn’t feel like it. Who kept going to church and kept opening the Bible and kept praying the same prayers year after year, not because they had a guarantee, but because they knew their God was worthy. Their faith looks a lot like verses 17 and 18: “The God we serve is able to deliver us. But even if he does not…we will not serve or worship the image of gold that you have set up.”
For those of you for whom today is hard – whose mother has died, or whose children are far from God, or who never had the mother you needed – I want you to hear this too: the God of the Bible, who is Lord of lords and King of kings, is the God who walks into the fire. He is not watching from the outside. He is the fourth figure in the furnace with you. And if you are in the fire today, you are not alone. God cares for you, loves you, and is with you.
For all of us: Where is God calling you to live courageously for him? Does the addiction seem safer and more comfortable than freedom from it? Does loneliness seem safer than the risk of joining a Bible study or prayer group? Does pride prevent you from having compassion and seeing another’s point of view and understanding their heartache? What’s on the list of fears keeping you from taking a step forward in following Jesus and serving, leading, and reaching out? Is there a friend on the outside of the kingdom of God, and some fear prevents you from leading them into the Kingdom?
Our God is able to deliver us. And even if he does not, or it happens in ways and timing we would never have expected — we don’t want to bow to any other. He alone is worthy of our praise, devotion, and trust. I think deep inside every one of us has a sense that God is calling us to live more courageously for him in some way – to take a risk and do something bold. If you haven’t had that sense, I’m hear to tell you: he is calling you to this. But too often we let our fears get the best of us and we end up living for them rather than living for God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show us that we don’t have to bow down to those fears. Rather, we can take them head-on, let God be God, and bring him glory in the fire. Let’s pray…Amen.
