Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego and Immanuel
“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25).
There are passages in the Bible where faith leaps out in the midst of conflict and shines with a brightness that lifts our souls, and encourages us to follow the Lord in living faith. What is also uplifting is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego had a fellowship of faith. We should never lose sight of the importance of Christian friendship. It is important to have friends we can trust and who trust us. Friends who are close enough to both encourage and rebuke. Friends who deepen our faith in God.
In chapter 2, Daniel and his three friends were in danger of being slaughtered by a powerful and unreasonable monarch. King Nebuchadnezzar had lost his temper with his advisors because they could not tell him his dream and interpret it. It was Daniel’s bravery in asking the king for more time which saved many lives. Then Daniel held in his house what has been described as the first recording in the Bible of a prayer meeting (2:17-19). Daniel and his three friends prayed, and God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel and explained its meaning. Daniel was a man of extraordinary faith, but he also greatly valued his spiritual friends. May the present crisis stimulate us to cultivate a fellowship of prayer.
But although the dream revealed that Nebuchadnezzar’s empire was under the authority of the God of heaven (2:37), he still erects a golden image. Worse still, he made it law that everyone should worship it. Soon it came to light that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were not obeying the king’s command and were summoned into his presence. He gave them a final opportunity to bow down to his idol or face death. It is at this point we see their glorious faith. These three exiled friends, enslaved in a world they did not belong to, were confronted by a furious king with enormous power. They did not hesitate for a moment to express their complete faith in God: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). And they were cast into a furnace of fire.
What happens next illustrates the keeping power of God. The fire did not harm them in any way. They walked amongst the flames but were not alone. There was a fourth Person whose glory the Babylonians found difficult to describe, one like the Son of God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego’s experience demonstrates the Lord’s deliverance in a way we should never forget. In the Old Testament, God constantly and in numerous ways delivered His people by taking them out of dangerous places. But He did not remove Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego from the furnace: He went into the flames. Only when we come to the New Testament do we fully understand Immanuel, “God with us”. He enters the world to save and make us His children. And He is still Immanuel. He continues to reveal Himself, not only by delivering us from fiery trials, but by walking with us amongst the flames and proving the genuineness of our faith:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls
(1 Peter 1:6-9).
