| The Christian Life | December 1943 |
The Great Deliverer
“If it be so, our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”—Daniel 3:17,18
IN I CORINTHIANS 10:11 Paul tells us that the things which happened to God’s typical people constitute examples for the guidance of His spiritual people now. This statement follows the enumeration of a number of incidents in the lives of the Israelites which indicated a lack of faith and faithfulness on their part. However, we are not to look for an antitype of all the things that “happened” to God’s ancient people. Indeed, Paul’s admonition is given in order that we of this age may not follow the same course of unfaithfulness.
Nevertheless, all of the recorded experiences of God’s people in the past constitute valuable lessons for us, some of which are in the nature of warnings against wrongdoings, others are examples of faithfulness to God which we will do well to emulate. Among these good examples of faithfulness is the experience of the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to bow down to the golden image set up by King Nebuchadnezzar, although faced with the threat of being cast into a burning fiery furnace and destroyed.
These three Hebrew children were among those taken captive when the last Jewish king, Zedekiah, was overthrown, and Israel became a vassal nation to the Babylonian Empire. In connection with the epoch-making experiences of Babylon and Israel at that time, was the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar; a dream which, upon awakening, he could not recall, but which, nevertheless, had made a profound impression upon him. The wise men of Babylon were unable to help the king recall his dream. Daniel, also among the Jewish captives, was sent for, and he not only told the king what he had dreamed, but gave him its true interpretation. Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in which he saw that man-like image, was very flattering to the king, in that he was shown to be represented by the head of gold, with the explanation that whithersoever the children of men dwelt, God had given him to have dominion over them. Naturally, Nebuchadnezzar was very much pleased with what Daniel told him, and he not only conferred great honors upon the prophet, but, in addition, rewarded him further by exalting his three friends to positions of authority, and chose special names for them.
But like most men not filled with God’s Spirit, and upon whom great honor and authority are bestowed, Nebuchadnezzar became proud and arrogant, forgetting, if he ever really knew, that his high position was by divine permission. So he caused to be erected a great image, to which the representatives of the people were to bow down and worship. Thus did he endeavor to establish more firmly his hold over the people of the realm by appealing to their religious emotions. In a sense it represented an effort to become the religious, as well as the civil ruler, of Babylon, a prototype of the illicit union of church and state which developed later in the Roman Empire.
The position occupied by the three Hebrew children made it mandatory upon them, if they were to be fully obedient to the king, to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image; but while they were willing to serve Nebuchadnezzar in civil capacities, they were not willing to worship Babylon’s gods, and this put them in a very precarious position. Nebuchadnezzar learned that these three Jews whom he had so highly favored were not co-operating, and he reiterated his command, emphasizing that no exceptions could be made. It was then that these three faithful servants of God replied to the king in the words of our text. In this reply are a number of interesting facts which we who serve the Lord today will do well to note and profit by.
Israel’s God Powerful
These three faithful servants of the Lord had great confidence in God’s ability to care for them in any emergency. To them the God of Israel was all-wise, and all-powerful. As friends of Daniel the prophet, and zealously alert to know God’s will for them, they doubtless were well acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures then extant. They probably were acquainted with the Genesis account of creation, God’s deliverance of Noah at the time of the flood, and His wondrous providences in the life of Abraham.
They would know, too, of the marvelous manner in which God delivered Joseph, who had been sold by his brethren as a slave, and finally imprisoned in Egypt. They would remember that not only did God deliver him, but used him to bring deliverance later to his brethren in a time of famine. They would recall, too, hour God later delivered all Israel from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses, and the miraculous way in which the Red Sea was opened up to provide a way of escape. Then there were all God’s miracles on behalf of Israel by means of which He delivered them from hunger and starvation during the forty years wandering in the wilderness, supplying them with water from the rock and bread from heaven.
These three faithful servants of God, faced with a threat of death from Babylon’s king, would perhaps recall how the Israelites were brought through the River Jordan and given a victory over their enemies in Canaan. Gideon’s defeat of Midian’s hosts, with his little band of three hundred, because the Lord was with him, would surely be an inspiration to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They might also recall the wonderful way in which God delivered Jerusalem from the threat of Sennacherib, whose army was encamped before the city, demanding its surrender. Without the necessity of a single Israelite lifting a hand or doing anything except to pray, God slew that mighty army in one night.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar, or what did it mean to these three Hebrew children that all the governmental forces of Babylon were ready to carry out the king’s demand, as compared with the fact that the God of Israel was on their side? Their confidence, indeed, was well founded, and by it they had the courage to defy the most powerful man in the world of their day. There reasoning, no doubt, was similar to that of Paul’s when he wrote to the church at Rome saying, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”—Romans 8:31
The God in whom the three Hebrew children had such confidence is our God now, being the salve yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Our confidence in Him should be even greater than that displayed by these faithful servants of the past, because we are favored with a more comprehensive understanding of His character than was possible in the days of ancient Israel. They knew of His power, and they had confidence in His promises, but His great plan for the ultimate blessing of all the families of the earth, they did not know.
Favored with the vision of present truth, spiritual Israelites at this end of the Gospel age have the opportunity not only of knowing what fleshly Israel knew about God, but in addition we can rejoice in every evidence of His loving watch-care over His people, from Jesus’ day even until now. How firm a foundation indeed is provided for our faith, and what great confidence we should have in God’s ability to deliver us from whatever dangers may confront us as we refuse to compromise our position of full devotion to Him.
“Our” God
The confidence of the three Hebrew children in the deliverance that God ultimately would provide for them was based not only upon their knowledge of the God of Israel, but additionally upon the fact that He was their God. It is a wonderful thing, even for us today, to know something of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to know that this true and loving God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and has promised so many wonderful blessings for all mankind, and especially for the church; but it is even more important to know Him as “our” God. The three Hebrews rejoiced in the God of Israel, and the more so because of their full harmony with Him and undivided devotion to Him, because of which they were able to clam Him as their God. Thus it was a personal matter with them.
It was not merely that God had blessed others, but He had blessed theirs, and they knew that He would continue to overrule all of their experiences to His glory. So it should be with us. It is one thing to have faith in God’s plan for the world in general, and even in the fulfillment of His promises to the church, but oh, the blessedness of claiming His promises for ourselves, of being so fully surrendered to the doing of His will that our relationship with Him is on such a personal and intimate basis that we can truly believe in our hearts that He is our God.
The closest relationship natural Israel could claim to Jehovah was that of servants. Spiritual Israelites today are also servants of God, but in addition, we have received the begetting of the Holy Spirit, and thus have been brought into the family of God as children, and are privileged to look up to Him as our Heavenly Father. As children of God, therefore, we should have even greater confidence in His overruling providences, and know of a surety that He will permit nothing to cross our pathway that will not be the very best for our highest spiritual welfare. We know, indeed, that “as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear [reverence] Him.”—Psalm 103:13
“Whom We Serve”
The confidence of the three Hebrews that God would care for their: interests in the trial which confronted them, was further strengthened by the consciousness that they had been faithful in serving Him. Applying this thought to ourselves, it would mean that unless we are faithfully serving our Heavenly Father, we cannot expect Him specially to care for us. God does not ask us to serve Him because He is in need of our help. Nothing that we can do for God will enrich Him, nor will our withholding make Him poor. But through service we do have an opportunity of expressing our appreciation of His great love for us.
God’s love is manifested chiefly in the things He does for us and for all mankind. It is a love that gives and serves even when it is not appreciated, that reaches out to bestow blessings even upon His enemies. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall upon the unjust as well as the just. (Matthew 5:45) He gave His Son to redeem a race that was at enmity with Him through wicked works. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Col. 1:21; Rom. 5:8) It is our knowledge of this that helps us to realize that “God is love.”—I John 4:7-11
Upon acceptance of Christ and a consecration to do God’s will, divine love is further revealed by all of the “exceeding great and precious promises” that He has given, by which we are made partakers of the divine nature. (II Peter 1:4) Fulfilling these promises, He enlightens us, comforts us, guides us, forgives us, protects us, and finally, if we are faithful, will glorify us. Thus our every thought of God, our every contact with Him through His Word, every providence with which He surrounds us, is but a manifestation of His goodness toward us and of what He is continually doing for us. In return, He wants us to serve Him, not because He needs that service, but because He wants us to be like Him.
God is interested in the development of the church, not alone because she is to take her part in His plan for the recovery of a lost race, but also because she is to become a part of His family on the divine plane, an entirely new creation. (II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15) Before the creative work began, even before the Only Begotten of the Father was brought forth, God was alone. The Logos was created, and became His active agent in the creation of the whole universe, including angels, principalities and powers, and finally man, in the divine image, upon the earth. But, so far as the divine plane was concerned, God was still alone.
When Jesus had proved His full loyalty to God under the severest of trials, which finally included His cruel death upon the cross, God highly exalted Him to the divine plane with Himself, where He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High. (Heb. 1:3; 12:2; Phil. 2:8-11) Jesus was the “first born among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29) The divine plan called for bringing “many sons unto glory” by the same process of suffering and trial. (Hebrews 2:10) When this part of the divine plan is completed, God will have a family with Him on His own plane of glory, honor and immortality. In Ephesians 1:18, this is spoken of as God’s inheritance in His saints. It means that there will be, besides Jesus, 144,000 divine beings exalted in nature and glory to God’s own level, with whom, therefore, He can enjoy full fellowship and communion.—Rev. 7:4; 14:1
But it is not alone the divine nature, the glory, honor and immortality to which the new creation is exalted, that will make it possible for God to fellowship with these. First, they must become like Him in heart and mind and disposition. Inasmuch as He delights to bestow blessings upon others at the cost of great sacrifice, inasmuch as He loves and is willing to bless even His enemies, inasmuch as His greatest joy is in making others joyful, He wants us to be of the same disposition and character. Otherwise, even though exalted to power and majesty without the characteristics of the divine nature, God would find no basis for fellowship in us. This is why, dear brethren, the viewpoint of service is fundamental to a wholesome, healthy Christian life. This is why those who imbibe the spirit of God so fully that their chief delight is not in what they can do for themselves, but what they can do for Him, and for His people, are so pleasing to the Father. Being delighted with us because we so fully serve and obey Him, we, like the Hebrews, can depend upon His overruling care in all our affairs.
“But If Not”
The three Hebrews had full confidence in God’s ability to deliver them, and were fully assured that He would care for their interests in keeping with whatever His infinite wisdom saw was best. However, they were not certain as to exactly what their God might do under the circumstances. They had unlimited confidence in final deliverance from the hands of their enemies, but what they would be called upon to endure meanwhile was something that they were willing to leave in God’s hands.
They were determined not to compromise their position of loyalty to Him regardless of the result. They wanted it understood that they were not serving God simply because of the immediate blessings He might bestow upon them or what course He might pursue in their best interests. Their loyalty was based upon their knowledge of His integrity and that whatever He did they knew would be for the best.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, while knowing of the wonderful miracles God had performed on behalf of His people throughout the centuries of the past, knew also that He did not always immediately and miraculously deliver them from trouble. God overruled in the experiences of Joseph to provide food for the Israelites in the coming days of famine, but He permitted Joseph to be sold into slavery and imprisoned before the deliverance came. He provided water from the rock, and manna from heaven to sustain the lives of the Israelites in the wilderness, but He permitted them to wander in that wilderness for forty years. How could the three Hebrews now know what great purpose God might be working out in connection with the test that confronted them? But of this they were assured, that no matter hour much He might permit them to suffer, He would finally deliver them, and that thereby His name would be glorified.
Our Daily Trials
So it should be with us. Let us not always judge God’s goodness by the degree to which He spares us from suffering. He has not promised to shield the followers of the Master from trial. Indeed, He has made it plain that it is only through much tribulation we will enter the Kingdom as glorified joint-heirs with Christ. (Acts 14:22) One thing God has promised, however, is that He will not permit us to be tested above that we are able to bear and will provide a way of escape. (I Corinthians 10:13) On this promise we can base our confidence, and go forward in the narrow way of sacrifice and suffering, with full assurance of faith and without feeling that it is necessary to hold back from doing the full will of God, regardless of what may be involved.
This is a real test of the fullness of our consecration. We delight to tell of God’s goodness and wonderful care for us when He has favored us with the sweetness of His providences. When He makes the pathway smooth, we sing aloud His praises in the congregation of the saints. If He opens up the way for us to enjoy some great blessing which we sought, we are happy to tell about it at the testimony meeting, but are we just as quick to sing His praises when He doesn’t remove the obstacle or ease the pain, or shower us with His goodness?
Are we enthusiastic when He gives us a real opportunity to bear the cross, which, when we made our consecration, the gladly professed to accept? If we are truly faithful in our service of God there will be trials, there will be sufferings, there will be disappointments, there will be obstacles that are not miraculously removed from our pathway. But, in spite of this, our lives can be all sunshine if our faith is pure and simple, and we take Him at His Word—His Word which assures us that all things work together for our good, because we love Him and have been called according to His purpose.—Romans 8:28
Daily Deliverances
Let us not make the mistake of merely looking into the future and trying to bolster up our faith to meet some dramatic test that God may permit at the end of the Christian way. Jesus, it is true, finished His course dramatically upon the cross. Some of the apostles and other members of the early church did, also. Many throughout the dark ages were called upon to suffer dramatically as witnesses for Jesus and for the Word of God, but apparently the majority of those who will become God’s inheritance finish their earthly pilgrimage quietly and unobserved, with no outstanding closing test by which they have an opportunity to give an outstanding demonstration of their love and loyalty to God.
We might anticipate a final assault by the “beast” or the “image of the beast,” or by the “dragon,” and try to get ourselves ready for that great experience to come, yet miss the blessings that could be ours by giving more attention to the little daily opportunities which God gives us to overcome. If we are faithful in these little privileges of demonstrating our faith and loyalty, we will automatically be ready for whatever may come in the way of outstanding tests later on.
And even in our day-by-day trials, we need God’s help, else we will not be able to pass through them successfully. Yes, there are daily deliverances vouchsafed to us by Him who supplies all our needs, and if we learn to watch for His leadings, depend upon His strength, having full confidence in His wisdom as days go by, there will be no question about the final outcome.
In the Fire
The three Hebrews were wise in not assuming too definitely the exact manner in which God would help them. He did not prevent their being cast into the burning fiery furnace, but His power was manifest by the divine presence with them wherewith they remained unharmed despite the seven-fold heat into which they were thrown.—Daniel 3:19
Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, upon investigation, to find that the only thing the flames had destroyed were the cords with which Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were bound. He was even more surprised to discover that whereas three individuals had been cast into the burning fiery furnace, four were now to be seen walking about in the flames, the fourth being “like the Son of God.”—Daniel 3:25
In this there is a wonderful lesson for the Lord’s people today. Our Heavenly Father has not promised to prevent our passing through “fiery trials,” and we are not to think it strange when He permits the flames to burn fiercely around us. (I Peter 4:12,13) Our confidence should rather be in His promise never to leave us nor forsake us, that He is our refuge, a “very present help in trouble.”—Psalm 46:1
Applying a slightly different illustration, Peter speaks of the trial of our faith which he declares to be “much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire.” (I Peter 1:7) God is the Master Refiner of Christian characters, and He is ever observing the intensity of the trial to make sure that it is severe enough to remove the dross, yet tempered sufficiently not to injure the gold.
The Great Deliverance
A great and final deliverance awaits every consecrated follower of the Master. Jesus speaks of this in His prophecy concerning the end of the age. Outlining present world conditions, He added words of comfort for His church, saying, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption [deliverance] draweth nigh.” (Luke 21.28) This is the final and complete deliverance of the Christian, his exaltation to glory, honor and immortality. It is this deliverance, mistranslated redemption, to which the Apostle Paul refers in Romans 8:23. He says that “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption [deliverance] of our body [the body of Christ, the church].”
Yes, while waiting for this final deliverance we must expect the continuance of trials. We must expect to “groan within ourselves” because of the imperfections of our flesh, and also on account of the opposition of enemies from without. But we can rejoice in the realization that all our fiery trials, from whatever source they may come, will but help to prepare us for deliverance. It was even so with the three Hebrews whose cords of bondage were destroyed by the flames, thus setting them free, later to be fully delivered and exalted. What a glorious prospect awaits us if faithful! But let us ever remember that our final deliverance and exaltation will not come—cannot come—until we have passed through the fiery trials faithfully, even unto death.—Rev. 2:10