God’s Presence with the Faithful

KEY VERSE: “Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” —Daniel 3:28

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Daniel 3:14-18, 23-26

NEBUCHADNEZZAR had tried to alter the purposes of God. Satan no doubt was the instigator behind the king’s actions, which involved the construction of a great image, over ninety feet in height and placed on the plains of Dura in the province of Babylon. One very unique feature of this gigantic statue was that it was completely overlaid with gold.

Just a little while previous to this, the king had seen a similar image in a dream—an image in which only the head was gold. The rest of its body was made of three other metals, extending downward from shoulders and arms made of silver. The Prophet Daniel had explained to the king that this change of metals was God’s way of depicting subsequent overturnings of power related to the time of Gentile dominion. Nebuchadnezzar was told that while he was represented by the head of gold, the period of rulership purposed for him and his family was limited, and in time God would raise up another world power that would overthrow his ruling dynasty.

The Chaldean king’s dissatisfaction with the thought of losing his power was made obvious by the fact that in constructing a replica of his dream, he ordered the entire structure to be covered with gold.

To consolidate his power as far and as wide as possible he commanded a mass celebration upon its completion, demanding that governors, councilors, and statesmen from every province be present to pay religious homage to his authority by bowing down before his image. Reprisal for noncompliance was a horrible death in a fiery furnace.

One can hardly read this account without feeling repulsed at the cruelty and coercive injustice of the edict, seeing behind the scene the workings of Satan. Yet millions of Christians are unable to recognize Satan’s lying influence connected with a belief that God would punish forever in a fiery furnace even those who in ignorance do not confess his name—many of them innocent children. How incredible!

The proud king of Babylon was soon to learn he could not reckon with the God of the Hebrews, who alone can change times and seasons, and remove kings and set up kings. (Dan. 2:21) But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew this, and refused to bow down. Certain Chaldeans reported them. Nebuchadnezzar was “full of fury.” (Dan. 3:19) He commanded that the strongest men in his army bind the three Hebrews and cast them into the fiery furnace, which, also by the king’s command, was heated seven times hotter than ordinarily.

But apparently the king was somewhat worried over the turn of events. Perhaps he thought how marvelously Daniel’s God had, through Daniel, interpreted his dream. The witness given him by the three Hebrews, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us” (vs. 17), took a deeper hold upon him than he was at first willing to admit. In any event, after the flames died down somewhat, he peered into the furnace and to his great astonishment saw four persons instead of three, the fourth being “like the Son of God.”—vss. 20-25

The king knew right then and there that his plan had failed. In the public view of nearly the entire world, the powerful God of Israel had protected those who had openly defied the king’s law. The Lord, of course, had sent his angel and delivered them. The king ordered the three Hebrews to be specially protected, and promoted them to even higher positions in the province of Babylon, decreeing that the true and Living God be honored throughout the world. Thus the glory of Israel’s God was manifested in Babylon through the witness given by his faithful servants.

Throughout this Gospel Age the adversary has likewise sought to destroy those who are children of the true God, and who refuse to bow down to his authority. But this plan, too, will fail, and it will be revealed that through their fiery experiences they were also protected by one like the Son of God.

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