Daniel 3
There’s always something else going on we don’t know about. Jerry Felder was a Jewish New Yorker born in 1925 and became crippled thanks to Polio six years later. I don’t expect anyone to know who he is, but something interesting happened as he watched his wife dance, at their wedding, with other men (cousins and friends). While watching his wife dance, he scribbled a few words on their wedding invitation. It said this: “you can smile every smile for the man who held your hand beneath the pale moonlight, but don’t forget who’s taking you home and in who’s arms you’re gonna be, so darling save the last dance for me” (Mike Rowe, YouTube). Just like a duck on the water, you never know what’s under the surface. Take King Nebuchadnezzar; it’s easy to look at him as purely evil and arrogant, but there is much more going on than you might expect.
The king wanted to honor himself as a god, built a statue, forced everyone to worship him at his whimsy. Once they were outed by native Chaldeans, the three were brought into the king to answer directly for their crimes. They weren’t afraid or angry, simply steadfast. They accepted their punishment and trusted in God’s plan. When they got out of the furnace, they didn’t turn against the king, but continued to serve and be quiet examples. What begins with the king’s arrogance ends with his recognition of the God who rescues.
What we have here is a unique A and B story setup. The main story is really the king’s spiritual journey, but that story is driven by the obedience and trust of the three. Let’s discuss how the three put themselves in position for such a powerful witness and circle back to the king.
They Accepted the Minority Role (v8-12)
The political scene today is depressing. Political hatred for opposing sides has grown into a refusal to work with others. While it is incredible that we have the freedom to disagree, we have turned against each other and have allowed tools like social media to broadcast our sides like arrows across a battlefield. The Jews experienced true injustice and Babylon is a prime example. Yet the three didn’t fight against the government, just focused on their mission – being others focused while staying loyal to God. Those are NOT connected ideals – staying loyal to God does not mean you must fight against the current landscape. There is only one hill worth dying on, and Jesus already did that.
They Laid Down Their Lives (v16-18)
People are not the real enemy – our enemy is a spiritual enemy. Thus, people are not who we are called to attack; in fact our mission is to love them. Burning bridges only destroys potential future influence – you never know who might come back into your circle (or, in the case of the three, that they would still be in the circle). Once, on the way to church, a person was driving SO slow, I wanted to cut around him aggressively, but didn’t – and surprise, we both ended up at church. You never know who you will run in to. Life isn’t about defending our rights, it is about serving God on the mission. This is about faithfulness, not power.
They Served an Antagonistic Regime (v28-30)
They saw their trials as an exercise in faithfulness. With trust in God as king of kings, we can stay the course even situations are out of our control. He is in charge of it all, thus we should keep our eyes on Him and not react against the world. The three trusted God’s mission to go on without them and they were ok with their story ending because they knew He was still the victor. Thus, not only were they willing to die then, but especially later they could still serve him in important roles. These are not American ideals we see from these three; but they are kingdom practices. And this is where it circles back around to Nebuchadnezzar.
Next Steps
We see the next step in king’s spiritual journey in Him seeing God in the flames, that there really is someone greater than him and actually blessed him, recognizing God as a rescuer. He’s not submitting to God yet, but he is being drawn in. This is showing to be Nebuchadnezzar’s story, not Daniel and his friends. Just like the three, our story is not about us, it is really about those whom we are being called to serve.
- Challenge yourself to see God in your trials. He’s there with you. Do you see Him, or are you too focused on your part of the story?
- Connect with a pre-believer in order to gain understanding of their perspective on things. Don’t have to agree, but seek to understand and care.
- Don’t ruin your witness before you have a chance to give it. Even a fool who keep silent is considered wise – Prov 17:27-28
It is easy to lose sight of the work God is doing when we are too focused on our own story.
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