No room for negotiation.
Either bow down or burn to death.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold…..Daniel 3:1.
vv. 3-6:
the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Our minds immediately fly to the modern-day parallel event in Ayodhya on 16 January 2024. Only in the latter case the fall out for not being present and bowing down was milder though. Ridicule, and the threat of losing the looming election.
Under the circumstances pretty potent indeed.
But there was one set of guys in ancient Babylon who served the true God, who marched to a different drumbeat. They were arraigned before the king and were issued an ultimatum – fall down and worship or fall into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had no hesitation in picking up the gauntlet thrown by king Nebuchadnezzar. “What god” crowed he “will be able to rescue you from my power?” The response from the Hebrew trio is quite simply priceless (Daniel 3):
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 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.
18 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.
Faith and firm conviction overrode any fear of the fiery furnace. (not the best of times, but don’t miss the alliteration)
“Faith” is clear enough.
What is the firm conviction? “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.”
Methinks there is a world of difference between the two phrases above. “Is able to deliver” in phrase 1 and “will deliver us” in phrase 2. It might appear as though it is standard syllogism. But the later phrase “But if not” somewhat stymies the syllogism. Now, we have to interpret the response as ” even if our God does NOT deliver us“, “he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.”, clearly a contradiction.
But the trio was not a confused group. See what the criteria were for their selection in the first place (Daniel 1:4): Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
So, what did they mean by this seemingly oxymoronic utterance? There seems to be a veiled suggestion that there would be some kind of deliverance even if they get thrown into the fiery furnace. Were they alluding to “death” as “deliverance”?
But one thing is abundantly clear. Though they were certain about the “ability” of God, they were NOT certain about the “will” of God. They did not presume to know what God will do.
How refreshing this is in contrast to the myriad preachers who coolly announce – in the name of God – the election results before the counting is done.
The rest of the story is an amazing miracle that has Nebuchadnezzar blurting out ” Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”