Monday Morning Music Ministry

3-24-25

I invite you to go back in time and remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. No… not that far back; they lived in ancient Babylon. I mean, rather, the familiar story of three faithful servants of the Lord who refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar and his idol, the solid gold image of a god he invented.

You might remember the vivid story from Sunday School lessons or sermons. Their trials have been the stuff of songs, spirituals, and Gospel music. The three men were examples of faith and integrity, examples to us all in our daily walk.

The images that come to our minds are that the three not only were saved – no burn marks nor smell of smoke – but that they emerged unharmed, even as some of the King’s men died from the scorching heat just near the furnace, not in it as the three men were. And we might remember that King Nebuchadnezzar was so astonished, or himself afraid, that he ordered all of his subjects to worship the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and not his Golden statue.

This story is not a fairytale with a moral. Nebuchadnezzar was a real figure in history, recognized as a warrior and a builder. He conquered the Levant, including Jerusalem, And built one of the “wonders of the ancient world,” the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He was the father of Belshazzar. It is recorded that he indeed converted to belief in the God of the Bible, influenced by his advisers Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and their superior, Daniel.

Some Christians miss the fact that a fourth man was seen in Fiery Furnace, or that man’s presumed identity. Biblical scholars call him the pre-incarnate Jesus. This was one of the times that Jesus, by whom the universe was created, had an earthly appearance before His birth in Bethlehem.

But I believe the biggest “miss” in this iconic story is the over-arching lesson. Yes, God worked miracles. Yes, He protects His faithful servants. Yes, He rewards those who assert their spiritual bravery in the face of persecution. I believe that the great spiritual lesson is not only that God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego… but how He did it.

God, who had miracles up His sleeve, and all the power in the universe, could have extinguished the flames in the fiery furnace. He could have sent ten thousand angels down to swoop up the prisoners. He could have struck the king’s men – indeed, the king himself – dead or helpless. God did none of these things. He chose not to. Yet… He delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

I think the lesson for us today, as always, is that God delivers. Yes, sometimes He prevents things; but it is His way to deliver us from disaster, to deliver us from evil, to deliver us from hell itself. His desire is that we rely on Him, to seek Him, and to trust Him. It seldom is God’s way to wave a magic wand and make challenges disappear. Note that even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He does not promise to pluck us up to walk on the parallel mountaintops. He promises instead to be with us.

He has always kept that promise.

“With us.” What better companion can we have? Who better at keeping promises than the God of creation? And how best to know Him… to trust Him in times of peril? Let us dare to believe God’s promises. When we doubt, and do not believe Him, or do not learn from the lessons of many Biblical figures and uncountable saints since Biblical times, then we trust ourselves. Compared to trusting God… well, we can join those who laughed at Noah; and Lot’s wife; and all the notable “heroes of faith” reviewed in Hebrews Chapter 11. They were favored of God, yet their lapses in faith prevented them all from achieving their spiritual goals.

“Let that be a lesson to us” – trust in God, and not to our own understanding. We never hear of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego again; but Heaven did. And too often, well-meaning believers think that they are showing faith by following God up to a point… and then assuring Him, “Thanks, God, I’ll take it from here!”

That is not faith, but presumption. The best exercise of faith – and true wisdom – is when we are ready to admit that He is our refuge and strength, and fall back into His arms. Perhaps being delivered from the fiery furnace is a picture of being delivered from hell. Such obedience is a sure-fire way to please God.

+ + +

Click: Charles Laughton Reads From The Book Of Daniel: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

7-12-21

We all endure trials in life; and we recently discussed that fact here. Some trials, of course, are more severe than others… some only seem so, and lesser challenges become bigger obstacles… and some trials are “blessings in disguise.”

You have heard that expression, “a blessing in disguise.” Whenever I hear it, I think of the story about Winston Churchill during the London blitz, looking out over a burning city. An aide supposedly said, “Perhaps this is a blessing disguise.” Churchill supposedly harrumphed, “Some blessing. Some disguise.”

We see through a glass darkly, and cannot always know the larger picture. That is one reason why faith, and prayer, and reliance on God, are so important.

These days, I am persuaded, our trials are worse than ever, at least unique at this point in history. I refer to our national trials and trauma – the challenges we face in society, the breakdown of morals and manners, standards and traditions; betrayal by institutions and destructiveness by groups and individuals.

And I also refer to personal trials. How can I know the trials outside my circle of friends and correspondents? Because our society’s crises are causing personal crises. Many of our trials, yours and mine, in the areas of friends, family, finances, security, and confidence flow from the dissolution of our culture. Addiction, abuse, violence, crime, broken relationships, abortion… these are trials we endure in the larger realms of our lives, and the close-up spheres of our existence.

Let us think of one of the most iconic examples of a trial, so famous that it has entered the language, “going through the fiery furnace.”

In the Book of Daniel, chapter 3, is the account of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who constructed a golden idol and commanded that all bow down before it. And anyone who refused would be executed, thrown into a blazing furnace. The king was told that three officials, named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to worship the golden statue.

They were brought before the king and explained that they worshiped only the God of the Bible, and would not bow down to an idol. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal. It was so hot that, it was written, the jailers handling them died of the heat. When the king was able look into the furnace, however, he saw the three walking around, not bent, not bowed, not burned. And he saw a fourth figure with them – he said looking “like a son of God.”

Who was the fourth man? Not an angel; not a Holy Fireman except by metaphor. Bible scholars regard the Fourth Man as the pre-incarnate Jesus, as He did appear at times through the Old Testament.

This is a lesson for us today.

Unlike some other nuanced views, this is what I take away:
* There will be trials, always; don’t kid yourself.
* Never compromise with the “world system.” We are surrounded by idols these days. Don’t be seduced; don’t compromise; do not lose faith.
* Don’t bend; don’t bow; and you will not be burnt.
* If God wanted to spare those three men, He could have extinguished the fire. He could have made the furnace crumble. He could have struck down the king and the jailers.
* God had them go through the trial, and then save them, as a lesson in Faith. For us.
* Jesus is with us in trials. He does not want us to pray that “life” never happens… but to trust Him when “life happens.”

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” Notice again that God doesn’t push us toward peaceful detours. But He promises to be with us… so we can “fear no evil.”

The rotten world-system today is our King Nebuchadnezzar. Our crises – and they are real – are our personal fiery furnaces. Are you thinking of a family problem, or at the other extreme, society’s mess? Do you grieve over a friend, the school board, the White House, everything in between? Do not compromise, do not fear, do not bend, do not bow…

… and you will not burn. Look for that Fourth Man. He is with you.

+ + +

One of my favorite actors, Charles Laughton, once appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and dramatically recited, from memory, the story of the Fourth Man. Please watch! (The only mistake was, he called it the fourth chapter of Daniel instead of the third.) By the way, can you imagine a Hollywood star, today, being invited on prime-time TV to recite a chapter from the Bible? Times HAVE changed.

Click: Charles Laughton Shares the Story of the Fiery Furnace