Trusting God's Plan in the Fire: Lessons From the Book of Danielنموونە

When we last saw our heroes, they were in the middle of the fire, but a fourth man was there with them. Seeing these guys were not incinerated to ashes, King Nebuchadnezzar yells at them,“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” v 26 Did you catch that change in what the king called them? He said servants of the Most High God. King Nebuchadnezzar saw the one true God deliver these young men from an impossible situation, a blazing fire that had already killed some of his strongest soldiers.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked out of the fire without a single burn. The political officials and advisors that saw the miracle, crowded around them. Seeing was believing for everyone that witnessed it!

“They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” v 27 They didn’t even smell like smoke! Not a single one of them had burnt hair. Have you ever smelled burnt hair? It’s AWFUL. But the Lord protected even the hairs on their heads. They were also unbound and not tied up any longer. Notice the ropes and bindings that tied them up were the only things burned in the fire. They were FREE because of God! All existence of the fire was wiped away once they walked out.

As the crowd came and surrounded them, they didn’t need to speak. Actions spoke louder than words. God had saved them. Their deliverance from their fiery trial caused even the toughest enemies to be in awe of the one true God!

“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.’” v 28 This isn’t some preacher saying this. This is proud King Nebuchadnezzar declaring this to all of his officials.

Because God saved these men, the king issued a new decree,“...the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” v29 Okay, so that’s a bit over the top, but the point is that this pagan king viewed a life-changing miracle of the deliverance of the one true God.

Finally, I want to remind you what we said at the beginning of this study about the Hebrew names of our heroes and how it was a hint of their future.

• Daniel = My judge is God.
• Hananiah = God has been gracious.
• Mishael = Who is like God?
• Azariah = God has helped.

We’ll end today with a challenge for you to say out loud over your problem, “My judge is God. God has been gracious. Who is like God? God has helped!”

Questions:

1. What hope does this story give you while in your trial?

2. What audience do you have that’s watching to see what happens to you?

3. Do you think God is able and willing to help you out?