by John Indermark
The following is an excerpt from The Present Word (Spring
2008) titled “God, the People and the Covenant.”
Daniel 3:10–13, 16–18, 21, 24
Stepping Into The Word
The story of the three young men in Daniel 3, as many
have noted, is a form of melodrama (similar to portions of
the book of Esther), a satire that reveals the outrageous
behavior of Nebuchadnezzar. His arrogance, reflected in
the enormous image for which he demands worship, is
utterly larger than life. But far more significant, and at the heart of the passage, are the convictions that define who
we are even if faithfulness to them places us in jeopardy.
These three young men refuse to fall down and worship
an image and risk losing everything. This decision in the
face of human power parallels the early church’s dilemma
of whether to obey the imperial edicts to worship Caesar
as Lord. These ancient stories challenge us to live our
lives as those who have nothing to lose and everything to
live for in our relationship with God.
A Test of Principles
The nine opening verses of Daniel 3 set the stage for
the test of principles that unfolds in the following verses.
The grotesque nature and overwhelming size of the image
Nebuchadnezzar sets up is matched only by the nearly universal
assent to the edict to worship it. The multiple
listings of all the royal officials with repeated references
to all “the peoples, nations and languages” underscore
the theme that almost no one resists the will of the king.
Almost. The call to faithfulness during exile demands
such resistance in order to sustain identity and covenant.
So it is for these three young men. It seems their refusal
to follow the edict of worshiping the statue is not done in
any attention-getting, “in your face” way. Rather, their
decision has to be brought to Nebuchadnezzar’s attention
by others.
Do the three young men desire a public confrontation
with the powerful leader of the nation that holds their
people captive? It does not seem likely. In that sense,
their action calls to mind Rosa Parks. Her decision to sit
in a white-only section of a city bus in Montgomery,
Alabama, was not to make a political statement; she
simply wanted to rest after a long day at work. Only when
she was challenged did she, and many others, defy that “imperial edict” of her day on the basis of human dignity
and freedom.
From our passage, nothing suggests that the three
young men sought out the deadly scrutiny they eventually
received. Rather, they simply sought to live out the
principle of their community’s covenant: to worship the
one God who brought them out of Egypt. It is only when
that principle was challenged that this test became a very
public defiance.
Who Has the Power?
The printed passage of Daniel 3 in this resource
omits a key verse (v. 15) in understanding the heart of
this “test.” At the close of that verse is this telling line: “But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be
thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god
that will deliver you out of my hands?” (italics added).
Nebuchadnezzar demands obeisance and threatens
horrible retribution. Power is at stake for the king; he
promises extraordinary cruelty in order to maintain his
power. All other concerns or values are secondary.
This is a very persuasive argument, one that any
sane person would find compelling. In the case of
Nebuchadnezzar, the persuasion’s appeal is a matter of
record. The armies of Babylon had destroyed the Temple
in Jerusalem. They had leveled the walls surrounding that
city, rendering it vulnerable to all manner of plunder. The
Jews have been forcibly removed from their homeland
and taken into exile. The story of exile can be recounted
as a litany of powerlessness — at least, if power is seen in
the terms defined by the captors. “Who is the god that
will deliver you out of my hands?” is a rhetorical question.
We know the answer — no one.
The same question haunts our own day. When
powers of terror seemingly exercise their violence
unchecked, who will deliver the oppressed from these
hands? When economic decisions routinely favor the
wealthiest while hundreds of millions go to bed hungry,
who will deliver the hungry or the sick from these hands?
The question leaves us grasping for answers.
The answer is in covenant. Covenant calls us by faith
to affirm who really holds the power in this life. A power
that is for good. A power that is for the many and not for
the few. A power that embraces the future with hands
that are gracious and life-giving. The story of these three
young men testifies to the source of that alternative
power. Now, we turn to the outcome of their resolve
to trust in the God of the covenant.
Faith Indifferent to Outcome
Hebrews 11:13ff reminds us that faithful ones do not
always live to experience the outcome or result of their
faithfulness. Faith is not what we know and see, but what
we hope for and trust (11:1).
When the three young men answer Nebuchadnezzar’s
question about who will deliver them, they respond in an
intriguing way. If God delivers them, they say “good.” If
not, they will continue to defy the emperor and refuse to
worship the absurd image he has set up.
It is a difficult word to speak and hear. It is an
incredibly challenging word to those among us who seek
to reduce faith to immediate gratification. Give and God
will bless you.
God wants you
to be prosperous.
To which the
three young men
would say:
Phooey! Faith is
not about raking
in the big bucks
because God
loves me. Faith is
not about immediate
outcomes in my favor.
Faith is about trust in God in the midst of life and in the
face of death.
The faith of these three is a reminder — and a call — to
practice faithfulness to the covenant while resisting the
influence of self-possessed third parties. Nebuchadnezzar
wanted the “game” played on his home field, where his
power to inflict death was incontrovertible. The three
respond: No. We will trust God, regardless of what comes.
The faith of Daniel’s friends is a reminder — and call —
to keep the covenant according to those same terms,
especially in the tough times. Whether prosperity or
adversity comes: God is trustworthy. Whether healing
from cancer comes, or whether it doesn’t: God is
trustworthy.
As it turns out, the story ends unexpectedly.
Curiously, the print passage excludes v. 25 of Daniel 3,
which follows the emperor’s bewilderment: “Was it not
three men that we threw bound into the fire?” (v. 24)
“But I see four men unbound, ... and the fourth has
the appearance of a god” (v. 25). In this case, immediate
deliverance does come. But even so, it would be
interesting had the emperor seen the fourth figure in the
fire and deliverance did not come for the three young men.
God stands with us wherever we go. Who has the power
to deliver? The One who enters our world in specific
places and ways, which, for the Christian, is another way
to talk about incarnation. This One can be trusted,
regardless of the outcome.
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