Daniel 3:13-18 – “Brave”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar in shaking anger and hot wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then the men those were brought before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answering and saying to them, “[Is it] true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, my gods you are not serving and the image of the gold which I set up not worshipping? ¹⁵Now if you are ready in the time which you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, zither, the lyre, harp, and pipes, and the all of the kinds of music you fall and you worship the image I made and if not you will worship in that moment, you will be cast to the midst of the furnace of the fire burning, and who [is] that god who will deliver you from my hand?” ¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, “We not having need upon this matter to respond. ¹⁷If it is [so], our God whom we worshipping being able to deliver us from the furnace of the fire burning and from your hand, O king, He may deliver [us].¹⁸And if not being delivered, let it be [known] to you O king that your gods we are not serving and the image of the gold which you set up we will not worship.”

I want to record one last thought before I leave this passage.

As I have been studying this passage and reading it over and over, I keep thinking how thankful I am that faith makes us brave. Generations of believers have admired the courage of these young fellows and rightfully so, but I’d like to ponder it for a bit.

Someone may simply conclude they were “brave” men, but I would suggest there is always something more going on in person’s heart when we see bravery, for whatever cause. Fear is a powerful emotion and too easily seizes all of our hearts. Someone has claimed that “Fear not” is the most oft-repeated command in the Bible. I do not doubt it. It’s there from cover to cover. Two verses that have personally buttressed my heart many, many times are: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a well-ordered mind,” (II Tim 1:7) and “Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness … For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, ‘Fear not, for I am with thee’” (Isaiah 41:10,13).

But being honest, I have to say I often find myself “afraid” to do something I should, like make a phone call or talk to a particular person about something, or just deal with some kind of situation at work or at home, and I quote those verses to myself to steel my resolve and help me “just do it.” Obviously what these guys have to fear standing before a raging king and being thrown into a furnace makes my “fears” sound trivial, but I personally believe it all works the same. The same mental processes of faith have to be exercised in the “little” fear issues of our life in order to prepare us for the times when we face the “big” issues. That’s where verses like II Tim 1:7 and Isa 41:10-13 are so needed. Again, fear is a very powerful emotion. We need the power of God’s Word and His promises and Presence to help us be brave and go ahead and do what we should, in spite of our fears.

Can I go so far as to say that, underneath it all, I am actually quite the coward? I’ll stick my neck out and say that because I think it’s actually true of all of us. You can decide for yourself whether it is true of you, but for myself I would say that I simply am not brave. My natural posture toward life is always to turn and run. I think it is very easy to simply let fear rule me and then do whatever it takes to avoid whatever it is I’m fearing. I find myself there often and, as I’ve read over and over about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I see all the same forces at work – especially how faith is overcoming their fear and making them people we call “brave.” Again, I’ll go so far as to say I don’t think they were any more brave than me, that in their heart of hearts they were just as big a cowards as I am. I don’t believe they were simply “brave.” It was faith that gave them courage, faith that made them brave, and that same faith can make you and me brave too.

In the case of our friends in this passage, there is one very interesting verse in the Bible to notice – Isaiah 43:1-3:

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    He who created you, Jacob,
    He who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior …”

Of course particularly notice the promise, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” What is enormously significant for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is that Isaiah wrote these words over 100 years before this all happened! These verses were in the guys’ Bible, just like they are in yours and mine. I honestly wonder if the Lord didn’t move Isaiah to write these very words specifically for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? I’m sure they knew this was all coming – being high up in the government of Babylon. They almost certainly would have known about Nebuchadnezzar’s plans, why he was having the statue built, the planned punishment, and the whole program. You wonder if they didn’t hover over this passage in Isaiah and tell each other, “We have to believe this. We have to believe either the Lord really will deliver us from the flames or those same flames will be His means to deliver us to heaven. We simply have to believe these words and trust Him.” And how crazy was it for them to live the rest of their lives reading these words again and again and remembering the time when the Lord really did deliver them from the flames???

But I ask again, are we really any different? How many times have I hovered over God’s promises, taken Him at His word, found faith actually making me “brave,” only to realize afterward “it really happened!” He actually did make me brave. And, one way or another, He really did “deliver” me. The flames really didn’t harm me!!!

I guess I’m just wanting to say I am so thankful that faith makes us brave. I’m so thankful that everything about having a real relationship with God makes us better. Knowing Jesus raises us. Fear makes us do and say stupid things. Faith helps us to be who we ought to be – and then the wonderful thing is, when it’s done, it doesn’t make us proud to have done it – because we are keenly aware it wasn’t really “me.” It was faith working through me. I can do “brave” things keenly aware I am not brave.

There is so much these three young men could have been. They were young men probably rich and powerful – there were so many wrong paths they could have gone down and no one would have expected any different. Yet these guys go down in history known specifically for their amazing courage. Again, I would suggest we should actually be encouraged to realize it was not because they were somehow made of something bigger and better than us. It was faith that made them brave and that same faith can make you and me brave too. Whether it’s the little battles we face all day every day or some huge faith contest like Daniel chapter 3, faith is the victory. Let us all today take up the shield of faith, quench the fiery darts of the evil one, and, having done all, to stand.

May our faith today make us better. May it make us brave.