Fireproof clothing Daniel 3

Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Daniel 3:21

Welcome to Babylon...land of Nebuchadnezzar. This guy has issues. Real issues. The king he was, and God had already spoken to him through Daniel through a dream. Not only did he ask that the dream be interpreted by his staff, he said they had to tell him what the dream was! He was no fool. He knew if he told them the dream that they could make up something and he would not necessarily get the truth. God enabled Daniel, who saved the rest of the staff from being killed. So they return the favor by tattling on Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the Hebrew names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. The king had built an image and called the rulers and wise men from all over the kingdom to come to town for the “christening” of the image. They were the first to get to bow to it, and then, I assume, lead their people in worship when they got back home. This was a test of their faithfulness to the king. So this was not just the town folk who were being assembled here. Every big-wig from the kingdom was there, dressed in all their fancy clothes. There was to be music, and when they struck up the band, everyone was to fall and worship this thing. And they stood. The 3 Jews stood.

Well, this did not go over well. At first the king asked if they would worship his gods or this image. He challenged their God, who oddly he himself had acknowledged as God to Daniel right before. So, your God can make dreams known, fine! But can He save you from a raging fire? Hmmm? Let's see Him do that! And when they said they didn't need to defend their God who could, but not necessarily would, save them, he went ballistic! He ordered the oven 7 times hotter (how much more burned up can a person get?), had them bound in all their royal regalia, and sacrificed the men who carried them to the furnace. The king later approached the door when he saw them untied and walking around. We have to see why their clothes were mentioned...

The (other rulers) gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, not had the smell of the fire even come upon them. Daniel 3: 27

The fact was that God, the consuming fire that He is (Deut. 4:24 and Hebrew 12:29), doe N them, no damage to their bodies or their clothes. He stood with them in the midst of their worst trial, and they not only came out unscathed, God was again honored by the king and the worship of the image was abandoned for the worship of the God of these fine boys. Not that Nebuchadnezzar would not play the fool again (he acted like an animal for 7 years because of his pride), but he could not deny the power of the Almighty. He knew that this God could do anything, and even judged Him righteous for the whole animal thing.

So here I sit. My government has played the fool and denied the power of God, and has started persecuting Christians in minor ways in this country. Will we stand or bow? There are Christians in Iraq being behead and dying in the hills for not bowing to Allah. There are Christians being threatened all over the world. Some give in a say the words forced on them, but a few brave souls stand. It is easy to pity them, and it is easy to blame God for not pulling a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego for all of them. Not all are rescued, not all exhalted and given more power and riches like them. So what is God doing wrong?

Then we come to Calvary. God didn't rescue His own Son from the tortures of this world. His was tested with power, riches, and worship of Satan for His own short-term gain. We will all die of something...and to die as a martyr for the sake of the Name would be the greatest way to die. This is not unsympathetic. Please don't take me wrong. The suffering, the pressure, the fear, it is all real. But to die a traitor to the cause of Christ would be far worse. Relatively few are called to be “thrown in the fire,” but with the Spirit of God with them, in life or in death, it can result in others coming to Christ, to spend eternity rejoicing with the Lord. The fire of the 3 friends would have been a very temporary one. They would have died and gone into the presence of the God they served. The fire that they would have faced later had they bowed the knee would have been eternal. They had to pick one, I guess, in the moment. And they chose wisely.

Even the secular world is looking at the way things are going and seeing the world seemingly spinning our of control. The scriptures are being fulfilled before our eyes...

We are told to look up for our salvation is drawing near. It may be soon that we have some physical and spiritual decisions to make. Pray for the strength, the hope, and the wisdom to choose wisely. Your eternal destiny and God's favor may rest on that one decision. Remember the Lord is there to stand with you if you choose the hard way. But the results...ah...they are worth it. To have the Lord stand with you in the fire...