Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16-18     NKJV

My husband and I like to watch movies that are based on true stories. We had the opportunity this past week to go see Daniel and the Fiery Furnace. I warn you that you must be careful when watching a Hollywood production of a historical narrative. Some go overboard with creative liberty to the point of twisting the meaning, but that was not the case with this movie.

I have a bad habit of calling these things Bible stories. When our church started using Ken Hamm’s curriculum, he pointed out that these are not stories but historical narratives. I try now to refer to them as historical narratives and not just stories.

There is an old saying that says, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” This is often the case with the historical narratives recorded in the Bible. When we read them, we can easily see that God is in control of all things on earth as well as in heaven.

The Book of Daniel is filled with a number of true accounts that show God’s power. If you will recall, Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were exiles brought into Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. They defied his command to eat the food from his table because they refused to defile their bodies. They were given ten days to prove their way was better and after the ten days, they were allowed to continue eating only the fresh fruits and vegetables they had requested.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he not only wanted interpreted, but he wanted the interpreter to tell him what the dream was. None of his magi or wisemen could do this and he had issued an order to kill all of them including Daniel and his friends. But through prayer, Daniel was able to tell him what the dream was and what it meant with God’s help. Nebuchadnezzar was so pleased that he appointed Daniel ruler over Babylon and put him over all the wisemen of Babylon. Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of Babylon. Daniel sat with the king at the gate (Daniel 2:48-49).

Daniel and his friends stayed true to the Lord and even during this time of captivity, the Lord saw to it that they were promoted. He also protected them from harm.

When they refused to worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar as we see from our Scripture passage, Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be thrown into the fiery furnace. They walked around in that furnace with Jesus (or a preincarnate Christ) and came out of it with no soot on them and not even smelling of smoke. This is what God can do. We are told in Isaiah 43:2 that God will be with us when we walk through the flood and the fire and the floodwaters won’t overtake us and the flame won’t scorch us. This certainly held true for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

All that is written in our Bibles is true. They are not stories for our entertainment. There are wonderful accounts of great love between humans as well as God’s love for us. There are accounts of war and heroes. There are instructions for how we should live our lives.

There are so many awesome, true accounts for us to read about and study. Each of these accounts show us God’s power and control over all things.

We can learn from the experiences of those who lived in the days of the Old Testament as well as those who lived in New Testament times.

If you haven’t begun to study the Bible, what are you waiting for? It’s a fascinating read.

Have a great day!