Consequences and Deliverance for Faithfulness

Nebuchadnezzar, king and ruler of Babylon, had just set up a golden image and commanded everyone, including his leaders, to bow down and worship it. If not, there would be serious consequences, the fiery furnace.

The ruler of this world, Satan, has done much the same thing. He has set up his own golden images of money, power, prestige, and possession, and if we want to participate in what they have to offer, then we are going to have to bow down, that is, we are to lay aside our standards, ethics, morals, and beliefs to worship the images.

If not, then there are consequences. If we refuse to bow the knee to the golden images of this world, we can expect the consequences of persecution and suffering.

But three faithful young Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image saying, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

These three stood upon God and His word. They believed that God would deliver them through the consequence of the fiery furnace. But even if they were incinerated, they knew that they would likewise be delivered through death into eternal life.

It is only through such obedience to God and His word, along with an unshakeable faith in God that deliverance through the fiery furnaces of trials, temptations, sufferings, and persecution can be achieved.

It’s when we refuse to bow down to the golden images of this world because of our faith in God that Christ will come into the midst of our crisis and deliver us through whatever trial we may be facing, whether in this life or the next.