Three young Jewish men were once confronted with a momentous decision: worship a golden idol or face the murderous rage of the king. With the benefit of hindsight, we know how their story ends. But when they made that crucial decision, they did not know how it would end. These three young men were some of the first to be taken as exiles from the conquered Jerusalem (Daniel 1:3-4). Ripped from their home country, they were taken to the far-away city of Babylon where they were trained in all the customs of that nation. Their indoctrination included new identities; their Jewish names (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) were discarded and they were forced to adopt new Babylonian names, the names we usually know them by: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 

In this foreign land, surrounded by all the pressures and influences of a pagan culture, these young men would have had every reason to give up their faith in the God of Israel and completely assimilate to the ways of the polytheists around them. But against all odds, these three young men clung to their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who performed amazing signs when he led his people out of the land of Egypt and into the promised land all those hundreds of years before.

The test of their faith came when the King commanded all his subjects to worship the golden image that he made (Daniel 3:1-12). For loyal Jews, it was unthinkable to worship anything or anyone other than God himself. Knowing the penalty that disobedience to the King’s command would bring, the three young men resolved that they would not worship the image. They were promptly summoned before the king and given one more chance: worship the image or be thrown into a furnace. These men had the faith to reply to the King, “…we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18). The young men trusted that God was able to save them from the anger of the king and the power of the fire, but regardless of whether or not he would choose to save them, they refused to betray their God, come what may. This extraordinary faith was rewarded by God, who did in fact save them from the fire. Their faith became a powerful witness in their own day and an incredible example for us. These were men who by their faith “quenched the power of fire” (Heb. 11:34). Christian, there is nothing that your God cannot do! Resolve to have the faith these men had, and remain faithful to God, come what may.