Faith To See You Through
Devotions:
“Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Daniel 3:15-18 KJV
The three Hebrew children refused to bow to the idol that King Nebuchadnezzar. Their response is that if the king chose to throw them into the burning, fiery furnace, their God could and would deliver them. They were standing on their covenant and Isaiah 43:2 that said that God would stop the fire for them. People who do not read the text well say that their further response was that if God did not deliver them they would nevertheless not serve Nebuchadnezzar nor his Idol. But this is not what the text says. First of all if God did not deliver them when they were thrown in then they would be ashes and what did Nebuchadnezzar care what their ashes did also how could they have any control over their ashes. So this interpretation does not make sense. Secondly if you will follow good English grammar. The "if" goes with the "if not". If you throw us in then our God will save us but if you do not throw us in we will not serve you nor your idol. Most people make this a case of wavering faith, we do not know if God will save us or not but in any case we will not serve you nor your idol. But that is not in faith and God only responds to faith. The true interpretation, "If you throw us in to the burning fiery furnace, our God can and will save us but if you do not throw us in we will not serve you. Faith begins where the will of God is known. Without faith it is impossible to please God.