Daniel 3:17-18 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 your hand… One case is presented here as to which there might be an alternative, and another case is presented as to which there could be no alternative. "If not." There is that which may happen, and there is that which may not happen. Whether or not our God shall deliver us — and of this there is a doubt — "we will not serve thy gods, O king," of that there is no doubt. The confidence of the just in God is never misplaced. But this confidence of the just must be absolute, in no way distinguishing. It must be in God himself, not in God doing for them this or that." They must demand of Him nothing; they must trust Him simply. This is the word which comes to us from the story of the fiery furnace. Death by burning was a Babylonish punishment. The martyrs of God are sometimes left to suffer. Faith in God — not in God's deliverance, but in God himself — reaches beyond all earthly destiny; it reaches up to Him. If we can only see the form of the "Fourth," no furnace that we may ever have to pass through will go on keeping its heat. Near to us, if we strive to be true to our Father and His love, we may see the very Son of God. There was one who said, and said it to all His true servants, whatever their condition may be, and in whatever age of time they may live, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." If the knowledge of Him who said that shall only be, by the mercy of God, vouchsafed to us; if we are empowered to grasp the fact of Christ and His salvation; not with the shadow of a fancy, but with a strong and real hold; then the plain of Dura, or the fiery furnace, the quiet pastures of life, or the rugged broken ground, the walking loose unhurt, or the consuming of the flames — there will be a reach in our souls beyond them. Knowing God, we shall absolutely trust Him. And then, as to the changes and contortions of this mysterious life — in which we must all take, certainly our chequered, perhaps our grievous part — we shall have outgrown either anxious hope or enervating fear. As to the afflictions of life, in the words of hope we may say, "He shall deliver us; but if not." Inevitably the point is open, and the trust of faith assumes, and' accepts the doubt, and passes beyond it; but as to death, and the conditions beyond death, there is to the humble, truehearted believer in Christ no alternative to be admitted. What did he say, that noblest of all Christian men, when he came to the borders of this valley, and looked forth upon its darkness, knowing that he must pass immediately into it — what did he say? "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. . .Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." St. Paul speaks quite positively here. He admits of no second case being possible. There is no room here for "but, if not." That may suit the life of our mortality. The believer in God is here sure of God, but he is not sure of what God shall do with him. God hath pledged himself to no earthly thing, except His love over all. God makes us all like unto St. Paul in this; and life may be buoyant and cheerful with us, or even tempered and calm, but if not — at least when "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." The form of the Fourth will be there, and He is not (as the King of Babylon said) "like unto the Son of God," He is the Son of God. (M.Wright, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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