807_But if not (Daniel 3)
Daniel 3:13-18 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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 chapter 3 shows three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, standing before a powerful ruler who gave them a simple choice: obey his command or face certain death. They knew that what he demanded was wrong, but refusing would cost them their lives. What would they do? Would they obey the king and save themselves, hoping that God would understand why they compromised their faith? Or would they remain faithful regardless of the consequences? Their response reveals the anchor of their faith: “But if not.”
The chapter begins with King Nebuchadnezzar constructing a golden image and commanding everyone to bow down and worship it. This is remarkable because, in the previous chapter, the king had acknowledged Daniel’s God as “God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries” (Daniel 2:47, ESV). Yet now he challenges the very God he had acknowledged, asking the three young men, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (Daniel 3:15, ESV).
How quickly we forget what we have learned about God! Nebuchadnezzar’s dream showed him that earthly kingdoms would rise and fall, but God’s kingdom would endure forever. Yet he is now determined to establish his own greatness through a golden image. The king who had once acknowledged God’s sovereignty was behaving as though his own authority was supreme.
When God answers our prayers and blesses us, we may readily acknowledge his power. But under difficult circumstances, we often begin to live as though everything depends on human strength and authority. Daniel 3 reminds us that earthly rulers may command our outward circumstances, but they cannot claim the allegiance due to God. There are no divine rulers except God himself.
These young men had already demonstrated their convictions in Daniel 1, when they resolved not to defile themselves with the king’s food. Now the test was much more severe. Yet, in the face of the roaring furnace, they did not panic or attempt to tone down their convictions. They simply answered, out of the abundance of their assurance: “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” (Daniel 3:17, ESV).
They had no doubt about God’s power. They believed that the God of heaven could and would rescue them from the king’s punishment. But then, in humility and absolute surrender, they added three words: “But if not” (Daniel 3:18, ESV).
These words did not emerge from doubt about God’s ability. They expressed submission to God’s sovereignty. God could deliver them, but they did not presume to know what he ought to do. Yet their allegiance to him remained unshaken. Even if they went to their deaths in the furnace, they would worship no other god. Their obedience did not depend on their deliverance.
This is the heart of true faith. We often find it easy to trust God when we can see how he might solve our problems. We pray for healing, expecting to recover; we pray for provision, expecting our needs to be met; we pray for protection, expecting to escape danger. There is nothing wrong with such requests. Scripture commands us to bring our requests to him thankfully. But genuine faith goes deeper than confidence that God will give us the outcome we desire. It rests in God’s goodness, even when his answer is different from what we hoped.
Hebrews 11 illustrates this. It describes people who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, escaped the sword, and quenched the power of fire. Yet it also describes others who endured torture, imprisonment, and death because they refused to abandon their faith. Some escaped the sword through faith; others were killed by the sword through faithfulness. Both groups were commended for their faith.
Faith is not a guarantee that we will escape every trial. It is confidence in God’s love and righteousness that enables us to remain faithful irrespective of trial. It includes trust in God’s omnipotence—his ability to do all things that are good and holy—and in his sovereignty – his unique wisdom and authority to determine what he will do.
The apostle Paul experienced this tension in his own life. He pleaded with the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh, but the Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV). The thorn remained despite his prayers. God did not remove the difficulty as Paul had requested, but he enabled Paul to fulfil his mission despite it. Sometimes God displays his power by changing our circumstances; at other times, he displays his power by the way we serve him faithfully in the midst of difficulties.
Meanwhile, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar expected to see them destroyed, but instead he saw four men walking unharmed in the fire. God had not abandoned his servants. He was present with them in their suffering and delivered them in an astonishing way. Nebuchadnezzar could do nothing less than bless their God, acknowledging that they had trusted in him and had “yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God” (Daniel 3:28, ESV).
This is the meaning of worship. It is not expressed merely through words or religious ceremonies. It is a steadfast choosing of his will above our love of our lives. Romans 12:1 echoes this truth, urging us to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (ESV). It means believing that he is worth the loss of everything, for he is far more than everything we could lose.
Worship means remaining faithful to the one God when obedience costs us popularity, comfort, opportunities, or security. It means refusing to compromise our convictions simply because the consequences are frightening. The three young men had surrendered themselves to God before they knew whether they would emerge from the furnace alive. Their faithfulness was not dependent on the outcome. They believed because they knew there was immeasurable reward beyond the fire. They believed in the glory of life everlasting beyond death.
What does “But if not” mean for us today? Perhaps you have been praying for a loved one’s healing, waiting for an answer to a difficult situation, or facing opposition because you have chosen to follow Christ. We may continue to pray boldly and believe that God can and will intervene. But let us not think our faithfulness depends on receiving the answer we desire. God may deliver us from the trial, or walk with us as we traverse it. Either way, he remains worthy of our trust and worship.
We do not always know what God will do, but we do know whom we have trusted. We know that he rewards those who seek him. And so, like the three young men, we can say, “Our God is able. But if not, we will still trust him. We will still obey him. We will still worship him.”
For the greatest evidence of faith is not always that we escape the fire. Sometimes it is that we remain faithful in the heat of the furnace. This is the faith of our fathers—a faith that believes in his power, submits to his sovereignty, and remains faithful to death, knowing that he is our God beyond the grave as well. God bless.
Take a few moments to reflect on these questions
What does the response “But if not” reveal about the relationship between trusting God’s power and submitting to his sovereignty?
How can we remain faithful to God when his answers to our prayers differ from what we hoped or expected?
What practical changes might help you surrender your circumstances to God while continuing to obey him, even when the outcome is uncertain?
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are more than worthy of such faith, the faith demonstrated by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I believe in your power and surrender myself to your sovereign will. I will trust you not only when you deliver me from trouble, but also when I have to pass through the fire, knowing you will be there as well. In your name, I will remain faithful when obedience is costly, and offer my whole life to you in worship. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen
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