He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 5, 2017): Daniel 3

I hate to admit this, but a couple of months ago I stabbed myself in the leg with a knife. I was practicing for a Good Friday Monologue, preparing to play the part of Barabbas and, according to the script, Barabbas was a rebel who had turned himself into an inept carpenter. And I was playing with a knife. I had a piece of wood on my leg and attempted to drive the blade into the wood. I missed the wood. What I didn’t miss was my leg. (Yes, I get that it was absolutely a stupid move.) And now I have an inch long scar on my leg to remind me of my stupidity.  

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace is an amazing story. If we accept it as true, then this is a suspension of the laws of Physics. More precisely, what is even more amazing is that it is a selective suspension of the laws of Physics.

First, three people become four. As Christians, we have built a belief around Nebuchadnezzar’s comment that the fourth person was “like a son of the gods” and believe that this is an example of the pre-incarnate Christ. Was it? Well, that definitely was not what either Nebuchadnezzar or Daniel had in mind. For Daniel, this fourth person was most likely thought to be an angel or some sort of an emissary of God. For Nebuchadnezzar, it was possibly a son of Abzu or Tiamat from the Babylonian Epic “Enuma Elis.” Ultimately, the identity of the fourth person is unknowable, but God taking on the form of man (Jesus) is not a bad guess.

But there is something else that jumps off of the page of the story. It is easy to imagine that somehow God placed a science fiction like ‘force field’ around the people who are walking around in the fire so that they are kept safe. Except that the miracle isn’t just that the men are unharmed, but that they are also unbound. The fire apparently burned through the ropes, but not the men. It would be like my knife passing through my thin pants but not my leg. Reality hasn’t been changed, but the person is protected. It is a selective suspension of the laws of Physics.

Often we seem to think that in order for God to protect us from our circumstances, he must remove us from our circumstances. But the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace actually says something different. God can protect us while we are still in our circumstances. He doesn’t have to remove us. God can keep us safe even as everything is burning down around us.

Of course, on the other side of the coin, he can let us be stupid and stab ourselves in the leg. Sometimes we have to suffer through the circumstances of our own making, but he is still with us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel 4