The Terms

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego -- there are three names you don't run into every day. These were three friends of Daniel in, of all places, the book of Daniel. They were exiled Jews, captives in the land of Babylon. One day the king, Nebuchadnezzar, decided to find among the captives, "youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans" (Dan. 1:4). Daniel and his three friends were among them. After Daniel impressed the king by not only interpreting a dream the king had, but also telling the king what the dream was (Dan. 2), these guys were placed in high positions in Babylon (Dan. 2:49).

It wasn't long before they were in trouble, as you might imagine. The king set up an image of himself and, when the music played, commanded that everyone worship it (Dan. 3). These three guys wouldn't do it. Some native Chaldeans complained (Dan. 3:8). So Nebuchadnezzar explained it to them. "Apparently you didn't understand. If you don't, I'll throw you into the fire. So ... as soon as the music plays, I'm sure you'll do it ... right?" (Dan. 3:14-15). These three guys didn't hesitate. "Don't bother waiting for the music, King. We won't do it." What was their thinking on the matter? "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" (Dan. 3:17). See? They're thinking, "God will save us." If God will save them, then it's completely safe to defy the king because they're safe. No, that's not quite accurate. They had more to say. "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" (Dan. 3:18). These guys were not going to bow. It didn't matter if God saved them or not. They weren't taking God on their terms. They were submitting to God's terms:

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Exo. 20:2-6).

Well, you know the rest of the story. They were bound and thrown into a fire so hot that it killed their executioners. Nevertheless, all they lost was the ropes that bound them. They were saved by the "fourth man" in the fire, and the king radically changed his tune.

Various people find various lessons in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You can always trust God. Good. Going through the fire isn't always a bad thing. Fine. All you lose in the fire is the ropes that bind you. I like that one. But the question I come away with is this: Are you willing to take God on His terms?

I don't know how many times I've heard, "If God is like that, I don't want anything to do with Him" or something similar. "If I can't have my favorite pet in heaven, I don't want to go." "If God will do thus and so for me, I'll serve Him forever." These three guys didn't take God on their own terms. I'm sure they would have liked to. "As long as God promises to protect us, we'll do the right thing. We'll do what He says as long as there is reward for doing good and no downside." We all like that. But they didn't do it. They believed that God was capable of saving them, but it wasn't the issue. Even if He didn't save them, they wouldn't bow to the image. They surrendered their terms to God and took Him at His terms.

It's a running theme in Scripture. Isaiah agreed to speak on God's behalf. His expected results?

And He said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And He said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump" (Isa. 6:9-13).

Isaiah was going to preach a message that would never be heard. That was the plan. And Isaiah took God on His own terms. Read through Lamentations and see Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. He was chosen from the womb (Jer. 1:5) to be a prophet to a people who would ignore him. Look at Jesus Himself. He prayed, "Let this cup pass from Me", but He still went to the cross.

God's people are constantly called to take God on His terms, not their terms. Sometimes the results are pleasant, like for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Sometimes they're disastrous, like those in Hebrews 11 who were tortured, mocked, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, killed, afflicted, and mistreated (Heb. 11:35-37). What about you? Are you going to take God on your terms or on His? Are you going to take God as He reveals Himself or as you want Him to be? Are you going to obey if it's beneficial or because He is God? Whose terms are you going to use?