Is It True?

Is It True?

—Daniel 3:14

Is it true?” This question emerged out of a cultural context not unlike ours today. Babylon had conquered Israel and brought back some of the brightest young Jewish minds to train in the way of the Babylonians. The king had set up a golden image of himself and decreed that all his subjects would bow and worship it. And like a bunch of rubber stamps, everyone did . . . except these three young Jews. Upon hearing the news, the king summoned them into his presence with this question: “Is it true?”

Tolerance is the password in today’s corrupt culture. One of my own life lessons and sayings is, “You have what you tolerate.” Think about it. We have today what we tolerated yesterday. Many parents can attest to this. They tolerated disrespect and talking back by their kids yesterday, and today they see a young adult who has no respect for authority. The process will continue: we will have tomorrow whatever we tolerate today. It is a fact—we have what we tolerate. Tolerance used to mean that we recognized and respected other people’s beliefs and values even when we didn’t share them. Today tolerance means something entirely different: it now means that everyone’s values, faith claims, and lifestyles should be accepted and that all truth claims are to be treated as equal.

While we are screaming “Tolerance!” our lives are being tested. The same was true for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego who lived according to inner principle, not by outer pressure. When their moment of crisis came, they stood tall and firm because their decisions were guided by the Word within their hearts, not by the external world system. As the morals of our culture continue to crumble, we believers should expect to hear this same question asked of us: “Is it true? Is it true . . . that you do not bow to the gods of this world?” These three young Hebrews are shouting encouragement to us across the centuries today. They are saying, “Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Don’t give out.”

DON’T GIVE IN

Your faith will be tested. Woven through Daniel 3:1–12 is the concept of peer pressure. It would have been easy for these three young men to give in and get lost in the ways of that time. After all, everyone else was bowing to the golden image. It is so easy to go along with the crowd as we tell ourselves that even though we are bowing on the outside, we are still standing on the inside. But look at what Daniel’s three friends did. They were not at all low profile as they stood in the mass of others who had no character or conviction, who were bowing to the golden image.

I can hear those young men saying to us today, “Don’t give in! Don’t do it! Don’t give in!” In our world of “tolerance,” our faith will be tested as theirs was. And we too will have tomorrow the fruit of whatever we tolerate today. Those three young men found their strength in God and in one another. They stood together—and they stood strong. There is a synergistic dynamic that comes when we stand together. If one can chase a thousand, two can chase ten thousand. Don’t give in.

DON’T GIVE UP

It is strange how pluralistic Babylon and pluralistic America point to conservative Bible believers as the most intolerant of all groups. Yet the reality is that the culture and world system are intolerant of us.

Upon hearing the news of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego acting according to their convictions, the king summons them into his presence. He wanted to know “Is it true?”—and if it was, he would have them thrown into the burning fiery furnace. The men did not give in to peer pressure, and now they would not give in to fear pressure. Their answer is classic: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. . . . But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:17–18). I love those words “but if not.” Their faith was not based upon God’s performance but upon His person alone. The question is never about His ability: He is totally able! The issue is about our response to His sovereign will.

One more point worth noting: these faithful and courageous men did not ask God to deliver them. They were seeking His face, not His hand of help. They threw themselves on Him and His higher will for their lives, regardless of the outcome.

DON’T GIVE OUT

Once our three friends said they wouldn’t bow to the king, they had to face the consequences. That meant they were bound and thrown into the fiery furnace to their certain and very painful death. God could have kept these faithful men—and some of us—from the fiery furnace experiences of life. But deliverance from the fiery furnace is not nearly as significant as deliverance in the fiery furnace. None of us are immune to trials of life. Our Lord said, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

What happens when we don’t bow or bend from our convictions? We don’t burn. When the king looked into the furnace he saw four men, not three. Now a quick math lesson. How many went into the furnace? Three. How many were seen inside? Four. How many came out unsinged? Three. If any of us find ourselves in the furnace experience of life, this is just a reminder that He is still in there with us!

Upon seeing the faith and deliverance of these three, the King himself declared, “There is no other God who can deliver like this!” (Daniel 3:29). The very king who had earlier commanded all his subjects to bow and worship his own image now bowed himself to the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. Good things happen when we don’t give in, don’t give up, and don’t give out in the face of a culture gone awry.

Q & A: “Is it true?” While we may not be hearing this verbally, people all around us are wondering if what we believe and act out is really true. And they often find out as we are being tested. Those of us who are called by His name are being watched by the world. Don’t give in this week. Don’t give up. And don’t give out. Remember, you will have whatever you tolerate!