Big Healing Book - Rather Than Claiming Healing, We Should Just Have

Objection: Rather Than Claiming Healing, We Should Just Have “the Faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego”

This line of reasoning has been published by at least one well-known minister and it is widely quoted. This stems from a misreading of the text in Daniel 3, as we will see shortly. The argument goes like this: “The three Hebrew boys did not know whether or not God would deliver them. They were just consecrated to God whether He delivered them or not. They didn’t care if they got delivered; they just wanted to please God. Therefore, we should have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego for our healing. If God heals us, fine. If not, we’ll just accept it.”

This religious foolishness is ironic because in the story in question, God miraculously delivered the boys! He did not leave them to die. But that’s not the main problem. The boys never did question God’s ability or willingness to deliver them! In fact, they explicitly said that He would! Read the passage more carefully than most people do:

Daniel 3:14-18:
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so [Stop right here – this is where people misinterpret it. If what be so? Religious tradition says that this means, “If it be so that God shall deliver us out of your hands.” But that is not what they meant. They meant if it be so that they were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. That is obvious from the rest of the sentence.], 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. [There you have the real faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. They said that God would deliver them, and He did.]
But if not [This goes along with “If it be so” above and still refers to whether or not the king would really throw them into the fiery furnace. They did not allow for the possibility that God would not deliver them. They just said that He is able and He will. They were definite about that.], be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

So let’s summarize what they said. “If you throw us into the furnace, God will deliver us. If you don’t, we still won’t serve your gods.” They got thrown into the furnace, and what happened was exactly what they said would happen. God delivered them. Their faith got them through it. Therefore, I agree that we should have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego! We should believe for our deliverance, we should be willing to say so before men, and we should act on our faith without wavering.

I imagine that those who promote this objection would be mad that I said that their faith did it as opposed to the sovereignty of God. Well, this will probably make them madder, but in Hebrews 11 – in the “hall of faith”— we see those who “through faith...quenched the violence of fire” among the greats of faith (Hebrews 11:32-40). This could refer to Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, and if so, it is another proof that they were in faith. The feat right before it was “stopping the mouths of lions,” which was also in the book of Daniel. I am aware that Moses also quenched the violence of fire in Numbers 11:1-2. However, Moses was mentioned separately among the greats of faith, and this feat was not mentioned in the part specifically pertaining to Moses. It would seem most likely, although I would not die at the stake to defend this, that Hebrews is referring to the three Hebrew boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace. They obviously were in faith (you can tell by their words!) and did a great thing. It is no surprise to see them mentioned in Hebrews 11.