So
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and
the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They
saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads
singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Daniel 3:26-27
God’s
miraculous rescue of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was something unexpected
and unheard of. It got the attention of
King Nebuchadnezzar and sent a message that their God was the real deal. The miracle changed the course of the nation
and brought judgment on a king who had taken over and assumed the population of
Israel.
However,
why isn’t everyone saved from fires, disasters, sunken ships and falling
buildings?
This
miracle was specifically for this time and these people. God was protecting His remnant of Jews in Babylon
so that a Messiah could be born through them.
He needed to remind his people (who were displaced and depressed) that
they were not forgotten and God was still in the miracle business.
And who's to say people aren't being saved by fires miraculously these days? Talk to some firefighters and they can tell you a few incredible stories.
God
does save people from the fires of hell, which is the worst fire we could ever
face and really the only fire that eternally destroys and kills. But in the meantime, disasters will strike,
people will die—some being saved (maybe miraculously), many not. This is not heaven, but we can all be saved
from eternal death.