Hope in a Life of Furnaces & Dry Bones

The historical narrative of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is one many of us grew up hearing. In fact, I have a hard time not picturing a giant bunny and some veggies as I think about the story – hazards of raising your kids on Veggie Tales! Chocolate bunnies aside, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, along with his contemporary, Ezekiel, can speak to us as parents who feel the weight of children caught in addiction or with mental health problems.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were young Hebrew men taken captive by the Babylonians. The names their mothers and fathers gave them at birth were Hananiah (“God is gracious”), Mishael (“Who is like God?”), and Azariah (“God has helped”). Those names were given in relatively good times, in the land given to the Israelites to enjoy and in which to worship their God.

These three young men were no longer in that place – no longer in the land of their ancestors, no longer enjoying the “good gifts” God had blessed their people with. Instead, they were serving an empire which had just desecrated the temple of their Lord and burned their beloved Jerusalem. Here, they were given new names – names that reflected the false gods and beliefs of these conquering people. Their names now meant “Command of the moon god”, “Who is like (the god) Aku?”, and “Slave of (the god) Nebo.” In other words, the Babylonians tried to change their identity.

I think this is important because when addiction or mental illness come into our lives, it is very easy to feel that God is no longer blessing us, is no longer with us. There is sadness that we are no longer living in peace and in blessing – we are now living in a place where there are constant reminders that we are not “home.” We are not in control of our own lives – our lives feel hijacked by the illness or addiction which our child battles. Like the captive Israelites, if we are not careful, we can allow our identity to be changed – to be determined by our situation rather than our God.

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah knew who they were. More importantly, they knew whose they were. Their situation did not change who was Lord – even if they were called by names that spoke otherwise. They still believed that there was no one like their God. No one who could help or be gracious like Yahweh. That was His nature and His name had not been changed.

So, when King Nebuchadnezzar created a massive golden image (possibly with gold seized from Judah) and required all of his officials to bow down and worship, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused. They chose to believe their hope was not based on where they were and the circumstances of their lives. Their hope was more secure and constant. Their identity was in God.

King Nebuchadnezzar asked, “What god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” (Daniel 3:15)

Does Satan ever tempt you with that question? Or one of its many variations? “Is God really capable of removing this addiction?” “If God is really good, why is He not healing your child?” “Where is God when you need Him?”

King Nebuchadnezzar was asking if any god was more powerful than he, himself was. Satan asks if God is more powerful than our circumstances.

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah knew the answer. Yes. God was and is more powerful that the king. He was and is more powerful than your circumstances. But these three also recognized something else – they recognized that just because God was capable of saving them didn’t mean He would.

“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. 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.” Daniel 3:18

God did save them that day. But they were prepared to trust God, and did already trust God, with their lives. This wasn’t a life-or-death trust, even though the question before them did involve the likelihood of death. This was the answer to the question they had been living with all the days of their captivity – “Is there really a god who can save you?” This one moment in time reflected the decision they had made every single day to put their identity and trust in God rather than let circumstances deplete their faith.

God doesn’t always save us from the furnace. And for these three who did experience God’s power in an amazing way, daily circumstances didn’t change. These three men were still Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – captives in Babylon hoping for the return to the land flowing with milk and honey. But, surely, they were also three men who knew God was working in their lives!

Ezekiel was a contemporary of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. He was also a captive in Babylon longing for God to save his people. He writes of a strange experience in which God takes him and places him in a massive valley full of dry bones (Ezekiel 37). God has him prophecy to the bones and then to the breath. The valley, which had been like one mass grave, becomes full of vibrant life as God brings an army to life.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Ezekial 37:11-14

Do you feel like you are in a valley of dry bones? Have you lost hope? Ezekiel’s vision is full of powerful imagery! God has raised his people from the grave – from the death of hope and from eternal death. He has put His Spirit in you.

Sometimes we struggle to imagine a future full of blessing when we are in that dry valley. We can’t see a way for our child to overcome the illness that has such a grip. We can’t see a healthy future for our child who has mutilated their body in an attempt to feel whole. We can’t imagine how our child will successfully defeat addiction when they have just entered detox for the fourth or fifth time.

We can’t see it. I doubt Ezekiel originally saw a vast living, breathing army in the valley full of dry, brittle bones. But, God does see it. He sees the new Jerusalem. He sees His people rising up out of the grave – people full of hope and life.

Ezekiel may not have been able to see the army initially, but he acted on faith and spoke to the bones and the breath. God had asked him to speak to other inanimate objects, mountains, in the past. This speaking was nothing new – but the response was. This time the objects came to life. We don’t know when God is going to act to change the hopeless bones into life-filled armies. We don’t know when God is going to walk beside us in a fiery furnace. But His promises still stand and will be fulfilled in His own time.

Ezekiel’s circumstances did not change following his vision – yet I cannot imagine he still felt the same hopelessness! God had given him a glimpse into the future and a promise of good things to come. If you keep reading, you see that God did not immediately return the people to Israel. In fact, Ezekiel died in Babylon, never to see the return. Did Ezekiel know that God had the power to save? Yes. Did Ezekiel trust God in the day to day circumstances of captivity even though God didn’t seem to be acting? Also, yes.

We are His people and that is why we hope. When circumstances don’t seem to change, remember neither does your God. Sometimes He may take us out of the furnace, but keep us in Babylon. Trust Him – He sees the empty grave when you see the dry bones. Keep your identity in Him and His promises. God is gracious. God is our help. There is no god like Him.

Photos by Maxim Tajer on Unsplash and by Juli Kosolapova on Unsplash