Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!” Daniel 3:28-29 (NLT)
It is hard to reconcile the two very different ideas contained in this verse. Nebuchadnezzar is proclaiming the goodness and power of Yahweh, while also threatening death to anyone who speaks against Yahweh. Nebuchadnezzar recognized the goodness and power of the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but he did not know the heart of God nor was he willing to trust his own fate with God as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had done in the fiery furnace. Rather, in a moment of tyrannical hubris Nebuchadnezzar felt the need to extend his own authority and power to “protect” this god, even as he was an eyewitness to the power of this god.
We often do the same in our desire to defend God. We forget that God does not need us to defend him or destroy others in His name. He can do that on His own without our help and much more effectively. We forget that God’s desire is that “none should die” an eternal death but that all should come to know him as the “god who rescues”, Yahshua. God chooses not to destroy those who speak against him, but rather seeks to restore them. God chooses not to take revenge, but to show mercy. God chooses not to ignore those who insult Him, but to forgive them through His son Jesus.
Jesus was sent to rescue anyone who believes in His name from the “fiery furnace” of death and the tyranny of sin. Jesus calls us to be an eyewitness of our own rescue and the rescue of others and to tell the story of our personal experience of his rescue. There is no other god who rescues like this in all of human religion. There is no other god who can rescue like this; because no other god is eternally existent and self-sustaining. Jesus is the only one who can rescue us from the current human condition of corruption and death, because He has been given all authority from His Father to overthrow sin and death.
Will you allow him to rescue you? Or, will you try to protect him from those who think they can destroy him? He doesn’t need or want your protection. He wants to protect you from the evil one and the wages of sin.
