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STREAMS IN THE DESERT
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams
in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
If there is a common thread running throughout the Bible of God’s love to the fallen sinners,
then it is displayed
time and again in the gracious restoration of many a sinner whenever
the guilty one has turned with a contrite heart towards the merciful Redeemer. The Biblical history abounds with umpteen reassuring examples of those who had made a mess of their lives, landing in barren wilderness, as it were, being given a new lease of life, by His amazing grace consequent to their repentance? Yes, virtually streams of life-giving water have gushed forth, right where they were (in perfect fulfillment of the above-captioned scripture portion) in the dry sterile desert of their own making, whenever they have sought Him sincerely with a penitent heart.
Nowhere do we see a more telling manifestation of this truth then in the lives on three young Jewish men – Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego-about whose death-defying faith, we would always talk in hushed tones. Now are these three
Great men of faith being presented here as sinners? I would come to the point at the earliest without as much
mentioning it distinctly, as we go along, for one can make out that already a few eyebrows have been raised on
the suitability of this example to drive home the point on God’s grace to fallen sinners. First things first,
there is no doubting their extraordinary faith in the midst of all the problems they experienced in Babylon.
Indeed, theirs is a challenging story of heroic faith! The image of these faithful men rescued sensationally
by their faithful God from the throes of death even as they defied the King by refusing to bow before an imposing
idol, would doubtless inspire people of all ages. But, if we were to hit the rewind button just for a moment
and dig a bit deep into this thrilling account-by way of some posers’- a totally different dimension, of this
story would emerge.
For starters, what were these 3 Jewish youth in the post David era of Judean history, doing in Babylon in the first place?
Did these natives of the Kingdom of Judah come over there either in pursuit of higher education or in search of
greener pastures, in the same way we see many doing, in this modern era crossing even several seas’ in the process?
The benumbing, chilling answer to these questions would be that “they like many of their ilk (the exiled Jews)
were in Babylon as a punishment for their sin of worshipping idols.”
Yes, for very same sin, they refrained from, now!
A flashback would reveal that despite several warnings through prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah the people of Judah who were
sold-out to idol-worship, courtesy the wicked reigns of certain kings like Ahaz
(II Chronicles 26) and Zedekiah
(II Chronicles 36:11-13)
would not turn from their idol-worshipping ways, leaving God with no option but to bring to effect all the warnings, He had issued
till then. In a nutshell, He perforce had to execute His judgment of exiling them from the land flowing with milk
and honey for they had violated their covenant relationship with Him which demanded that they be allowed to enjoy the
choicest portion of planet Earth only on they implicitly obeying Him
(Deuteronomy 28:1-14). That disobedience would lead
to a tragic situation as brought forth in
II Chronicles 36:6-21, had been clearly prophesied by Moses in his farewell
address to his people as recorded in
Deuteronomy 28:49-64.
In fact the closer scrutiny of events related to the exile would reveal that it (exile) took place in two phases
(II Chronicles 36:5-8&
14-20), as though to reinforce the fact that God was giving an opportunity to His
chosen ones’ to repent and seek Him in order their punishment be limited only to loss of their sovereignty as
typified by an exile without any need of a more severe punishment being unleashed. Doubtless,
a loving God would never want a massacre of His loved ones’ laced with destruction of His either beloved city
or His magnificent temple. But was there a reciprocal response from His select nation to His love seen even in
its initial chastisement? NO! His people sadly stuck to their stubborn ways despite several warnings of Prophet
Jeremiah of a more serious indictment coming their way. In fact, with a severe Divine comeuppance looming large,
Prophet Ezekiel, whose ministry coincided more or less with the II exile and beyond laments on not seeing a
single righteous individual qualified to intercede with God
(Ezekiel 22:30) on Jerusalem’s behalf to ward off
the Divine wrath. Finally the somber record of
II Chronicles 36:14-20 stands as a grim reminder of the fact of
what would happen, when we foolishly exhaust His patience for in that is a heart-rending account of a ruthless
destruction sweeping across of what was once a proud capital of a God-honoring nation, paving the way for yet
another exile of those who survived (very few did) the onslaught of an all powerful Babylonian war machine
spurred on by God’s righteous indignation.
This tragic account lends itself to yet another corollary in this study. What happens when God’s people
(be it Jews or their New testament counterparts…Christians) sin and reap God’s just punishment? Not only is
there a severing of relationship between Him and his people, at least temporarily, but more seriously the unsaved
ones’ are presented an opportunity, on the platter, so to speak, of blaspheming God’s name
(II Sam 12:14).
Their tongues would wag with impish delight on the perceived inability of God to protect His blessed ones’ from harm,
little realizing that He of His own accord had permitted harm to befall His disobedient special ones, in the first
place, in order they turn from their errant ways.
The wonder of the story of heroic faith of Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego (obviously belonging to the first batch of
exiles who were relatively a better lot when compared to their counterparts in the second batch-Jeremiah 24:7-but
by no means righteous before the Exile, otherwise God would not have spoken of giving them a new heart
in future tense) is that their matchless act of valor –after restoration of a right relationship with God of
their fathers- ushered in not only manifold blessings to their own lives but also set right the flawed perception
of Israel’s neighboring countries on God’s power to save His dear ones’ from harm’s way.
Having landed in the foreign land on account of their own sins and that of their countrymen, it is to their eternal
credit that without wallowing in self-pity or slipping into despair-so often the bane of many a sinner shutting out
all possibilities of reconciliation with His Creator- these three men displayed remarkable verve in seeking and
honoring their Redeemer God in completely alien surroundings by first abstaining from pagan food
(Daniel 1:8-20)
-a disposition that brought about blessings in its wake by way of their elevation in the realm of
Civil service- and then (when the situation demanded) publicly putting their lives at stake for preserving Holy
name of their God. The words in italics had been advisedly employed to reiterate the fact that
immoral ways of the Judeans’ which resulted in the exile, had tarnished God’s image amongst their perpetual
enemies, who would never waste (to reiterate yet again) an opportunity to pooh-pooh God’s Holy name,
even while rejoicing at the misfortunes’ of Jacob’s descendents’
(Ezekiel 36:20-21/
Obadiah1:12-14).
In short, even at a time when they could slipped into despondency contemplating their bleak future,
they were willing to turn a new leaf in their lives by seeking God afresh in totally new settings
while God on His part- ever willing for a reconciliation- honored them duly by canceling their past sins and
giving them a new start just as per the Prophecy in
Jeremiah 24:7!
Following their miraculous deliverance from the fiery furnace, one look at the proclamation of that mighty
but fickle Emperor Nebuchadnezzar which goes thus:
“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.
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)
Extolling the Lord God of these 3 valorous men and warning people of his realm not to take His Holy Name lightly
would convey in no small measure the magnitude of the positive fall-out of this dramatic incident on the restoration
of God’s Holy Name in the Civilized World of that age. No longer would any pagan nation or its citizens dare to
speak ill of His Name!
And what of the future of these 3 heroic characters? It may never have seemed more rosy than when “ the king promoted them to
even higher positions in the province of Babylon” –
Daniel 3:30. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes’ of Shadrach,
Mesach and Abednego for a moment and contemplate. Their dark and brooding future, which held no silver linings
when they landed in Babylon as exiles never held so much of promise, as now. Virtually, their ‘desert’ had been
transformed by God’s faithfulness into a ‘locale abounding in refreshing cool streams’
(Isaiah 43:18-19).
Wouldn’t our promise-honoring God do as much for us, when we seek Him with contrite hearts even while languishing in the
‘deserts’ of our own making? The Good news is…HE WOULD!
Yours in His service,
(Suresh Manoharan)
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