EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Jeff Carr | Tustin, California
Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” We are to have confidence or trust in things that we cannot see. For God to ask us to live by faith is really not a stretch at all from our daily routine. Every day I start my car, use a microwave oven, etc. and I “live by faith” in that I hope those things will work. I do not look under the hood nor break open the machine every time I use them. Sometimes these items let me down. God will never let us down!
Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” We are to have confidence or trust in things that we cannot see. For God to ask us to live by faith is not a stretch at all from our daily routine. Every day I start my car, use a microwave oven, etc. I “live by faith” in that I hope those things will work. I do not look under the hood nor break open the machine every time I use them. Sometimes these items let me down. God will never let us down!
Another definition of faith comes from a few verses later in Hebrews 11:6 which comes in two parts: faith is 1) understanding that God exists, and 2) believing that God will reward those who seek after Him. If you want an example of what that looks like look no further than the rest of Hebrews 11 where various godly individuals are named as they meet these definitions of Biblical faith.
For this article I have been asked to write from Hebrews 11:33b-34a, about those who by faith, “shut the mouth of lions and quenched the power of fire.” These stories come from the book of Daniel.
“Shut the mouth of lions” (11:33b; cf. Daniel 6)
Daniel 6 opens with a regime change. This was not the first for Daniel. He grew up in Jerusalem and then was carted off as a prisoner to Babylon. Then he lived under Babylonian rule and thrived. Daniel 5 starts the transition from Babylonian rule to Medo-Persian rule. That was enough to make anyone lose their faith, but Daniel remained faithful during all this upheaval and uncertainty.
What we see in Daniel 6 is a good person, Daniel, living among pagans and doing the right thing. For Daniel, even though the details of his life change, he remained faithful to the one and only God. And not only does Daniel live – he thrived! He was promoted under each regime. This ‘outsider’ made others jealous so the “commissioners” (Daniel 6:4) set a trap in order to get rid of him. They convinced the new leader, Darius (Daniel 6:1), to test his subjects by passing an edict that no one was to pray to anyone other than Darius for 30 days. Regardless the circumstances, Daniel would obey God rather than men (cf. Acts 5:29). None of this stopped Daniel from his regular routine! He continued to pray as he always did: three times per day in the same location in front of whoever was paying attention (Daniel 6:10). He made no alterations to his prayer habits. To prove this was a set up, the commissioners immediately brought this to the attention of Darius (Daniel 6:10-11). As they tried to frame Daniel as being disloyal to the king, it was the commissioners themselves, who were disloyal! Getting rid of Daniel was bad for the king and the empire. For Christians, the more favored you are, the more the world notices (cf. Matthew 5:10-11). Daniel was charged essentially with not being like the Persians (Daniel 6:13).
Daniel put his trust in Yahweh and not the princes. Darius could not revoke the decree. To help us appreciate this concept, God’s laws cannot be revoked either. When Darius realized one of his favorites had to enter the lions’ den, he had to go through with it. Yahweh cannot ignore sin and its punishment, but He went into the proverbial lions’ den for us! Perhaps this was what Daniel understands and why he was unwilling to give up on Yahweh.
When Daniel was cast into the lions’ den and survived, it brought relief to Darius. Daniel made it clear how he was saved – it was “My God” (Daniel 6:22). We can easily give glory to ourselves, but Daniel’s faith caused him to always give glory to God, even in front of monarchs and their unbelieving, hostile crowds. Eventually Darius came to respect Daniel and his God (Daniel 6:25-28). In the end, Daniel’s faith was rewarded and God was glorified.
“Quenched the power of fire” (11:34a; cf. Daniel 3)
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that terrified him. He challenged his “experts” to interpret it, but they could not (Daniel 2:3f). Eventually Daniel interpreted the dream: a statue in 4 parts representing 4 major empires, Babylon being the first. These empires would rise and fall, followed by a 5th empire that would never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44-45). The king recognized and appreciated Daniel and his faith and was moved to honor Yahweh (Daniel 2:46f). Since Nebuchadnezzar had a terrifying dream about a statue in Daniel 2 what did he do in Daniel 3? He decided to build a statue dedicated to himself for all to worship. Anyone who did not bow down to the statue would be thrown into the fire and burned to death. Enter the three faithful friends of Daniel: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:6), or as they were renamed in captivity: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 3:12). The friends were as devoted to Yahweh as Daniel was. They knew the first and second commandments (Exodus 20:3-4).
The king gave the three friends every opportunity to “do the right thing.” In his mind, Nebuchadnezzar was making things easy. After all, no one was being told to stop worshipping the god of their choice; they just had to pay homage to the Babylonian image. But the friends were adamant! They display amazing faith in their refusal to bow down to this statue and steadfastly serve Yahweh. Consider Daniel 3:16-18,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will save us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.
(LSB)
Please note what this important text says. The friends made it clear that even if “our God” did not save them, they were “not going to serve your gods and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.” It is hard to find a stronger faith than this!
How easy is it to trust in God? This was the same God who let Jerusalem and the Temple fall, etc., yet this was the God whom they trusted implicitly. They told the King and all who could hear, “God can save us, but if He does not we still won’t bow down to this idol.” They knew that God could deliver but would He? Idolatry is as rampant today as it was then. It just takes on various forms. If you don’t think idolatry exists today, then you must not be paying attention. We idolize sports teams, athletes, social media influencers, celebrities, politicians, political parties, each other, etc.. … ANYTHING but Yahweh! We know more about these than we do about God and His word. We are busy worshipping the created and not the Creator (Romans 1:25). In temptations and trials, the three friends remained faithful and are an example for us.
One final lesson from this story is that God is with His faithful. God did not spare them from the fire, but He was with them all the way. We will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and God will be with us each and every step of the way.
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GROW magazine | October 2026 PDF
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