March 19, 2024

On the eve of what we now know as the miraculous evacuation of Dunkirk (a city on the northern coast of France), a British officer reportedly sent a 3-word telegram, “But If Not.” His hearers knew he was referring to the Bible account in Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were being forced at pangs of a fiery death to bow down and worship a false god set up by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. They refused to worship the statue and respectfully told the king that the God of heaven whom they served could rescue them from the king’s hand. “But if not,” said they, we still won’t worship this idol. (This was at at the time of the 70 years of exile of the Jews in Babylon as punishment from God, for their repeated idolatry. Nebuchadnezzar had even destroyed Solomon’s temple years before, c. 586.) Here is a Sunday night message by Dr. Jerry Newcombe at http://www.newpres.org on Daniel 3 in his series “Selections from Daniel.” The video is courtesy of Tim Savage.