At this time, we are witnessing many unprecedented things in our nation and the world. We seem to have information coming at us from all sides. We see truth. We see lies. We see disinformation on almost every front. We see the Federal Government violating our Constitution of the United States, our Bill of Rights, our freedom of speech and many other evils being blatantly displayed by the wicked.
Also, there are so many things coming to the surface that is being talked about, which we had no idea was going on in our world and we are finding it hard to believe that evil people can be so evil. Some say that this is just the beginning of a great awakening and all will be revealed!
We have witnessed the churches succumb to covid-19 restrictions and follow the leaven of Herod. Some believers seem to have given up hope for an intervention by The Lord God on behalf of the body of Christ, our country and the world. However, we are observing a remnant, who still believes that God answers prayer and are praying for a supernatural intervention by God, but sometimes we hear an “opt out clause” added at the end of a prayer.
Believers may pray decree and declare a prayer in faith asking God for answers to their petitions but then add “If it be your will” or maybe “if it is in Your timing” but if not we are still trusting in you Lord!” It seems some believers feel the need to give God an “opt out clause” in prayer.
We can test our self here. Does the phrase “but if not” seem to ring true in our mind or maybe it seems like a scripture we remember a little bit? Maybe a “Bible story” we remember from Sunday school or Vacation Bible School? Sure, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said that!
Let’s take a closer look at the time when Nebuchadnezzar said to those Hebrew boys that if they did not fall down and worship the image he made, when the music played, that he would throw them into the fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar added a mocking question to that statement of, “And who is that god that will deliver you out of my hand?” We all know their answer.
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
It may be that we have learned to put an “escape clause” in our prayers from hearing about these Hebrew boys. It certainly seems that they included “But if not” just in case it was not the will of the Lord to deliver them from the fiery furnace. Could it be that their faith was not really100% settled in their mind? Is that the case here? Of course not! However, because of the way the KJV translation is written into English, if we are not very careful, it is easy to think that “but if not” referees to them thinking that God might not really deliver them from the furnace as they had stated to the king. The way it is written it is easy extract wrong counsel, wrong misunderstanding and wrong interpolation of these scriptures. Now is the time to use our 10th grade English skills.
When we diagram the sentences we can better see the subject matter. The subject matter is being thrown into the fiery furnace. “If it be so” refers to the king following through with his promise and throwing them into the fiery furnace. “But if not” refers to being thrown into the fiery furnace also but in the negative i.e. “Even if you don’t throw us into the fiery furnace we will not serve your gods, or the golden image!” This answer is what really made the king so mad.
Those Hebrew boys had unwavering faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they even taunted the king’s threat with their faith in God.
We as the body of Christ have a better covenant established on better promises. Let’s have the faith of Christ and manifest the kingdom of heaven on the earth. The whole world is waiting!
Another point that is necessary to observe here is that this error is magnified in many of the newer updated translations of the Bible. Many of them add some words to this passage. They may think they are making it easier to read in today’s English. However, the words which are added change the diagramming of the sentence and change the subject matter of the sentence.
The subject matter of the sentence is “If it be so” (you throw us into the furnace) “But if not” (you decide to not throw us into the furnace). This should have even been easy to understand by the response of the Hebrew men here.
If it be so (your throw us into the furnace), follows with the response of their faith. “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.”
But if not (you decide to not throw us into the furnace) is followed with their intentions if the king does not throw them in the furnace and could only be executed if they are alive! “Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
If “But if not” refers to them believing that God might not deliver them from the furnace then they would have said something like this.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will be a big pile of burnt cinders in the bottom of your furnace like a big pile of corn flakes.
Let’s look at just a few of the newer Bibles and notice how they blatantly added words to the original text. Both the Strong’s and the Interlinear Bible will validate this information.
(NAS) Dan 3:18 "But {even} if {He does} not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
(TEV) Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, “Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves. 17 If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. 18 But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up.”
(TLB) Dan 3:18 But if he doesn't, please understand, sir, that even then we will never under any circumstance serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have erected."
(NIV) Dan 3:18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
(NAU) Dan 3:18 "But {even} if {He does} not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
At least the (NAS) and the (NAU) gives some indication that they have added words. The (TLB), the (TEV) and the (NIV) do not let us know that they have taken liberty to add word to the scriptures. By adding the words “even” and “he does”, it changes the subject matter to be whether or not God would deliver them from the furnace instead of whether or not the king throw them into the fiery furnace. This also changes the diagramming of the sentence and perverts the Truth of these scriptures.
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus. Compiled by Jerry Thomas 11/28/2022. All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted. jtministriesinfo@gmail.com
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