Rescuing Villains

Rescuing Villains

Bible: Daniel 3:26-30

Reading

Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! (V.28) .

There are so many superhero movies coming out at the cinema at the moment . Literally billions of pounds each year are being spent just by people going to watch these big action films . We just can’t get enough! 

You might not believe me to start, but the Bible’s story kind of has similar themes to all the superhero movies . There’s a hero, a villain, people who need to be rescued, and plenty of big-scale fight scenes . 

In this story, the biggest villain is Satan, the devil, who only wants to cause us harm . But there are lots of ‘little’ bad guys too . In the book of Daniel, for example, one is Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king of the world at that time, who decided to kill anyone who didn’t bow down to his statue (DANIEL 3:1-6) . When three brave Jewish officials said no (VV.12-18), God dramatically rescued them from a blazing fire (VV.24-27) . 

But, in a surprising twist, we see this villain’s life begin to change . Because of this amazing rescue, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego” (V.28) . 

But then he threatened to kill anyone who said anything against God (V.29), not yet understanding that God didn’t need his help . Nebuchadnezzar would learn more about God (and himself) in chapter 4—but that’s another story . 

What we see in Nebuchadnezzar is not just a standard ‘bad guy’, but someone on a journey . In God’s story of salvation, our Hero reaches out to everyone needing rescue—including the villains among us . 

JESUS PRAYED FOR THOSE WHO

HATED HIM. WE CAN DO THE SAME.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries