13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Daniel 3:13-27
I used to think that mere knowledge itself could not change (or at least contribute to the change of) one's character. I used to think that people with "puffed up heads" full of head knowledge were useless in terms of helping themselves change how they instinctively react to pressing and stressful situations in life. Now I am modifying my view. I still do think that knowledge about specific facts (Bible verses, the latest news from the press, the stock market's latest values) doesn't change how one reacts to stressful circumstances in life with strong/virtuous/moral character. However, I think, knowledge about the nature of reality in and of itself at the grand/worldview level can potentially contribute to the change of one's inner character, and how it reacts to pressing predicaments and impending disasters on one's life.
Let's take an everyday illustration. Let's say that you're a bank teller and one day a couple robbers point a couple guns at you and tell you to open up the bank safe and give them all the money. If you had knowledge that their guns were real, then your inner character (with all things being equal) would cooperate with them under a real threat (with the fear of death lingering over you every single moment of the hold up). You would probably act without courage, be timid, and not dare to defy to do what those bankers told you to do.
Now let's imagine a modified scenario. Except that this time, when the 2 robbers each point a gun at you, you just know that although they look real, they are just toy-water-guns that they bought at the dollar store across the street (because you recognize them as you pass by everyday) although a quick cursory glance at them would convince the average person the guns were more or less real. The difference this time would be that you had knowledge that these were toy water guns that these 2 robbers were using to try to rob your bank with. What would you do if you were absolutely sure you had this knowledge (coupled with faith based on knowledge)? You would probably calmly call the cops, ignore their threats as if they're speaking a foreign language while saying them, be courageous, peaceful, and wait for the cops to come while the robbers continue to bluff-threat you (if they choose to stay).
What would the difference be in these 2 situations? Knowledge of the outside world. And that knowledge would affect the inner character of the person being threatened to do something against his/her will.
One of the recurring themes of the Bible is the fact that all of reality is under God's control, and that nothing happens without him allowing it, ultimately for his good purposes. This is not to say that there's no suffering, hardships, difficulties, trials etc. Those are all real. But the threats from the enemy (e.g. that followers of Christ are "missing out" on the pleasant sin they are rejecting, or if they do not submit to their knowledge of God's reality and are therefore "forced" to compromise and go against their knowledge of God's reality because unfortunate circumstances have made it "necessary" to do so) are ultimately bluffs with toy-water-gun pistols. This is not to say that there is an element of truth in persecutions (e.g. you'll lose your job, friends, reputation, and even life). The lie is not necessarily in these things we might realistically lose in the trials and tribulations of following Christ. But the lie is denying the fact that even if we were to lose our job, friends, reputation, and even life due to following Christ, ultimately we are not being deprived of anything good and all will work out in the end for God's glory and our joy, and that God will ultimately "have our backs" in terms of our eternal destiny. That's the lie. Knowledge of God's reality and his greatness and goodness throughout every situation in life not only helps change our our mind, it helps change our character too.
I do recognize there are qualifications for this. It has to be experiential knowledge and not just abstract knowledge without personal interaction with the facts. For example, if one has studied scientific research on parachuting for decades but has never parachuted out of a plane before, that "knowledge" is still abstract and one will probably be scared out of one's wits when one jumps out of a plane with a parachute the first time. But after one has jumped out of a plane with a parachute hundreds of times, that experiential knowledge of scientific reality will change one's inner character as well as spontaneous reactions after one immediately steps outside of a plane with a parachute. Also, in the spiritual life, one also has to train one's physical body and social relationships through spiritual disciplines too. All that to say that inner change has to be holistic with different dimensions of our being. With that being said, interactive/experiential knowledge of God's reality of the "outside world" can definitely contribute to change in the "inner world".
I believe that one of the reasons why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had such strong and courageous character in the midst of life threats from the most politically powerful person in their day (Nebuchadnezzar) was because they had experiential knowledge of God's reality and his pragmatic protection over his people. They weren't even afraid of death because they knew that even if God allowed them to die, it would not negatively affect their eternal destiny with God a bit.
I am far from where Daniel (in the lions den), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are in terms of being completely calm in terms of life-threats, but I think God has been growing me in the past few months in terms of my faith (based on knowledge of facts) in the "matrix" of the Kingdom of God. To me, I am experientially growing in the knowledge that the physical reality of the 5 senses is not all there is to life. There are invisible realities and a spiritual realm that are always in action that are completely undetected by my 5 senses most of the time. And ultimately, I believe, the spiritual realm guides the physical, although they are interconnected with the result of the physical realm being able to affect the spiritual realm as well.
But I am also learning to change the way I perceive reality to the way God perceives reality. "Taking things in my own hands" to secure the job, love life, economic stability, social life that I personally want and desire is starting to become more and more of a realized illusion in my mind (although not completely, I am not perfect). And threats from the enemy that "if I don't take these things into my own hands, I'll lose something good" are starting to more and more to appear as toy-water-guns as opposed to real pistols ready to kill my soul.
Knowledge of the "matrix" of the Kingdom of God that it is alive and in action whether or not I sense it at any given time contributes to the change of my inner character. The good news for me is that the "matrix" of the Kingdom of God will take care of me, so although I do my part, I know ultimately God will look out for me so I don't have to stressfully look after myself. The result is that my character is changed as this interactive/experiential knowledge is increased. The result of that is that my actions and behaviour are changed as a by-product
