as if they said: ‘We don’t know what our God will do, O king; you may turn us into puddles of carbon; but in one sense it doesn’t matter; the bottom line is that we will not serve your gods or worship your image.’ So they were unsure of God’s circumstantial will (whether they escape) but were sure of God’s revealed will (‘You shall have no other gods besides me’)16. Observe how the three men did not lose sight of the crucial matter. What matters for them is not deliverance but obedience. That’s what