In Matthew 8:2, Scripture tells us that a leper came to Jesus and worshiped him and said, "I know you can make me clean if you will." Now the Holy Spirit evidently wanted to make a point of this because He repeated Himself twice more in Mark 1:40 and also in Luke 5:12. 

         In all three examples, He used the Greek word thelo or theleo for ‘if you will.’ Now, using the meaning of this Greek word, the man was saying, "Jesus, I know without a doubt You have all the ability and power in the world to heal me, and absolutely will heal me if You are determined to do so, so much that You gladly prefer to, to the point that You are so inclined to, that You are actually about to do it now.”

         Jesus said, "I will; I am fully determined to do this as I gladly prefer to and I am totally inclined to, so much so that I am actually about to do it right now!” And so, he did.

         In John 4:50, the nobleman had asked Jesus to heal his son and Jesus told him, "Go your way; your son lives." Then the Bible says the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him. The same could be said for the leper here in Matthew. He believed what Jesus said to him and Jesus was then able to heal him.

         This is why Jesus, through His ministry often told people, “Your faith has healed you.” This man did not know if Jesus would heal him even though he knew He could because he did not know if it was His will. As soon as Jesus told him and he believed what he was told, he was healed. Mark 6:5-6 tells us that Jesus could not do a mighty miracle in Nazareth because they would not believe the words Jesus told them. They did not believe the things that Jesus told them. Remember James 1:6-7 says to ask with no doubting and the man who wavers in believing will receive nothing from God. It is the Law of Faith. (Romans 3:27)

         Now let's attempt to get to the point of this whole thing. Let's all go to Daniel chapter 3 and read the wonderful miraculous story of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who some of you know as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It is the story of the three Hebrews who would not bow to Nebuchadnezzar's pagan gods. We will mostly deal with verse 15 through verse 18.

         In verse 15 the king commands them: At the sound of all the musical instruments, to fall and worship his gods or else be thrown into the furnace. Then he has this question for them, "...and who is this God who shall deliver you out of my hands?"

         Now remember in chapter 1 and verse 20 it says the king found Daniel and these three young men to be ten times better than all his magicians and astrologers. Then in chapter 2 where God showed Daniel the king’s dream and interpretation, the king said in verse 47, "Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings..." He knew who this God was.

          And so, their answer makes sense. In KJV they said, “We are not careful to answer you,” which in the Hebrew means it is not even necessary that we answer that question because you have seen our God at work already and you know who He is. And then they went on to answer it anyway. Now remember the choice was simply put, will you bow, or will you burn?

         How did they answer? Very simply: hen. This Hebrew word has nothing to do with chickens. In the Literal Standard Version it is translated, “Behold, it is.” Young's Literal says, “Lo! it is.” And KJV says, “If it be so.” Hen means all these, behold or lo, meaning to draw attention to something expressing wonder or surprise. It is where we get the phrase 'lo and behold.' The word also means 'if, if it be so.'

         So, it seems the king informed them what would happen, and the immediate reaction was, "Whoa!" But then right away came their faith declaration, "Hen, if that's the case, you need to know that our God whom we serve (you know who He is) is well able to deliver us. Oh, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”

         Now remember the leper in the gospels. Once he heard the words of Jesus, 'I will,' and he believed those words, he could easily declare: "Jesus, I know you can heal me, and I know just as much that you will heal me!" These guys knew God's promise in Psalm 91:14 and elsewhere and believed He not only could but that He also would deliver them, no doubt about it! To them, they were already delivered.

         And now we come to verse 18. In Hebrew it begins, Hen lah. In KJV, “But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods...” This is the absolute negation of hen (if) in verse 17. So, what is the 'if' in verse 17 referring to? It is alluding to the threat of being thrown into the furnace, of course. Then they make their faith declaration and then return to the 'if', saying, but if not (if you choose not to throw us in) we still won't bow. 

         Now, in several translations (including the NLT), verse 18 is translated, “But even if He doesn't” (deliver us). I can easily understand how a casual reading of these verses could lead you to that understanding because this statement immediately follows their declaration of faith. This is why Scripture must be meditated upon so the Holy Spirit can reveal some things. 

          It sounds noble but in truth this statement is a blatant and direct assault on the decree of faith that they had just made. To the observing unbelievers it makes it look like you just never know if God will really deliver you or not. It opens those believers up to doubt and unbelief and thus it is a breach of the law of faith.

         These guys were in unwavering faith. They are even mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:34 where – in the middle of the list – Paul mentions the guys who “quenched the violence of fire.”

         But, you say, many did not get delivered. Well go on to verse 35 which states, “Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Scripture says they did not take the deliverance offered because they wanted the rewards they would receive later at the resurrection. Remember Paul and Peter and others were killed for their faith; but John was boiled in oil, which was certain death and yet, they could not kill him. He accepted his deliverance. 

         In 2 Corinthians 1:10 Paul tells us that God delivered them, that He does deliver and we trust will yet deliver. Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust...”

         God is your deliverer if you can receive it.