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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the
Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your
Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn,
flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and
worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will
be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set
over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who
pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship
the image of gold you have set up.”
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 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? 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?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If
we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us
from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 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.”
Daniel 3:8-18
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The edict had been given.
After Nebuchadnezzar had a golden image made and set up on
the plain of Dura, he ordered his people to fall down and worship it anytime
they heard the “sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all
kinds of music”. There were no exceptions made; no one was excused from doing
what the king had commanded. In fact, if anyone chose to not comply, the king
promised the following consequence:
“Whoever does not
fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Talk about turning up the heat on non-conformists. Ouch!
Well, it probably would not be of any great surprise to you
that there were a few men who were less than thrilled with the king’s
proclamation. You may recall at the beginning of this book, Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah all refused to defile themselves by eating and drinking
from the royal table. Instead, they worked out a deal with the chief official
to eat only vegetables and water, a diet that actually left them healthier than
any of the others who had been recruited for service in the king’s court.
As we turn to another place where these men were faced with
either compromising their obedience to God or standing firm in loyalty to Him,
we find yet another stand taken, a refusal to meet the terms of the king’s
demands, even in despite of the threatened penalty. Look again at these verses:
At this time some
astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King
Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree
that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe
and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that
whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But
there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of
Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your
Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have
set up.”
Furious with rage,
Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were
brought before the king, 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? 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?”
Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend
ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace,
the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from
Your Majesty’s hand. 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.” Daniel 3:8-18
Remember the astrologers?
They were the ones who couldn’t do what Nebuchadnezzar
wanted and their inability to tell him about his dream and then interpret it
almost got them and all the other wise men in Babylon killed. It took Daniel
coming to the rescue to bail them out but I am sure the sheer humiliation of
being one-upped by a Jew was more than they could handle.
As this passage starts, we get a sense the astrologers see
that they have a chance to get even and restore their standing before the king
in the process. For we find them going to Nebuchadnezzar with a report about
some Jews who were refusing to obey his decree, and not just any of the Jews
either but three of the men Nebuchadnezzar had “set overt the affairs of the
province of Babylon”: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (aka Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah). And as if it weren’t bad enough that the aforementioned Jews were
directly defying the king, the astrologers added that the men would also not serve
any Nebuchadnezzar’s gods (gods with an “s” because the Babylonian worship
system was polytheistic).
Well, you might expect that the king was not all too pleased
with this news and as he had shown a tendency to do in the past, he became
incensed with rage and demanded that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be summoned
before him. Once in his presence, Nebuchdnezzar said the following:
“Is it true,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the
image of gold I have set up? 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?”
Imagine the pressure of the moment. It may have been easy to
rebuff the king behind his back but now they were staring him down
face-to-face, mano-a-mano. It was clear they had one of two choices:
1. They could fulfill the terms of the king’s order and all
would be forgotten.
or
2. They could continue to be non-compliant and be burnt to a
crisp in the blazing furnace, a place where Nebuchadnezzar saw as an end game
for the men for he wondered out loud whether there was any god who could save
them from burning to death.
It seems the king forgot about the very God who he had
fallen prostrate before and proclaimed the God of gods and Lord of lords after
Daniel had explained his dream to him. Soon he would learn that with the God of
the Jews, nothing was impossible.
So how would Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego respond to the
king’s offer?
We see them continue to stand firm for they gave
Nebuchadnezzar the following reply:
“We do not need to
defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing
furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us
from Your Majesty’s hand. 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.”
Think about this for a moment.
If you were told that if you didn’t follow a command you
would be put into a fiery furnace, what would you do?
Faced with the thought of being burned alive or surviving,
would you submit to the command, even if it meant compromising your faith?
Or would you, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, be able
to stand firm in the face of danger and simply trust that God will deliver you
from harm?
As we will see tomorrow, these three men will soon be rewarded
for their loyalty and Nebuchadnezzar will once again be shown the amazing power
of the God of all gods, the same God who is with us and for us today.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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