Daniel 3:1-30
1 ¶ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5 [That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
I. What the image REPRESENTS. we see here displayed many similarities to our present day. Here in the empire of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar put out an edict that all people bend their conscience and will to his. In our society today it may come in the form of governmental regulations or laws, it may be by the pressure of the mob mentality that would force us to conform to whatever is the current crisis or fad. Think about:
A. The demand to KNEEL before the altar of the world. We are pressured by:
- Government with demands such as churches must be closed but abortion clinics and liquor stores must remain open. Some jobs are considered ‘essential’ and others ‘non-essential’. There seemed to be no standard except the whim of those in charge. This is just the latest example of the tendency of government to assume more and more power over our lives.
- Science is one of the gods of this age. The problem with faith in science is that it’s constantly changing and often contradicts itself. We could go back many centuries to the time when the consensus was that the Sun orbited the Earth. Many were forced to ‘kneel’ before the altar of official dogma even though they didn’t really believe it. Galileo was reported to have said “and yet it moves” in reference to the Earth after he was forced to recant his belief that the Earth travels around the Sun and not the Sun moves around the Earth. It’s an interesting phenomenon that the science text books have to be rewritten every few years because of the changes in ‘science’. While the Word of God never changes. The Bible is clear that we are made either male or female. The current idea that sex is fluid is just so much modern silliness. It does not matter how many ‘experts’ tell me different God has settled the matter long since.
- The PROMOTERS – We are to give unreasoning. unquestioning obedience to whatever new edict or theory is popular at the moment. It was not long ago that we were told it was not only unhelpful for the average person to wear a mask in public, why it might even be dangerous! Now it’s a requirement in many places, and in almost all you can be shamed and ostracized for not wearing one. The very same experts and government officials held both positions within a matter of a few weeks. The pressure to conform comes not only from those in positions of governmental power but also from tv celebrities, news announcers, sport stars and such. these are the heralds of the present age and they cry out twenty four hours a day. Their message is CONFORM, CONFORM!
8 ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
II. The REACTION of the world and the powers that be. Let’s look at the reaction of the informers and the king. The three jewish men posed no danger to the king or anyone in his kingdom, on the contrary they were the most honest, loyal and productive in the reign. Their great crime was to not subjugate their hearts and minds to the worship of Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. The image has prophetic meaning. We have much the same situation today the popular culture, the media, the government all demand conformity to their beliefs and pronouncements. You must confess belief no matter how much evidence and common sense tell you that it’s not true. We are told that biological sex is not a real thing, that man is destroying the planet just by living (some have suggested that the population of the Earth should be reduced to one billion, that would mean eliminating over six billion people). We were told that the whole nation had to be shut down and people basically confined under house arrest because of the danger
A. The INFORMERS, there are always those who will work with the powerful regardless of the harm that they cause to others. There may be many motives for their actions. We will deal with the following:
- Guilt – God has made us all with a conscience. Some have so abused their conscience that it is almost without voice, but it’s still there. A guilty conscience causes discomfort to its owner It seems to make people feel better to see others in trouble.
2.Anger – It is human nature to become angry when our faulty behavior is exposed by the correct behavior of someone else. History has many examples of this type of thing. Look at 2 Chronicles 18. It is the story of a prophet named Micaiah, who despite the opposition of the king and a host of other ‘prophets’ remained faithful to God and His Word. He suffered for his faithfulness, but was vindicated in the end. His obedience generated anger because it highlighted the falsity of the prophecies of the mass of the ‘prophets’. - Some act out of a mistaken belief that they are doing right. Think about Paul, then called Saul, who persecuted the church
B. The INCREASING Persecution – The process seems to begin with an attempt to persuade then moves to intimidation and then to violence We see it here in the account of the demand made to fall down and worship the image. There was no demand for sincerity only compliance. A reflection of this same demand today. If someone voices an opinion that the cultural elite deems unacceptable they are then ‘persuaded’ to offer up an apology. No importance is placed on the reality of the apology, but there must be conformity. When persuasion doesn’t work, one is subjected to greater and greater pressure up to and including violence. Technology may change, but the nature of sinful man can only be changed by the power of God in the new birth. Today those who seek to impose their will use a multitude of technological means but in the end will always resort to physical violence. We have seen this in the history of our nation various times. If you are to stand you must be prepared for the struggle that most certainly come. 2 Timothy 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
III. The RESPONSE of the faithful. When the three believers would not be ‘persuaded’ or threatened into denying God then Nebuchadnezzar was furious and resorted to physical violence. But consider the response of the three men who could see the terrible fate that awaited them. They:
A. Were STEADFAST in their obedience to God. They were not deterred from the path of faithful obedience. The Scriptures make it clear that they fully understood the possible consequences of not bending the knee before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They basically said “look king, God can prevent us from being thrown into the furnace, He can save us from the furnace or He can save us by the furnace.” In other words we may not go into the fire, we may go in and come out whole or we may die in the fire. In any case we will be delivered from your hand! I am reminded of the story of John Huss, a priest that lived in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. He was burned at the stake for preaching the truth of the Bible. As he was burning he could be heard singing Psalms!
B. COUNTED the COST – Knowing the possibilities they were faithful. Another man who can serve as an example for us is Jim Elliot, a missionary martyred for the Gospel in 1956 while trying to reach the native people in the jungles of Ecuador. His journal entry for October 28, 1949, expresses his belief that work dedicated to Jesus was more important than his life. He wrote in his journal, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” God always has a faithful few who by His power can change the world. We should all work so that we can hear “well done thou good and faithful servant.”
C. They gave a CLEAR testimony of God’s power, love and salvation. The duty of a Christian is to be a witness for the Lord. Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. We must always be ready to share the good news with the lost of the world. 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Paul expressed it well we are in debt because of what Jesus did for us. Romans 1:14-15 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
19 ¶ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, [and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28 ¶ [Then] Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
IV. The RESULT of faith and obedience
A. SALVATION – Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Faith is defined in the Word of God: Hebrews 11:1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It could be described as trust or confidence in God’s love, ability and promise. I often use the illustration of a parachute. When I was asked if I believe in parachutes, my reply; yes, but I don’t trust parachutes! I don’t want to jump out of an airplane with one. In my mind I know that they work, in my heart I don’t have any confidence in them. Many people know about Jesus but in their hearts they trust many other things other than or instead of the Lord.
B. SET FREE from: - The Power of:
a. Sinful flesh, Paul was well aware of the problem of sin in us. Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. The evidence of sin’s destruction is visible all around us. Drug addiction, sexual immorality, child abuse, pornography, violent crime and many other societal ills are overwhelming our nation. These are all the result of the sin nature that we all inherited from Adam. It causes a man to do that which is against his own best interests.
b. Society (the world) The popular culture flows in the direction of evil. Think about the music, films and other forms of amusement. They all glorify the carnal and ungodly. The more profane the performance the greater the fame and acclaim. it’s hard to travel against the tide but it’s possible. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
c. Satan, who is the god of this age and is behind the problems that afflict the world. Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
C. SPLENDID Glory for God. God is glorified by obedience of His children here in the World. Our lives should be a shining light leading others to the Saviour. We can only be that witness if we are faithful, bold and clear in our testimony, whether it be by word or action. May we be as bold and faithful as those heroes of the faith had it said of them “they died well”. We may not be called upon to die for God but let us live for Him. Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
May God bless you,
Mike Scott, Pastor
Faith Baptist Church
Faith Baptist Church of Newborn GA 