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Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Sometimes that phrase “Walking with Jesus” can take on grave consequences, can’t it? Oh, probably you’ve never found yourself in a life-or-death situation with death hanging in the balance depending on how you might answer a demand from a very angry person… but that’s exactly what 3 young Jewish men were facing in the throne room of the most powerful man in the world at that time, King Nebuchadnezzar.
Come with me, back about 2600 years ago, to the great city of Babylon and let’s see what happened next. You’ll find the account in Daniel 3 in your Bible.
You’ll recall thousands of leaders had been summoned from throughout the Babylonian empire, to stand before a 90ft, gold plated statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and at the sound of the instruments they had been instructed to bow and worship the statue or be thrown into a blazing furnace! (Daniel 3:1-6) It had been reported that three leaders had refused and had remained standing when all around them leaders bowed as the music played. (Daniel 3:7-12)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been hauled before King Nebuchadnezzar to answer the accusation of their insubordination. In the king’s throne room an enraged Nebuchadnezzar had shouted at them: “Now, when you hear the sound of the horn and instruments, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I have 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.” (Daniel 3:15)
All weekend we’ve waited, so now let’s see what happened next as Daniel records it in Daniel 3:16 “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 3:16-18)
I doubt any of us can imagine the tension that must have exploded in that throne room in that instant! All who were present as witnesses, regardless of their rank or stature, their age or gender, their familiarity with the king’s throne room or their responsibility in the kingdom, everyone must have turned to hide their faces and perhaps cover their ears. No person alive dared speak to his Majesty King Nebuchadnezzar with such words and expect to live even one more minute!!
Furious with rage, eyes bulging out of their sockets, veins bulging out from his neck, “Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace” (Daniel 3:19,20) Immediately and obediently they were tightly bound, dressed just as they were, and without any resistance, they were thrown into the ferocious flames!
Now perhaps this story is not new to you my friends, but I urge you to take a fresh look. Have you ever been in a blacksmith shop with his super-hot smelting fire; or have you worked in a pizza shop with a wood fire oven; or been around a large campfire which maybe got out of control as more wood was added and the wind kicked up? Imagine the hottest, most ferocious fire and the feeling these men had as they were being tied up knowing there was no escape, no mercy, no hope.
The record says: “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, and these three men, firmly tied, were thrown into the blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:22,23) The deed was done. Three young men were being incinerated alive!
But wait a minute… The scribes who were recording every detail very carefully for historical records saw something amazing: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, ‘weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:24,25)
Now how do you explain that my friends? Rather than incineration, Nebuchadnezzar was seeing something indescribable, something beyond logic, something beyond miraculous. The heat of the fire had obviously burned the ropes which bound them, but nothing else! Not their clothing or hair or skin. They were alive and walking around in the fire and joined by a fourth person unscorched by the fire!
What appearance that fourth man had which caused Nebuchadnezzar to declare him to be a ‘son of the gods’, I do not know, but next Nebuchadnezzar shouted into the furnace, calling them by name and demanding that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego come OUT of the furnace and stand before him!
The record says: “The satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed; their robes were not scorched and there was not even the smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed: ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants! (Daniel 3:26-28)
I wonder if a great shout and applause arose around the king and all present. I assume this furnace area was outside, away from the throne room, and all those present in the throne room had followed the king to witness this execution of these insubordinate leaders. I also presume many others of the leaders who had bowed before the statue gathered around to watch this incineration of the rebellious! But now they were all celebrating what they had witnessed and the king had said… but wait, the king had more to say!
“They trusted in their God and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God!” (Daniel 3:28) This was NOT insubordination nor rank rebellion this was CONVICTION with INTEGRITY!
This was allegiance to a much higher power, God Almighty Himself! And so, the King continued: “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other God can save in this way!” (Daniel 3:29)
While Daniel tells us King Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to higher roles of authority in Babylon, Daniel does not tell us where he was when this remarkable event took place, nor what else transpired that day as thousands of the top leaders of the Babylonian empire watched the most powerful man in the world come face to face with the undeniable, lifesaving, power of the Almighty God of Israel.
So, let’s pause right here and personalize it.
* What is the greatest demonstration of God’s power YOU have ever personally experienced?
* What depth of confidence do you have in God that would bolster you in the face of such anger, such violence, such hatred?
* Have you ever discussed this great event with your children or grandchildren?
* Have you ever looked death in the face with bold confidence that you are ready to step into the welcoming arms of Jesus?
I urge us to ponder all this and talk with God about it and then worship Him with Mr. Wintley Phipps and this great song of full surrender…
Today’s Scripture: Daniel 3:13-29.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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