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Daniel 3
[VIDEO – man walks forwards down the street, everyone else walks
backwards]
[SLIDE – Tested by Fire]
Going against the grain has never been
easy. Christians will always go against the flow in our society. That’s
why it’s great to be studying the book of Daniel on Sunday mornings at St
James. Here is a book all about a minority of faithful believers living
in a world where everything else would have seemed backwards!
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
were part of a great number of Jews who had been wrenched away from their
homeland and in the 6th centruy BC were made into civil servants in the
Babylonian empire. They were believers in the One True God, living in the
context of a multi-cultural, multi-faith, pluralist society. Does that
sound familiar? relevant??
We’ll see throughout this series that
the way the heroes of this book live out their lives of faith is not by
withdrawing from the culture but by living in the midst of the culture in
outstanding and distinctive faithfulness. In a variety of different
situations they quietly and confidently stand up for their God.
[SLIDE – STANDING UP]
In Chapter 1 they stood up over the
small issue of eating a different diet to the Babylonians. But here in
chapter 3, their stand is much more weighty.
If you want to know how to stand up
for Christ in your workplace, your halls of residence, your
neighbourhood, your family – then Daniel chapter 3 will have some great
insights. If you’re wondering why on earth a Christian would rather die
than forsake Jesus – then Daniel 3 also will have answers for you.
So let’s look at the passage and see
what it is these men are standing against.
[SLIDE – Against]
Verse 1:
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and
nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of
Babylon.
What is this statue? Well
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had dreamt about a massive statue
back in chapter 2. If you remember from last week you’ll recall that the
statue had a head of gold and then other body parts made of different
materials, yet the whole things was brought down by a rock cut out of a
mountain – the rock grows to fill the whole world. If you remember,
Daniel interprets the dream and says You Nebuchadnezzar are the head of
gold – the other parts of the body are other kingdoms that will take over
Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, but the rock cut out of the mountain is the
kingdom of God which will triumph over all earthly kingdoms and fill the
earth.
That’s the interpretation Daniel gave.
It’s all about the sovereignty of God and his kingdom over all the kings
and kingdoms of the earth.
But here in chapter 3 -
Nebuchadnnezzar remembers only one thing: “I am golden!!” So he makes an
entire statue – all gold, all Nebuchadnezzar. He gets rid of all the
other kingdoms – just him. And he builds this statue far away from any
mountain – here it stands, 90 foot tall on the plain of Dura.
This is a clear defiance of the truths
which Daniel revealed to him in chapter 2. Nebuchadnezzar at this stage
shows he has no grasp of spiritual truth. However grand his statement of
faith was in chapter 2, his actions betray where his heart really lies.
Nebuchadnezzar, for all his lofty words, is not yet a believer. He is not
building for the kingdom of God he is desperately trying to shore up his
own earthly kingdom.
[SLIDE – Earthly kingdoms]
And he does this by trying to unite
the various cultures and peoples and religions of his empire around one
common vision. So he invites all his officials from around the world to
come and bow down before his image. And, from verses 4-6, he employs the
latest in audio technology to draw out an emotional response from his subjects.
There’s nothing like great music for stirring up the soul. Think of
international sporting events. Suddenly the national anthem comes on and
all these 16 stone rugby players start choking up as they try to sing.
They’re about to tear their opponents limb for limb, but a song comes on
and they’re blubbing away and everyone in the crowd has goose pimples:
the whole stadium is swept up into a common passion which this music
galvanizes.
Well in Daniel 3, the whole atmosphere
lends itself to mass worship. The excitement of a big occasion, the
grandeur of this massive statue, the sense of belonging to an
international gathering of peoples. Then the music starts – and as they
are carried along by the emotion of it all, the whole crowd bows as one
to the golden image. Can you imagine the whole plain of Dura flattened in
worship before this false god. Except for three men – Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. What were they thinking? Here’s what I’d have been
thinking:
BOW!
Isn't that what you’d be thinking -
just bow. Everyone knows worshipping a statue is stupid – it doesn’t mean
anything. What does one minute of bended knee have to do with my heart?
Just compromise now – God will forgive you and you’ll live to fight
another day. Think of all the opportunities I can have to witness later
if I keep my head down now and don’t cause trouble!
As these men looked out across the
plain they would have seen colleagues, friends and loved ones even other
Jews – all bowing before this false god. And next to it they would have seen
the blazing furnace – or as it is in the original language – the blazing
fiery furnace (as though the fire itself is on fire). There is their
immediate destination if they do not bow. And yet they stand.
Around the world there are Christians
who, this very day, will be killed for their faith. A Christian dies
every 3 minutes in the world simply because they hold to Christ. Let’s
think about that during our service this morning – every hour 20
Christians make a stand like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and are not
rescued but they prefer to die rather than forsake Jesus. How is that
possible? Could I? Could we be so faithfully devoted to Jesus that we
would deny our jobs, our freedom, even our lives to follow Him?
It's clear that Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego have a tremendous loving trust of their God. They know Him to be
a Jealous God - One who loves them exclusively, devotedly, forsaking all
others - and He demands a similar love from us. Exclusive, devoted,
forsaking all others. We are to worship our God with an undivided heart.
We are to love Him very much. And when the world demands from us any
allegiance which would offend our Loving Jealous God - we are to stand.
If you could describe these men’s
actions in one word – what would it be? Brave? Stupid? Here’s one word –
offensive! I am here to tell you that what these men do is incredibly
rude. You see, they are not just offending Nebuchadnezzar, they are
offending every other person who bows. Isn’t it interesting in verses
8-12 that it is the neighbours and colleagues of these men who betray
them to death. If it weren’t for these astrologers who inform on them –
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would probably have gone free. But instead
they go to the king and betray their colleagues.
The astrologers are offended that
these Jews won’t play along with the same religious pluralism as
everybody else. This stand is essentially a stand against earthly
religions.
[SLIDE – earthly religions]
Think about it: Before this event,
no-one minded that Shadrach was a Jew. He was just a part of the great
Babylonian melting pot. When Meshach told everyone else in his workplace
that he had a living relationship with the Most High God – probably his
work colleagues said: That’s great – I really envy you in your faith. And
even in chapter 1 of Daniel, when Abednego started eating a different
diet because of his beliefs, his friends probably told him how much they
respected his personal beliefs. But here on the plain of Dura it is clear
that these men worshipped the God of Israel EXCLUSIVELY. And that is
offensive.
In Wednesday’s Guardian, there was an
article by Diana Athill called – I’m a believer, but only in a good story
(Wed 21/01/04)
She talks about her upbringing where she
was brought up with Christian stories which she appreciated but the God
of those stories she rejects. At one point in the article she says this:
“I believe that the most unforgivable
sin people are capable of is the conviction that their particular religious
story is the absolute truth.”
That’s what really gets backs up
today. You can be a Christian, you can believe it with all your heart,
you can tell me it’s true for you – just don’t tell me it’s true for ME.
That is the unforgivable sin in any multi-ethnic, multi-religious
society.
Yet, the witness of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego is a stark proclamation that they worshipped the True and
Living God who was God over all the other religions of the world. Is our
witness similarly clear? When we tell work colleagues and friends about
our personal faith in Jesus – do we leave it at that: a personal truth
which we offer? Or are we clear with our friends that Jesus is the way,
the truth and the life?
Well our stand must Never be an
arrogant or deliberately rude. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are a model
of gentle respect as they are brought before Nebuchadnezzar. See verse
16:
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this
matter.
These men are cool as cucumbers. They
are not offending people because they are brash hot-heads. They're not
confident in themselves or in their great arguments they are simply men
who are confident in the God they serve - they trust their fate completely
to Him in calm assurance.
It’s important as we consider
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to note that these men are not amazing
orators who deliver great speeches or devastating arguments. They are not
steely adversaries or strong willed super-heroes. These are men of very
simple trust. (That’s what strikes Nebuchadnezzar in v28 – he noticed
that the way they resisted him was simply by trusting their God). The
LORD does not need courageous saviours – He is the great Saviour – the
LORD simply wants men and women who calmly and confidently put a
child-like trust in Him.
And while we’re thinking about just
how composed these men are under fire – we must see that this does not
happen over night. These men had trained themselves in making stands. In
Daniel chapter 1 we have already seen how they kept a distinctive diet
and did not succumb to the Babylonian ways. They remained faithful in the
small things long before they ever had to prove faithful in the big
things. If they failed in chapter 1, they would certainly have failed in
chapter 3. Sometimes I kid myself that, no matter how compromised my
lifestyle may be at the moment – when the crunch came, I would somehow
make a heroic stand for Jesus. But that’s not the way it works. Am I
really going to forsake my career, my freedom, my family even my life
when daily I struggle just to forsake the snooze button and spend some
time in prayer with Him. We do well to remember that faithfulness in
small things leads to faithfulness in the big things.
Well in verses 17 and 18, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego make a great proclamation about what it is that they
are standing FOR.
[SLIDE – FOR]
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is
able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But
even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve
your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
These faithful men are standing for
their heavenly Saviour.
[SLIDE – Heavenly Saviour]
They proclaim: the God we serve is able
to save. And these men are clear that His salvation is certain. He is
able to save them from the temporary suffering of this furnace - but more
importantly - even if He doesn't, He will save them from ultimate death
in the hereafter.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are
staking it all – their success, their jobs, their very lives – on the God
they know and serve and love. He is able to save. They have great
confidence in the resurrection:- that they will be saved from death.
That's so important - no-one is able to die for Christ without being
confident that they will be raised with Him. We need to know that
whatever is entrusted to Him is not lost. Wherever we follow the Heavenly
Saviour to, He can save us from.
Well, Nebuchadnezzar is apoplectic. He
orders the blazing furnace to be heated 7 times hotter. The three men are
bound and strong men hurl them into the furnace. The fire is so hot it
kills the guards instantly, yet these three men are unharmed and unbound,
able to walk around the furnace in perfect freedom.
Imagine what that must have felt like!
Imagine the awe! Imagine the joy! Imagine the gratitude to God. ‘Why did
He save me?’
Well, the Heavenly Saviour has
triumphed. He has answered Nebuchadnezzar's question of verse 15 -
"what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" The Living
God has done it.
But he hasn’t left these men to
celebrate it by themselves. He Himself comes to join the celebration.
Nebuchadnezzar sees four figures in
the furnace and in verse 25 he says:
‘The form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’
That’s how the older translations
render this verse. The Son of God: Jesus, was present and active
throughout the history of Israel. Sometimes He goes by this name,
sometimes He's called the Angel of the LORD, that’s what Nebuchadnezzar
calls Him in verse 28. God sends His Angel to save. It is the Sent One
from the LORD who is the Son of God – He comes down and saves His people
from the fiery furnace.
What an amazing honour for these three
men! To walk with Jesus in a blazing furnace, unbound and unharmed. To
enjoy the company of the Son of God. The greatest spiritual blessing of
these men’s lives occurred at the moment of their severest persecution.
Isn’t that a tried and tested spiritual truth? Whenever opposition is
greatest, fellowship with Christ is the most sweet and the most real.
Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist
preacher of the 19th century said this: God never abandons His children
to the furnace. He joins them in it! What a wonderful truth. Jesus Christ
never abandons us in our suffering – rather the opposite – in our
suffering we can know the fellowship of Jesus more intimately than ever.
Many Christians here in this room can
testify to the fact that those times of greatest suffering in our lives
have brought us closest to our Saviour.
The Apostle Paul writes this in
Philippians chapter 3:
I want to know Christ… and the fellowship of sharing in His
sufferings.
Paul knew that the way to know Christ
who suffered so much – was in suffering. He even prays that he might share
in suffering just so he can know Jesus better. If we believed this in the
core of our being, then there is no furnace we wouldn't enter in order to
know Him better.
If you are going through the mill of
suffering right now – don’t waste this opportunity. If you have tears,
they are a precious commodity in God’s sight. In them, you can know Jesus
with great intimacy.
Well Nebuchadnezzar could not fail to
be struck by this miracle. But it's very interesting to see what it is
that leaves a lasting impression on him in verse 29. Here are his last
words on the matter:
“no other god can save in this way."
Nebuchadnezzar knows a LOT of gods -
as a Babylonian, as king of the world, he probably knew them all. But he
declares - NONE of them save in THIS way.
What is THIS way? Well God does NOT
strike all the guards with blindness and let Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego Kung Fu their way out of trouble. And God does NOT command a
giant rain cloud to let loose over the furnace. How does He save? The Son
of God comes down INTO the furnace!!!
NO god saves like this.
The living God is not just a Heavenly
Saviour, He is a Heavenly Sufferer
[SLIDE – Heavenly Sufferer]
God joins us in suffering. That's what
we're about to remember with communion. Jesus - the Son of God sent to
save us - endured the ultimate fiery furnace for our sake. On the cross,
Jesus suffered godforsaken hell to pay the price for our faithless,
loveless, rebellious lives. He entered the ultimate blazing furnace, full
of the anger of God - and He did it alone - so that you and I need never
taste it.
No God saves like this!
When we understand that the God of
Heaven is a great Saviour - then we can stand for Him in any situation,
knowing that wherever we follow Him to (even death!), He can save us
from! And when we understand that our God - the God of Heaven is a Great
Sufferer - then we can stand for Him knowing the promise of His own
precious fellowship. This is a treasure worth more than anything the
world can offer. Once we believe these things in the core of our being,
we can stand in the little things and the great.
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