Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego

[B-A-C]

This story comes entirely from Daniel chapter 3.

Dan 3:1; Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Dan 3:2; Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Dan 3:3; Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Dan 3:4; Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,
Dan 3:5; that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
Dan 3:6; "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."
Dan 3:7; Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

There is some debate about exactly how long a cubit is. But most modern scholars say 60 cubits would be about 90 feet or 27.5 meters tall. The plain of Dura is thought to be near Dura-Europos, a city in northern Babylon, (modern day Syria).

Whenever I read the story of the golden image, I always think of the golden calf at the foot of Mt Sinai (Exod 32; ) and of course the image of the beast. ( Rev 13-14; ) Everybody wants to be an idol. Kind of gives new meaning to "American Idol".

The decree from the kings herald says... whenever you hear the music (flute, lyre, bagpipes, etc...) you are supposed to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

verse 6 says... anyone who doesn't worship the image gets thrown into the fiery furnace.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Dan 3:8; For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews.
Dan 3:9; They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: "O king, live forever!
Dan 3:10; "You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.
Dan 3:11; "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
Dan 3:12; "There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."
Dan 3:13; Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.
Dan 3:14; Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
Dan 3:15; "Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"

Chaldeans... those trouble-makers. Chaldea was simply an area of northern Mesopotamia, either part of, or bordering Babylon at the time.
So they remind the king about his decree.. (verses 10 and 11)
Then they tell the king that "certain Jews" are not playing by your rules. They aren't worshiping your golden image " namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. "

So the king has them brought forward to face him and he asks them directly if all of this is true. At least he gives them a chance to defend themselves.
Then he personally remind them of the decree, just in case it wasn't clear to them the first time.
Interestingly enough, he asks them... "what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"

 

[Lanolin]

This story reminds me of those Hollywood ceremonies where they award a person who manages to convincingly pretend to be someone else a gold statuette. Theres probably a sign behind the stage flashing APPLAUD NOW everytime the music plays.

 

[B-A-C]

Dan 3:15; "Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"

We left off with Nebuchadnezzar asking, what god can save you from me?

Dan 3:16; Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
Dan 3:17; "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Dan 3:18; "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
Dan 3:19; Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
Dan 3:20; He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Dan 3:21; Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
Dan 3:22; For this reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

This is what I call faith. Real faith. Faith isn't just what you say, but it's how far you are willing to go to prove your faith. We are tested to some degree at some point.
Verse 18 says... even if our God doesn't save us... we STILL won't worship your image. I wonder if many Christians today would stand up and say that?

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered

You know... when the king alters his facial expressions... you are in trouble.

So he commands that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego get tossed into the furnace. But first he has it heated 7 times hotter than normal. I'm not sure what the
normal temperature of the furnace was, and I'm not sure what the recipe for well done Jews calls for, but it was made so hot that even the men who brought them up to the furnace door died. (It makes me wonder, who shut the door?)

But this is where you find out if your faith is in the right thing, or if it is misplaced. We shall see what happens to these three Jews.

 

[B-A-C]

Dan 3:22; For this reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

I'm thinking if the average temperature of the furnace was say... 300 degrees, heating it up 7 times hotter would make it over 2000 degrees.

Dan 3:23; But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
Dan 3:24; Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied to the king, "Certainly, O king."
Dan 3:25; He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!"

So now we get to the interesting part of this story.... they throw THREE men into the furnace, but king looks in and he sees FOUR men, how can that be?
They were thrown into the fire bound up and tied up, but now they are walking around in the "midst of the fire" ... and yet.. "without harm".
There are different kinds of fires, some are of our own making... but when we are standing up up our faith in God, some fire cannot even harm us.

Who was the fourth man? Some say an angel, but others say Jesus.... after all... he had an appearance "like a son of god". I'm not sure what a son of God would look like
in a fiery furnace, but whatever it was, the king seemed to recognize it.

Dan 3:26; Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27; The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them

Now I suppose watching some men walk around in blazing furnace would be pretty amazing. It would get my attention.
But then the king yells at the men in the furnace "come here" out of the furnace. I suppose by now he realizes the fire isn't going to harm them.

What is even more amazing... "the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men". Not a single hair was singed, they didn't even smell like smoke!!
I can't even stand within 3 feet of a campfire without smelling like smoke. I'm thinking that Nebuchadnezzar is beginning to realize there may be something
going on here that isn't normal.

.. to be continued ...

 

[Lanolin]

yea! You can demonstrate this literally you know.

We all going to be thrown in the fire at some point...interesting thing is, if you coat food with oil on a bbq they won't singe. If you cook food without oil it will burn to a black crisp.

So do we have our oil? (Of the Holy spirit!)

 

[B-A-C]

Dan 3:28; Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.
Dan 3:29; "Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way."
Dan 3:30; Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

I wonder how many times we have seen God move. I mean really do something unexpected. Maybe a miracle, maybe a change of heart, maybe the last person on
earth you expected to ever get saved... got saved. Maybe someone was healed, maybe a broken marriage was fixed, maybe someone out of work got a job.
We've all got a story. We've all seen something. Something unexplicable, unexplainable. Maybe you haven't every been in an actual furnace, but chances are
at some point you've been "in the fire". Do the people around you see that? Do they ask you how you made it through the fire?
These are the times can use our witness to change people around us.