Daniel 3:17-18 (ESV)
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
1. One of the great stories of faith and dependence on God comes from Daniel 3 where the three Hebrew boys refused to bow the knee to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. These young men knew the living God and refused to influence others away from Him.
2. Herbert Schlossberg, in his book, Idols for Destruction, observed: “Western society, in turning away from the Christian faith, has turned to other things. This process is commonly called secularization, but that conveys only the negative aspect. The word connotes the ‘turning away from the worship of God while ignoring the fact that something is being turned to in its place.”
3. It seems obvious that King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to replace the Hebrews’ worship of God with the worship of his golden image.
4. In American History we have placed a great emphasis on our freedom of religion. The first amendment reminds us of our God-given right to practice our religion, which includes our worship of God.
5. The Pilgrims fled England and the religious tyranny of the king. They did not immediately come to the New World, but went to Holland and enjoyed the freedom to worship. A number of issues resulted in their coming to what is now Massachusetts – not just for the freedom to worship, but for the purpose of advancing the gospel as they stated in the Mayflower Compact. That is, they wanted to live out their religion freely without governmental interference.
• What picture of God do you think they had? – Patient, longsuffering, determined, concerned
• How did they try to live up to it and become like Him?
6. It is important that we carefully choose the one we worship because we become like what or whom we worship.
a. Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“THE GODS we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And a man will worship something —have no doubt about that, either. He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart—but it will out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming.”
b. Hosea 9:10c (ESV)
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
7. The Bible is really the story of God with man. Daniel 3 contrasts living God and idols of men.
I. The Plain Idol (Daniel 3:1-7)
A. Idols are:
1. Devised in the Minds of Men
2. Displayed by the will of men
3. Declared by the Power of men
a. To unify a diverse population of worshipers of many gods?
b. A new god everyone could rally around
c. Isn’t that happening today with racism; global warming; politically correct issues, etc.? surely, everyone can rally around these issues and unite as one people. . . .
d. But wait – we’re finding out that certain political groups aren’t really trying to reform America, they are trying to destroy it – avowed Marxists; worshipers of the dead; witchcraft; etc. Are these the gods we want? Apparently some do.
B. Gods of High Control
1. ADRIAN ROGERS: And idol is anything you love more, fear more, value more or serve more than you do Almighty God. Fill in the blank.
2. Replacing God Almighty with the god of Government
3. Race issues bear out this reality
4. Removing our heritage and replacing it with an agenda through education
5. Economic control by the government [Cyrus McCormick invented the “Reaper” and mass-produced it. He created jobs for the populace and enabled farmers to reap wheat more efficiently and make more money. The government was not part of his process. He did it through free enterprise. . . .
6. Government wants to determine and dole out our rights
a. King George III did this with the colonies
b. Our rights have already been given – by God – “unalienable rights”
c. Government is supposed to be used for our good (Romans 13) – what if it is not good? [Stay tuned, we will delve into this question in the near future.
C. Our Answer: We need the Right God
1. To know Him
2. To serve Him
3. To become like Him in thought and action (the “greatest command according to Jesus comes from Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV): 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.).
4. We become like what we worship
a. A Different God – A Different Man
James Michener, writing in his book, The Source, tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who, was a Mesopotamian farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshiped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility.
One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice—if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy’s “religious execution” by fire to the god of death.
After the sacrifice of Urbaal’s boy, and several others, the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend next week in the temple, with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal’s wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she is overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called.
The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that “if he had different gods, he would have been a different man.”
b. The end purpose of idolatry – death
• Sacrifice of Innocents
• Demonstration of controlling power
• Leave us “holding the bag”
5. Worship cannot be formal or forced
a. Spirit and truth
b. Far away hearts – Matthew 15:18 (ESV) “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; . . .”
c. First Amendment right to religion, including worship – not a whim of government; no right to declare “non-essential”
II. The Preeminent God – Daniel 3:13-18
Daniel 3:17-18 (ESV)
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
A. Focus on His Will
1. No Compromise with Evil – Jesus’ temptations (Matthew 4)
2. Prepare for consequences anyway – 3 Hebrew Boys
3. Whose side are we on? Exodus 32:26 (ESV):
. . . then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
B. Focus on His Work – Daniel 3:24-33 [LORD in furnace with the boys, etc. and Nebuchadnezzar’s repentance]
1. Too many would rather roll over than see God work
2. What would happen if Christians would resist evil – abortion; human trafficking; evil government by exercising the power of the vote to hold our representatives (not bosses) accountable or replace them? [Utah parents resisting the school board over masks
PAPER MUD BALLS
I heard of a traveler going through China who visited a temple where the people were making paper mud balls, wadding them up, and throwing them at an idol they were worshiping. If the mud ball stuck to the idol it meant that the idol would answer their prayers. If the mud ball didn’t stick it meant that their prayers weren’t answered.
We make idols out of many things. The idols we worship (of any kind) will disappoint and mislead us. Our God will not. He has our best in mind. 1 John 5:14-15 (ESV):
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
(From a sermon by Ralph Juthman, Confidence in Prayer, 5/20/2012)
