Faith and The Furnace
God’s Protection in times of Difficult Choice
Daniel 3
INTRODUCTION: This account, recorded in Daniel, is one of the great Christian “bed time” stories we enjoy telling our kids. This familiarity with the account is both a positive and a negative. Positive in the sense that it is good to get down the biblical stories which serve to enhance our faith in God. Negative in the sense that such a casual familiarity keeps us from discerning additional truths from what has occurred.
§ Nebuchadnezzar has had an image of gold erected
o Seems to have forgotten his acknowledgment of God in Chapter 2
Daniel 2:47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."
o Statue follows the Babylonian form of numeric
§ Based on 6 and not ten
§ Our clocks and circle degrees are reminiscent of the Babylonian numerical system
o The awesomeness of the statue
§ 90 feet by nine feet
· as tall as an 8 story building
§ Prominently placed
· Dura
· Archeological excavation has unearthed a large square of brick some 6 miles southeast of Babylon in the center of a wide plain
o Why did Nebuchadnezzar build the statue?
§ Trying to change the future
§ Aware of the implications of his vision in Chapter two
Daniel 2:37-43 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39"After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
· The downfall of the kingdom as a whole will be from the deterioration of the statue, ultimately ending in the inability of the people to max
· Nebuchadnezzar seeks to strengthen the statue by unifying the people
o Summons a variety of officials and people
o Event was a rallying point for national unity
o Event was also a rallying point for religious unity
· The statue was Nebuchadnezzar’s declaration that:
o He was the head of state – the political head
o He was the head of religion – the religious head
o Nebuchadnezzar was seeking to unify both politics and religion under him
NOTE: -- Possibly even Zedekiah, the last king of Judah was here – verse 3 (all) and ….
Isaiah 51:6-9 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.
7"Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have my law in your hearts:
Do not fear the reproach of men
or be terrified by their insults.
8For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
my salvation through all generations."
9Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?
§ Nebuchadnezzar’s Edict of worship
o Seems to be aimed at the Jews (divine intervention here as we will see later!)
o No other nation would have a problem here – Dan 6:7-9
Daniel 6:7-9 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered--in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 9So King Darius put the decree in writing.
§ Turn or Burn
o Some use the edict for personal gain
§ Astrologers – Chaldeans
§ These were the locals – Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean
§ Neb had promoted foreigners to positions of authority
§ Motivation by jealousy
o Hatred for the Jews
§ Word is denounced
· Meaning is to tear into pieces
· Meaning is to “eat the rent limbs”
§ Did not accuse Daniel
· His position was higher
· He was away
§ Attempt to acquire the favor of the king
o The focus on three – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
§ Men yield
· Because they love where they are
· Men yield because they lack faith
o The confrontation with Nebuchadnezzar
§ Severity of the penalty
· Sudden death
· Meant to bring obligatory of submission
§ Opportunity to change
· Nebuchadnezzar had some sort of esteem for the three – did not immediately invoke his law
NOTE: The leadership of someone else can only take us so far – there will come a point when God will ask us to step out on our own!
§ Nebuchadnezzar considers himself to be above ALL gods
Daniel 3:15 ………………Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
· Nebuchadnezzar now makes his conflict with God
o This attitude would ultimately get him in trouble with God
Daniel 4:31-33 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
· The three respond
o Interpretation: -- We will not change our mind, and you have already made up yours
o Interpretation: -- We do not need to answer you as you are not our deliverer
· The basis of their faith
o Their Dilemma
§ God: Worship idols and die
§ Neb: Worship my idol or die
o Their Foundation
Jeremiah 24:4-7 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ’Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
o Their Principle – Our service to God is more important than God’s protection of us
§ In the Furnace
· Stoked to new levels
o Literally 7 times hotter than it had EVER been
· They three fell in – not cast in
o “Casters” were killed by flames
· What the king saw
o Four – not three
§ Divine being
§ Pre-incarnate Christ
§ Same as helped Hagar – Gen 16:1-16
§ Same as helped Joshua – Josh 5:13-15
Joshua 5:13-15 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
15The commander of the LORD’S army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
· Notice the similarity regarding the furnace and hell
o In the furnace – protection from fire and not consumed
o In hell – no protection from fire and not consumed
· The Miracle of Preservation
o Came out
§ Only thing missing from what went in was the cords that bound them
§ Unhurt in the midst of trouble
Psalm 23:3-4 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
o Nebuchadnezzar is equally impressed with BOTH the rescue by God and the conviction to serve of the three
§ The rescue brings a deep conviction
· Verse 26 – “The Most High God” – literally, “The Highest God”
o Used 13 times in the book of Daniel
o Majority of uses applicable to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
o Term is only used more often in the Psalms
§ Nebuchadnezzar’s New Decree
o Honor for God
o This would ultimately protect Israel from falling into idolatry during their captivity
Psalm 76:10 Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
§ Prophetic significance
o Gentiles ruler will demand worship that belongs to God
2 Thes. 2:4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Rev. 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
o Those who refuse will die
Rev. 13:7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
o Most will worship – yet a remnant will will not and be delivered by the 2nd coming of Christ
§ Additional Issues
o Civil Disobedience -- only permissible when obeying man’s commands would violate God’s commands.
o Suffering – Daniel’s friends did not believe that faithfulness to God guarantees freedom from suffering and tribulation.
o The response of fallen men to the revelation of God
Luke 16:27-31 "He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29"Abraham replied, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30" ’No, father Abraham,’ he said, ’but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31"He said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
o The necessity of faith
Hebrews 11:32-34 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
