Survivor Babylon
Going to be in Daniel 3
Recently I’ve been thinking about to what level of consequences God has called us to.
There was a little girl named Cassie Barnell. I'm sure that all of us remember that terrible thing that happened in April of 1999. The columbine school shootings. There was a story of a girl who died in that shooting and she was held at gun point and asked if she still believed in God. And she replied yes I believe in Jesus, and then was gunned down. And my question is this. Does God call you and me to stand up and say yes I believe in Jesus, and no I will not yield to sin?
Story of Shadraq Meshaq and Abednego. Why is it that this story so important.
Well it is important to me because of the way that one of my mentors does ministry. George Funk. His philosophy is to go where no one else will go and start a church. He’d make it viable. He’d train a minister from among the local people, sometimes he’d find that place a minister from somewhere else, then he’d move on. Because he’s good at that, and he said that’s what Paul did. He taught me not to let other people’s expectations of you determine what you do. People always have an opinion of what you should be doing, but it’s what the lord thinks you should be doing that matters. One thing that he taught me was the ability to stand alone, and I appreciate it because it’s a hard thing to learn. The story of Shadraq, Meshaq, and Abednego is an interesting story because it teaches us to stand alone.
If you remember just the chapter before this king Nebuchadnezzar has just declared that the god of Daniel was the god of gods and the revealer of mysteries. And he told everybody that they had to bow down to him. So what’s up with Nebuchadnezzar? Well, that’s actually a pretty good question.
Back in those days the king usually didn’t ask you to stop worshiping your god but you just had to worship his too. And to give them preeminence. It’s called syncretism. It’s like how what is now Mexico, Catholics there have someone called the virgin of Guadalupe. Well, a catholic from Italy might not have never heard of the virgin of Guadalupe. Syncretism happens when people that convert to a religion from another religion bring things into the new religion from the old. Back then they might worship the sun, the moon, the stars, but then they might also worship an animal, or the unseen god. And it was considered all good. So that’s a problem for some of our people in the story. Because they’re going to find out that you cant worship our God and another. And that’s going to cause problems in this world.
And we look at this story and we say wow. You know what I wouldn’t bow either. But in this story we’re Nebuchadnezzar, because we do bow to the world frequently. The world says things are done this way, and we do it. For example if you go to a university there is a required coarse on diversity and tolerance. And you’ve got to study that to get your degree. Because what you learn is that no diversity will be tolerated. Now they say they’re teaching tolerance. What I mean is that if you don’t approve of all kinds of different sexual orientations you will find that you’re not tolerated. If you say I believe that sex should be reserved for marriage and marriage is for life, see how tolerated you are. See how long that takes. See what happens when you don’t bow down to the world’s idea’s, they don’t like it. If you ever get the chance to buy a movie called “expelled” by Ben Stein, buy it. The premise is that university’s and corporations are firing all scientists and the like who believe in intelligent design, not even God. They didn’t teach it, nobody knew that they believed it. But they find out one man had taught a bible class some years earlier. Something minor, and they were fired. And you can ask where are all the Christians who work at these places why don’t they say something. Because they weeded them out. They wouldn’t bow and they were thrown into the furnace. We tend to bow to too many things. In this story failure to bow down before the idol was disloyalty to the kingdom. So let’s read about it.
Dan 3:1-6
3 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. 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. 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. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, 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. 6 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."
You’d be able to hear this intense fire, at the moment that the music starts. So you want to talk about peer pressure.
So this is all the politicians and not all the people. Every one hit the ground fore heads to the dirt. Except for 3, these three men that didn’t bow, we don’t even know if they were standing together. What if they were apart from each other, imagine the peer pressure.
I remember in grade school when it was the thing to do to cross your fingers and tell a lie. Because if you had your fingers crossed then you didn’t actually lie. There’s even a religious doctrine called mental reservation. Many religious organizations teach this. Which means that if you’re under duress you’re allowed to lie, to make a false vow, because in your heart you have a mental reservation then God knows that, and will not hold you as accountable to this.
The funny thing is you don’t see anyone in the bible using this doctrine. You don’t see an example of shad, mesh, abed bowing before another God, but saying to themselves in my mind I’m actually bowing to Jehovah. They didn’t say to themselves that they were bowing now so they can serve Jehovah many years from now. They didn’t play mental reservation. They stood… alone. Think of what that must have felt like. It’s not like these people didn’t know what was going to happen. Many of you may not know this, but when these boys were young boys they would have been forced to watch as their parents, brothers, sisters, were slaughtered in front of them. And then they were chained, and marched to Babylon.
Then when they get their, without benefit of anesthesia, drugs, or a hug, get castrated. Then if they survived this, they are locked in a facility where they are to be taught everything that they need to know to be good servants. Now by taught I mean that if they don’t learn who to call sir fast enough, if they don’t learn who to bow their head to, if you don’t learn all of their rules then you’re killed. That’s why it was such a big thing for Daniel to say I’m not going to eat that particular food. They had already seen many of their friends be killed. Now these are not boys anymore they’re men. And they know their purpose is, their purpose is to show everybody how great Nebuchadnezzar is. By having these guys there, he’s saying you remember Israel that I defeated, yeah these are sons of Israel, I’ve gelded them, and they have to serve me all their life.
They knew, so what drove these men to stand up against the king. Couldn’t they say, it’s only a little bowing, it’s really nothing.
Dan 3:8-18
8 For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. 9 They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: "O king, live forever! 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. 11 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. 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." 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. 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? 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?" 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 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. 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."
Does this not get your blood pumping when you read this. That is amazing, they had seen what this man had done to people, and they stood up anyway. Their faith was very impressive.
But here’s something I want you to understand in this. Their faith is not based on experience. When has God swept down and saved them from anything? Their faith is in what they do not see. They have not seen miracles, but they believe that they will be saved eventually. Death is salvation from a terrible life. They had such faith, they loved God more than life, and God respects that.
When God sees one of us say you know I’ve had enough of this.
When the world says it’s choice, it’s reproductive rights and we say, it is 4000 babies a day, being slaughtered, so that somebody’s life will not be inconvenienced. God says Stand up
Whether you see me moving or not, stand up. When somebody says you know if you don’t like your wife then just go get a different one. Stand up.
You don’t have to give to the church, you didn’t like the song they sang last month. Stand up. Don’t be a Nebuchadnezzar.
By they way, in verse 16 where it says, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. It means, we’re not on trial here, you are. You need to defend yourself, not us.
This is true about many things in a Christians life. And it’s true about creation too. Someone will say it just happened, and I’ll say no, God made it. And they’ll say you’re not being scientific, and I’ll say excuse me, nothing in your theory is scientific, something from nothing, order from chaos, intelligence from non intelligence, life from non life. Scientists have proven all of those are impossible, yet all of those must be required in yours. I’m not apologizing for anything. Stand up.
What are they going to do to you, kill you. You get to go see Jesus, miss out on a few drooling years. I can handle that. We don’t have to defend ourselves in this matter. So don’t act like you do.
In fact the king made a bad mistake in verse 15. I have to wonder if God may not have saved their lives if Nebuchadnezzar hadn’t made this statement. 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? Ewwww.
There’s another church name. Sennacherib. He did that in 2 Kings 18, God had been using him to punish the nations, and God even said you can take Jerusalem. And so he was going after Jerusalem, until he made that error, and he said even your God cannot stop me. And God said squish.
Those who stand up before Jehovah may not know what he’s doing or why, but they don’t have to apologize. They stood. This should remind us of Peter and John, Acts 4:18-20 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. Now that’s the ASV, but in the original Greek some of the versions say whether it’s best for us to listen to you or God you decide, but we are going to speak in the name of God. That sounds very much like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, maybe they heard this story before. Jesus taught them to stand alone.
Dan 3:19-30
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. 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. 21 Then these men were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. 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. 23 But these three men, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up. 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." 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!" 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 they came out of the midst of the fire. 27 They gathered around and saw 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.
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. 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." 30 Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
So then you have to think this isn’t the first time Nebuchadnezzar has seen miraculous things, so I wonder how long this is going to last.
You might look at him and ask, “How many times before this guy gets the point?” But again we’re Nebuchadnezzar in this story.
This would be a little tougher sell if they didn’t win.
This one they win, and sometimes we can say we love this story because there’s a winner in it. And sometimes we don’t win. Let me tell you something, even if we get thrown into the furnace, and we loose by the worlds standards this is still the correct coarse of action.
What if the punishment isn’t death. What if the punishment is losing your job because you refuse to act without integrity. Your boss wants you to lie because it’ll make him lots of money, and you say no. And you lose your job and God doesn’t swoop down to your rescue. Or kid’s if your friend needs you to lie for him so he doesn’t get in trouble and you say no. And instead of being applauded for your integrity you get ridiculed for the rest of the year.
Do we really have integrity when no one is looking or do we hide who we really are, and draw attention to our integrity when it’s easy for us to do the right thing.
Joseph’s life could have been so much easier if he would just have slept with Potifer’s wife. But he chose to bow only to God, though it meant years in prison.
Heb 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin
Or in other words you have not resisted sin to the point where is costs you your life.
I want to show you how these things go together. You will never be persecuted for going along with what the world says. You only get persecuted by refusing to sin. Honestly most of the time we don’t even fight. We go along to get along. If the world declares that there’s a fashion then we go put it on. If the world says that this music is good or that this tv show is popular, or this movie is awesome then we run to it.
Our lives must show a purpose not to yield, and a determined courage.
And if the world doesn’t see any difference between you and them there isn’t any difference between you and them. The world could never say to Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego ough you believe in God, I couldn’t tell. You’d know.
We need to watch where we’re bowing.
The world wants to enslave you with every sin in the book and a few more they’re thinking up. Don’t go there. Don’t put your head down to them. Don’t surrender yourself to them but stand up.
1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action most versions say for battle, keep sober in spirit or be self controlled, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
We may stand alone down here. But not alone spiritually, if we reserve bowing for the only one who is truly worthy of praise, and is mighty to save.
That’s impressive to God, don’t be Nebuchadnezzar, be the one who stands.
Let’s sing to our God and greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory as we stand and sing.
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