Daniel 3:19-30

Bow or Burn ~ Part 2

 

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Dan. 3:15     Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

 

Pray

 

Intro

 

√       Bow or burn!

 

We left off with our friends Hanniah, Mishael, and Azaariah  (aka ~ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego) in a tough spot…

 

“To be continued” ~ like the last episode of a series!!

 

…King Nebuchadnezzar was hot under the collar so he decides to make Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego hot all over by casting them into a furnace!

 

All because they wouldn’t bow to his stupid golden image!

 

But, Nebuchadnezzar had made a fatal error in his anger!  He opened his mouth and challenged God to show up…

 

“And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” ~ vs. 15

 

…just the kind of foolish thing that God waits for so that He can demonstrate His power and glory on behalf of those who trust Him.

 

So, now we get to find out what happens to our friends

 

√       Types

 

There are some incredible parallels between Nebuchadnezzar and the future Antichrist…

 

…compare the events of Daniel chapter 3 with the events described by John in Revelation chapter 13!

 

Nebuchadnezzar’s ~ 1st world ruler

Antichrist ~ last world ruler

 

Both rule from Babylon (though “Babylon” in the Revelation is probably best interpreted to be Rome).

 

Both build an image and demand that everyone worship the image or suffer death.

 

Both attempt to unite the world through a political and religious unity around the worship of the image and the king.

 

Both run into a small group who refuse to participate in the worship and make a stand for God.

 

So, while it is an historical account there is instruction and encouragement for those who will live under the rule of the future Antichrist.

 

Ap.    Do and don’t

 

The testimony of our friends Hanniah, Mishael, and Azaariah is an encouragement to trust the Lord…

 

…the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar is that we must keep our pride in check lest we build ourselves an image that God must destroy.

 

Into the fire (vs. 19-23)

 

Dan. 3:19     Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

 

Dan. 3:20     And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

 

Dan. 3:21     Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

 

Dan. 3:22     Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

 

Dan. 3:23     And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

 

√       Into the fire

 

We get an idea of how warped Nebuchadnezzar’s mind is at this point by his response to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego’s refusal to bow to his image.

 

Orders the furnace heated 7 times hotter than normal!

 

Throws them into the fire with their clothes on (normally those condemned to death would be stripped bare)!

 

Sacrifices some of his loyal servants to the flames just to get rid of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego!

 

The point is that the man is obviously not thinking rationally! 

 

God had blessed him by granting to him a revelation of the future…

 

…he in turn rejects that revelation ~ manifest by the construction of the golden image.

 

Now he throws the guys who helped him unravel the mystery of his dream into a furnace because they won’t go along with his rebellion against God.

 

How did Nebuchadnezzar get to be so irrational?

 

Pride!

 

The first sin, and perhaps the root of all sin!

 

√       Danger of pride

 

Pride was the…

 

Motive that drove Lucifer to rebel against God (“I will…)

 

Bait that seduced Adam and Eve (“you shall be as God”)

 

Brought judgment upon king Uzziah when he entered the holy place (2 Chr. 26) & kept him from seeking the Lord for a healing.

 

Turned even the good king Hezekiah temporarily into a rebel (2 Chr.  32:25).

 

Set Peter up for his biggest failure (“I’ll never leave you!”).

 

And, pride is at the root of just about every stupid thing I’ve done or said!

 

Ex.    Gary telling me that I was called to be a pastor

 

I rejected his thoughts because I had given up on that dream and was busy pursuing a secular career.  My pride (wanting to succeed in business) kept me from receiving Gary’s word…

 

…even though I knew he was right!

 

Pride will keep us from God’s best, and actually drive us to do and say things that will bring harm to ourselves.

 

Satan knows how to use the weapon of pride, don’t let him get the best of you!

 

Prov. 11:2    When pride comes, then comes shame;

                   But with the humble is wisdom.

 

And…

 

Prov. 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife,

                   But with the well-advised is wisdom.

 

Good advise…

 

Mic. 6:8       He has shown you, O man, what is good;

                   And what does the LORD require of you

                   But to do justly,

                   To love mercy,

                   And to walk humbly with your God?

 

Back to the furnace! 

 

Our friends have been tossed like logs into the fire and certain death…

 

…maybe!

 

Time for Nebuchadnezzar to meet the God that can deliver our “peeps” out of his hand!

 

Through the fire (vs. 24-25)

 

Dan. 3:24     Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”  They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

 

Dan. 3:25     “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

 

√       Through the fire

 

The king’s anger turns to astonishment as he looks into the furnace.

 

Rather than seeing 3 human candles he sees FOUR men walking around inside the furnace without any harm at all and the 4th guy looks like…

 

…the Son of God!

 

Not that Nebuchadnezzar knew the Son of God, rather, he recognized that the 4th guy was a divine Person.

 

Opps!  Surprise, there is a God who can deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego out of Nebuchadnezzar’s hand!

 

The God that made fire!

 

The God that gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom

 

The God that sent Nebuchadnezzar a dream of the future

 

The God who probably wasn’t real impressed with Nebuchadnezzar new religion, the golden image…

 

…and his recruiting technique (“bow or burn”)!

 

 

 

√       Who is that God?

 

The question of course is…

 

…Who is that 4th guy, the One who looks like the Son of God?

 

Probably Jesus!  That is, a pre-incarnate appearance of God in human form.

 

A theophany!

 

Ex.    The Angel of the LORD

 

Gen. 16:7     Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

 

Gen. 16:8     And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”  She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

 

Gen. 16:9     The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”

 

Gen. 16:10   Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”

 

Gen. 16:11   And the Angel of the LORD said to her:

                   “Behold, you are with child,

                   And you shall bear a son.

                   You shall call his name Ishmael,

                   Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

 

Gen. 16:12   He shall be a wild man;

                   His hand shall be against every man,

                   And every man’s hand against him.

                   And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

 

Gen. 16:13   Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You–Are–the–God–Who–Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

 

She identifies the Angel as the LORD!  As did…

 

Gideon ~ Judges 6

 

Sampson’s parents ~ Judges 13

 

We also find the LORD appearing in human form to people in the Old Testament…

 

Abraham ~ Genesis 18

 

Jacob ~ Genesis 32

 

Yet, we also know that no living person has seen the LORD, the Heavenly Father!

 

Jesus said…

 

John 6:46     Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

 

So, Who indeed did Nebuchadnezzar see?

 

Must be a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus!

 

That is, the Father is Spirit and cannot be discerned with our physical eyes. 

 

So whenever God wants to interact with people He takes on the body of a Man so that we can see Him and commune with Him.

 

He is God, yet distinct from the Father, He is as Nebuchadnezzar declared…

 

“The Son of God”

 

…whom we know as Jesus.

 

Ap.    Jesus is Jehovah

 

John 6:46; Genesis 18; John 8:24

 

Out of the fire (vs. 26-30)

 

Dan. 3:26     Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came from the midst of the fire.

 

Dan. 3:27     And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

 

Dan. 3:28     Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!

 

Dan. 3:29     Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

 

Dan. 3:30     Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon.

 

√       Out of the fire

 

Nebuchadnezzar calls our friends out of the fire and finds that the fire had no power on them at all!

 

They weren’t harmed in any way!

 

Their hair wasn’t even singed!

 

They didn’t even smell like smoke!

 

What man thought was impossible, delivering Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from Nebuchadnezzar and his fire…

 

…was completely within the power of God to perform!

 

That’s because He created and controls the very physical laws of the universe…

 

…which means He can alter the way they work to suit His purpose and plans!

 

Additionally, God’s Word has promised that those who love and trust Him will find safety when they walk with Him.

 

Is. 43:2        When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

                   And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

                   When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,

                   Nor shall the flame scorch you.

 

√       Something got burned!

 

Note vs. 24-25 again…

 

Dan. 3:24     Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”  They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

 

Dan. 3:25     “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

 

The only thing that the Lord allowed to burn in the fire were the ropes that bound them!

 

Ex.    Type of the Remnant of Israel

 

Remember, Daniel could be a type of the Church…

 

Delivered from the fires of the Tribulation

 

While Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are a type of the Godly Remnant of Israel who will be delivered through the fires of the Tribulation (Rev. 12:13-17).

 

Ap.    The fire has no power

 

The fiery trials that Satan throws our way in the hope that he will destroy us…

 

…God uses to burn away that which holds us back!

 

Ref. 1 Peter 1:6-7

 

1Pet. 1:6      In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,

 

1Pet. 1:7      that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

 

The truth is that fellowship and freedom are found in the midst of fiery trials.

 

What I think is sure to kill me, God uses to set me free!

 

 

Close

 

√       No compromise!

 

Trust the Lord and commit your cause to His care.  Give Him an opportunity to demonstrate His love and power in your life!

 

Remembering that what Satan means for evil…

 

…God means for good!

 

Even the fire that was meant to burn you will set you free from the bonds of Satan!