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Daniel 3

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9/22/1991
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Daniel 3
Daniel 3
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27 Daniel - 1991

Daniel is a book of history as well as prophecy, and it contains one of the most awesome and detailed predictions in the entire Bible. Skip Heitzig examines the backbone of Bible prophecy.

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Daniel 3

We've seen that Daniel was a man of purpose, that is, he stood on his own two feet. Everybody else around him in the nation of Israel was falling away from God. Daniel was moving toward God. They were going into captivity.

Daniel was going into a place of usefulness in that captivity. He stood on his own two feet. He didn't care what other people were doing or what other people were saying. He didn't care about the changes and the fact that everybody was doing it. That didn't faze him. What he cared about was what God thought about his life, rather than what other people thought about his life.

And tonight we read also about three, we call them Hebrew children. By this time, they're men, used by God in Babylon. Who also stood on their own two feet, and weren't afraid to stand up for what's right. And then, Daniel was also a man of prayer.

We see it all throughout the book, that he took his problems and his situations always before God, in good times and bad times. And finally, he was a man of prophecy, for so much of this book speaks about the future. In fact, Daniel was given the exact day of the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Now, I didn't say this exact day of the rapture of the church. No man knows that day or the hour. But once the rapture does take place, whenever that will be, there will be a time of tribulation, and days are given. In fact, the exact date is given to the coming of Jesus Christ after the Tribulation Period in the book of Daniel. Just a little food for thought for the future.

But in chapter three, Daniel is not present. Though it's in the book of Daniel, we're dealing now with his three friends, his compadres. People that left Jerusalem into captivity with Daniel, who were also wise men in Babylon, worked in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar and made a strong and a bold stand for God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were their names, given to them by Nebuchadnezzar.

I've heard a story of a country preacher, who was trying to use chapter three of the Book of Daniel as an illustration in one of his messages, and he'd forgotten their names, so he wrote their names and put it on a little card, and stuck it in the pocket of his coat of his lapel.

And so during his message, he could go like this, open it up. He said, now, we all remember the story of the three Hebrew children. And he opened up to read their names, and he said, Hart, Schaffner, and Marx. He read the lapel on his suit. He got them wrong. No doubt, they were Hebrew children as well, but the wrong ones. Their names aren't important, however.

But it is important to know that between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, probably 20 years have gone by. There's a gap. There's an interval. Now just to refresh your memory, you remember that in Chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that bothered him. He saw this great image standing before him in Babylon with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, stomach and thighs of pure brass, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron, and partly of clay.

Daniel came in and told Nebuchadnezzar not only what he dreamt, but gave him the interpretation, and it really impressed Nebuchadnezzar. So much so, that he gives praise to God. And in Chapter 2, Verse 46, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate, before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The King answered Daniel and said, truly your God is the God of Gods, the Lord of Kings, and the revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret. And the King promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

And so Daniel also petitioned the King, and he set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the King. Remember that Daniel said "King, the vision means that you, as the head of gold, are number one. You have governed the whole world by yourself.

The Babylonians have taken over. You run the house. But after you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours, the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. And after that, another kingdom and another." He was so excited, he said, "God that you serve is the only true God. He's revealed the future."

Well, 20 years have passed between that vision and the excitement of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 3. And now, Nebuchadnezzar backslides a little bit. At one time, he was impressed with God. Right now, he's not so impressed. In fact, he's trying, in Chapter 3 to prove that God is wrong. And he's going against the direct revelation of God, given to Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

And in Chapter 3, he sets up a huge image, not with just a head of gold, and chest of silver, and stomach of brass, and legs of iron, but this entire statue was pure gold, as if to say "nuts to the silver, and the brass, and the iron, I'm going to make the whole thing gold. In other words, Babylon, will live forever.

I don't care what God told you, I'm number one and I'm going to stay number one." And he commands everybody in the kingdom of Babylon, and the people, who were taken captive from other nations, indeed, the whole world, to worship this image of Nebuchadnezzar. So he's carried away, in Chapter 3 with his own vanity. Basically, he's having people worship himself.

Yes, women, men too can be carried away with vanity. And I'll tell you why I say that, is a lot of times, people make jokes about women-- Oh, they're doing their hair. Oh, she always makes me late, you know, being in front of the mirror, and smearing all that makeup on. As if to say, men don't do that. Well, you know what, men can be very vain, in fact more vain than women.

Interesting study was done in front of a public building. They put mirrors in front of a large public building in an inner city. And, of course, people stop and like to look at themselves, don't they? They found that more men than women stopped to look at themselves in the mirror. And, of course, go into any gym and watch the he-men kind of stand and flex their muscles and look really cool. They love looking at themselves.

And Nebuchadnezzar was no exception. He couldn't stand the thought of some other kingdom, more stronger than he, coming in and taking over. And so, he built this huge image of gold, really a self-deification, and commands the entire world to worship himself. He made himself the object of worship, and really that is idolatry. And it's a new form of idolatry that has crept really into the world today, and into the church-- worship of self.

There is so much emphasis today on self-esteem, self-love. You deserve a break today. Or the commercial of this woman spending a lot of money on some product, turning to the camera saying, "I'm worth it." Oh, gag.

But you see, the focus now more and more is on coming to grips with who you are. In fact, the church has bought into it. And now the churches all over the country have classes on upping your self-esteem, saying you can never do any great work for God, in fact, you can never love others, until you really esteem your own self.

Taking the scripture out of context, where Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." And of course, they will teach you, "Well, you see, you've got to love yourself first, so that you can love your neighbor." That's not what Jesus was teaching. He was saying in effect, taking for granted, that people do love themselves. Paul said that truth. He said, no man ever hated his own body. He nourishes it. He combs his hair. He wants to look cool. He buys himself clothes to look good. Men, by nature, love themselves. That as a given, love other people the same way.

The Bible never places an emphasis on self. In fact it says in the Book of Philippians that we should have the same mind as Jesus Christ-- "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility of mind, let each of us esteem others better than ourselves." Let each of us esteem others better than ourselves. Well, certainly, Nebuchadnezzar had no lack of self-esteem. He built this great image and he commanded that other people would worship it.

Nebuchadnezzar, the King, made an image of gold, whose height was 60 cubits-- 90 feet high. And its width was nine feet. He set it up in the Plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Now the word "Dura" is a common Babylonian word still found in Iraq today. Archeologists have uncovered about six miles south of the Babylonian Kingdom that King Saddam Hussein has been rebuilding, six miles south, they found an inscription in some ruins, "Dura," in a large open plain.

And they have found the ruins, the remnant, of a large pedestal-- 45 feet cubed by 20 feet tall, that they believe held some sort of a statue. And it could be that this is the statue, the very statue that we're reading about here. Set it up in the Plain of Dura-- 60 cubits by 6 cubits. Now, I'm fascinated with numbers in the scripture.

I don't want to make too big a deal out of it. I think some people make such a big deal out of numeric equivalent in the scripture, but there were certain ancient languages and ancient groups of people that believed and worked in gematria, the idea of coding letters of a word with a numeric equivalent.

And it's interesting that almost every single title of Jesus Christ is divisible by 7 or 8, 8 being the number of new beginnings, 7 being the number of completeness. And almost every single term for the devil, or Satan, or the accuser, or so forth, in this old ancient language code, is divisible by 6. Six has been, and is the number of man.

Man was created on the sixth day. And God said, "It is good, it is good, it is good." Till he got to man-- it was the first time he said it is not good that man should be alone. I'll make him a woman, because he's incomplete all by himself.

The steps to Solomon's thrown were six steps. He received 666 talents of gold every year. And Solomon was sort of the ultimate man. He also led the children of Israel eventually into idolatry and a split into the kingdom. Goliath was sort of a man's man. And he was also measured in 6, as he was 6 cubits tall. The weight of his spearhead was 600 shekels of silver.

In the Book of Revelation, there comes another man, called the beast, the Antichrist, who sets up another numerical system, and his number is 666, the number of man. Man in control of man, governing himself, setting up this system, another system of worship. In Nebuchadnezzar, Verse 2, sent word to gather together the satraps and the mousetraps-- no, I'm sorry-- the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And so the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates-- that's a long word-- gathered together for the dedication of the image of King Nebuchadnezzar, that he had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Now, this was national news. He summoned all of the administrative, all of the political, all of the economic leaders of his kingdom, and brought them together. And he wanted them to demonstrate their loyalty to the throne and reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

Perhaps after the dream had had 20 years to sink in, he got paranoid. And he thought, maybe there's going to be a collusion. Maybe some of my own men are going to gather together and come and try to divide the kingdom. So I'll set up this image.

And I'll make everybody come and worship. I want them to demonstrate their loyalty to me. So he gathered them together for this great service of dedication. And as we said, this is self-deification. He is basically setting himself against the revelation of God. This is more than just a political move. It's a religious move. He makes everybody bow down and worship the image, worship the image. And worship him as ruling over them.

Now the Romans had the same problem. There came a point in Roman history when the emperors of Rome began deifying themselves. And the first one to do this was a guy by the name of Caesar Augustus. We've heard his name, but not every one of us knows what his name means. Caesar meant king or ruler. Augustus was a name that this Caesar gave to himself, which literally means "of the gods." I am the King of the gods, or the king of kings.

And Caesar of the gods, Augustus, commanded every Roman citizen to take a pinch of incense once a year and burn it at a statue that looked sort of like him. Probably made him look a little better than he really looked. And in the major cities of Rome, they would have to burn incense, and say [SPEAKING LATIN] Caesar is Lord, and worship this image. Nebuchadnezzar had the same idea here.

You know, it's been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It's true. This guy had ultimate power over all of the world. He was a despot. He was a monarch. He had conquered the Jews. He had conquered Egypt. He had conquered Persia. He was in the driver's seat. And power corrupts. Political power corrupts. Spiritual power also corrupts.

We've seen it with ministries. Somebody starts small and insignificant, like Saul in ancient Israel. And he's of little esteem in his own eyes, like Saul of Israel, but God blesses his life and work. And he begins to be something, begins to be recognized.

And pretty soon, he starts resting on his laurels. He says, "I'm God's man of the hour. I'm God's anointed one." And then he starts setting himself above others and sometimes even above God. And if you disagree with him, how dare you fight against God's anointed.

And they'll even say, the Bible says, don't touch God's anointed. Well, I say if you start acting like that, that you to be touched. And then people will kind of see themselves as important and begin naming works after themselves, universities, and hospitals, and buildings, with their own name on it. And sometimes it can give glory to them, rather than adulation, praise, and honor to God.

Nebuchadnezzar had been corrupted by power. He was clearly in charge and he never wanted that to change. And the herald cried aloud, "To you it is commanded of peoples, nations, and languages that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and sultry, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace."

So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre in symphony with all kinds of music, that all of the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Of course, this was enforced worship. He made people do it. And, of course, this makes us think to the future, doesn't it? Of another leader who will come and make an image-- Revelation 13-- "And he'll cause the whole world, or demand that everyone worship this image of the beast." And it's interesting that the religious system that comes out of this is called Mystery Babylon. And it's the same kind of an idea.

Now an idol, an image, a graven statue, is always an abomination to a Jew. If you go into a Jewish place of worship, you'll never see a statue. You'll never see people bowing before some figurine, because to a Jewish person, it's an abomination.

God said in Exodus, Chapter 20, Verses 2 and 3, "You shall not worship any other God. Neither shall you make a graven image of something in heaven, or on the earth, or something that is under the sea. You shall not bow down and worship before it." So the Jews to this day have no icons, or as they would call it, idols, in their worship. It's an abomination.

But to the Jew, there is another kind of an abomination called the abomination that causes desolation. Daniel predicted it. This is a foreshadow of it. In chapters to come, Daniel will prophesy about it. Jesus looked back to it, in reference to Daniel, and pointed that it would happen yet in the future. He said, "And when you see the Abomination of Desolation, as spoken by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place, you who are in Jerusalem, split fast." Modern translation, depart-- hither or whatever. But he said, if you see it, leave.

It's a time when the Antichrist-- by the way, if that's a new term to you, the Bible predicts a coming time when because the governments of this world have fallen and failed, that one leader will arise who will be able to rally the whole world together in unison-- unison of religion, and politics, and economy.

Bring the world together. He will be the most powerful, driving force this world has seen in its history, and cause everyone to receive a mark on their forehead or their right hand. And he will set up an image of himself in Jerusalem and cause that image to be worshipped.

Paul the Apostle, in 2nd Thessalonians, spoke about this person. And he said, "Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come, unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed"-- the son of Perdition-- "Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped.

So that he sits as God, in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." "Don't you remember," Paul said, "That I told you these things while I was with you." Well, the Bible has spoken about that since the Old Testament times. And we're going to see it more as we go through the Book of Daniel. This is a foreshadowing of it.

OK, picture the scene-- this image, 90 feet tall, has been constructed on this large pedestal, 45 feet cubed by 20 feet tall. It's massive and imposing, so that hundreds of thousands of citizens could stand and check this thing out. And they're all waiting around. And then all of a sudden the Chaldean Philharmonic Orchestra kicks up-- Nebuchadnezzar's ragtime band.

And the commandment is, when you hear the music, in harmony together, everybody on cue, worship or I'll burn you to death-- enforced worship. So you can imagine, the music kicked up, and as soon as they heard probably the first note, boom, they bowed down. Because, no doubt, the fiery furnace was close enough to the statue to remind them of their fate, should they choose not to obey.

Well, there were three Hebrew youth-- not youth, by this time they were well on their way, probably in their 30s, 40s, or mid-40s-- who refused to bow down when the music started playing. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they probably just stood there, because they were Jewish. They loved God. Though they were employed by Nebuchadnezzar in his court, being his wise men, they had enough wise sense not to disobey God.

So they refused to bow. And no doubt, the crowd that was around them was going, "Get down, quick. You're going to die, man, get down." And they just stood there. And we're going to see that this gets them into trouble. But basically, the decree is bow or burn. But these three refused to bow, even if it meant that they would get burned.

Several years ago, I took a trip over to the Philippines. I took a 12-hour boat ride from the city of Cebu, to the southern island of Mindanao. And I met pastors. And at that time, there was a coup. There still is, but it was a huge coup, where the NPA, the New People's Army, in cahoots with the Filipino Communist Party, gathered together to sort of take over the island. In fact, it was unsafe for Americans to travel, especially by bus.

Well, I didn't know this. I hadn't kept up on the news much. And we took a bus and a boat. And when we got to this one church, the pastor said, "Well, how did you get to our city?" And we said "Well, we took this boat on the island. Then we took the bus and then the boat and got here." And he said, "Oh, no, you didn't take that bus?" "Yeah, that was the one." And "You didn't take that boat?" "Yeah, we took that boat."

He said "Boy, the communist guerrillas are looking for Americans. Just last week they killed a few." "Oh, well, here we are. Thank you for telling us now. We're so encouraged, but nonetheless, here we are." And he said, "Well, let me tell you about these guys, they came into my church last month, and they held me at gunpoint. And they said, "You give us all of your offerings." And they said, "No way, this money belongs to God." And they said, "Well, you've got one week to decide. If not, we'll come back next week, we're going to kill you and your family." And so, they began to pray.

And it's the same posture as these three Hebrew children, or these three Hebrew men, take. And he said, "We went to prayer, and we'd never prayed so hard in all of our lives. We really meant our prayers at that moment-- Oh, God, preserve and protect us. What will we do?"

He said the next Sunday came and Nothing happened. And after service let out, we found out the news, that a couple of Jeeps filled with NPA guerrillas on their way to our church got in an accident and everybody was killed. They were on their way to the church to take the money and gun people down. So God preserved it. God protected them, just like he did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Now, that doesn't always happen, by the way. God's people also have things happen to them, even while doing God's work. I heard a story of a missionary who was in Korea. And when the communists had overtaken Korea, a missionary was preaching the gospel, and the communists came in and held a man at gunpoint. He said, "You denounce Jesus Christ and join the Communist Party."

And the man said, "I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe, I believe." Crack, the gun went off and killed him. But he did not bow. He would rather die with his conviction than live with compromise. And so it was with these people.

And it's possible, even in trying times, to make a stand for the gospel. And we're going to see with these folks. The music starts, everybody bows down, they start worshipping. Why? Because it's much easier to go along with the crowd than be an oddball. Have you found that out? Isn't it easier to laugh at dirty jokes when everybody in the office and around you is laughing at it? And it's easy to compromise, and in your mind, come up with a rationale why you can do that, why it's easy.

Oh, God will forgive me. You know, I want to fit in. I want to become all things to all men and be as hip as the other sinners, so I'll compromise. I don't want to be a sore thumb. It's not a good witness to be a sore thumb. Actually, it is a very good witness. They might laugh at you now, but there'll come a day when they'll remember that. And especially when they're really going through a tough time, they'll remember that you were a man who stood up against them and for your convictions.

Hey, I worked in the same settings in the world that many of you work in. Yes, I work in a church now, but I remember the days having a secular job. In fact, every now and then I really feel the need to get around some good old fashioned heathens, on their turf, in their world. It's horrible to be cloistered all the time, just around Christians. In fact, sometimes I find heathens refreshing. But it's good for me to remember and be in touch with their pulse beat.

And I remember working in a hospital, always invited to parties, and I said, "No, I'm not going to go." How come? Well, ever since I met Jesus, I have a greater party than you can ever have. I don't need to fill myself with that kind of-- [GROAN] and so, they'd get all angry, and they'd keep trying. They'd call me little pet names, and make fun of me, and so forth. But I tell you, by the end of that stay, there's about six people in that department that came to know Christ.

But you know what, I remember one time, on the bulletin board, where they would plaster all these signs and invitations to parties-- Bring your own booze-- BYOB party-- over a Dr. So-and-so's house. And they'd put all these things up. So one time I put a big invitation to a Christian concert. I put many of them up. And I put BYOB-- Bring your own Bible.

And my boss came and said, you've got to take that down, it's causing too much controversy. I said, "You know what, sir, with all do respect, it's not going to budge, and you're not going to take it down either." He said, "Now, wait a minute, I'm your boss." I said, "Sir, this is a free country. Secondly, if people can put up their filth and their garbage about parties, lewd women, and alcohol, I can put up a poster to a free concert, where people can hear about the gospel." He said, "All right, that's fair." And I left it up.

And I know that it's not easy to make a stand. But God will bless you for it. God will strengthen your life, and God will use your witness. Because, you know, the world has seen enough people without any backbone. In fact, most of the world lives like that.

There's very few people who just really believe what they-- make a stand for what they believe. And when they see one who has enough guts to make a stand for Jesus Christ, they'll respect that. So you keep standing, like these people did. Don't you bow. You say, "Yeah, but I might get burned." Well, better to burn now than later.

Before we press on, a note about worship. This worship was forced worship. You can never force true worship. Really, true praise is spontaneous. You can never make a person do it. I don't like rallying people into a frenzy. After an emotional song, where their emotions are stirred, and then come and say, OK, now everybody, let's do this, and do that, and raise your hands. And it's possible to do that, to get everybody kind of into an enforced rally of worship. True praise is spontaneous. It's when you want to from your own heart.

And I found that I can just be driving down the street sometimes and my eye will catch one of these beautiful sunsets, or a cloud formation over the mountains, and I'll just go, oh, praise the Lord, that is great. Now, I said that, it came from my heart. Nobody said let's all say praise the Lord together three times-- say it again, say it louder, say it again. It was real, it was from my heart. It's something you want to do. It's when you recognize some attribute about God that your spirit is overwhelmed and you give worship to God. You can never force it or enforce it.

That's why I never tell people, OK, now everyone stand right now, and everybody raise up their hands, and everybody bow down, everybody kneel down. There are times when we can say let's sit, let's stand, and so forth. But you can never enforce that. Some people like to stand up and worship. Some people don't.

Some people like to raise their hands. Some people feel weird about it. Let them feel weird about it, until the spirit of God convicts them to not feel weird about it. Give them a break. God never forced you to do it. And we should never gauge a church's or an individual's worship by what they do or don't do, but what goes on in the heart. And since we can't see it, we have no business worrying about them. But just saying, God, how is my heart before you?

Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. And they spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "Oh, King, live forever." They're going to butter him up a little bit. "Oh, king, you have--" and of course, he wanted to hear that. He wanted to live forever. He didn't want Babylon to fall. "You, O' King, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and sultry in symphony with all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the gold image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace."

"There are certain Jews, who you've set over the affairs of the province of Babylon-- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." Now they knew them by name. Why? Because 20 years ago, Nebuchadnezzar had exalted them above the rest of the Babylonians. These foreigners, these Jewish people, who were captives, got the good jobs, and the other guys got the worst jobs. The bosses were the Jews. And that probably put envy into these guys' hearts. And they waited for 20 years to find something to get back at them with.

You know, envy is a cancer in your soul. It can destroy you. When you see somebody else exalted, or elevated, or blessed by God, you become envious of them, it starts hurting you. And it hurts them, because you can spread rumors about them. You know, I've found an interesting, but very sad thing, about many Christians. I find that many Christians, with many of them, it's harder-- it's easier for them to weep with those that weep than to rejoice with those that rejoice.

The Bible says we are to weep or mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. And I find a lot of Christians can weep with those who weep. Somebody will say, I've just had a horrible thing. And oh, brother, and they'll love them, and weep with them, and pray for them. But to rejoice with those that rejoice-- when somebody says, "God just blessed me with a new car." Oh, Yeah. And they're thinking, he didn't bless me with one. Or God just did this in my life, and this happened in my family. Oh, praise God. Well, I'm really happy for you, hallelujah. And they're envious of what God has done in somebody else's life.

These people were so bent for 20 years that God had exalted these three Hebrews to such positions. Notice the accusation-- "These men, O' King, have not paid due regard to you." That was a lie. They were faithful workers. That was a false accusation. Now the next two accusations are true. "They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up." That was true. And Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury-- tells you what kind of a person he was, doesn't it?

It says a person who hears only half of a matter, it's a folly and a shame to him. The Book of Proverbs tells us that. And this guy just had a bad temper, flew off the handle. And he gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the King. And Nebuchadnezzar asked them, "Well, is it true?" Called them on the carpet, wanted to hear it from them. But he was still angry. "That you don't serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?"

Now Verse 15, he's gonna give them another chance. Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, sultry 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 hand?" See what he's doing? He's challenging God himself.

Oh, he remembers the dream, and Daniel, and the fact that he said, "God, your God is the God of God." But now he's defied the revelation of God, set up an image of himself to be worshipped. And he says, now, "What God will deliver you?" He gave them another chance. OK, listen one more chance. The band kicks up again, and they start getting down and playing their music. You get down and start worshipping my image. If not, you are barbecued Hebrews. That's your second and last chance.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, and said to the King, "Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us from your hand, Oh, King." That's a statement of faith. Exodus Chapter 20 tells us "In the giving of the law, God commanded, I am the Lord your God. You will worship me and me only. You will not make a graven image and you will shall not bow down to any other God or any graven image." So that's why they said, look, we don't need to pray about this, or we don't even need to answer you in this matter. We have a law. We dare not go against the written revelation of God.

You know how easy it would be for these guys to rationalize and compromise bowing down? It would be pretty easy. In fact, many Christians I have found have perfected rationalization to a fine art. They could have looked at this command, and they could have said, "Well, listen, it doesn't mean that I really have to forsake God if I just bow down. I only have to do it once. And I'll just repent afterwards." Ever heard that excuse, or thought that excuse? I'll just go have my fling of sin for a season. I can always repent. I'll only do it once.

Or what they thought, well, I'm under great duress, I'm being forced to do this. You know, I have to obey the laws of the land. And it just means that Nebuchadnezzar is the one responsible for my sin not me. It's his fault, not my fault. I see a lot of people in counseling that always blame other people for their sin. Well, my mom and my dad did that, so that's why I am the way I am. Don't blame me, it's their fault.

And, of course, husbands and wives do this with each other. Well, if you wouldn't have done this then-- they rationalize. And easily, they could have done it. Or maybe, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could have said, "Well, everybody's doing it. Look, everybody's bowing down. It's the in thing. It's standard procedure in this world." But they didn't do it. Or they could have said, "Well, you know, we believe God has put us in these strategic positions. And we don't want to jeopardize our positions. And God could really use us for the sake of his people later on. And if we die in this furnace, God can't use us anymore." It'd be very easy to rationalize bowing down. But they wouldn't do it.

As we said, it's better to die with your conviction than live with compromise. To know right and wrong and to not do it is the epitome of being a coward. As we said this morning, any dead fish can float downstream. They wouldn't do it. We don't need to answer you. God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand.

But now look at Verse 18. "But if not--" they gave got an out. Now, we have faith and believe God will do it, but if not, if he doesn't, if we fry, if we burn, "Let it be known to you, O' King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." I love it. Bow or burn was the decree. They said no, if we do bow, we will burn. You know, maybe burn now, but it's better than burning later.

There's an old story of one of the early church fathers, named Polycarp, one of the pastors of the Church of Antioch, after Paul founded it. Polycarp was a faithful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman persecutions that swept through the empire, he was taken and he was threatened with his life. They commanded him to worship Caesar or lose his life. He said, "No way. I've never denied my Lord. He has not denied me in 80 years. I will not deny him now." They drug him into the city. And they were going to burn him at the stake.

And the Roman soldier in charge of the execution begged Polycarp to think it through. He said, "You know what, if you just pinch, take a pinch of incense, and say Caesar is Lord, it just takes 10 seconds. It'll be over with. And we'll let you go, and you can continue in your church. That's all you have to say. You don't even have to mean it, just say it." He said, "No way."

At this, the soldier became angry, at the stubbornness of Polycarp. He said, "It's going to be hot, man." Polycarp said, "Not as hot as what you're going to experience." And it is said, according to the story, it's according to legend-- we don't know if it's true or not. But Polycarp was burned at the stake.

And as the flames went up, he wasn't being burned. It wasn't hurting his body. He was still crying out and praying, unsinged in the fire. And finally, they threw a spear. And it is said that his blood ran out and extinguished the fire, and he died from it.

But he refused to compromise, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And sort of, this is like the position of Job, who said, "Though you slay me, yet I will trust you." Lord, even if it's going to kill me, I'm going to maintain this position of trust. So Nebuchadnezzar was very pleased. No, it doesn't say that. He was full of fury. And the expression on his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he spoke, and he commanded, that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

We think that this is probably a lime kiln pit, where the fire would burn out of the mouth of the pit on top, and there was another orifice opening on the bottom, where you could stoke it with coal and oil to heat it up. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor, who were in his army, to bind these three and cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. These men were bound in their coats, trousers, turbines, and other garments, to help them burn quicker. Cast into the furnace.

Therefore, because the King's command was urgent, and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. And he arose in haste and spoke, and sang to his counselors, "Hey, didn't we put three fellas bound into that furnace?" And they said, "Well, that's right." "Look, he answered, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire. And they are not hurt." I love it.

In the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. That's such an interesting text of scripture. Hey didn't we put three in there? Yeah. Well, I see four. They're not crying. They're not begging for deliverance. They're walking around. Now, I find that interesting. They weren't crying out or trying to get out. They were just walking. Probably talking, fellow-shipping, hanging out together. Because it didn't singe them. Even the ropes on their wrists, it says, were not burned later on when they come out. To get them out, Nebuchadnezzar had to command them to come out. They wouldn't even come out on their own accord.

But the fourth was like the Son of God. Now some translations say a son of the gods. The best translation is the Son of God. In Hebrew, it is Bara Elohim, Son of Gods, plural. Elohim is an interesting Hebrew name or title for God. We find it in Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth." God created the heavens and the earth. The odd thing about the word Elohim is every single time it is used, there is a construction in Hebrew that makes it always conjugated improperly. If you were a Hebrew English teacher, it'd drive you nuts.

Because Elohim is always plural. There El, Ela, and Elohim, which usually means more than two, three is implied. But when it's conjugated, the verb in Hebrew is never given a plural form, always a singular form. So when it says, "God said let us make man in our image.

So in the image of God, He made them." And it's the first hint in the scripture of three in one, in the Hebrew construction Elohim. The fourth is like the Son of God. And, of course, many scholars believe that this is a pre-incarnate form of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, sometimes called the angel or the representative of the Lord. Found many times in the Old Testament. We won't get into it now.

Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning, fiery furnace, and spoke, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of thee most high God, come out, and come here." "What? You want us out? We're having a great time. What do you mean?"

Talk about a fiery trial. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire and the satraps, administrators, and all these jokers came together and they saw that 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.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his messenger 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. Therefore, I make a decree--" Nebuchadnezzar would not be a character I'd like to work for. I think he was schizophrenic. He was certainly not a moderate. He was a radical, no matter which way you pointed him, he'd do it all the way.

First, he made a decree that you kill and burn people who worship any other god but this image. And now, he says, "I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be cut in pieces, and their houses be made an ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this." And the King promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Now there are people who will deny this as being a miracle. There's a group of people who say that miracles don't happen. Liberals, who call themselves Christians, those of the neo-orthodox persuasion. Of course, many cults will say this really didn't happen. And they deny the miracles of the New Testament. They say Jesus didn't walk on the water. It only looked like he was walking on the water. He walked on the shore in shallow water, and the disciples thought they were in the middle of the sea.

When Jesus was out with his disciples, and Peter said, "Lord, we fished all night and caught nothing." And Jesus said, "Well, Peter, throw your nets on the other side of the boat." And they caught a full net a fish. It's because, they say, Jesus was looking, and he saw that the fish were jumping on this side of the boat. The disciples were off, looking only in one direction. Jesus being logical saw, well, the fish are hopping over here, throw it in over there-- denying the miracle.

The feeding of the 5,000 is most hilarious. The liberal scholars say, Jesus really didn't multiply fish and bread. What happened is it's common to store food up in the caves of Israel. And Jesus and his disciples had prearranged all of this food supply at one of the hills around Galilee. And Jesus was teaching the multitudes. And he simply backed up with the multitude to the mouth of the cave and was just kind of passing the loaves and fishes out. So it seemed like it was a miracle. No joke. I have a commentary that says that.

Of coarse, it's funny when they get to the miracle of the Red Sea. They say it wasn't the Red Sea. It was a sea of reeds. It's a very shallow sea. And the wind can blow it, and it can part that water a bit and a swath the water. So it's very shallow, shallow water, and you can just wade through it. And of course, that's a bigger miracle, isn't it? That the whole Egyptian Army could be drowned in about a foot of water. Because that's what the text says. Not only did they make it through, but the rest were drowned. Either way you look at it, you can't get around the supernatural.

But the key to this chapter is the fact that they didn't make a compromise because Verse 28, they yielded their bodies that they should not serve nor worship any God but their own. You know, that's a New Testament principle. Romans Chapter 12, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conform to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind." Or as the Phillips translation says, don't let the world squeeze you into its mold.

The world is trying to do that. Every day that you walk on this earth, if you watch television or listen to a radio, or work around the world, they're giving out messages and telling you to conform into their mold. And so you need to present your bodies and say, "God, I want to be filled with the knowledge of your will, and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Give me the grace to go against the flow."

And one of the best ways to go against the flow is to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Because most people aren't doing it. Most people would scoff at it. Most people want nothing to do with somebody else running their lives. They want to run their own life. And it's not popular to make a commitment to Jesus Christ. The world would tell you to bow to them or burn in the ridicule of the world. It is better to burn now than later.

"What will the profit, Jesus said, if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul." And the truth is God has something planned for your life. God wants to save you and use you. The greatest experience is knowing God and being used for His glory. It's the greatest feeling, the greatest experience to know that in my life, my future is sealed. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I know that my eternity is secure because of the blood of Jesus Christ. He's washed away all my sins. I'm clean.

Do you know what it's like to have guilt removed? Not only that, but then that frees me up to live my life fully, to do the work of God and to spread His gospel. Then life becomes exciting. You wake up like Norman Grubb, who'd wake up every morning, and say, "Good morning, God, what are you up to today? I want to be a part of it."

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you've preserved it for us and given us examples of great men and women of faith-- Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, who refused to compromise. Lord, help us to go against the flow of the world, against the messages that would seek to squeeze us into its mold, their mold. And instead of being conformed, to be transformed.

Father, I pray for those who don't yet personally know Jesus Christ, who are tonight sitting here in this room. They've been conforming to the voices, to the standards of this world system, of a new world order. They have not submitted themselves to you. I pray, Lord, that you'd break the chains that hold them. And though it's unpopular, that tonight they would surrender themselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ, asking to be born again, asking Jesus to cleanse them, and come in, and be their Lord. We ask you to do that work, Lord.

And as your heads are bowed, before we close this service, I give again an invitation. Do you want to know that your sins are forgiven? Do you want to know that your name is written in God's book of life? And that you can forever be with Him? Do you want to know what it's like to have your guilt removed? A brand new start.

Jesus said a man must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. It wasn't an option. He didn't say Nicodemus, listen, if you've got a little extra time, and it's not too inconvenient, you might want to think about being born again. He said a man must be to enter God's kingdom. You've been born once, but you need to be born twice, spiritually.

And so tonight, if that's your desire, to come to know Christ, to have your sins forgiven, and to come to Jesus and yield your life completely to Him, if you're feeling the Spirit of God convicting your heart, that feeling is His voice telling you to give your life to Jesus, this is your moment. If that's your desire, you raise up your hand right now, boldly up into the air so I can see your hand and pray for you before we close this meeting. Just raise up your hand right now, if I just described you, and you want to surrender to Jesus tonight. God bless you.

Anyone else? You're saying, Skip, here's my hand, pray for me. I want to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior tonight. God bless you, right on. Both of you in the back too, Lord bless you. Up here in the middle, toward the front, God bless you. Anyone else? Is God speaking to your heart? Don't put it off.

Additional Messages in this Series

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8/25/1991
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Daniel 1
Daniel 1
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9/1/1991
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Daniel 2
Daniel 2
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9/29/1991
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Daniel 4
Daniel 4
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10/6/1991
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Daniel 5
Daniel 5
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10/20/1991
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Daniel 6
Daniel 6
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10/27/1991
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Daniel 7
Daniel 7
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11/3/1991
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Daniel 8
Daniel 8
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11/10/1991
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Daniel 9
Daniel 9
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11/17/1991
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Daniel 10
Daniel 10
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11/24/1991
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Daniel 11-12
Daniel 11-12
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There are 10 additional messages in this series.
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