Light Amidst the Darkness (Part 1)

The question has been asked, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" This is what we find today in chapter 3 in the book of Daniel.

Daniel is conspicuously absent in this chapter. Some may wonder where he is and why he is not with his three friends. The reality is, looking at the context of the whole book, we see in the last part of chapter 2 that he was actually in the palace doing his job. He would not have been with all of the other leaders all the time.

In the world in which we find ourselves, we are already reading and seeing and hearing about many who are being found guilty and imprisoned because they have chosen to live their lives in obedience to Jesus and his Word. This is not being done on an equal scale to all who follow any other form of religion. In fact, a Muslim has just been given a sizable financial award because he was fired for not delivering beer on his truck route. He refused to deliver it because it conflicted with his Muslim beliefs. Those who are promoting an alternative lifestyle, in contradiction to the way which God created them, are involved in promoting sexual activity among elementary children, and are being cheered for this; formerly a punishable offense. Yet, a baker, a photographer, pastors, and multiple others, living in obedience to Jesus Christ, are being sued and/or imprisoned.

My friends, this is nothing new, as we will see as we look into chapter 3. You will notice that amongst all of the false gods which were being followed, none of those people were imprisoned. Only those who were following God and refused to compromise against God were being attacked.

What do I hope we shall glean from this chapter in the next couple of weeks? Basically, I hope we will take this truth with us—Live as children of light even in the midst of a dark world.

Again, I will not be reading the whole chapter out loud, so I invite you to please turn to Daniel chapter 3 in your Bibles and follow along as we work through this passage. Our goal for today is the first 18 verses.

The Crisis - 3:1-7

Many scholars suggest that between chapters 2 and 3, approximately 20 years had passed. Some suggest that it was soon after the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, as the vision would still be fresh on his mind and he wanted to establish himself. We also recall from the last part of chapter 2, it seemed that King Nebuchadnezzar understood intellectually who God truly was. Yet, we will see today, that knowing information factually, does not guarantee that it will make a difference in a person's life. Sadly, we see in these verses, that the King himself had ordered that an image of gold be erected in his honor. This was going to be an absolute monstrosity. The height would be approximately 90 feet high. That would be equal to a nine story building. Now if you recall the vision and dream which was described in chapter 2, you will remember that this King's part only consisted of the head being gold. Sadly, Nebuchadnezzar tries to raise himself up in the eyes of everyone else by having the whole statute covered in gold.

This almost seems like a test of loyalty amongst the leadership towards the king. As we read the words which the herald proclaimed, it seems obvious that this was a major event. Musically, it was going to be an incredibly noisy event. With all of the instruments noted, plus the phrase “all kinds of music," in verse 7, it was as if there was a full fledged orchestra.

It is important to understand that the Aramaic word for worship, refers to worshiping deity, not just a person. This would obviously separate those who were okay with tolerance for anything, from those who were committed wholeheartedly to Jehovah God. This is such a public event that it will be obvious to all in attendance as to who is supportive of the King and who is not. In fact, the herald makes it known that this bowing down is an act of worship. And since it is an act of bowing down before a golden image in the likeness of the king, or one of the false gods he admired, it means worshiping something or someone other than the one true God. Further, the herald makes it quite clear in verse 6, that whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. This was not just for the Chaldeans, it was for every one of every language. One wonders if this fire was the same fire that had been used to melt down the gold to cover the statue. Many scholars suggest that this furnace could reach 1800°F. So for those in attendance, they probably would have seen this furnace with flames and smoke billowing out of it.

In verse 7, it seemed that once the music started, the whole group fell down and worshiped just as they have been told to do. It seemed the world was very dark indeed and was set against all that is of God. Yet, we are going to find out that not everyone fell down and worshiped.

The Accusation - 3:8-12

As we look at this section, it appears that there were some very eager officials who wanted to get rid of those who worshiped God only. It would have been difficult for the King to be able to pinpoint who these individuals were in this vast group of leaders. And, from a human perspective, we can understand why the Babylonian officials may have been jealous. After all, they were not in the top leadership positions. Instead, these Hebrew men were in charge over them. The word for "brought charges against" or "denounced" as found in the NIV, carries the phrase "ate the pieces of." It is a very hostile word. The closest we can come to it in our language, is the phrase "Chewed them out." Even that does not carry the intensity of the word.

These individuals went through the normal greeting process with the king. Then they laid the background for why they were bringing the charges. Then continued with their accusatory report. We should not overlook the fact that these individuals were very much anti-Jewish. The reason for their jealousy was most likely because they chose to worship the one true God. That made them completely different from everybody else.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? I am not speaking about the story itself. I am speaking about what is happening in our world today. Anti-Jewish sentiment continues and raises its ugly head time and time again. There was just this past week a law school graduation from New York who is calling for revolution to shut down Jews and anything which is conservative or follows biblical principles. It no longer stops there. Now the antagonism and hatred is directed at those who follow Jesus Christ. Though the Christian lives in this world and works in this world and does so to be a blessing to all around them, if it is obvious a person is a true follower of Jesus Christ and refuses to worship at the idol of humanism or tolerance for political correctness, there is a public denouncement and an overt attempt to silence or rid the world of the true followers of Jesus Christ. This is all part of Satan's plan. We know this because we were warned of this by Jesus himself.

At this point, the three men are named specifically. Their crime is listed: 1-they have disregarded the king; 2-they do not serve the king's gods; and 3-they refused to worship the golden image. You and I understood that this was because they needed to live as children of light even in the midst of a dark world.

You recall the penalty for refusing to worship the golden image was that of death in a fiery furnace. Let's go on and see what happens next.

The Confrontation - 3:13-18

As we read verse 13, I find myself visualizing the picture of Yosemite Sam as his head turns red while steam and smoke come out of his ears. Needless to say, as one translation states, Nebuchadnezzar was furious with rage. So he gave orders for them to be brought before him.

The king asked the three of them if the report which he had received could actually be true. In verse 15, Nebuchadnezzar already goes back on what had been said earlier. He had stated that the punishment would be immediate. Yet, here he is giving them another chance to do as they were told. Why would he do such a thing? Is it possible that he actually liked them and valued what they brought to his kingdom? So, he lets them know that he will have the musicians play once again so they would have the opportunity to bow down and worship the image. If they would just do that, everything would be just fine. However, if they did not worship as they were told, punishment would be immediate. To make his point, he almost taunts them by suggesting that there is no God, not even their God, who could rescue them from his punishment.

Christian, do you understand that this is happening today? We are being told that if we will simply promote and condone evil, everything will be just fine. However, if we do not promote and condone evil, then the world concludes that we must be hateful and against the rest of the world. And as a result, there will have to be punishment. It might entail lawsuits which will bankrupt families. It might mean going to jail, even though one was following the law. It might mean being labeled as bigots, as haters, even accusing us of going against the Bible, though that is completely untrue. It may even involve us being imprisoned for simply reading passages from the Bible which are condemning to the conscience of those who practice evil. It may mean getting fired for praying with the team if you're the coach. Yet, my friends, we are to live as children of light even in the midst of a dark world.

One has to love the way these three followers of God responded. There was no need for the orchestra. There was no need to give an answer to the king. They responded firmly that they would not bow to this idol. They responded by showing their absolute faith in their God. They knew that He indeed was able to deliver them from the furnace of blazing fire. They knew that Jehovah was more powerful than the most powerful man on earth. And the reality was, even if the one true God, Jehovah, chose not to physically rescue them at this point in time, they would not change their minds.

I appreciate Stephen Miller's comment on this in his commentary. He states, "Although no doubt existed in the minds of Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego about the ability of their God to deliver them, they humbly accepted the fact that God does not always choose to intervene miraculously in human circumstances, even on behalf of his servants.” Even in the early church, Jerome states: “Thereby they indicate that it will not be a matter of God's inability but rather of his sovereign will if they do perish.”

Brothers and sisters, do you understand how this applies to our lives today? We often wonder why God does not always show the reality that He is all powerful. The biblical truth is that God is able to rescue the Christian from problems and trials. However, does God do this always? The answer is obviously a resounding no. Romans 5 reminds us that God sometimes allows difficult times to come into the lives of his children to cause us to become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The reality is we may not always understand why terrible things happen to us when we are living our lives for Jesus. But just as Job experienced, we can always trust him even when we don't understand him. Job 13:15 is a wonderful reminder to us: "Though he slay me, Yet will I hope in him." We are promised that God will always be with us in all situations. Jesus told his followers in Matthew 10:28:"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

Understand that there are those that would suggest that we are to obey the government because of what Paul writes in Romans 13. However, throughout the entirety of the Bible, we see that we do not blindly obey the government; especially when it runs in contradiction to God's ways. In fact, Acts 5:29 and 4:19 very clearly tell us that if obeying the government causes us to disobey God, then we are to disobey the government. Obedience to God is always the right thing to do every time.

These three men who chose to follow God regardless of the costs. They understood the truth that they needed to live as children of light even in the midst of a dark world.

With boldness like this, with their track record of being upright men of integrity serving the king with all loyalty, surely Nebuchadnezzar would give them a pass. Doesn't that seem like the right thing to do? Isn't that what we would hope for or expect in our own lives?

Come back next Sunday and see what happens.