No Compromise

Reflections

You know when I was growing up in my family, some of my fondest memories were of when my Dad or Mom would read a Bible story to us (it was Jack and I by the time that I can remember) on Sabbath evening or before bedtime. I got to thinking back on how much those stories made impressions on my young mind and how much those stories influenced how I began to understand the Bible.

I would like to look at one of those stories from my youth but from a more adult perspective. They still capture my imagination even though I’m newly 62 and they give fresh insight to the time that we’re living in.

Prayer

The Story

About the year 605 BC King Jehoiakim of Judah had gotten himself in a peck of trouble. He was a vassal the Egyptian king of the time. Egypt thought that they could take on Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar had soundly defeated them at Carchemish in north-central Syria. Jehoiakim was forced to be his vassal for about 3 years. Even though he was warned by Jeremiah and several other prophets that it was a bad idea, he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and was captured and died before he was taken to Babylon. 2 Judean kings later Jerusalem was destroyed.

During the year 605 when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem the first time, he took items from the temple and a group of hostages to Babylon as well. You might remember that among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. It was pretty much an accepted custom of the time to acquire princes and nobility of the conquered nation to indoctrinate and influence them in the ways of the nation that they had become a part of to get them to forget their old ways and it usually worked. Ashpenaz was instructed by the king to give them new names.

Daniel 1:7 NKJV

7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

Something I found really interesting was the new names meant compared to the old names.

Daniel, whose name means 'God is my judge', was given the name Belteshazzar, meaning 'Bel, protect his life'. Bel, or Marduk, was the chief god of the Babylonians. Hananiah, which means 'the Lord shows grace', was renamed Shadrach, meaning 'under the command of Aku', the moon god. Mishael, meaning 'who is like God?' was given the name Meshach, meaning 'who is like Aku?' Azariah, which means 'the Lord helps', was renamed Abednego, meaning 'servant of Nego' another name for Nabu, the god of learning and writing. Each was given to try and remove their thoughts and ideologies about God. There were trying to reprogram them both mentally and spiritually. In those days names were given to shape your identity. It was hoped that by doing this they would take on the culture of Babylon and conform to their ways and to transfer their allegiance from God to the god’s of Babylon.

Excellence in Adversity

Did the brain washing work? If you remember, it did not. Because of their temperance in all things…

Daniel 1:17–20 NLT

17 God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams. 18 When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. 20 Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

Coming from a Israelite background you can imagine how distasteful their training must have been to them, do you supposed that they saw God's leading in all this. They must have talked and prayed together about it a great deal. They must have believed that God had a purpose, and were prepared to trust Him. In the end, they finished up as three of Nebuchadnezzar's most sought-after advisors. Along with Daniel, they were God's men in Babylon, and would go on to have a great impact on Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom.

How do we react when we find ourselves in situations we would rather not be in? Do we still do our best and seek to honor God in them, knowing that God is working out His purposes in our lives, even though we may not see how? Do we see ourselves as God's men or women in such situations, and look to influence situations for the better? Paul tells us that in whatever situation we find ourselves we are "Christ's ambassadors' (2 Cor. 5:20),

2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT

20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

We should act just like this, just as Daniel and his friends did.

The way that society is nowadays in much of the western world we can feel like we are living in a foreign culture. The prevailing attitudes that bombard us in the media, the gods of materialism and pleasure that are worshipped everywhere, and all the other things that go on are as distasteful to us as the Babylonian culture was to Daniel and his friends. The pressure to conform is enormous particularly for our young people.

How much we all need God's strength and courage to stand up and be counted, and to seek to impact our society and influence what is happening! How we need to pray, not only for ourselves, but also for God’s people in those countries of the world where the persecution of Christians is rife, that ours and there faith may not fail, and that we may truly be ambassadors for Christ.

Bow or Burn

I’m pretty you sure you remember what happened next in the story.

Nebuchadnezzar was going to have worship for the gods of Babylon and it would show his authority over every quadrant of his empire. He was going to do it in the grandest most magnificent way that he could dream up.

The Edifice of Gold

We don’t know what exactly that it looked like but we do know that it was 60 cubits or 90 feet by 6 cubits wide or 9 feet wide.

It was huge. It may have looked like that or like this

Or it may have the more traditional Adventist that looks similar to this. I tried to find something that I could compare it too.

I found this. It’s called the Our Lady of the Rockies. This is 90 feet tall and 48 feet wide. If you have ever been to Union College, their clock tower is 100 foot tall. On the plain of Dura you could have seen this thing for miles.

So transfer those thought to this image and try and get a feel for way Nebuchadnezzar’s nobles an princes where so awed and would do anything that he wanted them to do. the place must have been packed. Anybody that was anybody was there. They were standing in front of this colossal statue and the kings herald gets up to speak.

Daniel 3:4–6 (NET)

4 ... “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given:5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected. 6 Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!”

Not surprisingly everyone was flat on their face as soon as they could get there right? If you wanted to preserve your life it was pretty obvious that that was what you were supposed to do! As far as you could see there were people on there faces.

Motives

Wait, out there just off to the left… there is someone still standing. No not just one someone, 3 someones. The Bible tells us that there were several astute advisors to the King quickly noticed who these 3 someones were. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, those upstart Israelite that King Nebuchadnezzar has placed in high positions. He always preferred their counsel when important matters were decided. Here was the perfect time to knock them off that pedestal.

Daniel 3:9–12 NLT

9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! 10 You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments. 11 That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Have you ever seen people we associate with act out of jealousy or prejudice towards people? Are these emotions dressed as indignation perhaps or some other pretext to hide their true motives? We are warned by Paul to get rid of such emotions as jealousy and hatred which have no place int he kingdom of God and sooner or later these attitudes will be exposed. If you want to look more closely into Paul’s thoughts on this, look at Gal 5:18-21 and 1 Cor 4:5.

Obedience

Nebuchadnezzar who was never a man noted for his moderation in anything, went ballistic. He demanded that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego appear before at once if not sooner. How dare these Hebrew non-conformist undermine his authority. This disobedience could not be tolerated - it was a direct affront to his absolute power.

Now let's step back from the story just a second. This whole story line developed over a period of months if not a year or more. So you have to imagine that the 3 friend of Daniel knew what they were going to be up against. Where Daniel was during this time we’re not told, but you have to surmise that there must have much discussion between them about how these 3 would respond when the test would come before them. Perhaps they rehearsed many of the arguments that we all do when we are tempted to make compromises in our lifestyle, such as, it's only a small thing, so it doesn't really matter; we'll just pretend to go along with it, but we won't mean it deep down; God understands the pressure we're under, so He won't mind; God is merciful He forgive for doing it; everybody else is doing it and we don't want to appear strange.

These may sound plausible, but they represent flawed reasoning. When we compromise our faith and its principles, are we not in fact disobeying God (1 Pet. 1:14)? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew this to be true. To obey the king meant to disobey God: they would be breaking the second commandment (Exod. 20:3)(thou shall have no other god’s before Me). Compromise was never a possibility for them, even though they knew they would inevitably be caught and burned alive. For Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, obedience to God more important than their own lives. Now there's a challenge for each one of us!

The problem with compromise is, where does it stop? Compromise is like a cancer that starts small, but then eats its way through the whole of our lifestyle, and destroys our credibility and witness as Christ's ambassadors. No wonder Paul exhorts us: 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind' (Rom 12 2). Is our allegiance to God, or to the world?

Faith at the Furnace

The trio stood before the King. He must have at a little bit of compassion for them because he questioned there sincerity in disobeying his command. He gave them a second chance to bow at his command and prove their loyalty, otherwise he would order their immediate demise. His arrogance show’d as he said And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” He just couldn’t help it he had to say it.

Can you imagine the immense pressure they must have felt to make that little compromise and avoid the flames. Just one little action and the whole bad scene would disappear.

But they didn't. They had made their choice for God. As they stood there before Nebuchadnezzar, they made this amazing statement of faith in vs 17:

Daniel 3:16–18 (NLT)

16 ... “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Even when faced with the flames of the furnace, they held fast to their faith and trust in God.

How do we fare when our faith is severely tested? It's not easy to stand in such situations, but God will give us the grace, strength and courage to do so, if we hold on to Him (Isa. 41:13).

Isaiah 41:13 NKJV

13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

When we pray, do we show that kind of faith, believing that the God we serve is able to do absolutely anything; that nothing is impossible for Him to do (Luke 1:37)?

Let’s look again at the last of their statement. “King our God will rescue us from you power, but even if he doesn’t let be clear, we will not worship your God’s!” Their love and obedience to God did not depend on whether or not He answered their prayers, or did something miraculous for them. They loved and obeyed Him simply because He was worthy. Do we love God in the same unconditional and selfless way? Do we obey God because we love Him, and not because of what He do for us in return? What does our love for God depend on?

I think that there is a very important lesson for us to learn here: we must be prepared for the fact that God may not bring us out of the trial that we are going through. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had faced up to that possibility, and had come to terms with it, and so must we. They did not allow it to their love, obedience and determination not to give in. Can we, will we?

The Furnace

We all know what happened next.

Nebuchadnezzar was absolutely furious now. He had been challenged. How dare they talk to him this way. The furnace by his command became 7 times hotter than it already was. The strongest of guards tied the trio up and marched them to opening of the raging inferno, threw the young men in and succeeded in destroying themselves in the process.

Nebuchadnezzar was obviously watching proceedings from a discreet distance. because no sooner had he seen Shadrach Meshach and Abednego falling through the flames into the furnace than he was on his feet, gasping in amazement.

The Fourth

'Weren't there Three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?' he cried out in disbelief and almost fear. 'Certainly, O king,' came the reply from the men around him, somewhat bewildered. Nebuchadnezzar's face must have been an absolute picture as he no doubt pointed towards the furnace, his arm shaking in fear, and his voice shrieking and trembling and gasping in disbelief as he said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like the Son of God (v. 25).

When they emerged from the furnace at Nebuchadnezzar's request (it was not a demand anymore), it was observed by all that 'the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them' (v. 27). Nebuchadnezzar was suitably impressed. He publicly praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and rewarded the three of them by promoting them to even higher offices (vv. 28-30).

What a wonderful picture this portrays of the truth that, whatever trials we go through in life, we are never alone. God is always right there with us in our trials, walking with us, talking with us, comforting us, encouraging us. Was this fourth man Jesus Himself? Was he an angel of the Lord? Whoever it was, God was present with them in that fiery furnace.

God is here for us in both the good times and the bad times.