He That Is Proud

We are working our way through Daniel. Before we do, can I talk about my pride a little bit?

Growing up, I got angry a lot, mostly because of my pride. There were certain things that really got my goat, and then I would erupt. Other things frustrated me, and I would get really quiet, because of my anger.

One of the things was when I was planning on doing something and then someone would come and ask me to do it. In my mind, by that person asking me, what I was going to do was as significant. There was less glory to my account.

Oh, pride.

I still struggle with pride, but in different ways. If you want to know about them, we can talk. Though, I am sure some will come up as examples in a sermon sometime.

Today, we are going to talk about pride. Pride is shown in so many ways: putting ourselves on the throne, wanting everything to revolve around ourselves, caring more about ourselves than others.

It is fundamentally a worship term: instead of worshiping God, we want to worship ourselves and we want other to worship us as well.

As a point of discussion, it is always to easier to point pride out in other people’s lives. We can see when someone is trying to grab worship from God in his life, but we don’t easily see when we are doing that.

Nebuchadnezzer has a problem with pride. And so does every single person in this room.

As we study Daniel 3, we are going to see that God will be glorified, even in the face of worship grabbers. We are going to look at the Puller from God, the Pointer to God, and the Powerful God.

Before we dive in, will you pray with me?

1. The Puller from God

First, in this passage, we see the Puller from God.

Before we read the passage, as a point of background. We just studied Daniel 2 last week and saw how Nebuchadnezzer had a dream about a statue. The head was made of gold, the torso made of silver, the legs made of bronze, and the feet made of iron and clay, showing the succession of different kingdoms, starting with the gold head: Babylon.

That is important to note as we read Daniel 3.

Daniel 3:1–15 NIV

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the nations and peoples of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

The hubris of this man!

But, I shouldn’t point fingers too much, or I might start realizing how much I am like him.

Nebuchadnezzar takes his dream and creates a statue based on it. However, instead of following the dream, he says: I want to create a statue that is entirely made of gold. Why should my kingdom end? Who is this God who thinks that he can be in charge and dictate the future?

So, he makes the statue and demands that people will bow to the representation of his eternal kingdom.

His expectation is that “You shall have no other god but me.”

Immediately, the gauntlet is laid between Nebuchadnezzar and God. Whose god is actually God? Who actually rules history.

The viewpoint of Nebuchadnezzar becomes even more blatant when he hears about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In his mind, they are just 3 of the Jews he had captured. Three that Daniel happened to raise up to positions of leadership through nepotism.

They correctly refuse to bow to the statue. More on why later.

Nebuchadnezzer becomes filled with rage. Remember what I said about my pride and my anger? He becomes furious, threatens the three men with death by fiery furnace if they do not bow, and finishes with the sentence:

“Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

He is convinced that he is more powerful than any god on earth, including the one true God.

Pride. Pulling worship from God to himself.

Again, we cannot point fingers too hard, because we are Nebuchadnezzer. We struggle with pride all the time. We pull worship from God every single day.

As John Calvin notes: The human mind is a “factory of idols.”

We seize everything else to worship over God. Why? Because ultimately we want to worship ourselves. We want to be God.

We have a pet project and we say: who can accomplish this but me?

We worry about something and we say: who can protect this but me?

We have a need and we say: who can provide this but me?

By these and other things, we erect a statue to ourselves and say: worship this! I am god. I accomplish, I protect, I provide.

Well, as we will see later in Daniel:

Proverbs 16:18 NIV

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

2. The Pointer to God

Well, we looked at Nebuchadnezzar, let’s look at the three men who do not grab worship from God put point to the glory of God.

Daniel 3:16–23 NIV

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

They had a choice on that day. Were they going to bow before God’s will or the king’s will? Or even the other magicians who were jealous of them. Were they going to make people happy or worship God?

The choice boiled down to the answer to the question: who was on the throne of their lives?

Let’s think about these men. They grew up in noble families, during a time of national apostasy. As kids, they were used to seeing family members, neighbors, the king, bowing down and worshiping idols. In fact, doing unthinkable things in worship to these idols. Some of these idols, Babylon worshiped, the nation that took them over, apparently because of their superiority in culture and military power.

Many Jewish exiles may have been tempted to worship idols because they would understand Babylon’s political superiority as a reflex of the superior power of their gods.

But, these three men said: no. Instead, in the face of Nebuchadnezzar’s claim that he was stronger than any god out there, the men said:

Daniel 3:17 NIV

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.

They confessed that God was more powerful than Nebuchadnezzer. Even if the result doesn’t turn out like they want it to, as it seems to be happening as they fall through the air into the furnace, they still confess that God is more powerful and they will not worship anyone else.

They will worship God no matter what happens. They will not steal glory from him.

The unstated question to them is the same as Satan’s question about Job:

Job 1:9–11 NIV

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Does he only honor God because of the blessings God gives him?

The men’s answer to Nebuchadnezzar could be embellished:

“God may be trusted to protect us, but our honoring him is not conditional upon his preserving us from every blazing furnace, so that if he should not do so, we are free to abandon him and try some other god. Death is preferable to apostasy. We regard no other god but God, no matter what happens. We obey God, not human beings”

What a statement of faith.

How do we move from being a puller from God to a pointer to God?

Well, the men share three things in their short speech that can be helpful to us:

A. Be Fully Convinced of Our God

They knew who their God was. He was the one who was more powerful than Nebuchadnezzar, who just stated that he was the most powerful being in the universe. So, they were convinced that their God was the most powerful being in the universe. Who is your God? Do you know who He is? Do you know what He is?

B. Be Actively Serving Our God

As they speak to Nebuchadnezzar, they describe God in verse 17 as the God they serve. Not only do they intellectually know God, but they have experienced God by actively serving Him. This isn’t necessarily doing tasks for God, though that comes into play, but following him, declaring that he is your master.

It’s getting of your throne and putting God on it. And continuing to do that as we try to get back on it. This is done by praying every single day to remind ourselves of who God is. This is done by reading the Bible every single day to remind ourselves of who God is. This is done by allowing God to order our schedules, giving him the best part of the week: Sunday morning.

C. Be Vocally Worshiping Our God

As we are convinced of him, as we serve him, we start worshiping him. Not just in the quiet closet of our houses, or around our tables during meals when no other guests are around, but during our conversations, every one of them. During our activities. During the times when we are trying to decide what to do. During our scheduling events. We worship God, praising him for his control, his sovereignty, his power, his provision, his protection, his guidance. We seize every moment to point to him.

Because he is worthy and we are totally not.

3. The Powerful God

Well, a sermon about God being glorified in the face of worship grabbers would not be complete without a discussion of this God.

Let’s read what God does after Nebuchadnezzar throws Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace.

Daniel 3:24–30 NIV

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw 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. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

In short, God radically proves who he is, so that this unbelieving king cannot help but worship God, declaring that no other God can save people as God can.

That’s a great statement! However, the King isn’t a follower of Yahweh yet.

God radically proves who he is through two main things.

First, God doesn’t save Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fire. He could have extinguished the flames. He could have caught them before they touched the flames and floated them out. He could have done so many things.

But, he allowed to be thrown into the fire. He saved them in the fire, not from the fire.

So many times, we declare our faith in God, sometimes even publically, and we expect him to save us from whatever thing we are facing. In fact, we think that his glory would be best shown if he acts in a certain way.

But, our ways are not God’s ways. and our thoughts are not his thoughts. He works for his glory, and sometimes that means we suffer a little bit.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were saved from the fire. But, I wonder, as they were thrown in if they were thinking about friends and family members who were killed by the Babylonians. And then they were saved, and did they wonder why God didn’t save their friends from the Babylonian persecution? What God unable to deliver at those times?

No, it was that God, in his unfathomable wisdom, did not chose to save them. The men had already declared, and I believe that they continued to be convinced: no matter what the result, deliverance or death, they will not give into the evil powers of the world. They will stay faithful to God.

God proves who he is by saving the men, not from the flames, but in the flames.

Second, God saved them by the presence of a fourth who looked like a son of the gods.

He could have saved them without further fanfare, simply having them walk out of the fire without a scratch or burn.

He needed the men in the flames so that he could show something about his character.

There are many people who look at this and say Jesus was there with them in the furnace. That could be. It doesn’t say. Nebuchadnezzar thinks it’s an angel, but we can’t really trust his wisdom.

We can say that this is a reflection of Immanuel, God with us.

“God dwelt with the three friends in the midst of the flames to preserve them from harm. In this sense, the Christian cannot help but see a prefigurement of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to dwell in a chaotic world and who even experienced death, not so that we might escape the experience of death but that we might have victory over it.”

Nebuchadnezzar is being taken on a journey. Last chapter, he saw that Yahweh was the revealer of mysteries, the one who interact with humanity.

This chapter he sees God as the one who is with his people in the chaos and the suffering, unlike any other diety he knows.

In the moment when Nebuchadnezzar tries to rip worship from God, God glorifies himself and compels the king to worship.

This is our incredible God.

Are you pointing to him? or are you pulling from him?