Fiery Furnace
Exile • Sermon • Submitted
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He sees. Isaiah 18 reminds us He sees. His stillness is not acquiescence. His silence is not consent. We, similar to how the psalmist saw it, think the apparent successes of the wicked are certain. But the great avenger bides His time, stands at the perfect moment and delivers disaster on the accuser who comes against His children. Can we thank Him for that?
Remember the bell we will ring while in this study? We are in exile, not a native of where you live. A sojourner, a foreigner, created for an existence without sin. Our reaction to this truth will be grounded in
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
1-8 Recap Statue/Idol of gold. 90ft tall, base included. How could it not be based on his dream? To express his own greatness and love of self, when the music played, everybody bowed. It was make known, anyone not bowing would be thrown in the smelting furnace. “Worship me or die!”
Narcissism is an ugly part of the human condition.
How careful we must be when flattery falls on our ears. They say flattery is like perfume, the idea is to smell it not swallow it. We don't have to remember back very far to hear the words of Daniel in the ears of Neb: You, o king, are the head of gold. Not said as flattery, but it looks like they were taken that way.
It places us on the throne of our own lives. We were never meant to be our own God. We are created beings, designed for fellowship with our creator - not to become Him.
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Jealousy is an ugly part of the human condition.
And it feeds my self-centeredness. We are often quick to move from happy admiration for someone else’s achievements to wishing they didn't and we did.
Jealousy in the astrologers: these foreigners you promoted are thumbing their noses at you. As easliy a jab at Neb’s judgement for promoting them as it was being salty for being passed over.
Zoom out: if it belongs to God the enemy wants to destroy it. Esther. Because they were Jews.
Jealousy in Neb: no god can do what I do.
Let’s pay careful attention to the length God was willing to go to reach this pagan king. He gives Daniel the dream and interpretation ‘for the king’. Impressed but not convinced. Proof: What god is there who can rescue you from my hand? The Lord did not cut off grace and long-suffering in that moment. He was patient, still reaching out to Neb.
It truly is God who sets up kings and kingdoms.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
Rage, in all its forms, is an ugly part of the human condition.
When things don't go our way...
His face had been of grace and compassion toward the 3.
Dont be afraid of the looks on their faces. Jeremiah 1:8, Ezekiel 2:6, Isaiah 55:13
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
Deliverance from sin, and its effects, consequences, etc is an offer for the human condition.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.
How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion endures from generation to generation.
Repentance is a beautiful offer for the human condition.