At the Corner of Broadway and Babylon - 4

At the Corner of Broadway and Babylon – 4

Daniel 3:1-30

Introduction

An article from the magazine Fast Company began with the following paragraph:

Change or Die. What if you were given that choice? What if a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think and act? If you didn’t, your time would end soon—a lot sooner than it had to. Could you change when change really mattered? When it mattered most?

According to the article, the odds are nine to one that you will not change—even in the face of certain death. The author based that statistic on a well-known study by Dr. Edward Miller, the dean of the medical school and CEO of the hospital at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Miller studied patients whose heart disease was so severe that they had to undergo bypass surgery, a traumatic and expensive procedure. Dr. Miller writes, “If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, 90 percent of them have not changed their lifestyle. And that's been studied over and over and over again. And so we're missing some link in there. Even though they know they have a very bad disease and they know they should change their lifestyle, for whatever reason, they can't.”

What motivates you to change? For some, it may be a deep desire for something you want. For others, it may be a strong fear of something you don’t want at all. Either way, something has to push toward doing things differently than how you’ve been doing them in the past.

Maybe you had some sort of life-changing event: loss of a loved one, end of a relationship, major health concern…and you vowed to change. Or maybe the opposite side of things, you experienced a good life-changing event: got a promotion, found the love of your life, something like that…and you knew things would never be the same. But how much really changed? How much did you really change? Unfortunately, the pain or the pleasure that initially prompted us to change, fades over time. And most return to life as usual.

TS – that is what has happened to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The king experienced a traumatic, life-changing event in chapter 2. He has this out-of-this-world dream of the kingdoms to come, and the eternal Kingdom of God that will supersede and outrank them all. He is tremendously frightened by it all. His sorcerers and enchanters can’t help him. But Daniel, and Daniel’s God can. By God’s revelation, Daniel tells the king the dream and its interpretation. He is so overjoyed at it, listen to what he says to Daniel:

Daniel 2:47 - 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”

He sees that the God of Israel is supreme over all the false gods of Babylon. You’d think this would be a life-changing moment for him. How could he ever go back to his evil ways? How could he continue in his egomaniacal leadership style? Surely now life is going to be different for him now that he has gotten a glimpse of the one, true God. Let’s see how the king’s life changes as a result:

Daniel 3:1-7 - King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Well…I guess the king really didn’t learn any lesson here. Nothing in his life changed. In fact, it would seem that his life-changing event in chapter 2 made him worse and his ego even bigger. Where does this come from? Well, the image he saw in chapter 2 of the coming kingdoms contained a head of gold. That kingdom represented Babylon. If Nebuchadnezzar is the golden head, then why not have the whole thing be gold? He simply ignores what God told him about the other kingdoms who will rule after him, he proceeds as if his golden, splendor-filled kingdom will rule forever. He forgets that it is God’s kingdom, not his, that will be eternal.

Let’s walk through this incredible story for the next few minutes and watch what God does with all this. This golden image, which is a word that implies a human appearance, is 90’ tall and 9’ wide. So, in response to what Nebuchadnezzar learned about God in chapter 2, he immediately erects a 90’ golden statue, likely of himself. And demands that the entire empire worship it. And if you refuse, off you go into the furnace. I don’t think he learned the lesson.

The Babylonian Empire was comprised of numerous nations and people groups that had been conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. How do you unite all those various cultures? If you can unite them, then your kingdom will reign for a long time. Nebuchadnezzar thinks it best to unite all these people under one key figure…the worship of Nebuchadnezzar himself. And the people go along with it. Of course they did…the king had already conquered them. Add to that the clear threat on their lives…everyone bows when they hear the music. Well, almost everyone.

Daniel 3:8-12 - 8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 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. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 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.”

The Chaldeans tattle on these three men. We’ve met the Chaldeans before. They were the enchanters and sorcerers in chapter 2 who couldn’t tell the king the dream or its interpretation. But because Daniel could, Daniel and his friends were promoted. This is jealous payback. Notice the statement in verse 12… “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon…” So, these failed enchanters are quite petty. They are jealous of the men who got the promotion they thought they deserved. Now is a great opportunity to take them down. And it worked.

Nebuchadnezzar is furious and brings in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He confronts them with their blatant disregard for his command, gives them one more chance to bow in worship. Notice the end of verse 15… “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?” That is quite a question, one that hints to the point of the story. One that he will get an answer to in just a couple minutes.

Put yourself in the shoes of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for a minute. They are exiles, thousands of miles from home. They have been conquered by this king. He owns them. And now this king makes a clear and simple demand, with clear and simple consequences. You worship or you die. What would you do? I’m sure the excuses and justifications would be flying into our minds.

- I will fall down, giving the appearance of worship, but won’t actually worship.

- I’ll worship it this one time but won’t become an idol-worshiper. I’ll ask God to forgive me.

- The king has absolute power. We must obey him. God will understand.

- The king appointed us to our high position of influence and power over Babylon. We owe this to him.

- This is a foreign land. God will excuse us for following the customs of the culture.

- Our ancestors set up idols in God’s temple…this isn’t half as bad as that.

- I’m not hurting anybody.

- If I get myself killed and they replace me with some pagan, that won’t help our people in exile.

See how this works? See how easy it is to compromise? Especially when your life or your job is at stake? I have shaken hands with pastors in India who refused to sign a piece of paper denouncing their faith in Christ. Who had their wives raped in front of them. Who had their children beat in front of them. Who had their homes and churches burned down. All because they refused the governmental order to sign the paper. And I must admit, there was a part of me, inside, that thought…just sign the paper. You don’t have to mean it. Your family, your church, your Lord…they will all understand. All this pain and difficulty goes away as soon as you sign that paper. But they knew something I didn’t know then…once you compromise, you forfeit the moral high ground. You dishonor the Lord. You remove the chance for God to intervene. You remove the opportunity to ever again declare that I will be faithful no matter the consequence, because the Lord has been faithful to me.

Daniel 3:16-18 - 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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.”

That’s the right answer. God can deliver us. God can rescue. But even if he doesn’t, I will not bow. I will honor the one, true God. We are told 8x in this chapter that this image is what “Nebuchadnezzar set up.” It’s fake. It’s false. It’s manmade. It’s not worthy of worship. And these men are ready and willing to offer their lives in the name of faithfulness to the Lord.

As you can imagine, Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t like their response. He has the furnace heated to 7x its normal temperature. How does one heat fire to be 7x hotter than fire? This is a literary, euphemistic way of saying that this is as hot as it could go. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are bound and thrown into the furnace. The fire is so hot that the soldiers who threw them in were killed by the heat. Game over. They denied the king and paid with their life. But by staying faithful, they gave God the chance to intervene:

Daniel 3:24-25 - 24 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.” 25 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.”

Four men are walking around…and the fourth looks supernatural. “Son of the gods” is just a way of saying that he isn’t human. The king will refer to this fourth man as an angel later in v. 28. This is yet another life-changing encounter with God in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. I wonder if this one will produce some lasting change.

Daniel 3:26-30 - 26 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. 27 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.28 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.29 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.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

What an incredible miracle! They don’t even smell like smoke. The only thing the fire burned was the ropes that bound them. Nebuchadnezzar finally got an answer to the question he asked in verse 15…who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands? The answer is clear in verse 28…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.

What a story! What’s the takeaway? Is the lesson for us that we should be courageous like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Refusing to bow the knee to any false idol regardless of consequence? Certainly, that is A takeaway from this story. These men set a great example for us to follow. But is that all? Is that why Daniel included this account in this book? Remember, a text can never mean what it never meant. The entire point of the account is only found in what Daniel wanted to communicate by including it.

Picture Daniel…he is now an old man of about 85 years old. He’s been in Babylon for 70 of those 85 years. And now he sits down to write about all the things that happened during their exile. We know he wrote this at the end of his life because some of the words he uses in chapter 3 are of Persian origin. The Persians take over Babylon at the end of Daniel’s life and career.

Daniel is a prophet of God. He speaks on God’s behalf to the nation as a whole. What did Daniel want to communicate to Israel with this story? What lesson did they need to hear after their exile? By this point, all the Israelites are headed back to Jerusalem, under the order of Cyrus, king of Persia. They had been in exile for 70 years because of their unfaithfulness to the Lord. And how tragic it would be to have endured all that and then miss the point they needed to learn.

Daniel’s lesson for us isn’t...be like these men. It goes far beyond that. Here is the lesson to learn, the lesson they needed to hear…one we’ve already seen in chapter 1, and one we will see again in chapter 6…God protects those who are faithful to him. We saw it with Daniel’s faithfulness in his resolve not to defile himself with the king’s food in chapter 1. We will see it again in a lion’s den in chapter 6. And we see it in clarity here…Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have an opportunity to compromise, to bail on their commitment to the Lord. But they don’t. They stand strong in their defiance of the king and in their devotion to the Lord. God protects those who are faithful to him.

So, when you are tempted to be unfaithful to the Lord:

- In your home, in how you treat your spouse and kids, in your attitude, in what you do with your free time…

- In your job, as you are tempted to cut corners, to take credit when it’s not yours to take, or to pass blame when it’s all on you…

- In your thinking about what it important in the world, and how God views things that happen, and you feel the need to go with the flow to fit in better…

- In what you daydream about, how you handle your money, what you look at on your phone or computer…

When you are tempted to be unfaithful the Lord, know that God protects those who are faithful to him. He makes no such promise to those who are unfaithful. It was their unfaithfulness that landed them in exile in Babylon to begin with. God wants his people to be faithful and promises to protect those who are.

Isaiah 43:1-3a - But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

God protects those who are faithful to him. And even if he doesn’t…he is still worth your faithfulness. God isn’t obligated to save your job, that relationship, or even your life. He might. He can. These three men have the right attitude…God can rescue, but even if he doesn’t, we still won’t bow. Be faithful, and God will protect. But even if he doesn’t, even if he allows you to lose your job, lose that relationship, lose even your life…he is still worth your faithfulness.

Why? Because God isn’t just the one who shows up in the flames to protect. God is the one who shows up in the flesh to save. Your job, your relationship, even your life pale in comparison to your eternal soul. In the Son of God, he has saved you for all eternity. So, no matter what happens in this life, you are guaranteed life in the next.

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