God is with us in the fire.

Our Theme for 2021 is “Redeeming the Time.”

We talk about these days being difficult times and they certainly are challenging.

But it must sound strange to a generation that has survived several wars, a great depression, polio, tuberculosis, not to mention a Holocaust.

Today we go to great lengths to avoid suffering or even inconvenience.

A generation ago, and many other places in the world today, people have the expectation that life is hard, and that sometimes it is also pleasant.

Today many of us have the expectation that life is supposed to be good, and that difficulty is the exception.

Is it wrong to want an easy life?

Let’s take a moment and try to get perspective.

Remember what we have been saying:

God is Providence.

He created the world.

He sustains the world.

He is moving everything toward a conclusion.

God is faithful!

He wants us to be faithful.

But faithfulness can be a challenge when the world is in rebellion.

God is beyond time and seasons.

He knows the end from the beginning.

Nothing is going to happen that God does not know and has already seen.

The kingdoms of this world are falling and the Kingdom of God is rising!

It’s easy to believe God when times are good, but how do we find faith in difficult times?

First of all, suffering is never God’s plan, because God is good.

But God allows suffering and will even use it to accomplish something good.

The goal is not necessarily to avoid suffering, but to move through it with God

Time and Providence will show that God is with you in every situation.

We pick up the story of Daniel again, but this time the focus is on Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. You know them better as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

The image

Last time we had heard from Daniel and his friends, God had both revealed and interpreted the kings dream.

As a result, they were given prominent assignments in Babylon.

Here are four Jewish youths who were impacted by Israel’s revival under King Josiah now serving in the land of their enemies.

They are representing Yahweh, the most high God, in a foreign country.

God trusts us to bear His image.

The Babylonians probably thought that their God had defeated the God of Israel.

Yahweh shows up in these accounts to demonstrate that He is far from defeated.

He is still accomplishing His purpose through His people; they have just taken a bit of a detour.

Daniel and his three friends were Jewish royalty who had been shipped off to Babylon to ensure cooperation between the territories.

They went through their training time which was actually a kind of “reprogramming” but they remained faithful to God and were blessed, even in their place of captivity.

Daniel was in the Kings royal palace and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were regional officials.

The names of the last three actually appear in documents from the time period. One scholar has made the likely identifications:

Hananiah - Shadrach has the title “Chief of the royal merchants.”

Azariah - Abed-nego was “Secretary to the crown-prince.”

Mishael - Meshach has the job “Overseer of slave girls.”

It has been said that the greatest sources of temptation are money, sex and power.

If that is the case, then these three Hebrews are entrusted with some of the most difficult and most delicate jobs in the kingdom by overseeing women, commerce and the heir to the throne.

But their integrity is about to be tested again.

What happens when faithfulness to Yahweh come in direct conflict with faithfulness to their assignments?

God does miracles, but people turn them into idols.

Daniel 3:1–2 ESV

1 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.

So King Nebuchadnezzar is seen here making a statue that looks somewhat like the one he saw in his dream, except this one is gold all the way down.

We are not told what the statue actually looked like, if it was a statue of the king or of the god of Babylon, or if it was anything other than an impressive work of art.

However it seems likely that it was made after the statue he saw in his vision, because that is what we know from the context.

What we are told explicitly is the dimensions and the materials.

It’s about ninety feet high and nine feet wide and finished with solid gold.

When the sun comes up and reflects off the gold, it was probably blinding to behold.

I imagine that’s probably when the music would start playing.

The location: “Dura” literally means a wall or a fortification.

Archeologists have uncovered a large brick platform 16 miles southeast of the ancient city. Perhaps this was where it all happened?

It is interesting to note that even though the statue resembles the dream in some respects; some key details have been changed.

The entire statue is covered in gold, not just a head of gold.

Instead of the unstable mixture of iron and clay at the bottom, we have a brick foundation to provide maximum stability.

And the dimensions are somewhat of an engineering marvel, so you would need a strong framework, perhaps iron or solid stone, to provide the rigidity to go that tall.

And it would need to be integrated into the base, not just setting on top.

In the dream, the statue was made to fall by a large stone striking the base.

But now, instead of the statue bowing; everyone else has to bow to the statue.

Do you see what is happening here?

The story of the kings dream is being revised, retold, and re-interpreted to put King Nebuchadnezzar at the center instead of the Rock- which is Jesus.

The point of the dream was to make the king realize that he is not God, but now they are making an idol out of the statue and worshipping the king as a god.

Did you think that “spinning” a story, controlling the narrative or rewriting history are something new? They were doing it in ancient Babylon!

They were really good at it too. They had a whole multi-media presentation designed to really “Wow” their audience.

Daniel 3:4–6 ESV

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.”

You bear the image of whatever you are impressed with.

Bible scholars largely agree that the purpose of this whole exercise was to test the loyalty of the kings subjects.

Do you get the feeling that King Nebuchadnezzar is compensating for some personal insecurity?

He is going to all this trouble to make a good impression; but just in case you are not impressed, there is also the threat of death!

An idol is an image, it represents the one who made it.

God (Yahweh) does not allow His people to make idols or any other graven image of Him.

Why? Because we are made in His image.

God can only be represented personally.

Throughout the empires of the world, coins were stamped with the image of the ruler so that all trade an commerce would be under the regulation of the empire.

That is why Jesus is famously quoted as saying, “give to Caesar what is Caesar's”

Matthew 22:16–22 ESV

16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Image is very important, because image determines allegiance.

Just as a coin bears the mark of its stamp, you bear the image of whatever you are impressed with.

Our minds and our hearts are impressionable; we can be shaped.

Our choice is to open ourselves to godly influences to be shaped by them.

Give to God what is God’s!

So did Daniel have to bow to the image - not likely!

Daniel has already proven his loyalty to God.

Maybe he was able to exempt himself because of palace business.

The other three also missed it the first time around and it seems they had a special anchor performance just for them followed by a barbecue....

The furnace

A furnace would have been a key structure during the construction of the image and its complex.

Brick kilns are like a large beehive-shaped structure with an opening at the bottom to put fuel in and a small opening at the top to let smoke out.

The same structure could be used to make bricks for the foundation or to smelt gold for overlay.

Now it serves as a deterrent to anyone who would defy the kings command.

Our three friends are getting ready for “trial by fire.”

1 Peter 4:12–13 ESV

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

So what is a “trial by fire”?

Peter may have been alluding to this story from Daniel.

But testing of our faith through suffering is something we all experience.

If Jesus suffered, Peter reasons, we can expect to suffer too.

But we can also expect something glorious to come out of it.

What kinds of “fiery trials” might we experience?

People will betray you.

Daniel 3:8–12 ESV

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.”

When God prospers you someone is going to be jealous.

If it’s all about you; you might be tempted to get defensive.

But if your life is about glorifying God, then you are not focused on what other people think; you are focused on God.

Do you see what our friends are being accused of? They are not paying enough attention to the king.

Someone knew how to play off of the king’s personal insecurities.

If you want to get me in trouble, just make it illegal to mind my own business!

Daniel interpreted the kings dream because the king was paranoid and thought some of his subjects are out to get him.

Now the interpretation of his dream is twisted into bizarre loyalty test where you have to worship the kings image.

Does anyone see the irony of Daniel saving all of their lives just to have them use it as a trap for his friends?

Maybe this isn’t just people? It’s diabolical!

Demons will hate you.

Daniel 3:16–20 ESV

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.” 19 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. 20 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.

What just happened here?

Nebuchadnezzar was just praising the God of Daniel at the end of the last chapter and now he is insane!

Now his face is literally contorting with rage.

I think he is manifesting a demon!

And that is likely the case because hatred is not normal.

Hatred recognizes evil and seeks to destroy it.

Wanting to destroy another person fails to recognize them as human.

The problem is that we hate the person and not the evil.

People who hate are often controlled by the very evil that they hate..

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

King Nebuchadnezzar was punishing the wrong men.

Hananiah (Shadrach, Michael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abed-nego) were among his most loyal subjects; but they would not feed into his selfish pride.

Some of their colleagues saw this and fanned the flame of the kings ego and then directed it against the Jews.

All of this is part of a diabolical plan to use the vanity of man to defeat the will of God.

But can God’s will ever be defeated?

God may not stop bad thing from happening, but one thing is sure...

But God will be with you.

Daniel 3:24–25 ESV

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.”

I know it’s gross but the king was actually watching to see what would happen.

From the language it appears that the three men were hoisted up onto the roof of the kiln and dropped in the top (probably explains why the men who threw them in were killed) It’s hot up there!

They were thrown in fully clothed and clothes are flammable.

The king can see into the furnace.

They are no longer bound.

They are walking around.

There are four of them!

Who is the fourth man?

He appears to be divine.

There are numerous appearances in the Old Testament of The Angel of the Lord which is a manifestation of God Himself.

Jesus is said to have appeared pre-incarnate as the Angel of the Lord.

For sci-fi fans it’s just time travel!

God is able to deliver from suffering, but sometimes He doesn’t.

I don’t know why God allowed these men to be thrown into the fire.

I’m sure it was not a pleasant experience for anyone, (except a very demented king)

But God was in there with them!

Imagine how it must have been.

There had not yet been an incarnation.

They didn’t know about Jesus suffering and dying for our sin.

All they knew was that they are in covenant with God and that God is faithful.

God shows up, but not until they are in the fire.

God is in the fire with them!

The proclamation

Nebuchadnezzar saw all of this and it led him to make several proclamations.

He had already proclaimed that if anyone did not bow to the image they would be thrown into the fire.

The furnace was supposed to be the end of the story; nobody anticipated what happens after the furnace.

You don’t hear another word about the image - it doesn’t matter.

The king made a test for loyalty and he failed his own test .

Daniel 3:26–27 ESV

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.

Come out and come here!

So you are in the fire and God shows up.

Now a voice comes from outside, “Come out and come here!”

That must be how Lazarus felt when Jesus called him out of the grave.

Except if I’m Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego I would be thinking, “I’m probably safer here that out there with the guy who threw me in here.”

Sometimes it is easier to be in the fire with God than to face the people and circumstances that led you to the fire.

I didn’t think I was going to be preaching on forgiveness this morning; but do you think these three guys had some forgiving do do?

Walking out of the fire may take as much faith as going in.

They were thrown into the fire bound, but they have to walk out on their own.

Are you ready to walk out of the fire?

We are so afraid of suffering; but sometimes when you are in it it begins to feel normal.

Some people have been suffering so long they don’t know anything else.

Are you ready to walk out of the fire?

Just remember, God is with you.

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Daniel 3:28 ESV

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.

Remember that I said you were made in God’s image and to glorify Him?

Nebuchadnezzar got to see what true faithfulness looks like.

Most of his servants are serving him either to get what they want or because they are scared of him.

Here are three men who are loyal to their God without any clear benefit.

They trust God without know what is in it for them?

Do you know what it means to serve a purpose greater than yourself?

Have you found anything in life that would be worth losing your life for?

Faith in God is far greater than this life.

If I lose this life serving God, He will have something far better waiting for me.

Mark 8:34–38 ESV

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

OK, so no one is asking you to die for your faith right now, but you can begin by dying to yourself.

Just deal with your pride, your anger and anything else that does not resemble God’s image in you.

Here’s another proclamation and one that you can make too:

Look what God has done for me!

Daniel 4:1–3 ESV

1 King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! 2 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. 3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

When you pass the test, you have a testimony!

You would think that it was Nebuchadnezzar that was the one delivered out of the fire by the way he talks.

The sign was a sign to him.

He was deceived.

He was in pride.

He was in direct opposition to the word given to him by Daniel.

He was in rebellion against God.

What did he do? He confessed.

God, you are right and I am wrong.

My rule is temporary, but yours is eternal.

I win only because you won.

If giving God glory seems like a strange thing to you, then you still have a lot to learn.

You are made in His image.

You will never be all that God has meant for you to be apart from Him.

Serving God means living your life with God, not just for God.

I don’t know what lies ahead.

I’m sure there will be good times and some bad times.

We may go through a season of suffering.

But I also know that God is with us.

Questions for reflection:

Do you have a situation in your life where you are being tested? How does your response in this situation reflect God to those around you? What do you need to realize to be able to give the right impression?

Is there some suffering that you are afraid may come? Do you know that God is able to deliver you? If God doesn’t deliver you from it; are you convinced that He will deliver you through it?

What is the “fiery trial” that you are going through? How is God with you right now? What is God working in you right now that will help you to emerge differently than when you went in? What Praise God that you are still standing!