A WORD FOR TODAY, July 8, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, July 8, 2021
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, ‘For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39, WEB
The question this week is taken from the book of Daniel, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the image made of gold. When Nebuchadnezzar heard that the three young men refused to bow to the image, he asked them, “Is it true...?” The wording is slightly different in the World English Bible, which is the version I use in this devotion. Here is verse 14 complete: “Nebuchadnezzar answered them, ‘Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?’”
Is it on purpose that you don’t serve my god? This is a question we can hear in today’s world. Oh, they won’t call it their god, but they do question why we refuse to embrace their ideology. The world has made so many things sound good, loving, gracious, but they are in reality against God’s Word. Is it on purpose that we reject those ideas? Is it true that we refuse to follow these modern false gods?
Those with children will recognize the Bunny Song from the VeggieTales version of the fiery furnace story with Rack, Shack and Bennie. “The Bunny, the bunny, ooo I love the bunny.”
The story of Daniel began about 605 B.C. The Jewish people had been in the Promised Land for a long time, but they were not always faithful to the God who led them there. The rulers of Judah were idolatrous, immoral and unjust and the people followed their lead. God sent His prophets to warn His people that He would chasten them if they were not obedient. You see, God would rather have His people live in captivity in a pagan land than live like pagans disgracing His name in the Holy Land. At the beginning of Daniel’s story it seems like the gods of the pagans had triumphed over the true God, but we’ll see in Daniel that the God of heaven was never far from His people and that He was always in control.
God used King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to bring His people to their knees. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. He removed the sacred furnishings and vessels from the holy Temple and burned it to the ground. He also took some of the royal family and nobility of Judah to be trained in Babylonian culture, language and literature. He wanted leaders from Judah to be examples for the rest of their people, to guide them into submission to the ways of Babylon. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and understanding, competent to stand in the king’s palace. Ashpenaz was the king’s chief eunuch and was charged with training the boys.
Daniel and his friends were renamed by Nebuchadnezzar: Daniel whose name meant God is my judge was renamed Belteshazzar which means Bel protect his life. Hananiah whose name meant the Lord shows grace was renamed Shadrach which means under the command of Aku. Mishael whose name meant who is like God? was renamed Meshach which means who is as Aku?. Azariah whose name meant the Lord is my help was renamed Abednego which means the servant of Nego. If you didn’t notice, their names were changed from relating to the God of Israel to names that related to the gods of Babylon: Bel, Aku and Nego.
Nebuchadnezzar demanded that the trainees be given the best of everything. The Babylonians thought that rich food and drink, the best in the land, was the best diet to stay strong and healthy, but that food was against God’s law because it had been given in honor of the Babylonian gods. Daniel did not want to disobey his God. By God’s grace, Ashpenaz favored the young Jewish exiles. Daniel humbly asked for permission to eat the diet of his faith, but Ashpenaz was afraid to say yes because he would be blamed if the foreign diet caused Daniel and his friends to get sick or diseased. Daniel asked to be tested for ten days. At the end of ten days eating God’s diet, Daniel and his friends were much healthier than the others at court. They were allowed to continue to eat the food that honored the God of heaven. Daniel and his friends accomplished obedience with negotiation rather than a fight.
Through the training period the boys adapted well to life in the palace and were successful in learning while never succumbing to the ways of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with their learning when he tested them. They were ten times better than his the magicians and enchanters. When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, it was Daniel and his friends who were able to interpret it for the king. At first Nebuchadnezzar believed in their God, but he quickly and repeatedly forgot, returning to his faith in the false gods.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had risen to power in the Babylonian government. The Babylonians who served the king were jealous that the Jewish captives were rising to such heights. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lived as good and faithful Jews in the foreign land, obedient to God in every way. The others knew they could use this against them. One day they convinced Nebuchadnezzar that it would be good for the diverse nation if they had one religious focus. They convinced him that he should be the one that everyone worshipped. The people were used to multiple gods, so they really didn’t care who they bowed to. Nebuchadnezzar built a huge statue of gold and demanded that everyone bow down before it when the music played. Anyone disobeying the command would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Isn’t it interesting that after dreaming of a huge statue, knowing that his kingdom was made of gold, that Nebuchadnezzar would make a golden image of himself for the people to worship? He really did not learn the lesson of the first dream.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down and were reported to the king. In a rage, Nebuchadnezzar had them brought before him and he asked them if it was true. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego truthfully answered that they could not bow down to any god but the Most High God. They did not know if their God would deliver them, but it did not matter. They had to honor Him with obedience. They had faith that their God knew best. They didn’t make excuses. They weren’t frightened by threats. They weren’t impressed by the crowds. They weren’t swayed by superstition. True faith confesses the Lord and obeys Him regardless of the consequences.
The three were thrown into the fiery furnace. It was so hot that some of the men who threw them in died from the heat. Yet, they did not die. A fourth man, a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus Christ, was seen in the furnace with them. The men were released from the furnace; their bodies, hair and clothes showed no sign of the heat. They did not even smell of fire. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by the saving power of their God that he praised God and told the story to all of Babylon confessing His power, the effectiveness of faith in Him, and the remarkable dedication of the three Jews. Nebuchadnezzar made a decree that anyone of any nation or language who spoke against the God of heaven would be cut into pieces. Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego became witnesses to God by their obedience. Nebuchadnezzar promoted them to higher positions in the kingdom. This story encouraged the displaced, exiled and scattered Jews and warned them to remember God’s promises. He is faithful.
When the world asks us if it is on purpose that we refuse to bow to the gods of this world, we can follow the example of Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, trusting that God is in control. Our rejection of the modern ideologies in favor of God’s truth will not sit well with many of our neighbors. We may even be persecuted, threatened, or thrown into the equivalent of a fiery furnace. They ask if we do this on purpose, asking like Nebuchadnezzar that “Who is that god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego did not know whether God would deliver them from death, but they trusted Him even unto death. We do not know what will come of our life in this world, but even if we are rejected because we refuse to bow to the golden images that are so embraced, we know that God will be with us and He will bring us through.
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