seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezekiel 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide,[a] and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 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. 3 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.
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: 5 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. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
7 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.
8 At this time some astrologers[b] came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! 10 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, 11 and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 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.”
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 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? 15 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?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 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.”
19 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 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 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, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 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.”
25 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.”
26 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, 27 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.
28 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. 29 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.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
a. Daniel 3:1 That is, about 90 feet high and 9 feet wide or about 27 meters high and 2.7 meters wide
b. Daniel 3:8 Or Chaldeans
c. Daniel 3:17 Or If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and
I love this story. God kept telling them not to trust in chariots and horses..... God keeps telling them not to be afraid of anything stupid humans can dream up. I wonder.... was Neb so excited that he could finally get some sleep.... that he decided to make a statue of his own, like the one he saw in the dream?
This is from the easy English site.
The king would punish anyone who did not give honour to the image. They would be guilty of not being loyal to the king or his gods. The punishment was an awful death. The king’s servants would throw the guilty people into a very hot fire.
There were three men who did not obey the king’s command. They were loyal to the king. But they refused to give honour to the image, because they gave honour to the real God. They knew that God’s people must not give honour to images or other gods. (See Exodus 20:1-5.) These men were Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
He was the most powerful man in the world. He thought that he could do anything. He even thought that no god could rescue anyone from the fire. He was wrong. He forgot about Daniel’s God (Daniel 2:47).
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not forget the real God. God could rescue them if he wanted to. And they knew that he could. They would still give honour to the real God even if he did not rescue them. They would never give honour to the image. They knew that they were doing the right thing.
As Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire, he got a surprise. He saw the three men in the fire. The fire had not killed them. But he also saw someone else. He could not believe what he saw. He asked his officials if they had put three men in the fire. Of course, there were three men. He knew that. But now he saw four men. Also, he saw that the fire had not hurt the men. The fire had burned the ropes that had tied them. It had not burned them or their clothes.
God had come to rescue his servants. They did not avoid the fire, but God walked in the fire with them. And the fire did not kill them.
This is from Bible.org.This day’s events had not turned out the way the king had planned. He intended to turn the nation to worship his idol. That failed. He planned to subordinate all worship to this “god.” That failed, too. All of the energy and expense to produce worship of a false god was to no avail, and the king fell to his knees before the God of Israel.
His question, asked only moments before, “What god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” is now answered by the king who asked it. Nebuchadnezzar blessed the God of these three Hebrews, as the God who had delivered them from death. He praised them for their faithfulness in obeying their God, even unto death. Significantly, the king praised these men for their exclusive (monotheistic) worship of their God. Unlike the rest, they were not willing to serve any other god in addition to the one God they worshipped and served.
The king’s decree goes beyond praise. It declares punishment for any who interfere with the free worship of the Jews. Nebuchadnezzar tried to interfere with the religion of the Jews. Their God had intervened and delivered them from the king’s wrath. Now the king seeks to insure this will not happen again. Anyone, the king declared, who so much as speaks against the worship of these men will be torn limb from limb and their property confiscated. All this because no other God had shown himself able to deliver as their God had done.
The commentaries through the years have struggled to figure out who the fourth man was. Some say it was Christ..... [Easy English is one of those] and some have claimed the fourth man to be God Himself..... I see Him more as a delegator than a participant.... some say it was Moses..... but Moses was one of the humans that died.... and his bones were buried. Then there are some who say it was Elijah..... after all God did raise him up.... so he didn't die....so God could have also put him in the furnace to help the three young castrates.
Personally.... I go with the Elijah story..... but I'm just an old woman with an online Bible and some online commentary. I wasn't there [even tho I am quite old now]..... so I can't even speculate really.
Now.... in the world today.... it is becoming increasingly ugly to be a Christian. It's more than closing a store on Sunday or refusing to bake a cake or demanding that everyone dress for the pew...... it all comes down to one question..... "do I believe". I say I have faith in God.
Do I have the faith it would take to tell Neb to "go ahead.... throw me in the fire.... God will save me"? When I found out I have metastatic colon cancer.... I said "what's the worst thing that could happen?.... I could die.... when I die I'm going to heaven.... so what's the worst thing that could happen?". That was cancer..... everyone gets cancer or something..... but being tied up and thrown into a huge fire that heats a cauldron of bubbling molten gold.... that's a tough one..... I'm not sure I would be that brave. I wonder if they shed a tear in fear.
IMHO.... I would hope I would stand up rather than kneel......
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