Saved From the Fiery Furnace

The Gospel Greeting and the Theme of Salvation by Grace

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

Daniel 3 and Israel’s Idolatry in Exile

This morning I will be preaching from Daniel chapter 3. I figure for heritage days, you know, let's pull out an old, good Old Testament story, right? The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So let's begin.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Now the remnant of those who believed in the one true God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, this is the God who promised Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that He would send a seed of a woman to crush the head of the serpent who had deceived our first parents in the Garden of Eden.

And in this account, in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3, well, the remnant of those who believe in the one true God, they find themselves in captivity and of all places, Babylon.

Now why? Why were they there? Well, they were there because of Israel's impenitence. They had turned aside from worshipping the one true God to worshipping Baal, Asherah, and Molech. By the way, a little historical side note.

When you're reading your Bible in the Old Testament, you read the word Molech, right? That really wasn't that deity's name. And notice I used air quote. That deity was known by its followers as Melech.

Melech is the Hebrew word for king. But none of those who believed in the one true God would ever call him Melech, because there is only one king. So they called him Molech. They changed the vowels. And Molech doesn't mean king.

It means shame. A little side note. So, Israel had turned aside from worshipping the one true God to worshipping Baal, Asherah, and Molech. These are gods who were figments of men's imaginations. And they were animated by the power of the devil and his demons.

So the Lord, Yahweh, the one true God, he sent prophets to Israel, calling them to repent and to be forgiven. And God's patience was long-suffering and was pleased to his people to return to him and to be forgiven for their idolatry and iniquities went with few exceptions, mostly unheeded.

Finally, God, God's patience and mercy, they expired. And God acted in judgment. And he sent Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and to take the survivors captive and march them to Babylon.

Remember, they were brought into the promised land. The Israelites were brought into the promised land. The land flowing with milk and honey. God so powerfully removed the people who were the inhabitants there.

But, well, what happened? The Israelites returned to worshipping false gods. Broke the covenant that they had made with God. And God executed the judgment clauses of the Mosaic Covenant. Sent Nebuchadnezzar.

Now, those who survived, this is kind of an interesting note, they were primarily those who believed the word of the Lord given by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah told the people of Israel that whoever surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar would have their life spared.

Those who wouldn't surrender would die. Those who believed the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, they lived. Those who did not believe, they perished. And only about 10 of the population of Judah survived.

Now, with the temple of the Lord destroyed, the people of Israel find themselves in Babylon about to face a terrible choice. Here's the choice. Bow down and worship a false god or perish in a fiery furnace.

Sounds like fun. So, let's turn to our text. It's in Daniel chapter 3. I'll begin at verse 1.

Here's what it says.

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold. 90 feet high, 9 feet wide, and he set up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the advisors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image that he had set up.

So, the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the advisors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the other provincial officers assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And they stood before it. Now, the church father, John Chrysostom, in his sermon on this text says this. The enemy prepares the theater, and the king himself collects the spectators, and he prepares the lists.

A theater, too, not of chance persons or some private individuals, but of all those who are honorable and in authority, so that their testimony may be worthy of credit with the multitude. So, if you were to imagine this were taking place today, this would be like Obama setting up a huge golden statue, you know, maybe next to the Washington Monument.

And out comes all of Congress, the Senate, the Cabinet, the military, all the chiefs of staff, everybody's out there to worship this image. You know, that kind of gives you the idea. Well, with such a group of people, the average ordinary citizen would think, well, this is super-duper important.

If all the highest people in our land are doing this, well, who am I to not do it, right? That's the setup. So, then the herald loudly proclaimed, you can see this guy getting up, and this is the days before they had amplification, so I have no idea how he would pull this off, right?

So he stands up, clears his throat, and proclaims,.

This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, and nations of men of every language. As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, the pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

Oh, and by the way, whoever does not fall down and worship will be immediately thrown into a blazing, fiery furnace. Ta-da! And it's over there.

Okay, and so over there they've got the blazing, fiery furnace. Everyone sees it, and then, whoosh, right? Quite the bargain, right? All the most important officials. Big statue of gold. This guy gets up and says what you're supposed to do, and oh, if you don't, you're going to die.

So, as the story goes, therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, and all kinds of music, this is the worst praise band ever, okay? Worst praise band ever.

As soon as they start singing, you've got to bow down to a false deity, and if you don't, you're going to die, right? So, all the nations of men of every language, they fell down and worshipped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Except.

Except.

You see, at this time, some astrologers came forward, and they denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, may you live forever. You have issued a decree, O King, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, the pipes, and all kinds of music, in other words, the praise band from hell, must fall down and worship the image of gold that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing, fiery furnace.

But, there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They pay no attention to you, O King, and they neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold that you have set up.

Oh boy, quite the story, right? Now, let me ask a question. If this were you, it would be really tempting to just bow down and live, would it not? But see, that image is a false god. And the first commandment says you shall have no other gods before me, right?

So, these astrologers who ratted on the Jews have given their message, and here's Nebuchadnezzar's response. Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So, everyone's there, right?

Supreme Court's there, Congress there, Senate's there, Chief of Staff, all of everybody, all the government officials are there, and here comes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Everybody's bowed down except for these three guys.

They clearly don't get with the program, they don't understand what's going on here. So, Nebuchadnezzar says to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold that I have set up?

Now, is it true? They're about to answer, right? But he cuts them off. Now, when you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, the pipes, and all kinds of music, if you're ready to fall down and worship the image made, well then, 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?

Hmm.

Okay.

Church Father Tuturlian, writing on this passage, he says this, In terms of the honors due to king or emperor, well, we have a clear ruling to be subject in all obedience according to the apostles' commands.

We're to be obedient to magistrates, to princes, and those in authority. But this obedience must be within the bounds of Christian discipline. That is, it is proper to obey our magistrates only insofar as we keep ourselves free from idolatry.

It was for this reason that the familiar example of the three friends occurred before our time. Obedient in other respects to king Nebuchadnezzar, they most firmly refused to honor his image. And by this, they proved that to extend the honor proper to a mortal being beyond its due limits until it resembles the grandeur of God, well, that's idolatry.

Daniel, in the same way, subjected himself to Darius in all points and performed his duty as long as it did not imperil his religion. To avoid that, Daniel showed no more fear of the king's lions than they had shown to the king's fires.

So here's the idea. Christians, your king is Jesus. Your God is Jesus. And you are to obey the people who make the laws in our land only if those laws do not conflict with our worship and service of Jesus.

When a government writes a law that is contrary to the word of God, our response is, that's all well and good, but I have a higher king than you. My king is Jesus. So now we've got this story, we'll go back to it.

Here comes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's reply to the question and kind of the ultimatum. It was so merciful of king Nebuchadnezzar to give them another opportunity to do the right thing. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they replied to the king, O king Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God that we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods.

We will not worship the image of gold that you have set up.

Wow.

Church father Jerome says this. Let us turn our thoughts to these three boys in the fiery furnace in Babylonia and listen to what they say when Nebuchadnezzar summons them before him and compels them to worship his false god.

What is their answer to Nebuchadnezzar? King, there's no need to defend ourselves. Look at their faith. We believe, it says, that he's able to save us. But if it should be that our sins prevent him, we still believe in him, even if he does not deliver us.

We do not believe in this life, but in the future life. Nor do we believe in him in order to escape burning here, but in order to escape passing from this fire into another. So go ahead then, prepare your furnace.

This heat, this fire, it's our purgation, and happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob. Now, clearly, Nebuchadnezzar was not happy about this, and the text says,. Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed.

He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.

So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, they were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 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, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Now, this is important. The fact that the men who bound them and threw them into the furnace died was proof to everybody that this was no magic trick. It killed the ones who were throwing them into it.

So then, the story takes an interesting turn. And here's where I need to give a little bit of preface. Back a long time ago, when I was skinnier, my kids were young, and my children loved when I would read the Bible stories to them every night at the dinner table.

And I remember my youngest daughter, when she was five, when I told this story, when I read this to her, she literally hung on every word. And when we got to this part in the story,.

She went, What happened? Dad, they're going to die! Somebody's got to save them, right? She's very upset about this.

And I said, well, do you want me to keep reading this story or not, right? So, here the story builds. And think of yourself as a little child, hearing the story again. Because Jesus says, unless you have faith like a little child,.

You will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

So hear these words from the faith of a little child. So here, they've been thrown into the fiery furnace. Who can save them, right? And then it says this,. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement, and he asked his advisors, Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?

They replied, Certainly, O King.

He said, Look,.

I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed. And here's the important part. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods. And when I read this to my five-year-old daughter,.

She sprung up!

And she goes, Jesus showed up! He came and he saved them!

And you know what? She's right. Our Savior is not an angel. Our Savior is Jesus himself. King of kings, Lord of lords, the Alpha and the Omega,.

The beginning and the end.

He was there with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he saved them from the fiery furnace. So then Nebuchadnezzar approached the opening of the blazing furnace, and he shouted, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!

Come here!

Well, now he's changed his tune, hasn't he?

Right?

He gets a glimpse of Jesus, and he realizes that this image is nothing. And he realizes that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego worship... Now, he calls their God the Most High God. He still has some theological issues there that need to be hammered out.

Because the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not the Most High God. He's not one of many. He's the only God there is.

Right?

But he recognizes that there's no God like this. So he tells them, still kind of in an authoritative manner,.

You come out here now!

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they came out of the fire, and the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal advisors crowded around them, and they saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed, and their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

And then Nebuchadnezzar said this, listen to this, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, his messenger, and rescued his servants. So 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 for their own god.

Therefore, I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut into pieces, and their houses turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.

Now, I like the sentiment there. His theology is a little screwed up. We need to work with him on the proper distinction of law and gospel, and what it is that God really wants for us. The Christos, the great church father, he says this, All of these regal men had been summoned for one thing, but they all departed, having beheld another thing.

They came in order to worship the image, and they departed, having derided the image, and struck with wonder at the power of God through signs that had taken place with respect to these young men. Now, all of this, all the scriptures written about Jesus, here Jesus shows up and he saves Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Think of that as like type and shadow, as somehow a symbol pointing us to the reality. And the reality is this, Our Jesus, the virgin born king of kings, who suffered and died for our sins, he truly is the one who saves all of us from the fiery furnace.

The Parable of the Weeds and the Fiery Furnace of Judgment

In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells a parable. Here's what he says. He says, Jesus told them a parable, he says, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed seeds among the wheat and then went away.

When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the wheat also appeared. So the owner's servants came to him and say, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? He said, Well, an enemy did this.

And servants asked him, Well, do you want us to go and pull them up? No, no, he answered, because while you're pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.

And at that time, I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and then tie them in bundles to be burned and then gathered the wheat and then bring them into my barn. So the disciples, of course, they didn't quite understand what the story was about because it's kind of cryptic.

So they asked Jesus to explain it to them. So here's what it says. He answered, The one who sowed the good seed, well, that's the son of man, that's Jesus. The field is the world. The good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who sows them, well, that's the devil. And the harvest, this is the end of the age. And the harvesters, they're the angels. So as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

The son of man will send his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And they will throw them into, get this, the fiery furnace. There it is, right there in the New Testament.

So King Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace is kind of a picture of hell. But the real thing is hell itself. So, it says,. And in the fiery furnace there will be weeping and dashing of teeth, but the righteous, they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.

And so he who has ears, let him hear. So there is a fiery furnace. And the fiery furnace was prepared for the devil and his demons. And unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who had done no wrong in deserving to be thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace, well, each and every one of us, all of us, we've rebelled and sinned against the God of Jacob and have, through our wickedness, earned a spot in the real fiery furnace.

This is what scripture says.

Have you not loved God with your whole heart? Have you not perfectly loved your neighbor as yourself? Well, then you're a sinner. And the good news is that you're in good company. So am I. We're all sinners together.

And the good news is that Christ came to save sinners. He didn't come for good people. He came for sinners. So if you are one of them, there's good news.

Right?

So I'm here to proclaim to you that the Son of God, who rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, he has appeared in human history to save you and to save me. He was born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. And Isaiah describes his crucifixion this. Over 600 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah says this about Jesus. Surely he took up our infirmities.

He carried our sorrows. Yet we considered him stricken by God and smitten by him and afflicted. But here's the important part. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

And the punishment, the chastisement that brought us peace with God was upon him. And by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.

So he, Jesus, today is calling all men and all women, you and me included, to repent of our sins, our idolatries, our adulteries, and to be forgiven and pardoned on his account because of his shed blood for us on the cross.

God’s Love, Repentance, and Eternal Life in Christ

Why?

Well, because God loves you.

He does.

He does not desire your destruction. John says this. For God so loved the world that he gave. He gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life. For God did not send his son, Jesus, into the world to condemn the world.

Instead, he sent him to save the world. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only son. And the chapter ends with this.

Whoever believes in the son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the son will not see life, and the wrath of God remains on him. So this morning, God is making his appeal to you today, and he's calling you to repent and to be forgiven.

Jesus is here today to save you from the fiery furnace just like he saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So do not harden your hearts against him. Repent, believe, and live. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

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