God Rescues His Saints (Daniel 3:19-30)

Good morning. Welcome to Adult Sunday School and Young Adult Sunday School.

Kootenai Community Church. Let's open in prayer. Father, we thank you for this, again, this opportunity to look into your word, which is our life.

It is our lifeblood for understanding what it is that you have given to us.

Every day, we love to read your word. Lord, might we learn this morning what it is to honor you, to refuse to cave in to the powers that be when they want us to do things other than what scripture teaches.

Lord, this has been an excellent opportunity for us to remind ourselves about your sovereignty and about your care of your people.

We thank you for that. Help us to hear your word today. In Jesus' name, amen. So we've been studying in the book of Daniel, and we are on chapter 3, verse 24 is where we will be starting.

Last week, we talked about the three men being cast into the fire.

And actually, maybe I'm, don't tell me

I didn't print everything out. Yeah, I did. So I think I remember talking about the fact that if you hadn't read the rest of the book, you're going to have to wait till this week to find out if they survive or not.

So how many of you read ahead? Oh, that's no fun. Well, let's start by reading

Daniel chapter 3, and we'll read about from 19 through the end of the chapter. Daniel chapter 3, 19 to the end of the chapter.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath. Remember, the friends of the three men, the friends, in quotes, had turned them in to the powers that be for not bowing down.

I doubt very much that one of them walked up to him and said, you guys need to bow down, and gave him an opportunity. They probably just went, ah, we got him.

But they turned them in to Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuchadnezzar was very unhappy. So verse 19, then

Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

And he commanded certain Valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.

Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

For this reason, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and he stood up in haste. He responded and said to his high officials, was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?

They answered and said to the king, certainly, O king. He answered and said, look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of the most high

God, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire, and the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor have the smell of fire even come upon them.

Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own god.

Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.

Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. So as we're reading this story, sometimes

I think we think that this is out of the ordinary. Well, of course, some of the parts of the narrative are out of the ordinary, but remember that everything that happens in scripture is a lot of it is just everyday life.

It was everyday life in a citizen of Babylon to realize that he was owned lock, stock, and barrel by the king.

It was everyday life for them to be raised up in a pagan culture that had multiple gods that they worshiped, and so it was okay to have a new god to worship.

So at this time in Babylon, these three men were not under fire for worshiping Yahweh. They were under fire, no pun intended, for not worshiping the gods of the

Babylonians as well. It wasn't that they had a predilection towards understanding and worshiping the

God of the Bible, the God of all history, the God of creation, the sovereign God, but they just weren't worshiping

Marduk and all of the others that the Babylonians revered. So it was everyday life to worship all of these.

It was common for people to be called to a celebration and to be told to bow down to some deity or some decree, and they would do this in the normal course of life.

So for people like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and other godly Jews, and Daniel as well, for them to refuse to do this, that was everyday life too.

However, it was not as common as it should be. It's not as common in any culture as it should be for people who revere, who love

God, to refuse to in any way worship other gods. So these three men did something that was remarkable in any time in history.

They refused to bow down. So, and then when we think about this, as we read the next verse, have you ever seen someone in their seat and their team is two feet from the goal line and they throw an interception?

And the guys that are voting for that team jump out of their seat, and what happened here? That's what happened here.

Nebuchadnezzar doesn't just, picture him jumping out of his seat. He threw three men. He had three men thrown into the fire.

It says, then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded. Means he was perplexed, he was frightened, and he was alarmed.

And he stood up in haste. If he had a drink sitting on a coffee table next to him, he knocked it over.

He jumped up, and he probably stepped back. Did we not throw three men into the fire?

And he looks around at his officials, and they, well, yeah, that's what we did. Well, then they replied, certainly,

O king. And then he says, look, I see four men. So, the situation here actually terrified

Nebuchadnezzar, and well, it should have, because there was no rational possibility that three people bound and tied up could be thrown into a 1500 or higher degree fire and survive for any time at all.

Not only did they survive, but God was pleased to allow only the ropes to be burned off.

Only that which restrained them from full worship of their God was burned away.

They stood up, and they were walking around, walking around in the middle of a blast furnace that will melt iron.

I would have been surprised, too. So, the word translated haste comes from a Persian, or an ancient

Aramaic word, which means to tremble in fear. He jumped up terrified. He stood up in amazement, probably literally jumped up from his chair.

Then, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he asked his officials standing around watching the spectacle, the question.

He says, didn't we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire? What a dumb question. Everybody saw it. Probably a couple thousand people on the planes saw it, on the planes of Dura saw it.

He only arrested three people, et cetera, et cetera. The officials answered in affirmative.

The fact was that the men, as it was described earlier, they were bound with multiple ropes. Their hands were tied.

Ropes were tied around them. They couldn't even walk into the fire. They had to be picked up and carried by the valiant warriors, it says, and cast into the fire.

And those men had to get fairly close, because these were normal -sized men. Any of you ever packed a limp body?

I don't know what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. If they helped them by stiffening, that would be nice, but if they didn't, it's really hard to pack someone if they don't wanna be packed.

But they cast them into the fire, so probably four or five feet in is what they cast them. They couldn't walk.

The officials must have been astounded as well. They responded that the king was most certainly correct. Here we note part of the reason that the warriors who threw them into the fire were killed.

They had to get close enough to throw the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, into the midst of the fire.

Now, this kiln wasn't huge. They were usually shaped like a beehive or a bottle, and it was set up so that they could attach giant bellows to them to fan the flames, make them hotter.

And they were constructed out of adobe and brick, because those kinds of materials would withstand fire.

And allow for them to smelt and melt other metals. So this put those four men, however many warriors there were, those men right in the doorway.

So despite the flames, sometimes when a fire's burning really hot, it's easier to see into it than when it's burning low and there's a lot of smoke.

So this was a really hot fire. That's what the Lord is trying to communicate. One of the things he's communicating, not trying, he is communicating through this section of Scripture.

It was hot. There was no chance these men could survive, and yet they did.

And then so then in verse 25, Nebuchadnezzar says, "'Look, I see four men loosed and walking about "'in the midst of the fire without harm, "'and the appearance of the fourth "'is like a son of the gods.'"

Now, contrary to the KJV only people, this is not an attempt to destroy the glory of God.

This is just an exact translation. It was not something that Nebuchadnezzar had run into probably very often, seeing somebody else accompanying the men he had thrown into the fire, walking around who looked significantly different than the other three.

So he described them as what, to the degree that his ability would allow. It looks like a son of the gods.

So now the king notices that the ropes that were binding the men were no longer there.

They were freely walking around. The fire has burned them all off. He sees them walking around in a fire that it should have instantly killed them, and burned the flesh from their bodies, and quite frankly, turned their bones to dust rather quickly as well.

He sees that they've not been harmed in any way, and then he notices a fourth person walking with them. His startled statement is literally, and the form of the fourth is like a son of gods.

Babylonians believed that their gods could have children. So, so this statement indicates that the appearance of the fourth was different from the other three, and Nebuchadnezzar recognized what appeared to him to be something like a deity.

Many scholars believe the fourth person in the fire was a pre -incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is indeed very possible.

It could very well have been. But do not give too much credence to a pagan king's identification.

It could have been an angel sent by the Lord to protect the men. The point is Jehovah God protected the men.

That's the point. Now, I personally think it was a pre -incarnate appearance of the

Lord Jesus Christ, but it doesn't say that in the text, so that's my sanctified speculation, if you will.

What is most apparent to the king, what is most apparent to the king and those witnessing the spectacles is that the men were unharmed.

They were freed from the bonds that Nebuchadnezzar had put on them, and they were walking around in the fire, apparently uninterested in leaving.

This is just normal stuff, walking around in a 1 ,500, 2 ,000 degree blast furnace. How are you doing today, sir?

Shaking hands. It wasn't like they couldn't, yeah, maybe it was cold outside.

It must have been a deceptive. Actually, I think it was probably in October, so it probably wasn't exactly hot there, but no,

I don't think I wanna get that close to a wood stove, you know, just a wood stove.

It's a remarkable, remarkable situation, and I guess I have read the book of Daniel, I don't know how many times in my journey as a believer, but this is the first time

I read it, and I kinda saw it through new eyes. You know, I heard a voice, some whispering, and no, actually,

I was just encouraged and blessed by God that he can show you new things out of his word every time you read it, if you'll just read it, and it was a delight, it was a delight to read this, and so I was reading it again yesterday, and it's just remarkable to me that Nebuchadnezzar had the reaction that he did.

Why didn't he just say, send some men in there and get those guys and tie them up and throw them in again? I mean, that would've been really stupid, but all the way through here, he's been kinda dumb, kinda stupid, so then, before I go into verse 26, any questions or comments or observations?

I know you've all read the book of Daniel. Isn't this an exciting part of it? And the funny thing is, is some of the scholars

I've read and some of the, as I've studied it, a lot of, quite a few commentators skip over everything but the prophetic parts of Daniel.

All of this is, every part of God's word is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction, for correction, that the man or woman of God will be fully equipped to live for him.

So verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire, and I could just picture this, he's kinda walking up, getting a little closer, a little closer, oh, it's pretty hot.

You've been real close to a bonfire, kinda burns your face, you're really warm on this side and if it's

December or something, you're really cold on this side, so you know, well, that's probably not what he was doing, he wasn't warming himself.

He responded and said, and listen to this address.

Listen how he addresses Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of the most high

God, and come here. His whole demeanor has changed. His whole method of addressing them has changed.

His whole understanding of what's going on has changed. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire, well, yeah, we'll come out and talk to you.

So Nebuchadnezzar, having stood up and questioned his wise men, now draws near to the door of the furnace. Not too close, though.

He saw his warriors die when they got too close. Now he calls for the three men to come out. He does not call the fourth person.

I never saw that before. He doesn't call the fourth person. Now, I don't know why. I don't know if the fourth person had disappeared by this time or what, but he just calls the three men that he knew, he doesn't call the fourth person.

For that would be presumptuous of him to order around an angel or a deity. I think he knew better.

He names Jehovah as the most high God, and the word in Chaldean means supreme, the supreme

God. He has not disowned his own deities, lest we think that all of a sudden he's turned to God.

He has just recognized that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is at least at this time superior to his gods.

At this point, the three men exit the furnace. So they come on out, and they're gonna talk to him now.

Verse 27, the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had, and this little two -letter word is very important, no effect on the bodies of these men.

Nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of the fire even come upon them.

Now, as a guy who runs an army surplus store, and I deal with explosives and fire -making things,

I'm not making statements here, but it could be that at times I played with stuff that I probably should have been more careful with.

And it could be that at some time I did something that caused the hair of my head to be singed, and my eyebrows, and the hairs on my nose, which is really weird.

Yeah, you should probably say that when you're being filmed on the internet. And that wasn't a 1 ,500 -degree fire.

I can vouch for that because nothing else was hurt around me, much. This is important.

It's pointed out in Scripture that God completely protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, not indiscriminately, not obtusely, not kind of.

He completely protected them. And there was no smell of fire that morning. I had, there was smell everywhere that morning, in the building, in my hair, what was left of it, in my eyebrows.

People look really weird when they get their eyebrows burned off. You know when you get surprised and you go like this?

Or when you get surprised in the eyebrows? Nothing happens. So anyway, so they were remarked, as the officials gathered around, it would be interesting to know, it'd be interesting to know if the ones,

I have so many questions when I get to glory that I'm gonna be asking. Just some of them seem silly, but this is one of the questions that's in my book.

It would be interesting to know if the ones who had accused the three men and brought this punish upon them were in the group. So you're the guy who was responsible for these three men to be thrown in the fire.

You, if you were thrown in a fire and somehow survived it, what would you do? You'd make sure the guys that threw you in were killed.

So out comes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and I just, just a curiosity to me if they were still around, but I guarantee you, if they were, it still happened the way it's written.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not look for retribution. They were delighted and incredibly encouraged and blessed that they were given an opportunity to glorify their

God. That's all that was important to them. Well, that's not all that was important to them, but that was most important to them. The king and the officials noticed that there was absolutely no effect from the fire other than the bonds that had been burned away.

Their hair was not singed, their clothing was perfect, and they didn't even smell like fire. Now, that's just not, you know, that's just really not possible.

If you've stood around a campfire, my wife has beautiful, long, blonde hair, and if she gets anywhere near fire smoke, it sticks with her for hours afterwards.

So all of this, absent a miracle, was patently impossible.

It's also important to remember that Israel will undergo a time of great difficulty prior to the end of the age, and our story has implications for the deliverance of Israel and the deliverance is spoken of in Isaiah chapter 43.

So Isaiah chapter 43, verses one and two, it says, but now, thus says the Lord, your creator,

O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.

It's not just a coincidence that this scripture, it actually has portent for the future of Israel as they go through the difficult times that God has ordained for them.

So verse 27, yeah, 27, any questions or comments?

Yes, yes, yeah, that's a common understanding of Bible scholars, that this has prophetic implications for the children of Israel later on when they go through the things that God will allow them to go through prior to the end times, during the end times.

God is able to weave through his, now, you gotta be really careful that you don't overstate the things that are connected, because that's when you start building these weird doctrines.

Don't build doctrines on silence, you know, and don't get, and, okay, we can get way off into the weeds here.

The fact is, Israel is going to go through a different time. The fact is, believers are gonna go through a difficult time.

Will God abandon you? Do you really believe that? Yes, and to a degree, that is a good metaphor to use in the body of Christ.

As you trust and obey more, God will burn away the things that bind you from not doing more for him.

Now, I remember as a kid, when I used to clean motel rooms, in each motel room, we'd turn on the

TV while we were working, I was like seven. So this was like almost 60 years ago, and I remember this.

There were televangelists back then. Yeah, I know dirt hadn't been invented, but there were televangelists back then, and they would take this stuff to an extreme, and I remember thinking at the time, really,

I'd rather be watching Perry Mason. So I turned it to Perry Mason when Grandma wasn't looking. But you had to be hurry, you had to make the beds and stuff, you know.

Yes, yes,

Christ is not, the Lord Jesus Christ is not going to remove any obstacles from your life, but he will be there in every difficulty.

He always is. This, you know, I don't know. This is probably a reasonably good replication of what it looked like.

You could probably, I mean, you couldn't see him well, but you could see four people. And so Nebuchadnezzar was made aware that Jehovah God was helping, was sustaining these three men.

So then, Nebuchadnezzar responds, verse 28. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, blessed be the

God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any

God except their own God. So this is not Nebuchadnezzar becoming a believer. This is

Nebuchadnezzar recognizing that there is a God who seems to be supreme to every other God. This is, and we'll talk about this more as we go on through the book of Daniel, but there are people who believe he never was.

He never did become a believer. Calvin, for example, in Leupold, one of the better expositors of Daniel. They don't believe he ever came to salvation.

But many, many do. And it, as near as I can tell, something happened after chapter four that is different, makes

Nebuchadnezzar different. He responds differently than he does here. Here, he just adds Jehovah into his pantheon of gods as probably the biggest and baddest of all of them, the best of them.

Nebuchadnezzar again elevates Jehovah, but he does not disavow his own gods nor recognize that Jehovah is the only

God. That's the key. Those other gods were probably nothing, in many cases, or just demons.

He praises both God and the three men who would not compromise their fidelity to Jehovah. Again, it is possible that the angel that Nebuchadnezzar references is a pre -incarnate appearance of Christ.

The word is an ancient Chaldean word which has the idea of deity in it. So it could very well be that that's what

Nebuchadnezzar was saying, and that is what is being communicated. But either way, whoever that was,

Jehovah protected his people, his three men. At least it is a genuine angel of God sent by him to protect the three men and witness to Nebuchadnezzar and his officials that there is a true

God. Nebuchadnezzar still does not recognize Jehovah as the only God, but rather he allows that.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to die rather than worship his gods. He does acknowledge that they violated his command.

Notice that. His servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command. Why would he say that?

You know, it's just kind of interesting to me. They did violate the king's command, and they were taken care of in violating the king's command.

He does acknowledge that they violated his command, but he ascribes that violation to their faithfulness to God, not to a misdemeanor or a felony.

He ascribes it to their fidelity to God. And even he knew that what they were doing was a righteous thing.

So any comments about verse 20? Yes, yeah.

The three soldiers, or however many soldiers, yeah. They were doing what Nebuchadnezzar told them, and it killed them.

Yep. They had to know. I mean, these guys, if they had become some of his most trusted warriors, which is basically what the idea means back in that section of Scripture, they had to know something about the furnaces that were used to smelt down the metals and make their swords and shields.

They were just not something to fool around with, but they followed Nebuchadnezzar's command, and they died. Daniel's three friends,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego obeyed Jehovah, and they lived. Verse 29, therefore, this is interesting, a new law.

Remember, remember, this is the only kingdom in this entire panoply of kingdoms that is described, especially in chapter two, in Daniel's interpretation of the dream.

This is the only kingdom where the king is completely sovereign. He can make and break his own rules.

After this come kingdoms that are not allowed to do that. So Nebuchadnezzar now says, I make a decree.

He just made a decree that if you didn't bow down, at the sound of all of those names of instruments, and worship his

God, you'd be cast into a furnace of fire. Now he undoes that decree. He says, therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the

God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their house is reduced to a rubbish heap inasmuch as there is no other

God who is able to deliver in this way. Notice first that he's trusting his citizenry to turn their neighbors in, because that's really the only way he's gonna know if someone besmirches the

God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So someone's gonna have to turn their neighbors in. The decree for coerced worship is probably something that Shad...

This decree for coerced worship is probably something that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would never have wanted.

True followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are not looking to force other people to worship

Christ, because that's not worship. That's what happened to the three men.

It threw those men into the fire. What true worship is, when it's a heart change that is caused by the sovereign

God. The worship and the following is an act of love, an act of devotion, not an act of duty, not an act of response to fear from being torn limb from limb.

So I believe that those three men would not have wanted Nebuchadnezzar to do that. Nebuchadnezzar still doesn't get it.

He's making sure that people don't besmirch Jehovah, and he's giving the tattletales in the nation something else to do, but he himself has not made the transition to faith in Jehovah.

Even so, even so, this is a remarkable thing for a Babylonian king to do. I don't think he would do that for any of the gods of the

Egyptians or any of the gods of the other nations that were there. He did it only for the

God of the Jews. If you besmirch, if you say, what is it? If you speak anything offensive against the

God of Shad, and I'd like to point out too that generally when government makes decrees like this, they're really open -ended.

What's offensive? I guess the tattletales get to decide. So this is a remarkable thing for a

Babylonian king to do. Critics who try to, now, this is another area where the critics have said this actually happened in the second century

BC, and the king being talked about here is Antiochus Epiphanes. And you know why they say that?

I'm going to repeat the reason that they say that every time it happens, because this stuff is just too remarkable to be true.

Therefore, it must have happened later on. And if the prophecies happened later on, well, then the rest of the book, if we're gonna be true to our own stupidity,

I mean our own ideas, has to have happened later on too, like 167, 164

BC. Critics who try to conflate the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes here missed the point because Nebuchadnezzar was nothing like the

Greek pagan in the second century BC. Antiochus IV, who took the title

Epiphanes, which means God Manifest. Now, isn't that something of a narcissistic idea?

Was given the appellation Epimanes by the Jews, which means mad one,

Antiochus mad one, Antiochus the crazy, Antiochus the mad man. He tortured and killed thousands of Jews and sanctioned the sacrifice of the pigs on the altar, the temple altar.

Nebuchadnezzar at least acknowledged and respected Jehovah, something that Antiochus never did. There's no correlation between these two kings at all.

And yet critics here say, well, this section of Daniel is talking about Antiochus Epiphanes. Why? Because we said so.

Well, okay then. There is no point of connection between the two and contrary to the critics statement that this was a story or allegory that was intended to remind the

Israelites of the evils of worshiping idols. This was a recording of an actual event of three men who remained true to God despite being sent to their deaths.

It was a story of courage that would have been sorely appreciated by the Israelites at this time. Now, our sole connection with Jehovah God, with the

Lord Jesus Christ is scripture. Scripture is sufficient. Actually, that's the battle for the day.

Is scripture sufficient or not for everything, for life and godliness in Jesus Christ?

Yes, it is. But it's interesting to note that there are extra biblical recordings of Nebuchadnezzar's decree that have been written down and brought to us throughout history, through history.

So I think the critics probably have to ignore those. At any rate, this really happened and it was a remarkable time and it was quite a statement to the

Jews who were trapped in Babylonia that fidelity to their God was a worthwhile thing.

Aren't you encouraged when you see some other Christian stand up? I mean, when

I read, we think we have persecution in this country and I'm not belittling or diminishing that some of us may have gone, some of you have maybe,

I've never really been persecuted. I've been laughed at, called names, stuff like that. But I'm an old redneck.

That doesn't bother me. People in Nigeria, they're murdered for their faith.

Absolute, there was a recent one where 70 people were murdered for their faith. Now, I don't know all the details, but this is what these men would have had to face.

And so when I see someone like that who is willing to go to the last great extreme and maintain their faith in God, it's an encouragement to me.

Because we never really know what we're gonna do until our skin's on the line. These men, what they prove to us through scripture is that Jehovah will never abandon you.

What does he say in Hebrews? We're gonna get to chapter 13 sometime in 2025? Yeah, okay.

I will never, never, never leave you nor forsake you.

Now, a triple negative in our math -saturated society has some other meaning, but in the first century, it simply meant he will never, never, never leave you.

And he didn't leave these three men. So then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

Now, I'm here to tell you, according to scripture, that not every time a believer is faithful to God will he be caused to prosper.

But if he remains faithful to Jehovah, to God, to the Lord Jesus Christ, he will glorify

God. And that in itself is a prospering. But in this case, the reverse of the tattletales designs occurs here.

When the officials turn Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the king, Abednego into the king, they hope that they would be killed, these three men would be killed, and their positions would open up, and they would be able to fill them, that Nebuchadnezzar would put them in his cabinet, if you will.

Not only were they, I know we've got a lot of uproar in our elections and everything, but I'm really glad this kind of stuff doesn't happen in our presidential elections, you know.

Shooting cabinet members so you can replace them with other people, that's really not cool. So, not only were they not removed, but they were promoted, and their interests were protected and consolidated for the rest of their lives.

Interestingly enough, and I didn't even think about this in all the other times that I've read the book of Daniel, this is the last time these three men were killed.

And we've got quite a few chapters to go. So, thus ends a remarkable story of three young men who chose to honor

God at the possible loss of their lives, knowing that they would be killed in the most painful way.

Burning up, I'm always told that that's one of the worst ways to die. That burning to death is one of the worst ways to die.

I'm not sure that, I don't believe that's new information, these men knew that. It is important to remember that God can deliver his people from difficult times, but whatever he chooses will most glorify him.

And that should not only be acceptable, but delightful to his servants. Romans 8 .28

is always true. He will, everything that happens in our lives is for our good, for his glory, for his glory.

As noted before, this story does have prophetic implications as well. And it was well put by Dwight Pentecost, he said it this way.

This historical incident seems to have prophetic significance as well. In the coming tribulation, a

Gentile ruler, verses seven and eight, chapter seven, eight, will demand for himself the worship that belongs to God.

And then it lists the sections in scripture that reference that. Any who refuse to acknowledge his right to receive worship will be killed,

Revelation 13. Assuming political and religious power, he will oppress Israel. Most of the people in the world, including many in Israel, will submit to and worship him.

But a small remnant in Israel shall, but a small remnant in Israel, like the three in Daniel's day, will refuse.

Many who will not worship the Antichrist will be severely punished. Some will be martyred for their faithfulness to Jesus Christ, but a few will be delivered from those persecutions by the

Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming. In the forthcoming tribulation period, God will do for this believing remnant what he did for Daniel's three companions.

They withstood the decree of the king, and though they were not exempted from suffering and oppression, they were delivered out of it by the

God they trusted. So, and thus ends this chapter. And interestingly enough, like I said, it's the last time that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are recognized in the book of Daniel.

I have an introduction to chapter four, but there's not enough time to go into it here. So we'll do that next time.

But read chapter four, and then read chapter five, and you'll see that those two really do go together.

It's remarkable. We talked about a chiasm, where you say something, and then you say it again, and then you say it in reverse order.

That's what Daniel is, the book of Daniel is, and many of the verses in Daniel is, are. Let me get my syntax right here.

And so I would recommend reading chapter four and chapter five. We'll be together here again soon. There are going to be some new men teaching

Sunday school over the coming days. And it's going to be delightful and encouraging to hear from them.

So we'll talk about that next week. But meanwhile, any other questions or comments before we close? When God puts you in a position to exalt him by refusing to bow to the idols of the day, do it.

In the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ, do it. In the strength of the Spirit. Let's pray. Father, we are so glad to be reminded that you are sovereign over all of human history, and that absolutely nothing escapes your notice, and that your word is sufficient for everything we need to serve and honor you.

We need nothing else. We need no extra added anything to Christ. Nothing added to Christ, nothing subtracted from Christ.

For it is Christ alone who has done this and who will glorify you through our lives. You have created us to do good works, it says in Ephesians two, from time immemorial.

Let those good works be everything that will glorify you, no matter the cost to your servants.