Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire." Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: "O king, live forever! "You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image. "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. "There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? "Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
My thoughts -
Pretty much everyone who grew up in the church knows this story. If you didn't get it in Sunday School maybe you did from Veggie Tales. We all know that Nebuchadnezzar made an image, made everyone worship it, and if they didn't they got burned alive. Well who wouldn't worship the image? I mean, you're not out much. Just fall down and act the part. It sure beats being thrown into a furnace.
And we know that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, of course, did not worship the image. So they were thrown in the furnace and God protected them, saving them and making his glory known in the process. Everyone knows this story. I know this story. I can't recall a time in my life that I didn't know this story. And yet, reading it this morning I noticed something that I hadn't before. I guess I'd read it. I mean, I'm sure I had. It's just sitting right there. And yet, in all of the action of the story I just kind of skipped right over it.
Look at verse 18 again:
"But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."In my mind I knew the story. I knew they would be thrown into the furnace. I knew they would be saved. I guess I just couldn't really see that they didn't know that. They had faith, sure. They knew that God could save them. God is powerful. God can do anything. Miraculously saving three people from a horrific death is a pretty big deal for us but for a God who made the entire universe it's nothing. Our God has done far greater things than that. It's no big deal.
So of course they knew that God could save them. But they did not know that God would save them. And there's a big difference there.
They trusted God. They knew that the Lord their God was the only thing they could worship. They knew how twisted, wrong, and perverted it was to worship an image made by human hands. They knew idolatry was not acceptable. They knew what they should do and they trusted that God would reward their righteousness even if they didn't know for sure. They had faith.
And of course that faith was rewarded. They were rescued. God saved them. God rewarded their faith and God was glorified.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8
No comments:
Post a Comment