Daniel: Jesus Is The Fourth Man In The Fiery Furnace
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PREACHING CHRIST THROUGH THE BIBLE |
Daniel: Jesus Is The Fourth Man In The Fiery Furnace
As we continue our series on the books of the bible and Jesus Christ being the common thread across all the books, we come to the 27th Book – The Book of Daniel. Through our Christian childhood and Sunday school days, the stories from the book of Daniel have been fascinating. Daniel in the Lion’s Den; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fire. These literally stirred up our imagination and made us say “Wow”!
Before we get to our passage and the focus on our meditation, let me present to you a quick overview of the book of Daniel. Perhaps, let me do it as a quiz, so you can remember some of these facts:
Q1. Who wrote the book of Daniel? During what time was it written?
Ans: Daniel himself was the author and it was written when the nation of Israel was in captivity for 70 years. Therefore around the mid-sixth century BC.
Remember Israel as a nation under one king, lasted about 165 years, after being under Judges for 400 years. It got divided into a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom. The northern kingdom got destroyed by the Assyrians in about 722 BC and about a 136 years later around 586 BC was when the powerful king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple and Jerusalem and took the nation of Judah into captivity.
Q2. In which language was the book of Daniel written? Here are your options – Hebrew, Aramaic, Hebrew and Aramaic or Greek?
Ans: It was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Ch. 2:4 to Ch.7 were written in Aramaic and the rest was in Hebrew. Aramaic was a popular language of the Babylonians
Q3. What is the overall theme of the book of Daniel?
Ans. God’s rule over human kingdoms or God’s sovereignty – You will consistently find God’s intervention on the reign of powerful kings in the Neo-Babylonian Empire
Here’s a quick overview or outline of the book:
The overarching theme of the book as we said earlier, is God being Sovereign over earthly kingdoms
Chapters 1 to 6 – Begins with Judah being conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. We then read about Daniel’s faithfulness to God and God’s faithfulness covering Daniel and his friends. We see God come through for Daniel’s friends in the furnace and Daniel in the Lions den. We also learn about Daniel’s gift to interpret dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar - The multimetallic image and the great tree and its fate.
Chapter 7 to 12 are the prophetic chapters where Daniel records prophecies of the coming kingdom of the Messiah during the 4th Kingdom (The roman kingdom) in about 490 years. The prophesies speak of the Messiah being cut off, the substitutionary death for the atonement of sins. The emergence of the Anti-Christ and the second coming of the Son of Man in the clouds to establish His kingdom and the age of righteousness
Great! With that outline, let us dive into our Scripture for today – Daniel 3: 24-28 (ESV)
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[a] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
The pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord is called Christophany. It is important to clarify that some theologians believe that it was not Christ, but God who appeared. The bible is very clear in Ex 33:20 and John 6:46 “No one has ever seen God and lived” and that “Christ is the image of the invisible God as it says in Col 1:15. Therefore the appearance of God is Jesus Christ our Lord
Our Passage for today is such a fascinating story. I personally loved hearing it over and over all through my childhood. I have a very vivid image of a brick and tile making factory near my house and as kids we went in to play in that factory whenever it was closed. I have this very vivid picture of a huge Furnace. Standing on the top whenever I used to stare at the furnace, I used to think of this story.
To most of us this story is powerful as it shows how God responded to FAITH and rescued the 3 young men who chose to honor God over man. It was their FAITH that drew the Son of God into the Furnace. Therefore, I want to focus our meditation on “FAITH” that drew our Lord’s presence into the Furnace.
As we go deeper into this topic of Faith, I want to begin by drawing our attention to
I. “The Character of FAITH”
The great courage that these men showed by taking a stand risking their very lives, I believe was because of their Faith that was nurtured through their growing years. I want to highlight two very important aspects that characterized their faith:
a) FAITH - Nurtured through obedience:
To understand that better, we should go to the earlier chapters in the book. The very first chapter of Daniel has a mention of these 3 men along with Daniel. In the interest of time, I am not going to read the whole text. But here’s the summary of what happens - King Nebuchadnezzar got this idea of picking the finest young men from the Israelite captives. Men who came from royalty and nobility due as they would have had some background of royal work. He wanted men who were handsome, intelligent, had great aptitude for learning, who were knowledgeable and qualified to work in the King’s service. They were to be put through a 3 year training and deployed into royal service. This was an effort to completely transform these men physically and mentally to make them suitable to the Babylonian life style. Infact make them Babylonians! To the extent that their names were changed as well – Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Misael became Meshach and Azariah became Abednago. This transformation involved physical and mental development. And the physical development included having royal food and wine as their diet. Daniel and his 3 friends saw that as defiling themselves and disobeying God, because the royal food was food that was offered to the Babylonian gods. Partaking in that food was clearly breaking God’s law given by Moses.
Now, let us pause here for a moment and put ourselves in the shoes of these young men. Being carried away as captives must have been such a demeaning and devastating experience. How should they have responded to an opportunity to be elevated from the status of “captives” to serving in the royal government! Wow! Should they have refused to follow some of the aspects of their program? They did refuse to eat the royal food!
Here’s perhaps why they refused – God made it clear in the book of Deut – Chapter 28:1 - If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. Notice the word “Fully”. There is no partial obedience. We cannot please God through partial obedience. Delayed obedience or partial obedience is as good as disobedience!!!
The greatest example of obedience was our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul greatly described Jesus’s obedience in Phil 2:8 - And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus in obedience, came down to take a lowly form of a human and willingly went through a painful death as an obedient son to the father’s word. Here’s what our Lord himself said “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” – John 14:23
Obedience to God, clearly draws God’s response of love and blessings towards us. The young Israelites knew that and therefore chose full obedience before prosperity. They knew that it was better to obey God than to run after a prosperous life. Why did they do that? Because they knew in obeying God, prosperity would automatically follow. Faith pursues obedience over Prosperity…obedience over popularity…..obedience over culture.
It is important to ask ourselves this question – Is our faith characterized by obedience? Do we obey even if it costs our progress or it is against the culture? Is our obedience complete? Partial obedience is as good as disobedience. I understand it is hard to be 100% obedient. But is our obedience sincere? Do we fail in small things? It would have been easy for these men to just go ahead and eat!
The second Character of their Faith I want to speak about is
b) FAITH - Nurtured through prayer and fellowship:
As we continue to observe another event in the life of Daniel and these 3 men, we see in Chapter 2. Nebuchadnezzar had this intriguing dream and he called all his enchanters, astrologers, sorcerers and magicians. Here’s what the king said in Dan 2:5 - 5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. Now Daniel and his friends were also included in this order. Going further in the chapter, we read 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven
We should take note of two things here – Their life of prayer and fellowship. Throughout the book of Daniel, we see Daniel had a strong life of prayer. We see in Chapter 6, that Daniel prayed 3 times a day. In Chapter 9, Daniel prayed a prayer of confession and petition for mercy for the nation of Israel. In Vs 23 in that Chapter, the Angel Gabriel comes to Daniel and says “As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed… Notice, “As soon as you began to pray” Daniel’s prayer life was so impactful that his prayer triggered action right away. He also says “you are highly esteemed” Daniel was highly esteemed! I am sure that would have been due to his passionate prayer life. In Chapter 2, Daniel is a Young Man and in Chapter 6 he is an old man. But he never gave up prayer. He did not let the high placed life affect his prayer. Infact he would have perhaps thought that in this culture and society I all the more need prayer.
Going back to the situation, Daniel 2 Vs 18, we find Daniel urged his 3 friends plead for mercy from the God of Heaven. He did not get into a discussion and brainstorm ideas. He said, “let us look to the Lord”. I am sure that Daniel’s prayer and fellowship would have been something that they would have been used to doing. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God’s people gather together to pray and worship God.
Perhaps God is asking you this morning, how do you nurture your faith? Do you nurture it through a strong life of prayer? Do you nurture your Faith through fellowship? It is impossible to nurture Faith without prayer and fellowship. The bible records 650 different prayers. The gospels record 25 instances of Jesus praying. From God’s plan in Genesis to Christ’s institution of the Church. Fellowship was God’s design to nurture faith. In Mathew 18: 19-20 Jesus said Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
In this present day, we are constantly on the run. It is easy for us to find reasons to not pray. Unless we are intentional about taking time out to pray and taking time out to fellowship with fellow believers, we will soon find ourselves weaken in our Faith and slowdown in our spiritual lives. The devil is waiting for you to step away from God. Let me share this quote with you - When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops
Let us move to the my next point on Faith-
II. The Crisis of Faith
Despite the strong foundation the young men had in faith, there was going to come a time, when their Faith would go through a time of trial and lead to a crisis of their Faith. That is exactly what happens. It is interesting that Daniel Chapter 2 ends with King Nebuchadnezzar falling prostrate before Daniel as he was able to interpret his dream and saying “Surely, your God is the God of gods and the Lord of Kings. So he elevated Daniel to a high position, lavished him with many gifts and at his request, he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as administrators in the province of Babylon. In the very next chapter, we see the 3 young men go through this time of Crisis. Obviously, the events of Chapter 3 would have happened several years later. Like with many human beings, king Nebuchadnezzar forgot his experience with Daniel and His God.
He set up this image in a bid to unify his diverse kingdom by creating a common God to worship. At the sound of the orchestra, everyone had to bow down to the image. Now, it is obvious that when you have a whole crowd falls prostrate, 3 guys standing becomes prominently noticed! That now put their lives at risk as they were going to be punished with a horrifying death, by being thrown into a furnace. That death became even more horrifying as their response made the king furious. They said – Dan 3: 16 – 18 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[a] 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.”
Now, is it possible to have a life of faith and no problems at all? No way!! God’s word is clear that our Faith will go through trials. Not because God wants us to suffer and go through hard times. In carefully studying the word of God, we recognize 2 very important aspects of a Faith journey:
In our fallen world, we will go through trials - Although we are saved and live in fellowship with God, we live in a fallen world. Sin corrupted our world and put this world we live in, under God’s judgement on sin. Also, the devil is active in leading this world away from God. He uses his craft to bring situations that put God’s children through crisis situations. Jesus himself said in John 16:33 – In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart for I have overcome the world. Note : “You will”. Throughout the bible, we see men and women who walked a journey of Faith went through several trials. So it is beyond doubt that from time to time those who follow God, will go through trials. But are Trials bad? Going through it could be bad, but we need to remember:
God uses our Trials to grow us – James 1: 2-4 says 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
But going through a time of trail is always painful. As these young men went through it, they showed a tremendous amount of courage. What enabled that courage? There are 2 ways of responding that have always helped men and women of God when facing a crisis of faith:
Look Back – To God’s word and His work in your life and the life of believers. I firmly believe that for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to show that kind of courage, they must have re-called God’s faithfulness in the past. How God elevated them from being captives, how God saved them by enabling Daniel interpret the kings dream and perhaps many other experiences. I also believe that they would have anchored their courage facing a fire on a scripture such as Isaiah 43:2 where God says – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you
Look Forward – To God’s promises in this life and the life to come. The 3 men were not only confident of God’s promises in the present life, but were sure of an eternal life as they knew that even if they were burned to their death, they would be received by God into an eternal life. The promise of eternal life to the faithful was not a strange belief in the old testament times. This was the same assurance David had, that Job had, and so did Isaiah. Take a look at these Old Testament verses: Deuteronomy 5:33 (NIV) 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess
Job 19:25-27 (ESV) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[a] And after my skin as been thus destroyed, yet in[b] my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Isaiah 26:19 (ESV) Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead
It is clear that the promise of everlasting life to the faithful was not a strange belief in the Old Testament times. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said “Even if he does not deliver us, we will not bow down. They knew that their present life was not the only life. They knew that God would receive them into His glory. Therefore, when we go through the Crisis of Faith, it is important to look forward to the great promises of God. God’s word not only assures us of blessings in this life, but the blessing of eternal life, where there will be no more pain or sickness or suffering.
Let’s move to the final point –
III. The Consequence of Faith
Throughout the bible we see great consequences of men and women living by Faith. Holding on to their faith in God, always produced great results to the person and to the work of God. We see that even in the story we are following today about the 3 young men from Israel. As they went through the furnace experience, there were several great things that happened. I am going to highlight 3 of them
A. Presence of God: Faith during a time of crisis draws God close to you more than ever before. Ask anyone who has been through a time of deep trial and they will say, that is when they felt the presence of God the greatest. I have had many such moments and I am sure you too have in your lives. Jesus met the 3 young men in the furnace. He was with them even before they were thrown into the furnace. But He appeared and showed a stronger presence, when they were thrown in to die. The king in his mad fury wanted them to punish them so gruesome that he ordered the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter and bound their hands and legs. Friends, in times when we are pushed to a point that may feel there is no hope and the worst is upon us, God comes through mightily. He remain faithful to his promises. Let me give you a couple of scriptures to remember that His presence is with you even when you are in the furnace:
Heb 13:5 (ESV) “…for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Romans 8: 38-39 (ESV) - 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord..
When we love God and put our trust in him, NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can separate us from him. His presence will be greatly manifested in our furnace
B. Witness for God : Going through a trial, experiencing several emotions like pain, disappointment, frustration, makes it very difficult to realize that it is an opportunity to bear witness of our faith to others. But that is true and that is what we see happen in our story. Notice in Daniel 3: 26-28 (ESV) 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[a] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God
Holding on to our faith, trusting God to see us through, shows the world who we serve and what He can do to those who trust him. In the NIV version of Vs 24, it says “Nebuchadnezzar leapt to his feet! It was not just him, all the other guys who complained. They all witnessed what God did on that day. When we trust God in our trial, the world sees who we Trust and what He does.
Before I conclude I want to share a video of a true story that happened in India
Let us watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IMdZyymkdI
As I opened the newspaper that morning, my mind was deeply impacted by this tragedy. The whole country was sad about what happened. But what blew the minds of many Indians during those days of the trial, was Gladys Stein’s response – She said “These people who took my husband’s life will be touched by that same love”. She also said “I forgive those who did this to my Husband and Children. And she continued God’s mission.
Friends, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, there was no rescue from that fire for Graham and his sons. But I am sure they met Christ right in that experience. Their life of Faith, their work and Gladys’ forgiveness spoke to millions of people. It made a lasting impact on a nation!
Listen very carefully as I end this message: All of us – Every human is headed to a Furnace because of our Sin. That furnace would be the worst. But God in His great love, sent His only Son, just as he sent him on that day in Babylon to save all mankind from that Furnace. The GOOD NEWS is that He sent Him before we get to that furnace. In accepting, believing and confessing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are saved. Therefore, Jesus said “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world”. In other words, this life and what we go through is not the only life. While he is with us in this life, He has prepared a beautiful eternal life!
Let us pray!
-Bro. Ajay Kunde