We are going to continue our study on the Aleph Tav. If you are new here, I recommend reading through the very first post on this subject called, Jesus is the Aleph Tav. It will give you a great foundation for all the other posts in this series. 

Daniel & His 3 Friends – The Backstory

Today’s story is found in Daniel chapter 3. Daniel was a young Jewish man who found himself in a governmental transition. Hundreds of years after the Israelites made it into the Promised Land, most of the country’s leadership had turned away from the Lord and started worshipping idols. Remember, after King Solomon’s rule, the nation split into northern and southern kingdoms. The northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah was being conquered by the Babylonians.

Daniel and his three friends were part of the royal bloodline or what they called “the nobility.” Their families had prominence in the Kingdom of Judah. Well, the young men and women in these families were taken back to Babylon and trained in Babylonian culture, language and trends, in order for them to be of service to the King of Babylon. 

These young men had Godly convictions and stood firm on those convictions, despite the temptations of a pagan culture. 

Well, their lives were threatened after King Nebuchadnezzar had a crazy dream of a statue. They all prayed, and Daniel was given the interpretation of the dream. After Daniel relayed the interpretation to King Nebuchadnezzar, he got promoted and subsequently got his three friends promoted as well.

So these four Jewish men become leaders inside a foreign government, and they stay faithful to the Lord God. And this brings us to today’s story about the fiery furnace found in Daniel chapter 3. Let’s read a bit of this story.

The Golden Statue

“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 

Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 

that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 

Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” Daniel 3:1-7 (ESV)

Now King Nebuchadnezzar is not a stupid man. He is probably one of the wisest men in the world at this point and also probably the most powerful man in the world.

To back up this statement, let’s look at Daniel chapter 4:

“[The tree in the dream] is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.” Daniel 4:22 (ESV)

Similar to Daniel chapter 2, the Prophet Daniel in chapter 4 interprets a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar, and part of his interpretation shows that the dominion of the king reaches to the ends of the earth.

And if you remember his dream from chapter 2, it was a large statue with a head of gold, which represented the kingdom of Babylon, then the chest and arms of silver that represented the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, then its middle and thighs of bronze that represented the Greeks, then legs of iron which represented the Romans, and finally feet of iron and clay mixed, which represent pretty much everything after the Roman empire or the very last empire on the earth before Christ’s return.

Well, I give you all that background to show you that Nebuchadnezzar’s all-golden statue in chapter 3 is likely a declarative response to his dream in chapter 2. Basically, it’s this: “Oh, some God tells me that my glorious kingdom of gold will not be around for hundreds of years? Well guess what? My kingdom of gold will continue on perpetually, because I am that awesome.”

Basically, he was setting up himself and his kingdom as the ultimate authority on the earth. He was making himself up to be a god. 

And so what we just read a few minutes ago shows us that King Nebuchadnezzar wanted all the leadership in his kingdom to come into agreement with this anti-God narrative. It was a false timeline, setting up a false god, a false religion, and he was making everyone in leadership agree to his antichrist agenda, else they would be killed in the fiery furnace. They were, in effect, pledging allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar as both their king and their god.

And as Bible-believing (or Torah-believing), God-fearing Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to this idea, to this philosophy, to this idolatry! 

In fact, Shadrach’s Hebrew name Hananiah means “God has favored.” The Lord was definitely favoring these 3 men.

Let’s read on in the story to see what happens to these guys.

The Accusations

“Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 

Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 

Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Daniel 3:8-15 (ESV)

Notice that certain people came forward and maliciously accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What they brought forth as an accusation was actually the truth. But likely these were the type of people who were looking for any excuse to get rid of God-fearing men, probably because they wanted their positions of authority.

Sometimes in your life, when you stand on the convictions that the Lord has given you, someone or a group of people may call you out, so that what was overlooked can no longer be overlooked. It must be dealt with by the leadership. And in that moment, are you going to stand by your convictions, when the rubber meets the road? Or are you going to cave in to the pressure from the enemy? 

This is a very real choice that all of us at some point in our lives have gone through or will go through. It’s one of those Biblical cycles that men and women of God must go through. It’s a testing. You might even call it the Furnace of Affliction. Sometimes the enemy is at the root of this test; sometimes it is God. But everyone goes through this sort of test.

Remember when Jesus was led into the desert after his baptism for a 40 day fast? It was in preparation for one of these tests. The devil showed up and basically gave Jesus a shortcut to his Godly scroll, saying, “Worship me and I can give all this stuff to you.” 

Jesus, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego hundreds of years before Him, had to make a choice. Was He going to submit to the pressure, or was He going to stand firm on His convictions? He stood firm, and He used the Word of God as His weapon, because the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit.

Next week we will conclude this study with a look at how these guys dealt with the evil they were facing. I hope you will join me!