Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Bring Hope!

Have you ever been told to something that violated your Christian beliefs by an employer or a government? I have and my guess is you have also. Have you ever been told that you cannot where a cross necklace at you place of work? Have you ever been told that you cannot have a plague in your office spaces that has a Bible verse on it? Have you ever been fined because you would not preform a task that would honor something that you believe is against what God’s Word says? Have you ever been told that you cannot express your beliefs at work or in a public place? I have. Have you ever been threatened because of a biblical position you have taken? I have. Today in the world we live in it is becoming harder to demonstrate your Christian beliefs even here in The United States of America. But is it as bad as it has been in past history? Let us take a look at three men who bring me hope because they stood for God and God protected them.

Let us look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I want to look at in particular the story in Daniel 3. First thing that occurs is that Nebuchadnezzar erects a gold statue of himself ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. You certainly could not have missed it. Then Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed “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.” (ESV) Daniel 3:4b-6

Therefore, according to the command Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego need to bow down and worship it. Guess what they did not. Then some of the other leaders told King Nebuchadnezzar. The king became furious and had them brought before him so they might be questioned. The discourse went like this. “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?” (ESV) Daniel 3:13-15 I find something interesting in what King Nebuchadnezzar said notice that even he did not want to throw them into the furnace so he was looking for the god who would save them.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’”

King Nebuchadnezzar proceeded to have the furnace heated seven time hotter than normal and had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into it. It was so hot that the men who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace was burned up.

The King Nebuchadnezzar saw something amazing. He saw four men in the fire not three. Who was that fourth man? King Nebuchadnezzar said “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.” (ESV) Daniel 3:26b In fact not even the hair on their heads had been singed.

After that Nebuchadnezzar said, “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” (ESV) Daniel 3:29 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were then promoted to a higher position in Babylon.

I believe the truth in this story is that God will stand up for me when I stand up for Him. So I have hope because God is for me and there is no one that can be against me. Paul states it well in the rhetorical questions in Romans 8:31-32, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (ESV)

The only way to really be a man or a woman after God’s own heart is to accept Jesus as you personal Lord and Savior. If you do not know Jesus the true source of hope does not abide in you. Learn how to get the hope you need. Learn how to know Jesus

If you have not read my previous blogs you can find them here.

You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.

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