Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” – Daniel 3:16-18 BSB

Warrior;

What god will be able to deliver you from “ITS” hand- whatever IT IS. Could that be the question of our salvation? What god? What is your reason for existence? Why are you HERE? This is your GOD. We were not created for this fleshly experience.  We were created for what is coming next.  This is the MINOR leagues, we are preparing for the Millennial rule and Eternity, back to Yahweh’s Edenic vision. We get our ORDERS from this experience, but we were made for FAR GREATER than this!  Remember the BOOKENDS!  It is written: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10) The 4 Hebrew boys are famous. We are reading about Shadrach, Meschac, and Abednego in the book of Daniel; these 4 young men knew why they were here, and what GOD will be able to deliver them. How do we know?  Because they ACTED, AS IF.  We know their names not because of what they THOUGHT, but because of what THEY DID.  Our thoughts are important, they are what dictates what is on the tablet of the heart.  However, we must realize that no matter how good, or how bad our thoughts are- we are not our thoughts, we are what we do. You can tell people you BELIEVE in God, but can they SEE IT in your actions?  IF being a follower of the God of the Bible was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Leader, scholars believe Chapter 3 was written a little over a decade after Chapter 2 of Daniel.  About 10 years after Nebuchadnezzar came into power there was a revolt against his rule. He personally put it down.  You don’t put down a rebellion as a dictator in a loving way.  The time of this incident here in chapter 3 is part of the king re-establishing his rule\authority over Babylon.  This was a golden statue about 90 feet tall and 9 feet thick.  It was on a flat plane, with intense sun beating down on it and nothing but flat landscape for hundreds of miles.  It could be seen from miles- it was awesome in its presence.  It is believed that it was an image of the Babylonian war god, Marduke. In this time in history, it was a battle of the gods.  If you beat me in battle, it was because your god was greater than my god. This forced worship was to pay homage to a foreign god, and these 4 Hebrew boys knew not only WHO they were, but they knew WHOSE THEY WERE.  Do you know Why you are here, who you are, and Whose you are?  These 4 boys were in BABYLON, the seat of lasciviousness, they could have whatever they wanted being in the king’s court, in the king’s house, at the king’s table- but they knew WHOSE THEY WERE. They denied the trappings of the world, the comforts of fitting in, and the lusts of the eyes, ears, and flesh.  This is why we know their story; this is why we know their names. 

Conduit, at the end of Chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the same god, that he is now challenging. Hear the Word of the Lord; At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering of incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. And at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court. (Daniel 2:46-49) The World will make us double minded.  We can be convicted of one thing one day, and then get so wrapped up in the MINOR LEAGUES, that we forget about that conviction– like Nebuchadnezzar.  This is the value of the Bible; Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  There are 2 stories in the Bible that reference how easily we forget what IMPORTANT is; see The Parable of the Great Banquet found in Luke 14:15-24 and the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14). The Bible is also full of TYPES and SHADOWS- something that is an example of something else to come.  Nebuchadnezzar is a type of the Antichrist. The 3 Hebrew boys; Shadrach, Meschac and Abednego are types of the 144,000 Jewish disciples of Jesus who will be marked and protected during Jacob’s Trouble. See Revelation 7. The book of Hebrews talks about these 4 Hebrew boys in the HALL OF FAME of FAITH in Chapter 11… who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging fire! God says He will never destroy the earth again by water, but He will destroy it by Fire, and then the New Jerusalem will come down (see 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 19:11-21:5) And where was DANIEL when all this happened?  Daniel didn’t bow to this Canaanite god.  Yet, he was nowhere to be found, it was AS IF, he was TAKEN AWAY. Yet He shows up again, later and has his sleepover with Yahweh in the lion’s den. (see Daniel 6) Daniel is a type of the CHURCH, who although she experiences persecution and tribulation, she does not go through THE GREAT TRIBULATION- but she returns again with our KING for His Second Coming!  We discipline our children; we don’t discipline our brides- neither does our GOOD GOD!  If you were to take a look at your life, to see how you have ACTED, Up Until Now- what TYPE have you been?  Today what will you CHOOSE to DO, that backs up what you PROFESS TO BELIEVE?