But, this is no joke :)
I was reading about Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah today. These are the guys we heard stories about in Sunday school(remember the paper-cut-outs-on-felt-board at story-time!?) and watched the vegetable adaptation in the VeggieTales video.
Nothing against Sunday school or VeggieTales(which, I admit, I have watched as an adult with other adults when there were little or no kids around), but I think these stories are way more interesting and powerful than the first glance would lead to believe!
What stood out to me most was the bold commitment and obedience of these four young guys in the midst of a foreign land and people.
And how their God came through for them.
What do we know about our Hebrew homies, Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah?
You may also know them as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
The king of Babylon came and took siege of Jerusalem, and brought back to his kingdom a few select Hebrews. These four guys were included, and the dude in charge gave them new names (probably to fit in better with the Babylonian culture).
When they got to Babylon, they were taken to the palace, and they were given allotted portions of the same food and wine as the king ate and drank. This is where the “no compromise” theme begins. It was something so small and seemingly insignificant, yet powerful.
When they were asked why they would not eat the king’s food like everyone else, Daniel responded, “Why don’t we do a little experiment. You have these guys over here eat from the king’s menu for ten days, and we will eat veggies and water. Then you can decide which is better for everyone, based on our appearance and overall heath.”
The king’s servant agreed, and after ten days, the Hebrew kids were looking better and were healthier than the other guys, so he changed everyone’s menu to what Daniel and his friends were eating.
God had given these four guys a good deal of wisdom and understanding. They were singled out and eventually brought in to stand before the king (kind of a big deal). There were no others found compared to them in all of the king’s magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
After that there were a couple of dreams Daniel interpreted for the king (In short, the king makes a ridiculous demand of his wise-guys, none of them can do it, so he decides to destroy them, but God gives Daniel supernatural insight into the situation and saves some lives. Go read it. Book of Daniel, Chapter 2. It’s a cool story.)
Now, I want to turn our attention to Chapter 3. The story of our three homies, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Let’s call them S, M, & A from now on.
The king sets up this 90ft tall statue of gold, and has a big celebration to dedicate it. He makes a decree that whenever all the people in Babylon hear all kinds of music playing, they must stop whatever they are doing and bow down to the image and worship it. If they do not fall down and worship the image, they are to be immediately thrown into a burning furnace of fire.
Dude.
Little harsh, right?
There were lots of different nationalities represented in Babylon at the time, but no matter who you were, or where you came from, you were to obey this command of the king.
Our Hebrew friends no doubt knew about the proclamation and command. They were leaders over certain affairs of Babylon. But they knew better than to worship anyone or anything besides their God, The God of Israel. So they didn’t bow down.
Word got around that these guys weren’t following orders, and the king became furious. Actually, the Bible says “he called for them in furious rage.” Little intense.
He asked them if it was true that they didn’t obey the command and that they didn’t serve or worship his gods. He also gave them another chance and told them if they would bow down to the statue, then it’s all good. If not, they will immediately be thrown into the fiery furnace and burned alive. Then he says “who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
Pretty sure of himself, eh?
S, M, & A answered the king, “We have no need to answer you in this matter. If you throw us into the furnace, our God, whom we serve, IS ABLE to deliver us out of the furnace, and deliver us out of your hand. But if not, know this: we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you’ve set up.”
Wow.
Here they are, standing on the edge of death (by burning alive!) and still do not compromise their worship. They believe their God will deliver them, and they even go as far as to say that if He doesn’t save them, they’re not going to give in and worship the king’s gods, or bow to his precious gold statue!
That, my friends, is loving your God with abandon. These guys must have known their God well, and known that it was better to die and face whatever came next, than to give in to pressure from their peers, supervisors, and the king of Babylon himself! They were confident in The One they followed and worshipped.
Here’s where things start to really heat up (pun intended). J
The king gets even angrier than before, and he orders the furnace made seven times hotter than normal. He has some of his best warriors tie our Hebrew homies up in all their clothing, and then throw them into the fire. The king’s orders were so urgent and the fire was so hot, that the big strong guys throwing them in DIED!
So these three Hebrew dudes fell, all tied up, into the burning furnace of death.
Now, apparently, this fire-death-pit was situated so that the king could see into it, and he is watching all of this happen. After they get thrown in, he jumps out of his chair, and asks his counselors, “Hey! Didn’t we just throw three guys tied up into the furnace?”
They respond, “Yep.”
Then the king says, “I see four guys! Unbound--and walking around in the middle of the fire! They’re not hurt! And the fourth one looks like a son of the gods!”
The king goes over to the door of the furnace, calls to S, M, & A, and tells them to come out of the furnace.
Our three Hebrew homies come walking right out of the fire, and all the governors, king’s counselors and other peeps, come to see the commotion, and find that not one of them were touched by the fire, their hair wasn’t singed, clothes weren’t burned---
You know that smell that lingers on you after you hang out around a bon-fire?
I love that smell.
These guys were walking around IN THE MIDDLE OF A FURNACE and didn’t even smell like fire or smoke!!!
The king is so impressed with the God of the Hebrews, and their commitment to their God, that he makes a new decree- that if anyone speaks against the God of these Hebrews, they will be torn limb from limb, and their house left in ruins, because there is no god that can save like their God. Then the king promoted them.
Man.
I don’t know about you, but when I read that story, it’s obvious to me that obedience to God is the best thing in any situation. No matter what, without reservation, complete abandon to my God...that’s worth more than comfort, or any amount of approval from man.
These Hebrew homies didn’t compromise or cave beneath the weight of human threat or pursuasion. God showed up, showed off, and then they were promoted! How crazy is that?! Even a foreign, idol-worshipping king gave sincere praise in amazement to their God.
It’s easy to forget sometimes, that I worship and serve the same God as these Hebrew guys. These stories are not just old reading material or a good little bedtime story. They are accurate, historical accounts of what The God of Israel has done for His beloved.
They are stories of real people who, at times, made mistakes, yet still knew who they belonged to, knew who their God was, and followed Him, even if it meant going to their death.
I want to remember- that’s my God. My God is The God who is able- The God who saves. The God who has power over fire, laws and forces of nature, gravity, kings and nations, and who follows through on His word, all to show just how great He is.
The God who didn’t spare his own Son’s life, but sent Him to a cross--a horrific and disturbing death--to become the sacrifice for a people that hated him.
The same powerful God who in the Exodus, parted the Red Sea so His people could walk on to their promised land, is the same God who lets me wake up every morning.
The same God who took on the form of human flesh, was born in humility, walked on this earth, served, loved the “unlovable”, and gave up his very life to rescue His world from it’s self-inflicted brokenness. Jesus not only died for us, but He rose to life again, so that He could give life and light to those who walk in death and darkness.
He is The God who is alive. He is The God who answers.
We can trust Him. He is able to deliver us, as we follow Him with unwavering, uncompromising, love-filled abandon.
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