Participants:
Series Code: LGS
Program Code: LGS200104A
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00:01 Hello, I'm Mike Browning, welcome to: Let God Speak.
00:02 With the passage of time, 00:04 even the impact of a miracle loses its impression on us, 00:08 God gave Nebuchadnezzar a vision of the future 00:11 in Daniel chapter 2. 00:12 Initially, he'd accepted the accuracy of the vision 00:15 but in time, the impact wore off. 00:18 Nebuchadnezzar determined to change the future for Babylon. 00:21 So, in Daniel chapter 3, we'll see his futile attempt 00:25 to alter the will of God. 00:26 Music... 00:52 For the people on our Panel today, 00:54 we have Colin Hone and Rod Butler, 00:56 thank you Gentlemen for being here to share with us today. 00:58 We'd invite you to pray with us before we open the Scripture. 01:01 "Father in heaven, 01:03 thank You for the opportunity we have today 01:05 of studying this amazing chapter 3 of Daniel, 01:08 we pray that Your Holy Spirit will guide us 01:11 as we share together and as we study it, please, 01:13 in Jesus' name, amen. " 01:15 All right Folks, 01:17 today we're going to start in Daniel chapter 3 verse 1, 01:20 we'd invite you to look at that chapter with us if you would, 01:23 Daniel 3:1 goes like this, 01:25 "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon 01:28 made an image of gold, 01:29 whose height was sixty cubits, it's width six cubits: 01:33 he set it up in the plain of Dura, 01:36 in the province of Babylon. " 01:37 Now, Nebuchadnezzar built this entire statue of gold 01:41 and he's got a message here, what was he saying, Colin? 01:45 Colin: Well, what he's saying... 01:46 if we go back to Daniel chapter 2, 01:47 he'd had the dream where he was the head of gold... 01:50 there would be other kingdoms after him... 01:51 and what was he saying? 01:52 He's saying, "I'm defying you God, 01:54 I want to be all gold 01:55 and my kingdom's going to last forever. " 01:57 So, he was defying God... 01:58 as events that were going to happen. 02:01 Mike: Okay... and wanting to change the course of history. 02:02 Colin: That's right. 02:04 Mike: Let's go to that line which is interesting. 02:05 He had a particular message for God here, didn't he, Ron? 02:09 Ron: He did... his message was pretty blunt, 02:10 basically he's saying, "You are wrong... 02:12 Babylon will last forever. " 02:14 Mike: Very interesting isn't it? 02:16 It was pretty straight... plain statement wasn't it? 02:19 Very strong. 02:20 Can we excuse Nebuchadnezzar for this? 02:23 He had a pagan background, didn't he, Colin, 02:26 you know, can we cut him some slack here? 02:29 Colin: Well, yes and no... he had experiences before... 02:35 God had sort of brought Daniel and his friends 02:38 and they passed the test of diet 02:41 and then they found him to have wisdom beyond measure, 02:43 ten times more wisdom, so he'd seen that 02:47 and then he'd seen the dream where Daniel revealed the dream, 02:52 well, God revealed the dream to Daniel 02:54 and he revealed to the king 02:55 so, the king saw all this before him, 02:57 but still, he... he obviously was dealing with... 03:00 with his pagan beliefs and it was hard to shake. 03:03 Mike: It was... and he even... 03:05 and he even told Nebuchadnezzar what he had been thinking. 03:09 Now, you have to be in touch with the supernatural power 03:12 to do that, so he knew... 03:13 I notice in chapter 2:29 it says, 03:15 "As for you, O king... " 03:17 this is Daniel talking to Nebuchadnezzar... 03:19 "thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, 03:21 about what would come to pass after this: 03:23 and He Who reveals secrets 03:25 has made known to you what will be in the future. " 03:28 So, he'd had plenty of opportunities really, 03:31 to understand what God was capable of doing... 03:35 the God of the Hebrews 03:36 and that was really interesting... all right. 03:37 Okay, how... I mean... 03:42 these things did have a big impact on Nebuchadnezzar 03:44 at the time... didn't they? 03:46 You know, he was really impacted by this. 03:48 Rod: He was and if you go back to chapter 2 and verse 46, 03:54 it says, "Then the king Nebuchadnezzar 03:57 fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel... " 03:59 Now, you got to remember who is... who's at play... 04:02 this is... this is Nebuchadnezzar... 04:03 this is an absolute monarch... a mighty king... 04:06 he's so impacted 04:07 that he falls on his face in front of the Hebrew captive 04:11 okay, one of his rural officers... to worship him. 04:14 That's what I would say as being pretty impacted 04:16 by what he'd experienced. 04:18 Mike: Yeah, yeah, and he... I mean, who does that... 04:22 who falls in front of a human being 04:23 no matter how astounding what they just said was 04:25 but he did 04:27 and so, yes, your point is a very good one indeed. 04:30 It throws... this whole talk story to me 04:34 throws a lot of light, Colin, on what we will be remembered for 04:37 after we pass off the scene of action in life. 04:40 Colin: That's true, when it's all said and one 04:42 it's only our faith that matters... 04:45 our faith in God... 04:46 our gold... our bank accounts... 04:48 our properties or whatever we have 04:50 is really... means nothing in the end. 04:52 It's our faith and our... and belief in God 04:55 and trusting in God and His plan. 04:57 Mike: Okay, and that's what Nebuchadnezzar 04:59 is hopefully about to learn and that's really good 05:02 so time goes by for Nebuchadnezzar... 05:04 the deep impression laid by that vision 05:07 of that statue in chapter 2 slightly fades away 05:11 and then, his natural sense of rebellion kicks back in 05:14 and the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks, 05:18 "No, Babylon is not going to pass away... " 05:21 and he just can't get over this. 05:23 So, what does he do in chapter 3 verse 2, 05:25 it says here in verse 2, 05:27 "King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, 05:30 the administrators, the governors, 05:32 the counselors, the treasurers, 05:34 the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials... " 05:36 anybody who had influence... 05:37 "to come to the dedication of the image 05:40 which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. " 05:43 So, describe for us what's going on here, Rod. 05:47 Rod: Well, what he's done is 05:49 he's wanting to make a very powerful statement 05:51 to all his subjects in his kingdom 05:52 and if you look at all those people he's called, 05:55 they represent the government, they represent the legislature, 05:59 they represent the... the judiciary... 06:01 they're all the important leaders 06:03 and if you also consider... 06:05 now, back then, we're talking about Nebuchadnezzar's empire. 06:09 This was a... an area which was basically... 06:12 today encompasses Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, 06:17 bits of Turkey and bits of Iran... 06:20 this is a... it all divided into provinces, 06:23 there was a lot of people there, 06:24 and all those people were influential... 06:26 this was the A-List crowd being summoned together. 06:30 Mike: It was a huge job bringing them over here though, 06:32 it must have taken lot of... 06:33 a lot of work and organizing ability there. 06:36 Okay, so thanks for that, 06:38 he's also got another message that he's giving here, Colin. 06:41 Colin: Yeah, he's saying, 06:43 "Enough of all the other gods... " 06:45 messing around with gods... 06:46 he's basically saying, 06:47 "I'm God, you're going to bow down to me. " 06:50 So, he's sending a clear statement out there 06:53 to the world, as you've just said, 06:55 that, "I am God... 06:56 my kingdom is going to last forever 06:58 and what their God said is not going... 07:00 the Hebrew God... is not going to happen... 07:02 my god and me as God. " 07:05 Mike: This was... this was a really... 07:07 a very defining moment for this man, wasn't it? 07:09 I'm going to read on in chapter 3 07:11 starting in verse 4 now, 07:13 "The herald cried aloud: 'To you it is commanded, 07:17 O peoples, nations, and languages... '" 07:19 so, he's addressing everybody in the crowd... 07:21 verse 5, "at the time you hear the sound of the horn, 07:24 the flute, the harp, the lyre, and psaltery, 07:26 in symphony with all kinds of music... " 07:28 they got an orchestra here in the place... 07:30 very emotionally moving music no doubt... 07:33 "you shall fall down then and worship the golden image 07:37 that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up... " 07:39 and that wasn't all... 07:41 verse 6... "whoever does not fall down and worship the image, 07:46 shall be cast immediately 07:48 into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. " 07:50 Quite an incentive here, 07:52 so what was the underlying issue here Rod, in all of this? 07:56 What's he got in mind? 07:57 Rod: Well, this is all about worship, 07:59 this is about, "You worship my god... " 08:02 this is actually a challenge to God and it's... 08:06 it's about worship. 08:08 Mike: Yeah, and bearing in mind that all these nations 08:09 that were represented by these officials 08:11 had their own gods. 08:13 So, this is... not only... 08:16 not only is this an affront to the Hebrew... 08:20 the God of Creation but all gods. 08:22 Colin: And free choice... free choice... free worship... 08:25 Mike: That's right, no freedom of religion in those days. 08:28 Rod: It's also interesting too 08:29 that even up unto recent centuries 08:31 monarchs felt that to have stability in the empire, 08:35 people had to worship the same... 08:36 and here's Nebuchadnezzar enforcing his god. 08:40 Mike: Hmmm... Rod: Hmmm... 08:41 Mike: He's about... he's about to learn... 08:44 not only he needs to learn 08:46 but he's going to make a start, isn't he? 08:47 Okay, so, the orchestra plays... 08:50 the people fall on their faces to worship Nebuchadnezzar... 08:55 he's "quite great" he thought as he looks around 08:57 until something happens. 08:59 Colin: Hmmm... well you read in chapter 3 09:02 verse 12, and so what happened is... 09:05 some leaders came up... Chaldeans... 09:09 they came... they came up and it says in verse 12, 09:12 "There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs 09:14 of the province of Babylon: 09:16 Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego; 09:17 these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. 09:20 They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image 09:23 which you have set up. " 09:24 So, obviously Nebuchadnezzar didn't see that 09:26 because they brought the attention to his men 09:29 and so he says, "Okay, well, bring them to me... " 09:30 and he then tests them out. 09:33 So, he obviously knew who they were 09:34 so they pointed them 09:36 and he had experiences with them obviously 09:38 in the test of eating and there was the dream 09:40 and so he was like, 09:41 "Okay, I'm going to give these guys a second chance. " 09:43 Mike: Yeah, it's really interesting isn't it, 09:45 there was a big crowd... they got lost in the crowd 09:48 but they were seen just the same 09:50 so they'd come up and tell him. 09:52 Colin: And... and... and it was a direct call 09:55 to break one of God's Commandments... 09:56 that's the one about worship, 09:58 you can read that in Exodus... 09:59 it talks about that in Exodus chapter 20 verse 4 and 5, 10:04 where God points out in verse 4 of Exodus chapter 20, 10:08 verse 3, "You should have no other gods before Me... " 10:11 and then He says, He gets specific and He says, 10:13 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image... 10:15 anything... likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 10:18 or in the earth beneath, 10:19 or that is in the water under the earth; 10:21 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 10:23 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God... " 10:25 and... and He says this is a direct violation 10:28 of God's commandment. 10:29 That's what Nebuchadnezzar was doing, so... 10:32 Mike: Yeah, yeah, so they understood the Ten Commandments 10:34 just as we do today 10:36 and they weren't going to break that Commandment, 10:40 that's apparently the picture here... 10:43 um... Daniel chapter 3... 10:45 I'm going to read on from where you... 10:46 you finished up in verse 2 by going to verse 13 there 10:49 which is, "Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, 10:52 gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 10:57 So they brought these men before the king... " 10:59 and he's really mad now... 11:01 and in verse 14 it says, 11:03 "Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, 11:04 'Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 11:07 that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image 11:11 which I have set up?'" 11:12 So, Nebuchadnezzar is really angry, 11:15 what do you think is going through his mind, Rod? 11:17 Quite a lot of things... 11:19 Rod: A lot of things but I think what he's thinking, 11:21 "Oh no, I've forgotten all about them... " 11:24 he's probably just remembered who they are... 11:26 he knows their background... they're ten times wiser... 11:28 he knows the God they worship. 11:29 Mike: And Daniel wasn't there obviously. 11:31 Rod: He's not there. 11:33 Mike: So I wonder why... did he think about 11:34 sending Daniel off on a special job? 11:36 Rod: We... we don't know 11:37 but he's probably got this great dilemma 11:39 going through his mind, "What do I do? 11:40 They defied me... I'm the king... I'm the ruler... 11:43 I'm the monarch... they defied me... 11:44 there's disobedience here I've got to punish 11:46 but... they're special. " 11:48 Had it been anybody else... straight in the furnace, 11:50 but he does give them a second chance. 11:52 Mike: That's quite remarkable actually 11:54 and Daniel chapter 3... still People... on verse 15, 11:57 um... it says now... 11:59 Nebuchadnezzar says to the three young men, 12:01 "Now if you are ready 12:04 at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, 12:06 et cetera, the orchestra... 12:07 and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, 12:11 good! 12:12 But if you do not worship, 12:13 you shall be cast immediately into the midst 12:16 of a burning fiery furnace... " 12:17 and then this, 12:19 "And who is the god who will deliver you from my hand?" 12:23 Now, that's... we've often read in the Scripture, 12:26 challenges like that 12:27 and God always seems to rise to those challenges 12:29 but first of all, why second chance, Colin? 12:32 Colin: Well, again, I think he knew of their past 12:36 as we just spoke about, 12:38 he knew that these guys have passed the test... 12:40 the eating test... they're ten times smarter than everyone else 12:44 and he appointed them over... 12:45 gave them governorships over that. 12:47 Mike: They had integrity and he knew that. 12:49 Colin: Yeah, and he also knew 12:50 that they were part of the group with Daniel... 12:53 you know, who interpreted that dream... 12:55 which actually led to this statue. 12:57 You know, he built the statue and that was a reminder 13:01 that these guys weren't going to bow down to that statue 13:03 because he had the dream about the statue in the first place 13:06 and it was a different dream 13:08 than what he was now trying to portray to the world, 13:11 so, it was a reminder 13:12 so he was trying to give them a second chance to say... 13:14 "Okay, come on guys, bow down... " 13:16 but they wouldn't do it. 13:18 Mike: Okay, so, he throws out this challenge, Rod, 13:22 to the people... Nebuchadnezzar... 13:24 he just makes it pretty plain where he stands, doesn't he? 13:27 Rod: Yeah, and when we look in verse 15 where it says, 13:30 "And who is that God 13:31 that shall deliver you out of my hands?" 13:33 it brings to mind another challenge, 13:37 if we turn back to Exodus verse 5... 13:40 chapter 5 and verse 2, 13:42 we have another king... another monarch called Pharaoh, 13:46 and he says, "Who is the Lord, 13:47 that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?" 13:49 Mike: Hmmm... very similar. 13:51 Rod: There's a challenge, we know what happened there... 13:53 after ten plagues, the country was in ruins 13:56 and then, I think of another one too 13:58 if we just turn to 2nd Kings chapter 18 14:01 and if we look at verse 35, 14:04 this is the... this is the incident 14:06 where the Assyrian king Sennacherib 14:08 has just gone and basically rampaged through Israel 14:13 but he now wants to take Jerusalem 14:15 and he says to Hezekiah... 14:17 Mike: What verse is this? 14:20 Rod: 2nd Kings chapter 18 and verse 35, 14:23 here's his challenge, 14:25 "Who are they among all the gods of the countries, 14:27 that have delivered their country out of my hand, 14:29 that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" 14:33 Mike: Hmmm... hmmm... 14:34 Rod: Well, if we go one chapter further, chapter 19... 14:36 and the same verse... verse 35, 14:38 the outcome of that didn't end well for poor old Sennacherib, 14:42 it says, in one night, the angel of the Lord 14:46 smote a 185,000 soldiers 14:48 and then Sennacherib goes back to... to Nineveh 14:52 and he's killed by his sons. 14:53 Mike: Hmmm... hmmm... 14:55 Rod: So, it's never a good idea 14:56 to shake your fists and say, "Who are you God?" 14:58 Which is what we see here happening with Nebuchadnezzar. 15:01 Colin: Specially for a king, 15:03 it has... it's wrong to do that. 15:05 Mike: Yeah, okay, so let's come back 15:08 to our story of Nebuchadnezzar, 15:09 thank you for that, by the way, Rod, 15:10 back to that story, 15:12 how do these three respond to the threat of the furnace? 15:16 Colin: Let's read in Daniel chapter 3 verse 17, 15:19 it says... well, first they've said, 15:23 "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you 15:25 in this matter... " this is in verse 16, 15:27 but 17 says this, 15:28 "If that is the case, our God whom we serve 15:31 is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, 15:34 and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. 15:37 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, 15:39 that we will not serve your gods, 15:41 nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. " 15:44 They had made a stand 15:45 and they were going to be faithful 15:47 no matter how the outcome... 15:48 whether they were rescued or not, 15:49 they were going to make a stand. 15:51 Mike: Faithful, no matter what. Colin: Yeah. 15:52 Mike: That's the only way to be, 15:54 we've all got to make those kinds of decisions, I think, 15:55 in fact, it's very fascinating to me, 15:57 I'm going to turn now for a moment 15:59 to Revelation chapter 13, 16:01 because in Revelation chapter 13, 16:03 we see a description there that tastes very similar to this, 16:07 to this... that our world is going to face 16:09 and we may well have to face this test. 16:12 Revelation chapter 13, I'm going to read verses 15 and 16, 16:16 it talks about a power at the end of time... end of history... 16:20 who, it says, "was granted power 16:22 to give breath to the image of the beast, 16:25 that the image of the beast should both speak 16:27 and cause as many as would not worship 16:29 the image of the beast to be killed. " 16:31 This is the beast of the Mark-of-the-Beast fame, 16:34 and in verse 16 it says, 16:37 "He causes all, both small and great, 16:38 rich and poor, free and slave, 16:41 to receive a mark in their right hand or on their foreheads, 16:45 that no man might buy or sell... " 16:46 if you don't have... 16:48 it says, "the mark... 16:49 the name of the beast, or the number of his name. " 16:51 Colin: Hmmm... 16:53 Mike: So, there is a test which we all know 16:54 was the Mark of the Beast. 16:56 This time, it's actually Babylon at work again 16:59 but it's spiritual Babylon this time, 17:01 not literal Babylon as we have with Nebuchadnezzar 17:03 and they're making a... a similar demand 17:07 upon the faithful right at the close of history 17:11 before the second coming of Christ... 17:13 just before His coming. 17:14 Over in chapter 14... still on the same page for me... 17:17 chapter 14 and verse 8, it says this, 17:20 this is a message to the world, by the way, and it says this, 17:24 "Another angel followed, saying, 17:26 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 17:30 because she has made all nations drink of the wine 17:33 of the wrath of her fornication. " 17:34 I should just point out... 17:36 again, this is not literal Babylon over there 17:39 in the Middle East, Folks, this is spiritual Babylon 17:42 and it's across the world 17:44 and it causes the whole world... it says, "all nations 17:46 to drink of the wine of the wrath 17:49 of her spiritual fornication... " 17:51 which is very powerful indeed 17:54 can you brief us on the issues, Colin? 17:57 We've talked about this, give us a brief on the issues. 18:00 Colin: Well, we see the same issue 18:01 that was in Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon... 18:04 in literal Babylon... 18:05 is the same it's going to be in spiritual Babylon... 18:08 it's over worship... 18:10 and so... where... where... 18:12 the worship is in the Ten Commandments 18:14 and so, the first four commandments 18:16 in the Ten Commandments are about worshiping God 18:18 and the last six are about our relationship to each other, 18:22 so, it will be on the lines of worship 18:24 on the first four commandments. 18:25 Now, we're going to read Revelation chapter 14 verses 7, 18:29 right, about... 18:30 in... in contrast to this message in Revelation 13 18:34 about the "Mark of the Beast" and false worship 18:36 and the governments, you know, to the world and... 18:38 and religions to... to force people to worship, 18:41 in contrast, there's this message that goes out to the world 18:43 called the "Three Angels Message" 18:45 in contrast... and in verse 7 it says, 18:48 "Saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God... '" 18:50 and wherever you read "Fear God... " 18:52 if you do a Bible Study and go back and look at "Fear God... " 18:54 it always has to do with commandments of God... 18:57 there's a link between "Fear God" 18:59 and the Commandments of God... 19:01 "and to give glory to Him, 19:02 for the hour of His judgment has come... " 19:04 so, there's a "judgment" message that started 19:06 and it says these words, "and worship... " 19:08 so, there's that word again, "worship" 19:09 "worship Him... " 19:11 and interesting, this time it says, 19:13 "who made the heaven and the earth, 19:14 the sea... the springs of water. " 19:16 Now that's direct quote out of the fourth commandment, 19:19 where... where God is the Creator of the heavens and earth 19:22 and it tells about Who He is... His territory... 19:25 what He created... 19:27 so, this is actually a reference to the fourth commandment, 19:29 that he's quoting here. 19:31 Mike: Which deals with the 7th day Sabbath... 19:32 which is interesting isn't it. 19:33 Colin: Yes, exactly, so there will be a worldwide movement 19:38 to force people to worship against the fourth commandment 19:43 of keeping the 7th day Sabbath holy. 19:44 Mike: Which is... "God is the Creator" 19:46 and it's rather interesting... in the description of the people 19:48 who are saying "No" to the Mark of the Beast. 19:50 If you look at chapter 14 verse 12 of Revelation, 19:53 it says, "Here is the patience of the saints... " 19:55 the people of God... 19:56 "here are those who keep the commandments of God 19:59 and the faith of Jesus. " 20:01 The two go hand in hand 20:02 and especially at the end of time. 20:04 Okay, thank you for that, we'll have to move on... 20:06 those are the issues, then, Colin, 20:09 at the end of time... 20:10 and it's very serious stuff, 20:13 all right, back to our story. 20:14 Nebuchadnezzar... when these young men say, 20:18 "Look, we're not... we just can't do that... 20:20 we can't worship that golden image, 20:21 he loses it totally. 20:23 Daniel chapter 3, Folks, 20:25 if you can turn with me to Daniel chapter 3, 20:28 and verse 9 this time, and this is what happened. 20:32 Sorry, not verse 9, this will be verse 19. 20:37 "Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury... " 20:39 and he loses it 20:40 "and the expression on his face changed 20:42 toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 20:45 He spoke and commanded they should heat this furnace 20:48 seven times more than it was usually heated. " 20:50 So the thing is really scorching now. 20:51 Well, what did they do 20:54 with the young men? 20:56 They got the furnace... what happens next? 20:58 Rod: Well these... these three guys who had made their stand... 21:01 they had no inside information they were going to be saved... 21:04 I mean, we know... we know the end of the story, 21:06 but they didn't... they're there... 21:08 as far as they knew, they were going to be... 21:11 be burned... 21:13 they were bound up and they've got time to reflect 21:16 but they still... they stood by their decision 21:19 and the furnace was so hot that the... 21:22 the soldiers were killed walking to the fire 21:24 to throw them in. 21:26 Mike: Yeah, and then something dramatic happened 21:27 according to verse 24 and 25. 21:29 "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; 21:32 and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, 21:35 'Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?' 21:38 And they answered and said to the king, 'True, O king. '" 21:41 But there's obviously something else happening here Folks, 21:44 and he says, "Look! Well I see four men loose, 21:47 walking in the midst of the fire; 21:49 and they are not hurt... " 21:50 and then this... 21:51 "the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. " 21:54 Can you sort of describe the scene for us here? 21:58 Colin: Well, let's put it this way, 21:59 he sends three men to a fire and you see a fourth man there, 22:02 who's sort of like... like a form of "Son of God" 22:05 He was almost glowing... you know, 22:07 the fire within the fire... 22:08 and they're walking around and they're protected. 22:11 This reminds me back of that story in Revelation we just said 22:14 where Spiritual Babylon is going to do the same thing 22:17 but He is God... Son of God... 22:20 is going to protect them and take care of them 22:23 and so, I thought it was an amazing... amazing... 22:25 would have been quite amazing 22:26 to see a fourth person walking around in the fire. 22:28 Mike: It is... and then they're coming out of the fire 22:30 and all of the leading men gather around 22:33 these three young men 22:35 and according to verse 27, they do this, 22:37 "The satraps, administrators, governors, 22:40 and the king's counselors gathered together, 22:42 and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; 22:46 the hair of their head was not singed 22:48 nor were their garments affected, 22:50 and the smell of the fire was not upon them. " 22:54 Why the examination? 22:56 Well, they're doing a close examination 22:58 of checking their clothing and everything. 23:00 Well, this was an undeniable miracle. 23:01 You know, with the passing of time, no one would believe this, 23:05 so they physically had to go out and see it 23:08 and they would acknowledge 23:09 God's mighty power over all the elements... including fire. 23:13 Mike: Yeah, yeah, and they'd never forget that. 23:15 Now, there's an important part we need to consider here 23:18 very briefly, 23:19 does God always promise to protect us 23:21 in situations like this, Colin? 23:23 Colin: He... He doesn't always 23:25 because we know that many people have been burned at the stake. 23:27 but I've heard incredible stories 23:29 that He gives you courage when you need it 23:31 and how do you go singing when you're being burned on a stake? 23:34 Mike: Nobody is a born martyr 23:35 but God's gift can gift people to... 23:38 Colin: Yes, and so... 23:39 yes, but God does promise to be with you 23:41 and that's what's interesting about martyrs 23:43 when we look at them 23:44 and look at Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 2, 23:46 there's even a prophecy here where... 23:49 where it talks about the... 43 verse 2... 23:51 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 23:55 And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. 23:58 When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned... " 24:00 now, this was written 24:02 a few hundred years before they went in the fire, 24:04 so they would have known about that... 24:07 and that God could deliver them and walk with them in the fire 24:09 but He would be with you always no matter what you go through. 24:11 Mike: Interestingly, Isaiah who wrote that 24:14 himself was... was not spared death. 24:16 Colin: Well, he was sawn in half I believe... 24:17 something like that. 24:19 Rod: Can you imagine what was going through 24:20 these three young men's minds, 24:22 they've just made a stand... 24:24 they've given up their life of... of ease and... 24:27 and acknowledgement being a rural officer, 24:29 they're being bound up... 24:31 they're probably thinking, 24:33 "Lord, if You're going to save me, You'd better hurry up, 24:35 it's pretty hot here. 24:36 Or they could have just been at peace and just rested in the... 24:39 I don't know... but I've often wondered... 24:41 what were they thinking as they're being marched off to... 24:44 carried off to a fiery furnace? 24:45 Mike: I think there would be a profound peace with them 24:46 to be frank with you on this one. 24:48 Okay, so now what does Nebuchadnezzar do 24:50 with this experience? 24:51 He... he... he... he himself has a response obviously, 24:56 and I'm looking at verse... chapter 3 verse 29 and 30 there 25:01 and it says that he says, "I'll make a decree... " 25:03 so, he... he gets... and makes another decree 25:06 which is interesting 25:08 because these decrees keep coming out of Babylon, 25:10 "that any people, nation or language 25:14 which speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, 25:16 and Abednego shall be cut in pieces... " 25:18 he got the same attitude but he just... 25:20 he got a different God here... 25:22 "their houses shall be made an ash heap; 25:24 because no other God... 25:25 there is no other God who can deliver like this. " 25:27 Well, that was so true. 25:29 Rod: This must have had a very deep impact 25:31 and I'm sure all the previous things he'd seen 25:34 have come flooding back to his mind 25:36 and he now really knows about the God of heaven. 25:39 Mike: Yes, he does... 25:40 and he's... on pain of death people are to be reverential 25:44 in the way they talk about the God of heaven. 25:45 Okay, now we need to just briefly talk about the question 25:49 that is this, "What is the secret, Colin, 25:52 of a strong faith like that?" 25:54 Colin: Well, if you've ever read the book of Hebrews chapter 11, 25:56 it's called the "Faith" chapter 25:58 and it has a story of all these people 26:00 who are faithful in adversity, 26:01 it just goes through... lists everyone... 26:04 it's like a "Who's Who" of the Bible, 26:06 and the one thing they all looked forward to 26:08 was the promise of the future... 26:09 a promise of a kingdom that God would set up, 26:12 and no matter what happened to them, 26:14 they're putting their faith in that. 26:15 Mike: Yeah, okay, so they... they trusted 26:17 that God was going to bring something good out of this 26:20 and that there was an eternal future for them. 26:21 Colin: That's right 26:23 and they were prepared to go their death over it... 26:24 because they looked at the future 26:26 for a promised heavenly kingdom. 26:27 Mike: Yes, and there were millions of people 26:30 who went to their graves covered with ignominy 26:32 but who were God's champions in fact. 26:35 Rod: But having gone to their grave, 26:37 they were a great witness to those who saw that. 26:39 Colin: Yes. Mike: That's correct, 26:40 that was a wonderful thing 26:42 and we've just read the story of three young men 26:45 who were prepared to do that. 26:46 Rod: Yeah. 26:48 Mike: And I'm impressed with the courage of these young men 26:50 and their faith. 26:51 So Folks, we need to keep that in mind... 26:53 an authentic faith 26:56 means surrendering our will to God's will... 26:58 whatever that should be... 27:00 it means doing what is right and true 27:04 regardless of the consequences, 27:06 it means, people of principle 27:07 and God is seeking such people to worship Him even today. 27:12 Well people, we hope you were blessed by: Let God Speak today. 27:16 You can see all of our past programs 27:20 on our website: 3abnaustralia. org. au 27:23 Teacher's notes can also be downloaded there. 27:26 You can e-mail us if you prefer to do so 27:29 on: Lgs@3abnaustralia. org. au 27:35 and we'd like to hope and invite you to join us again 27:39 in our next program and God bless until then. |
Revised 2020-04-15