Good day Saints in Christ Jesus. We bless the name of the Lord for the opportunity to present to you another episode of our daily study of the Scriptures. We thank God for the gift of life and for His benefits on us each new day. Praise be to God.
In our today’s episode 573, we shall be examining the book of Daniel Chapter 3 titled:
Reason Nebuchadnezzar Commanded The People To Worship His Statue.
Recall from our previous lesson in Daniel chapter 2 that God showed Nebuchadnezzar a great image whose parts were made of different metals such as Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron, and Iron mixed with clay.
We also examined how a powerful Stone from a cliff, struck the image and broke it in pieces. By now, you must have realized what each of those symbols represented.
Thereafter, we discovered that Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream made it clear that Babylon will be succeeded by another empire and that the succession of other empires will continue until the Stone Kingdom (Kingdom of God) will come and take over all earthly kingdoms and empires.
Now, here is the shocking part…
I think Daniel’ interpretations got into Nebu’s head and therefore in Daniel chapter 3, we see how King Nebuchadnezzar decided to make a huge image of himself to showcase the interpretation of the dream to the world.
The statue was so big that it spanned 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.
The king ensured the image was installed in his capital city, where it would be visible to everyone that visits Babylon.
The funny part of the whole episode is that, instead of crafting the image to reflect exactly what he saw in the dream showing all the different metals, he decided to make it all pure gold indicating that he would be the only ruler and no other empire would be able to displace him. Pride gradually setting in.
The king invited all his governors and administrators from all the provinces in the empire to the dedication of the image. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were invited too to grace the occasion.
Manifestation of Pride continues…
The king then made an announcement that at the sound of the trumpet, followed by the sound of musical instruments, and then followed by the sound of music, everybody was to bow down in worship of the statue.
They blew the trumpet, other sounds followed and then music followed, and everybody bowed in worship of a hand-made statue, except Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to bow to the image. They were immediately reported by those who seemed not to like the fact that they were Jews and they were made Governors of Provinces. Read Daniel 3:12
For the king, bowing down to his image was a sign of loyalty to his government. Therefore, anyone who refused to bow down and worship the image declared disloyalty to the king and deserved to be put to death.
When the report got to him that there were some officials flouting his order, he became extremely angry. But because he respected the fact that they were instrumental to his dream’s interpretation and also friends to Daniel his favourite, he decided to give them another chance and also to be sure what he was told was not just rumour.
Again, the three Hebrews did not disappoint God. They stood firm and maintained their stand with God and refused to bow. They even said something that was really touching – if God chooses not to save us, we will still not bow to your image, o King…” What a statement of faith and loyalty to God and God did not disappoint them.
This is the kind of strong faith we need in our generation to subdue every challenge.
What if this happens in our dispensation, what would have been our reaction or suggestion to the three of them?
Many people would have said: if it is by bowing down to an image that your lives would be spared, why not do it and stay alive?
That’s what many of us would have suggested to them…
As a matter of fact, there are many people nowadays, who profess to be Christians and are still bowing down to Nebu’s statue in various forms, namely money, power, fear, worldliness, peer pressure, and temptation in various forms.
But in the case of these three Hebrews, they refused to cringe. And then, Nebuchadnezzar lost his temper and order had the furnace be heated seven times hotter than what it was initially. And he commanded the strongest men in his army to tie the three men up and throw them into the blazing furnace.
The flame was so hot that it burnt up the guards who took the men to the furnace.
The three Hebrew young men were thrown into the burning oven because of their stubborn stand on a matter that required them to compromise their faith in the God who made the heavens and the earth
Suddenly, something miraculous happened!
Let’s read from King Nebuchadnezzar himself in verse 25
25“Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire?” he asked. “They are not tied up, and they show no sign of being hurt—and the fourth one looks like an angel.”
26So Nebuchadnezzar went up to the door of the blazing furnace and called out, “Shadrach! Meshach! Abednego! Servants of the Supreme God! Come out!” And they came out at once.
Wow! The Fourthman (Christ Jesus) showed up and turned the whole situation around for their good.
More miracles…
The King praised God and ordered that no one must speak disrespectfully against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If anyone is caught doing that, he would be turn limb from limb and his house will be converted to a pile of ruins. He remarked that there is no other god, who can rescue like this.
And the King promoted the three of them to higher positions in the province of Babylon.
The truth is when it is time for God to announce you, nothing can stop it. It must surely happen.
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let us Pray:
Every circumstance that wants to show up in your life or family to challenge and frustrate the plan and purpose ot God for you using any strategy possible, the Lord God will show up on your behalf and fight for you in Jesus name.
Ensure you always stand up for what is good and never compromise. The Lord God will definitely glorify Himself in your life, in Jesus name.
The remaining part of this year is still loaded with uncommon opportunities. Receive the capacity to recognize and acquire them all, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: 1 Peter Chapters 1, 2 & 3 with Isaiah Chapter 33
I call you blessed now and always.
Thursday October 22, 2020 (DDMI)
