THEY WOULDN’T BEND, BOW, & BURN
INTRODUCTION
A. Today, I want to call your attention to the amazing story of the Bible that involves 3 youths – “Hananiah, Mishael, & Azariah.”
a. Hananiah – “God has favored/God is grace”
b. Mishael – “who is like God?/God is a person”
c. Azariah – “helped by Jehovah/God is sustainer”
B. These are Hebrew names. You probably know them by their Babylonian names – “Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego.”
a. Shadrach – “enlightened by the god Sun”
b. Meshach – “equivalent to the Babylonian goddess Shaq”
c. Abed-Nego – “servant of the god of fire”
d. purpose of changing the names was to Babyonianized them - turn them away from their homeland & their God
C. A man named Arthur Smith wrote a song about “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.” Johnny Cash recorded this song back in the 60’s. The song is about their confrontation with a pagan king & the fiery furnace.
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES
A. These 3 young men were unusually talented & spared from death during one of the first invasions of Judea by the mighty Babylonian army. This was in order that they might be taken to Babylon & pressed into the service of the pagan empire.
B. Right away they faced a difficult situation. Being Hebrews, the Law of Moses restricted them in their dietary allowances. But through their friend & fellow Hebrew, Daniel, they were spared defiling their consciences (Dan.1).
C. In the story that is the focus of our study, Daniel, for some unknown reason, is out of the picture.
D. In the 2nd chapter of Daniel’s book, we learned that God caused King Nebuchadnezzar to dream a very unusual dream. He dreamed of a gigantic image that to him was a terrifying site. The image was made up of various metals. Then the king saw a small stone cut out of a mountain without the aid of human hands. This stone rolled toward the giant image & destroyed it. This was God revealing to the king what would happen in the future.
E. (Dan.3:1) Nebuchadnezzar appears to have made the image of his dream into a pattern for an idol he had made & erected for his empire to worship. He misused the dream in which God revealed the future to him as an instrument of folly & vain glory.
F. (Dan.3:2-7) Imagine the ceremony taking place at the dedication of the huge image – large crowd of VIP guests only, the best musicians where there to play, etc. Since the king’s guests list included peoples from other nationalities & religions, arrangements had been made to insure compliance with the king’s order to do obeisance to the image on cue.
G. But Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego didn’t comply, even though they could have rationalized compliance with a number of excuses.
a. it is useless to resist
b. we are in a strange land & have political obligations
c. we cannot throw away our chance
d. everyone else is doing it
e. it is just this one time
f. we can do more good by living
II. THEY WOULDN’T BEND
A. (Dan.3:8-12) Jealous eyes that were anxious to catch some high-ranked Jews out of step were quick to call the king’s attention to their insubordination.
B. (Dan.3:13-15a) Nebuchadnezzar was a typical despot that expected his will obeyed regardless, but it appears he liked Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego & was willing to give them a 2nd chance to redeem themselves, but “they wouldn’t bend.”
C. (Dan.3:15b) Victory over Israel appeared to embolden the king & gave him a misconception- that he is greater than Israel’s God.
III. THEY WOULDN’T BOW
A. (Dan.3:16,17) When Nebuchadnezzar asked if they had a god who could deliver them, he brought another person into this matter – God.
B. In effect, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-nego replied, "It is not for us to answer you. There is Another that will do that. You have challenged God, & God shall make his own reply." It was bravely spoken. They allowed the responsibility of this matter to rest upon God himself.
C. (Dan.3:18) The 3 Hebrew men didn’t know what God would decide to do, but they knew what they were going to do – “they wouldn’t bow.”
IV. THEY WOULDN’T BURN
A. (Dan.3:19-23) Nebuchadnezzar was going to make an example out of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego, so he thought.
B. (Dan.3:24,25) Seated at ringside, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to see these “rebels” suffer & die for their insubordination. But to the amazement of the king & all his guests, “they wouldn’t burn.”
C. (Dan.3:26 God, who is much greater than any man, decided to do something wonderful – He delivered these 3 Hebrew men from the king’s threat.
D. Though Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego are to be commended for their unwavering faith, let us not miss who is the real hero of this story - God.
E. Today, God delivers us from a fate much worse than a literal fire (Rom.7:24,25; Col.1:13; 1Thess.1:10).
CONCLUSION
The Bible is the story about an awesome God who is willing & able to deliver us.