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| Story II
Historical Setting:
Time: About 580
B.C.
Place: Babylon
Persons:
Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego,
Scriptures: Daniel 3
Our last story was of King Nebuchadnezzar
and his puzzling dream. Remember how God revealed to Daniel
what his dream meant? Daniel told him that he was the most
powerful king that had ever lived. But he also begged him to
turn from his wicked ways, and to turn his life to God. He
told him that if he would take pity on the poor, God would
allow him to continue to be rich and powerful.
But Nebuchadnezzar did not listen. As the years went on,
Nebuchadnezzar continued to go out to all the nations round
about and capture people, taking gold and silver from their
lands, and making himself rich by destroying other nations.
One thing that stayed in his mind though, from what Daniel had
told him, was that he was a great king.
He became so proud of his conquests that he had a great
statue made of himself, out of the gold he had taken from
other lands. It stood ninety feet high. That would be about as
tall as a ten-story high-rise building. He set this statue in
the middle of a large field so that everyone could gather
around it, and so that it could be seen from a long way off.
It was a beautiful statue. It glistened in the sun so much
that it almost blinded anyone who looked at it. Nebuchadnezzar
examined this great image of himself. He was nearly bursting
with pride. NOW everyone in this great province of Babylon
could see just how great and wealthy he was.
After the statue was built he sent messages to all
government officials: the judges, governors, counselors,
magistrates, mayors in all the land, to come to the dedication
of this wonderful statue that he had built. When all the
important leaders had arrived, a herald--that is something
like a radio announcer—shouted out, “People
of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s
command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipes, and other instruments, bow to the ground to
worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Anyone who refuses
to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
(direct quote from “New Living
Translation”)
Nobody in the land would
want to disobey a command like that. Even people who didn’t
think the king was as great as he, himself, thought he was,
wouldn’t dare defy the king. They were afraid to. So as soon
as the musical instruments sounded, the king’s subjects, no
matter what race they belonged to, or what color their skin
was, or how old they were, or how high up in the government
they were, bowed down to the ground and worshipped the statue
that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
But everyone didn’t bow down. Some of the important
men of the land noticed that there were three men who stood
tall and straight, and remained silent, while everyone else
had their faces to the earth, and were expressing their
praise. The important men went running right away to the king.
In fact, they were glad to report these three men who would
not bow down. They were jealous of them. For years these three
had been rulers in the land, and they weren’t even
Babylonians. They were Jews. And Jews were nothing but
captives--slaves, whom the king had brought back many years
before, from the land of Israel, from Judea. These three men
were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had
named, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
“Oh great King Nebuchadnezzar,” reported the tattle-tales,
when they got before the king. “May you live forever! The
decree you made that everyone should bow down before your
statue was a great decree, and most people have obeyed it, but
there are three who have not.”
The king flew into a rage when he heard that anyone in his
kingdom would even think of refusing to obey his command. “Who
are these men who have dared to defy my order?” King
Nebuchadnezzar bellowed.
Happily the wise men told him. “They are Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego, those Hebrews that you put in important
positions in the land. And here they are, rulers, but they
have set a bad example to the people they are ruling.”
The king didn’t need to hear any more. “Bring these men to
me,” he shouted. “I want to talk to them. I want them to
realize that I am the great King Nebuchadnezzar. How dare they
defy me!”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood, unafraid, before the
king.
“Is it true?” the king began. “Is it really true that you
would disobey my order to fall down and worship me? Do you not
realize that I can have you cast into the burning furnace? And
who then would save you? Do you think that your God can save
you from burning? You have served me well over the years. You
have done all I have asked of you. I will give you one more
chance. The next time you hear the musical instruments, fall
down and worship my statue, and I will overlook your
disobedience. However, if you refuse, then you will be thrown
immediately into the furnace, and that will be the end of you
and your God.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego looked the king straight in
the eyes. “Oh King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend
ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing
furnace, God, whom we worship and serve, is able to protect
us. He will rescue us from your power. But even if He chooses
not to, even then, we will not bow down and worship your false
gods or the statue that you have set up.”
Nebuchadnezzar was so angry that he nearly exploded. He
told his men to make the furnace seven times hotter than it
usually was. Then he ordered the strongest men of his army to
take Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the
furnace. The soldiers grabbed the three Hebrew men and tied
them with strong ropes. When they got to the furnace to throw
them in, the blast of heat from the furnace was so hot that it
killed the soldiers immediately.
A few minutes later Nebuchadnezzar went to see what was
happening to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He jumped back
when he looked into that blazing furnace. He roared to his
men, “Didn’t you throw three men into that furnace?”
His men, frightened because of the King’s rage, answered,
“Yes, Oh King. We did indeed, Oh King.”
“Well, look!” exclaimed the king. “There are four men in
there. See? They are walking around, and they are unharmed.
And the fourth man looks just like the Son of God. How can
this be?” The king started to tremble. And he said, “Take me
as close to the door as you can.” When the king got there, he
called out, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the
Most High God. Come out! Come out!”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stepped out of the furnace.
All the government officials gathered around them. They saw
that the men were unhurt. In fact, there was not even one hair
of their head singed. Their clothes were still all right. They
did not even smell of smoke.
Once again the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar sang praises to
God. “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He
sent His angel to protect His servants who trusted in Him. He
was right there with them, keeping them from burning. These
men went against my orders, even though they knew it meant
death. So now I am making another decree: If anybody in my
great nation dares to say a thing about the God of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and
their houses will be crushed. There is no other god who would
be able to rescue like this. I saw The Son of God in there,
walking with the men. Truly their God is the Most High God.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to
even higher positions than they had before. But it would not
have mattered to them if he had not. What was important was
that they had stayed true to God, and He had protected them.
Note: I do not know where Daniel
was when this story took place. Perhaps he was away, out of
the country, when this happened. But we know that had he been
around at this time, he would have been as brave as his thee
friends.
And we will find this out in another story. Watch for a
story about how God protected Daniel from wicked men and wild animals.
© Helen Dowd
Continue
with Chapter 3
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