Study 8 Daniel 3:8-30 June 3, 2020
We have been following Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they adjust to their new country where they were forced to go through military conquest. Test 1 was diet. We saw Daniel negotiate with the head steward for a ten-day trial diet that allowed them to observe Jewish dietary laws. Success. Test 2 was revealing an unknown dream of the king and then give an interpretation. This time Daniel plead for time and called his friends to prayer. Success. Test 3, the dream of the king being a giant statue and the king is the golden head of a statue. Now a statue has been built and all have been ordered to worship it. Public defiance seems to be their strategy this time. Let’s read.
8 Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”
- When the time of public celebration comes, our heroes refuse. Perhaps you will remember that is what got Mordecai in trouble in the book of Esther. Their non-compliance was noted and reported. If feels a bit like tattling to me but it is obvious our heroes chose passive resistance. Our whole country and other places in the world are expressing outrage right now over unnecessary deaths of people of color and demonstrations are occurring nationwide. Hmmm. In fact, Christianity has lived in tension with government rulers through out history. I want to applaud the Biblical heroes who confronted misused power but I feel the tension with the command to turn the other cheek..
- I assured my daughter that I was alive for the Watts riots, for Vietnam, for Civil rights demonstrations and I suspect most of you were too. We carry those memories. Others carry memories of unjust divorces and other conflicts that has left deep scars and fears of conflict. As you reflect on a time of conflict, how was conflict handled back in the day? ________________ How would you describe “nonviolent resistance”?___________________________ Advantages/Disadvantages________________________
- Reflect on what parameters and guidelines you have in your thinking to help you navigate opposition to situations you find you don’t agree with? ____________________________
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. 17 If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”
- Our three men, minus Daniel, are confronted by the king about their public stance and given a chance to recant. Write three adjectives you might use to describe their response to the king? ________
- Read Matthew 5: 23 and Matthew 18:15-17. Are these Biblical guidelines for resolving disputes workable for you? _________
- Looking at the men’s response, might lead us to reflect on how our faith hinges on prayers being answered the way we think God should act. Have you felt that way? _______________
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, 20 and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.
- The king was filled with rage. Today we face rage at injustice. Heating a furnace seven times hotter sounds like the burning going on today. What solution might we offer? I note the innocent men that died from the order. I note the “cross” the three had to face. I bow my head in grief. That must have been terrifying.
- How do you understand the power of the cross to defeat evil, rage? _________________________________________
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25 He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.”[e] 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
- God did choose to protect the three men in the fiery furnace. That does not always happen. Are there elements of this part of the story that stand out to you?
- Prayer is never pointless regardless of how God chooses to act. Let us be faithful to pray for people of all races caught in the furnace of riots and rage today.
On the Way to Wonder 