Acknowledgment is not Worship

 

 

Daniel 3:18-30

 

March 12, 2024

 

 Acknowledgment is not Worship 

 

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.  And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.  Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

 

One must wonder if Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage at the Jewish young men telling him they would not worship or bow down to his god, made him think that a hotter furnace would be too much for God.

 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

 

I can only imagine what is going on in the king’s head as he thinks he is going to see a barbecue of these three men, and instead, he witnesses four, and his words are, the fourth looks like a son of the gods.  We do not know if it was Michael, the Prince of Israel, or some other angel; the important thing is that God showed up, and a fire that killed the ones who threw them in the furnace did not have power over them.  It is never the question God can, but is it His will to do so?  And like these three, knowing our God is mighty to save.

 

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 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 cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.  Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything 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 rescue in this way.”  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

 

They were moved by what their eyes saw, and they acknowledged the Most High God of these three men, but nowhere do we read that at this moment the king bowed a knee to God.  Many who go by the name of Christian also have gone through the religious steps of walking down an aisle in a church building, getting baptized, acknowledging the need for Jesus, but are not willing to have Him be the authority over them.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice