Confirmation 4.21.21: Daniel
Read Daniel 1:3-17 (The Babylonian king who
conquered the Hebrew people) commanded his palace master to bring some of the
Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 young
men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom,
endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s
palace... 5 The king assigned them a daily portion
of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three
years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s
court. 6 Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. 7 The palace
master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called
Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. 8 But
Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food
and wine; so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile
himself. 9 Now God allowed Daniel to receive favor
and compassion from the palace master. 10 The
palace master said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king; he has
appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition
than the other young men of your own age, you would endanger my head with the
king.” 11 Then Daniel asked the guard whom the
palace master: 12 “Please test your servants for
ten days. Let us be given healthy food to eat and water to drink. 13 You
can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat
the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.” 14 So
he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days. 15 At
the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better than all the
young men who had been eating the royal rations. 16 So
the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to
drink.. 17 To these four young men God gave
knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had
insight into all visions and dreams.
· Daniel and his friends were tempted to forget
about God in Babylon. In the book of
Daniel, we see these young people remaining faithful despite numerous
persecutions and temptations. They kept their focus on God and living according
to God’s ways. As teenagers, is it hard
to focus on God and God’s ways? What
about as adults?
The Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their fiery furnace experience is a lesson for all Christians today. It is a story of not compromising your beliefs despite severe persecution.
Fiery
Furnace Summary This story is
from Daniel chapter three and involves the king of Babylon, King
Nebuchadnezzar, making a golden image and his requirement that all in the
kingdom must bow down and worship it at the sounding of the music. The
three young Jews who refused to bow down and worship this image were Daniel’s
friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the Chaldeans reported
this news to King Nebuchadnezzar, he was furious and gave orders that the three
men be brought before him immediately. When
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego where brought before King Nebuchadnezzar he
asked them if it was true that they refused to bow down and worship the
image. The king told the three men that they risked being thrown into the
fiery furnace if they didn‘t. The
three young men simply answered the king that it was true – they refused to bow
down and worship the golden image. These three Jews didn’t try to make excuses, give the king an apology
or try to reason with him. They flatly refused to bow down and worship
the idol, even at the king’s command and with the threat of losing their lives.
Listen to their bold response: “we
do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown
into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and
he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we
want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the
image of gold you have set up” (Dan 3:16-18). King Nebuchadnezzar
was outraged and commanded the men to immediately be thrown into the fiery
furnace. In fact, the king ordered that the furnace be heated up to seven
times its normal rate as an expression of the king’s rage against the men. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were
bound and thrown into the furnace. The furnace was so hot that it
immediately annihilated the soldiers who threw the three men into it. The
three men were tied up and bound with their garments so as to have no possible
escape. King Nebuchadnezzar must have been present because right after
this he was astonished and asked his counselors that “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? They answered,
’True O King’. He then 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’” (Dan 3:24-25). The king apparently
recognized the fourth person as being a divine being.
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out
of the furnace, their clothes were not harmed, not a hair on their heads were
singed and they didn’t even have the smell of smoke on them (Dan. 3:27).
King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed that he commanded everyone in the entire Babylonian
Empire to give homage to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to not
even speak an ill word against him or be put to death. Even the king gave
honor and glory to this god, unknown to him as he was, he wrote praises for
him: “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is
an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation”
(Dan 4:3).
King Nebuchadnezzar understood that his idol was nothing in comparison to the three men’s God. This God may have been Jesus Himself as He is referred to as someone with the “appearance of a son of the gods“(Dan 3:25). It is interesting that Jesus is referred to as “the Son of Man” more than any other single name in the Bible.
- What bad things have happened to you in your life?
- Is God with you during these times?
- Is the sun shining during the darkest storms?
· God was with these three young men. In the fiery ordeal that they went through, God was with them and He went through it with them. The lesson is that through life’s fiery trials and ordeals, God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). God not only knows about our suffering in trials, He goes with us in them and He goes with us through them. He is ever present in times of trouble as Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” What this Scripture is saying is that God is “ever-present” or always with us in our troubles.
A lesson that we can
apply to our lives is that we sometimes have to do things that the world will
be angry over. A company
may ask you to “cook the books” to cover up something illegal. We may be
asked to lie to a customer to save face for the company. There is a
chance that we might be told to do something unethical. We might even be
tempted to cheat on our taxes but our first and foremost obligation is to
always obey God rather than others. We must stand firm in our faith at all
times. We must obey God over others when there are opposing interests (Acts 5:29).
When we face the consequences or are cast into figurative fiery furnaces – even
if we are bound – we can rest assured that God is with us before, during, and
after. He will be faithful and present with us in our going through
them. You can believe God. He will be with you, even in the fiery
trials of life.
- What daily temptations do you have as a teen, or as an adult, that go against God’s will?
- What are some things do we put before God?
- Do you have temptations that pull you away from worship on Sunday mornings?
- What can help us to be more faithful, like Dan, Shad, Meshach and Abednego?
If you have more time, talk about what faith and church mean to you.
If you
have even more time, watch this video from The Bible Project:
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