2 Statues, 1 Dream and a Fiery Furnace (Daniel 2b-3)

 Last time we left off, Nebuchadnezzar issued a death warrant to all the wise men under him because no one could tell him what his dream was and what it meant. When the commander of the king's army showed up to bring in Daniel for execution, Daniel asked for a little more time, so he would be able to give the king what he wanted. The king agreed and Daniel went home and prayed with his 3 closest friends that God would reveal the king's dream to Daniel, and enlighten him about what it meant.

 That night Daniel had a vision. God revealed to Daniel what Nebuchadnezzar's dream was and what it meant. Daniel prayed again, praising God and thanking Him! The next morning Daniel went straight to the commander of the king's army, Arioch, and told him that he had the information that the king was looking for. So Arioch paused his mass execution of all the wise men and brought Daniel before the king. He wanted to score some points with the king, so instead of telling him the truth (that Daniel came to him), he told the king that he found one of the captives from Judah who could tell him and interpret his dream.

"Is this true?" Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel. "Can you tell me my dream and what it means?"                     "It is not I, but the one true God that wants you to know what your dream means," Daniel answered. “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was made of many different materials. A rock came flying out of a nearby mountain and hit the feet of the statue. Then the whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold and the wind blew them away without a trace. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. God has made you a mighty king, in charge of a vast kingdom, but your kingdom will fall and be replaced several times over. Finally, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”

God speaks to us in many ways, through the Bible, through other people, when we sit quietly and listen, and even in our dreams. We need to not only keep our eyes and our ears open to what God might be telling us, but also our hearts. Ask God if that dream you had last night was from Him and what it meant.

Nebuchadnezzar was amazed that Daniel knew his dream and what it meant! He said, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.”  Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.  At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.

Daniel continued to give God the glory, but he was also blessed. Whatever we do, we should do it for the glory of God. 1Corinthians 10:31 Anytime anyone compliments you, say thank you and pass that compliment along to God. After all, He gave you the ability to do whatever you did to get that compliment.

The idea of a statue must have remained in Nebuchadnezzar's brain, because soon afterward, he built a ninety-foot gold statue and commanded that, when the musical instruments rang out, all the people would fall on their faces and worship the statue. Anyone who didn't comply would be thrown into a fiery furnace. So, every time the music sounded the people fell to their knees and worshipped the statue. However, some of the king's wise men noticed that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not worship the statue when the instruments were played and they went straight to the king and told him. (You would think that they would have been so happy that Daniel was able to tell the king his dream and save their lives, that they would have kept their mouths shut) Nebuchadnezzar was furious! He demanded that the three men be brought to him and tossed in the furnace. Remember when we first met Nebuchadnezzar, we said that he was very impulsive. He showed it again when blew up and demanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be executed. But by the time they were rounded up and brought before the king, he had calmed down a bit and gave them one last chance to worship the statue when the musical instruments played. But the three men told the king that they had no intention of worshipping anyone or anything but the One True God. And even more, they told the king that their God was able to rescue them from the fiery furnace, but even if he didn't, they would still never worship the gold statue. Nebuchadnezzar flew into even more of a rage than he had before. He demanded that the furnace be heated to 7 times hotter than usual and that the three men be tossed in. So some guards tied up the men, while other guards fired up the furnace. The furnace was so hot, that when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tossed in, the guards that did the tossing were killed instantly.

Sometimes it is hard to be a follower of Jesus. The Bible says that yes, we will have troubles, but God says that He will be with us in those troubles. Jesus said that we will also be persecuted. Which means people will not be nice to us just because we love Jesus. But Jesus said to stay strong because He is stronger than anything this world can throw at us.

As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the furnace, the ropes that bound them burned off. Nebuchadnezzar got as close as he could to the furnace without getting burned and he peered into it. Next time we will see what happened to them.

The Book of Daniel (Chapters 1-2a)

 We are now in the book of Daniel. There is a lot more to the Daniel story than"the lion's den". The timeframe is pretty much the same as the book of Ezekiel which we just finished. Daniel was one of the young men who was taken from Jerusalem when the Babylonians first attacked the city and plundered it. Three of his friends were also captured with him. We know them by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, was a very prideful, and eccentric man. He would shower someone with praises and honor one minute, then have them and their families executed the next. It is important for us to know that he was feared not only by his enemies, but also by his friends and all the people in Babylon.

Chapter 1 begins: Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief of staff to bring some of the young men who had been captured in Jerusalem to him. He wanted only the strongest, healthiest, good-looking, smartest, and wisest young men to be brought to the palace. "Train the young men in the language and the literature of Babylonia for three years. Give them the same food to eat that is served by the royal kitchen. Then I will select a handful of these men to serve as my royal advisors." Nebuchadnezzar ordered.

Daniel and his three friends were some of the young men selected for the king's program. Their names were changed to Babylonian names and they were stripped of their Jewish identity. When mealtime came around, all the other young men were more than happy to indulge in the amazing spread of food and wine that was laid out before them. But Daniel and his buddies knew that this kind of food was not acceptable to eat by Jewish law (which God stated way back in the book of Deuteronomy).

So rather than defile themselves, Daniel called over the chief of staff and asked for permission NOT to eat the unacceptable food. The chief of staff had gained respect for Daniel, but he responded in fear of the king. "The king has ordered that you eat this food. If you become pale and weak, he will have me beheaded!" Daniel was wise and responded with grace. "Test me and my three friends for ten days by giving us only vegetables and water. Then you can observe our condition and make your decision." So the chief of staff agreed.

It would have been so easy for Daniel and his three friends to indulge in the king's food. After all it was just food. But Daniel knew that honoring God begins with little things. He knew all too well about the story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden "food" in the garden. Doesn't the devil test us in "little things" all the time?  He knows that once we start bending away from God just a little bit, eventually we will fall completely away. We are tempted all the time. But just like Daniel, we have to already have "purposed in our hearts" not to stray. In other words, plan ahead of time not to give in, and not when temptation strikes.

After ten days, the chief of staff looked over all the young men. He was particularly interested in Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego. They were healthier and looked better nourished than all the other young men who had been dining on the king's food. Their minds were also sharper! So for the three-year training period, Daniel and his friends ate vegetables and drank water. They didn't have to defile themselves by eating the king's food and then they were brought before Nebuchadnezzar. Out of all the young captives that were trained, none impressed the king as much as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. So they became advisors to the king. And they did a fantastic job.

One night Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream. He didn't know what it meant, so he brought in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers and demanded that they tell him what his dream was, and what it meant. "Tell us what the dream was, and we will tell you what it means." One of the enchanters spoke up nervously. But Nebuchadnezzar got angry and said that anyone could make up a story to fit his dream, but telling him what he dreamt, now that would take special knowledge.

The king got so fed up with all their stalling techniques, that he ordered all his magicians, enchanters, astrologers, sorcerers and, advisors to be killed at once. As advisors to the king, Daniel and his three friends were on the execution list. When the commander of the king's army showed up at Daniel's door to kill him, Daniel politely and respectfully asked him why. The commander explained, and Daniel asked for a meeting with the king to tell the king what his dream meant. Daniel asked the king for time to seek God. He immediately went to the home of his friends and asked them to pray that God would reveal the king's dream to him and the secret of what it meant.

Daniel knew that only God alone could reveal this to him. He also knew that God worked in the king's heart to give him some time. After all, the king was ready to kill his magicians and enchanters on the spot. Are there times when you need wisdom? or knowledge? In James 1:5 it says "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking". If you are facing a situation remember these two things, 1. God is working in hearts and behind the scenes. 2. God will give you the wisdom you need to make a Godly decision.

 Next time we will find out Nebuchadnezzar's dream and what it meant.