Rack, Shack and Benny

We all know the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, who commanded all the people to bow down to this great statue of gold. How the King signaled to the people when to bow down by having musicians play music. We know the punishment for not worshiping this idol was to be burned until death in a furnace of fire. As the scripture reads three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused to worship the King’s new idol. Instead they stayed loyal to the one true God. To just read the words of Daniel chapter 3, resisting bowing down in worship to a golden idol doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to do. Just stay upright and keep walking. But in verse 10 (NASB95Update) it reads that everyone was commanded to worship this idol as the music was played. Not just two or three people here and there, everyone was told to worship. Think how fiercely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego would’ve stood out as everyone is bowing down they are still standing. It’s not easy to refrain from fitting molds, to withstand doing what everyone else does. To have confidence that what you are doing is right and that God is with you. After all not just any man put up this huge statue. It was the King! The ruler of the people and the land, you don’t just say no to a King. When the King finds out about the three men’s disobedience to his new law he is furious. He confronts them and gives them a chance to cure themselves of their stubbornness. But, with all confidence in God they tell the King they will never serve his gods and with that, they are thrown into an overly heated blaze of fire. As King Nebuchadnezzar is looking into the fire he sees not only the three men he had thrown in but also a fourth man as well. This fourth man appears to the King as the Son of God. Those in the furnace are not all lying at the bottom screaming in pain from the fire. In fact they are not being burned at all, not even their garments, they are standing and moving about. The same fire that slew the guards, who took Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to the furnace, has not even touched a single hair on these men’s heads. God had delivered them from even the hottest fires of a King. This passage’s application might be as easily over looked as the depth of confidence these three men showed withstanding a King and his rule. Since today statues of gold are not put up in the United States that we are forced as a nation to worship. But the horn, the flute, the harp, lyre, and psaltery are still being played today in symphony with all kinds of music. Our idols may not be 90x9 images of solid gold but they are there nonetheless. Something as simple as going to a movie on a Wednesday night and skipping church, has made two and a half hours of entertainment the idol, more important even than an eternal life with God. Spending too much money at the store and not having anything to give on Sunday mornings, has made getting that extra pair of shoes more important than giving back to God. And, those red high heels are forged of gold, and though physically they may only be inches high, they stand ninety feet in the air, and nine feet from left to right. Our Nebuchadnezzar is the world; his fire is anything that pulls our hearts and minds away from God. If we get too involved in our activities and with what we do, if we get too close to that fire, we will be burned the second that door of the furnace is opened. However, with confidence in Jesus' saving power, we can withstand the fire, we can say no to the King. With confidence in Jesus we can knock down our idols of gold and when they crash down then, we can see the true God we are to worship. That is the God who is in Heaven.