Babylon 600 years before Christ a tyrannical king ruled ruthlessly until one day he came face to face with Jesus many people are not even aware that Jesus was in the Old Testament this event occurs in the Book of Daniel the event in the book takes place in Babylon a region ruled by Nebuchadnezzar who was a proud and cruel Tyrant who took great pleasure in torturing his victims he ruled the ancient world as an absolute dictator after subduing Syria he turned his attention to Egypt his main adversary at the time since Judah was in the way
it would need to be eliminated if he ever wanted to fulfill his ambition to rule over a great Empire Nebuchadnezzar issued an order for a number of young Jews to be trained to serve him as men of knowledge and wisdom Daniel hananiah Michelle and Azariah were among those who were taken captive they were known by the names beltashaza Shadrach Meshach and Abednego King Nebuchadnezzar gave the order to create a colossal statue made of gold the gold statue that Nebuchadnezzar had commissioned must have been magnificent it was 90 feet tall it's possible the king planned this
so he could consolidate his power by gathering all levels of his court for a grand ceremony the rulers were to attend the dedication of the statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar and fall prostrate to worship it anyone who disobeyed this command ran the risk of being thrown into a blazing furnace and burned to a crisp everyone obeyed Nebuchadnezzar's orders because he was determined to establish himself not only as the unquestioned political leader of Babylon but also as the supreme religious Authority in the city however three of the men in the room did not bow down even
though everyone else did many people can't imagine that the social pressure was easy to Bear certain Chaldeans saw the young Hebrews standing among all who had prostrated themselves and ran to report this to Nebuchadnezzar jealousy oozes from their accusations against the three Jews who had achieved positions of power despite their captivity because their faith forbade them from worshiping any God other than the true God of Israel the lower court officials saw an opportunity to eliminate Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and they did not miss the opportunity to do so when Nebuchadnezzar found out about the situation
he immediately flew into a rage it's surprising that he gave the accused a chance to respond to the charges against them this may indicate his regard for them but make no mistake the king would accept only one answer total surrender they had two options worship the massive golden idol or perish in the fire despite his previous Praise of the Hebrew God Nebuchadnezzar added who is the god who can deliver you from my power the king's question as before would eventually be answered Dan 3 13-14 hearing this Nebuchadnezzar was Furious and ordered Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
to be brought they were brought before the king 14 and he said to them is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue that I set up these courageous Jewish men defied the king's direct order and placed themselves in God's hands their response is quite remarkable Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered the king o Nebuchadnezzar 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 save us from it and he
will rescue us from your hand O King but even if he does not we want you to know O King that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up Daniel 3 16-18 in other words they said they would rather die than disobey God even if he decides to let us burn we will still serve the Living God instead of your dead Idol Priceless they preferred death to faithlessness to God and had no doubt they had planned for this day for a long time that Nebuchadnezzar was filled with
Fury and his expression changed to Shadrach Meshach and Abednego so he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual he commanded certain strong men in his army to tie up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the Blazing furnace so these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell bound into the middle of the fiery furnace 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 when Nebuchadnezzar saw the men walking in the fire he not only found it incredible that they had come out unharmed but also that there were four of them the fourth appeared to be a Son of God implying that he was the pre-incarnate Christ Nebuchadnezzar tells us that the fourth person was a Son of God during the most challenging part of their ordeal Jesus was there
with them physically in the midst of their trial in the fiery furnace Shadrach Meshach and Abednego may or may not have been aware that the Son of God was with them although there were moments when they were conscious of Jesus presence in their afflictions we read that I see four men Unbound walking in the midst of the fire Nebuchadnezzar also noticed that the four men were free while in the fire only the ropes that had bound them were burned by the fire god is capable of surprising those individuals whose hearts are the most hardened not
only against him but also against his people he who made the soul can make his sword draw near to him even to the greatest Tyrant the furnace was large so they had room to walk they were unharmed so they were able to walk their minds were at peace so they were able to walk us in a paradise or pleasure Garden the answer to this is yes they weren't struggling to get out finding themselves unharmed instead they walked untroubled in the midst of the Flames believing that the same God who protected them in the fire would
also deliver them from it Nebuchadnezzar made the mistake of thinking he was the most powerful being in the world but here he met the one who is more powerful than him what effect would this have on him did he still have the confidence to demand that others worship him as if he had seen nothing 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 the satraps the prefects
and 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 when the king saw that the men he had condemned had been divinely rescued he summoned them not a single hair on their heads was singed in the process it's amazing that anyone survived even a second inside the furnace when so many others died right at the entrance God can Deliver Us
from a trial or he can miraculously sustain and strengthen us in a trial we are impressed by the faith of these men in the true God their response in the midst of judgment confirmed three things their unwavering belief in the god of the Bible their confidence in The God Who is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do their faith as revealed by their trust in the one who had the power to deliver them from evil their acknowledgment of God over the most powerful King in the world resulted in
the revelation of God's supreme power to unbelievers their faith shows that God is capable of delivering us from our own troubles and trials as Christians we know that God is able to deliver us but we also know that he doesn't always act that way according to Romans 5 God may allow trials and hardships in our lives to build our character strengthen our faith or for other unknown reasons we don't always understand why we're going through a trial but God simply asks us to trust him even when it's difficult job despite experiencing incredible pain nearly insurmountable
Agony and suffering was able to say though he slay me yet will I trust in him we also know that God doesn't always guarantee that we will never suffer or die but he promises to always be with us we must learn that in times of adversity and persecution we must adopt the attitude of these three young men but if not be it known To You O King that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up Daniel 3 to 18. the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is a
story of Faith courage and perseverance it reminds us that God is always with us even in the toughest times when we Face challenges we must have faith in God and persevere in our faith undoubtedly these are some of the bravest words ever spoken the fact that the fire did not consume Shadrach Meshach and Abednego astonished Nebuchadnezzar the question is when we walk by faith we may face the fire of persecution but we can be confident that he is with us he will keep us moving he will eventually set us free he will save us forever
when we are persecuted or experience pain we can have hope because we know that this life is not the end there is life after death that is his guarantee to all who love and Obey him knowing that we will spend eternity with God in enables us to rise above the pain and suffering we experience in this life for centuries children and adults alike have been captivated by the incredible story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego three young men who stood up to the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar the actions of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in the Book of
Daniel represent a response that is common in our time Civil Disobedience this implies deliberate personal opposition to a governmental decree that violates God's standards it was clear that the king would never be the same again he abandoned the God he had previously worshiped in favor of the god of the people he had previously persecuted he exalted the Lord and insisted that his subjects not worship anyone other than the almighty God Godly leaders should ask the Lord to show them regular glimpses of his power and Glory when he does that it becomes much simpler for us
to channel our Zeal into serving the one true God who truly exists Daniel 3 28 30 Amplified Bible Nebuchadnezzar responded blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who has sent his Angel and rescued his servants who believed in trusted in and relied on him they violated the King's Command and surrendered their bodies rather than serve or worship any God except their own God therefore I make a decree that any people Nation or language that speaks anything offensive against the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be cut into pieces and their houses be
made a heap of rubbish for there is no other God who is able to save in this way then the king caused Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon Jesus is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament however he is not referred to by that name nor does he appear in the same way as he does in the New Testament nevertheless he is present in the Old Testament the presence of Christ in the Old Testament is emphasized throughout the Holy scripture Jesus Christ validated the fact that the Old Testament contains
references to him in John 5 46. after being confronted by a group of religious authorities Jesus explained that the Old Testament speaks about him if you believed Moses you would believe me for he wrote about me he said according to Jesus God's work with Mankind from the beginning of time all pointed to him another time when Jesus showed that he is in the Old Testament was on the day of his resurrection According to some accounts over 300 Old Testament prophecies point to Jesus Christ and were fulfilled by him in his Earthly life these include prophecies
about his unique birth in Isaiah 7 14 his Earthly birth Ministry and even the way he would die Jesus shocked the religious establishment when he stood up in the synagogue of Nazareth and read Isaiah 61 concluding with the comment today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing Luke 4 18-21 Joseph's life is another that appears to model The Life of Christ many historical events in the Old Testament double as symbols of what God would do in the future through Christ for example God called Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice Abraham uttered
these prophetic words in response to Isaac's question about a lamb God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son Jesus is not only mentioned in the New Testament he also appears in various passages of the Old Testament Jesus is the promised Messiah of God we could say that Jesus is the reason for the Bible he is the Living Word the entire Bible is a beacon that points us to God's offer of reconciliation the hope of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is
a story of Faith courage and perseverance they teach us that when we are faithful to God even when it means facing persecution he will always be with us this story is also a type of Jesus Christ he too was faithful to God even when it meant facing death he was crucified by his enemies but God raised him from the dead the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is an inspiration for all of us it reminds us that we must always be faithful to God regardless of the circumstance stances
