Daniel 3:8-18
The Gentile world had its various images in the days this was written, and believe me, there are plenty of things people worship even in our day. This was very impressive for an image made by man. Nebuchadnezzar, after his dream in the former chapter should have known better when Daniel interpreted the dream telling the future of the Gentile world. There’s an old song from the 1960’s that has the words: ‘Oh, will they ever learn.’ The Chaldeans had a hatred of the Jews because Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego were given positions of authority over the realm, so naturally they were looking for something like this! I want to conclude by saying that it took some real faith to stand up to the king this way. I will jokingly call it “faith guts.” To have this kind of faith and follow through takes some real fortitude. Obviously they did not have a nominal faith like so many people today do; their faith was genuine and they trusted fully in the object of their faith despite the consequences. As the story plays out we find that they win and God was honored and Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that their God was superior. The three men had no assurance that God would deliver them. They resolved that even if he didn’t, they would never bow to the image. Now what kind of faith do we have? There are some kind of decisions we may soon have to make. Will we have that kind of fortitude?
