Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And he answered and said, lo, I
see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire,
and they have no hurt. And the form of the
fourth is like the son of God Daniel three twenty five.
One of the greatest joys I have, Heavenly Father, is
(00:22):
knowing that I don't have to try to defend you
and your greatness when others are bent on trying to
discredit your power and holiness. Because of this, when people
of influence try to abuse their power and try to
get me to bow to the idols of their beliefs,
I will stand tall like Shadrack, Mishak and Abendigo. I
(00:45):
will stand tall in the midst of their threats and
scare tactics, because no matter what they do, I will
be unharmed because your arm of protection is all around me.
When the heat of the situation arises in my life
and I feel like I'm in the furnace of adversity,
(01:06):
instead of tears, I'll choose to praise you because I
know there's another in the fire that is protecting me,
so that not one thread of my clothing will be
singed by the flames. As I come out of the
fiery trials in life. I thank you that I won't
appear like I just came out of hardship because you
(01:30):
elevate my life. No one will get the credit for
what is happening except you. In Jesus' name. Amen, thank
you for praying with me today. Continue listening for an
incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible in a
year dot.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
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Speaker 3 (02:37):
The King and the Fiery Furnace. In our last story,
King Nebukanezzer was tormented by dreams. In search of an interpretation,
the king sought out the wise men and magicians of
the time. They had no answers for him, so the
king went out to destroy all the wise men in
the nation. Before he could do this, Daniel gave him interpretation.
(03:01):
The Lord was faithful to show Daniel and the king
what was going to take place among the nations. Daniel,
just like Joseph before Pharaoh, was given governance over the kingdom.
As a result, Now we look at another interaction between
Nebucanezzer as men of God, Shadrach, Nishak and abet Nigo
are faced with a choice between bowing to the King's
(03:23):
God or facing certain death in flames. Inspired by the
Book of Daniel.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
This is Jack Graham. Thank you for joining us today
for the next episode of the Bible in a year.
In our last time together, we saw how God spoke
through Daniel to give Neverkanazer understanding about his dreams. Though
no person in the kingdom could tell the king what
he saw, Daniel glorified God as he showed the king
that God alone could read the hearts and minds of men.
(03:56):
As a result of Daniel's move of faith, Neverkanazer began
to see that there is a God above all others.
He wasn't yet fully bought in, however, and as well
learned today, King Nebukanezzar still wanted glory and honor for himself,
and as he builds an idol to himself and commands
all to worship him. Three young Jewish men are put
(04:17):
to the test. Will they follow the One True God
or obey the king or follow the crowd? And the
big question is this, would God protect them when they
face fiery consequences for their decision. Let's listen now to
today's reading of a great story from God's word.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
The statue shimmered in the summer sun. Its golden frame
reflected the light in every direction for miles. It stood
above every home and building in the nation, looming over
the people like a watchman. It was King Nebukanezzer's greatest accomplishment,
a fifty foot golden statue praising his God and his dream.
(04:57):
Only the head was gold, and it represent his kingdom. Now,
Nebuconezzar erected a statue that was pure gold, a representation
of his kingdom, lasting forever. It was idolatry at its finest.
All the governors, councilors, and officials in the Kingdom of
Babylon were invited to the palace to stand before the statue.
(05:20):
Its golden rays shone down on the people below. The
king stood below the statue looking outward to all his
leaders before him. Beside him was a band of musicians.
The horn, the lyre, the pipes, harps and bagpipes were
all surrounding him. My servants, Nebukanza shouted, by my decree,
(05:41):
when you hear the music playing, you shall fall down
and worship the image before you, and the herald proclaimed aloud.
You are commanded, o peoples, nations and languages, that when
you hear the sound of the horn pipe, lyar, trigon, harp, bagpipe,
and every kind of music, you are to fall down
(06:04):
and worship the golden image that King neber Canezzar has
set up, and whoever does not fall down and worship
shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Therefore,
as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of
the horn pipe, liar, tragon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind
(06:24):
of music, all the peoples, nations and languages fell down
and worshiped the golden image that King neber Caneszer had
set up. Shadrak, Mishak, and Abednago were all in attendance.
They looked at each other as the words of the
king poured out to the people. They knew they could
not bow to this idol. It was idolatry that got
(06:47):
their people captive in the first place. Then they heard
the king's voice again, saying, whoever refuses to bow shall
feel the intensity of my furnace. They shall burn. The
music played, and all in attendance bowed before the statue,
all except Shadrak, Mishak and a bed Neigo. They stood
(07:09):
firm in place, refusing to pay homage to a false
god built out of pride. The men were brought before
the king and questioned. The king berated them and demanded
they bow. When the music was played. Neber Canezer fumed
with a jealous rage. He saw their lack of obedience
as a personal attack against him. You shall bow, or
(07:30):
you shall burn, the king growled, No god can save
you from my wrath. Shadrak, Mishak and abd Nego answered
calmly to the king. We have no need to respond,
they said, our God will deliver us from the furnace. However,
even if he does not and we end up burning,
know that we will never serve your gods. The three
(07:53):
men were beaten before the king and dragged into the
boiling room where the furnace raged its heap tremendous. The
flames raged in the iron violently. The three men of
God were bound by ropes and taken close to the furnace.
Even standing next to it was painful. More wood was
added to the furnace, making its grasp for any person
(08:15):
in its reach. Shadrack, Mishak and a bed Nogo were
tossed in the flames, and the guards who threw them
in were burned and killed in the process. The fire
engulfed Shadrack, Mishak and Abdnago. Neber Canezza watched as the
fire danced around the men. His evil smile was illuminated
by the flames. However, something caught his attention. There were
(08:38):
no screams, no cries for help. Neber Canezzer peered closely
at the fire. The three men stood there. No, it
seemed as though four men were standing there. Did we
not throw three men into the fire? Neber Canezzer asked
his men, We did, sir. The men replied, But neber
Canezzer clearly saw the shadows of four men men standing
(09:00):
in the furnace. He saw them walking and speaking amongst
one another. His eyes widened as he looked at the
fourth man standing among them. He was glorious and unhurt
by the fire. He stood over the three men as
a protector. His appearance was like a son of the gods.
Neverkenazer began to well up with fear. His usually confident
(09:22):
demeanor was replaced with apprehension. Shadrack, Mishak, and abd Nogo,
servants of the most High God, Come out of that furnace,
if you are able. The three men did as they
were asked. Their bodies, hair, and clothes were completely unburned.
All men in attendants shuddered in awe and fear. The
(09:43):
king stood before them, ashamed and afraid. Blessed be your God,
he shouted. I once told you no God could save
you from me.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I was wrong.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Your God has delivered you. The three men remained silent
in response, allowing the king to process what he had
just witnessed. King Nebukonezza turned back to his men and said,
whoever speaks out against their gods shall be torn limb
from limb. There is clearly no other god more mighty
than he.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
In God's word, today, nebgan Nazar seems to have forgotten
his adoration of Daniel's God. His concern is now much
more self centered and self focus. Full of pride. The
king had a fifty foot statue of gold built an
image of himself to represent a kingdom he believed would
last forever. This was quite questionable, of course, given that
(10:40):
he has heard Daniel's interpretation of his dream, which was
a clear word from God that Neviganazar's kingdom, though it
was strong and impressive, would one day end. Only God's
kingdom will endure forever. But the sinful heart is deceitful
above all things, and the Bible says desperately wicked. Nevgan
Azar was certainly deceiving himself. He was also deceiving the people,
(11:05):
for he issued a decree that when the music began
to play, everyone was to bow down to the idol
of the king. They were to worship nebgan Nezzar as God.
This was not uncommon for the times, rulers often were
considered gods by the people, but for the Jews this
was of course a clear violation of God's law, and
(11:29):
there were three men in attendance for this ceremony of
self indulgent that were not about to disobey their God.
Their names Shadrak, Mishak, and Abadnigo. These were Daniel's friends
and assistants. They were faithful Jews who, along with Daniel,
had refused to defile themselves with the king's food. But
(11:50):
this time the story is much different. The king wanted
all to pay homage to him, to worship him and
bow down before him, and anyone refusing would be thrown
to their death in a fiery furnace. Death, of course,
would be certain. The king's astrologers, men who did not
fear the lord and wanting nothing more, tend to see
these foreign men wiped out, went to the king and
(12:13):
informed him of their disobedience in refusing to bow down.
They wanted judgment and punishment upon these three young men.
Nevkanazar was enraged. He would not stand for this disrespect
and disobedience, so he brought them before him to give
the men another chance, but they were unmoved. Rather than
(12:33):
make excuses or escape, they stood their ground, saying, we
don't need to justify ourselves to you. This isn't what
the king wanted to hear. He would have thought, of course,
you need to justify yourself. I am a god king.
So he made it clear to them that if they
didn't obey, it would be the furnace for them, and
(12:55):
no God could save them. Shadrak mishak Abednegos stood their ground.
God had rescued his people from much worse, and he
could rescue them. I love what the Bible says in
Daniel three eighteen, when the men said that our God
is able to deliver us. They then went on to say,
(13:15):
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. Our
God is a god of deliverance. He saves us and
rescues us. But sometimes God does not intervene, and we
need to say what these young men said that day
(13:37):
when they were threatened. But if not, those are the
words which describe our faith in the face of unthinkable circumstances.
God will deliver us, we believe that. But if not,
even if we die, we still will not disobey God.
We will still follow him. Our calling is to trust
(13:57):
God and to serve no other God, and to bow
to nothing but God himself. The king can't believe his ears,
so he literally turns up the heat to the point
that it killed the guards, who threw the three bound
men inside. But as the king and his men waited
to hear the tortured yells of dying men, they instead
saw four men rather than three, standing and talking. Just
(14:21):
like there were no flames to be felt. The fourth
person in the fire had the appearance of the Son
of God. This is the pre incarnate Christ. There's no
doubt God sent himself as the protector and rescuer into
the fire to save his loyal servants. Nevcanazar was left
with no choice but to let the men out, and
(14:42):
not a hair on their heads or bodies were singed.
The God of the Hebrews had once more shown his awesome,
mighty power, and the king confessed again that there was
no God above the Lord. When God's people stand firm
for him and faithful to him, the world has no
choice but to take note. Dear God, thank you for
the faith and the faithfulness of Shadrak, Meshak and a Bendigo.
(15:06):
May we be like these young men that we will
not bend, we will not bow, and we trust you
that we will not burn. We know that our faith
and our trust rescues us from every danger, but if not,
we will be in your presence forever in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
(15:28):
We are so glad that you have joined us. I'm
Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the
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are listening daily to the Bible in a Year. I
want to encourage you to make prayer and Bible study
a priority in your life that you would seek first
the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. If you enjoy
(15:50):
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Graham dot org. God bless you