Series: Dog Daze
Daniel 3:19-23 ESV
Daniel 3:12-13 ESV
2 Kings 24:19-20 ESV
2 Kings 25:8-10 ESV
I don’t know if you have ever known anyone or even witnessed anyone who was completely “filled with fury”.
I have.
What surprised me (every time) is that the rage always came quickly without warning.
It was like someone suddenly turn on a light in their head triggering a swift and complete rage response.
In today’s scripture it seems like that is what happened in Daniel 3:19-23 after someone told the King there were men in HIS kingdom who refused to bow down to the large golden image that he had ordered everyone to worship. In other words someone told the King they refused to give him control over them.
In Daniel 3:19-23 we are told, “Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.”
So I’m fairly certain that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a good idea what brought on the King’s rage. Using today’s terminology something “triggered” the king to turn on them. We know from Daniel 3:12-13 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew the turn had to do with their response to the golden image because the King had been told, “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.”
We shouldn’t be surprised when we learn in verse 19 that the expression on the king’s face changed immediately against the three men from the tribe of Judah in Israel. The three men had refused to give the King control over their spiritual life and that change caused the king to shift.
We might be inclined to think the response was a natural result of any powerful king. King’s after all do play a significant role in the territory under their control. They often make the final decisions in their kingdom and that was the case with the powerful King Nebuchadnezzar.
This King of Babylon was known in history as the greatest King of Babylon (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WX4sTXOKRcY) and he was not willing to allow three Hebrew fellows to get away with challenging his authority.
He was in control.
Why control? His reaction in this account could indicate more was going on with the King than we might think. When we consider the situation, why would a great and powerful king who had conquered an entire region allow three young men to cause him to lose his temper to the point of being enraged?
On the outside Shadrach Meshach and Abednego had very little recourse. They were just three young Hebrew men who worshipped one God. In King Nebuchadnezzar’s mind he would have thought their God must not have much power because the King didn’t have any trouble conquering Israel.
This KING was the most powerful king Mesopotamia had seen in a thousand years.
King Nebuchadnezzer not only conquered Israel, he leveled it to the ground. The mighty Babylonian King destroyed the Egyptians who had a large powerful army. He then defeated the Kingdom of Judah and the region of Palestine. As a result of the loss King Zedekiah was the last King of Judah. We know from 2 Kings 24:19-20 he “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon.”
Even though King Zedekiah fought to defeat Nebuchadnezzer II we are told in 2 Kings 25:8-10,
“In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.”
Remember King Zedekiah did evil in the sight of THE God of Israel. Zedekiah fought on his own because he had turned away from God.
King Nebuchadnezzar II worshipped the god Marduk and as far as he was concerned because of his military success, his god was THE most powerful god.
Israel laid in ruins and even King Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.
The city wall was gone. Today we might be inclined to dismiss that as a mere detail, but at that time in history a city wall was a vital element to its welfare. Having no city wall brought great shame and even fear to it’s inhabitants.
All of that had taken place prior to the standoff between King Nebuchadnezzer II and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now, when the King ordered the three measly Jews to worship his great and powerful god who had easily destroyed Judah and laid seige on the capital city of Jerusalem, they REFUSED!
It was almost as if the King was screaming HOW DARE YOU!
But, they did dare to stand up to King Nebuchadnezzer II and his little ‘g’ god Marduk!
As a result, the great and powerful King ordered the fire to be super-heated and he threw the three men into the flames. The fire was so super hot that the King’s men who threw them in were burned to death.
And so…the great and powerful King was satisfied that with his little ‘g’ god Marduk he once again had the last word on the God of Israel.
Or did he?
Spiritual Practice: Pray
Pray what’s on your heart. Ask God to encourage you that an answer is coming.
In God, Deborah
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