Now beginning in verse 1 the Bible reads,
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold
whose height was three score cubits
and the breadth thereof six cubits.
He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Now let me start by telling you how big a cubit is.
A cubit is basically the distance between a man's finger to his elbow.
So it's about a foot and a half approximately.
So if it says here that this image, this giant idol that he set up,
was three score cubits, that's sixty cubits or ninety feet.
So that's pretty tall isn't it?
Ninety feet high and then it says that it was six cubits broad
or nine cubits or nine feet wide.
So it's basically nine feet by ninety feet.
So it's a gigantic molten image.
It's idolatry is what it is.
Now there's so many things, whenever we read the Bible,
there's always the surface meaning and then there are a lot of underlying meanings.
And it's important when you read the Bible to always get the surface meaning first.
You know, the most important meaning is what's right there on the surface.
And sometimes people try to look so deep,
they miss what the story is actually teaching.
Just the basic, right there on the surface teaching.
But then besides that, the Bible is an infinitely deep book
that you could read this story over and over and over again
and you're always going to learn something new.
You're always going to see new things.
There's all kinds of symbolism going on here.
We're going to get into some of that tonight.
We want to start by just getting the primary meaning here.
We want to start always with the primary meaning of what God's saying
before we get into any kind of symbolism and other applications.
But here, Nebuchadnezzar the king has made this gigantic image.
It's an idol. It's a molten image.
Now first of all, turn to Deuteronomy chapter number four.
The fifth book in the Bible, Deuteronomy chapter four.
And I want to show you first of all that all molten images
or graven images of human beings or animals or whatever creature
are all sinful from start to finish.
So let me show you that.
In Deuteronomy chapter four, that's one place that we could look.
But Deuteronomy chapter four is very clear on this.
It says in verse number 15 of chapter four of Deuteronomy,
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves,
for ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb
out of the midst of the fire.
A similitude is an image or a representation of something.
And it says you didn't see any image, you didn't see any similitude
when I spoke to you out of the mount that was burning with fire.
Verse 16, Lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image.
Now a graven image is something that is graven out of either wood or stone.
It's engraved.
It's basically carved is what we would use today.
But he said a graven image, the similitude of any figure,
the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of any beast that is on the earth,
the likeness of any winged fowl that flyeth in the air,
the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground,
the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
So God here says do not make any engraven image
of an animal, of a person, of a man, of a woman, of a fish, of a bird, of an animal.
Very clear here.
This is actually one of the Ten Commandments.
The second commandment is thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Now the Catholics actually changed the Ten Commandments
because of this commandment that says thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Well guess what?
They make all kinds of graven images.
So here's what they do.
They combine, they basically take the first commandment,
thou shalt have no other gods before me,
and they basically tag on the second commandment that it's just part of that,
as long as it's not a different god.
And then what they do, because they don't want to have nine commandments,
that's going to be a little obvious,
so what they do is they divide up the last commandment
into being thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife
and thou shalt not covet anything that's thy neighbor's,
like it's two different things,
when really Jesus quoted it as just thou shalt not covet.
And so it's clear that this is one of the Ten Commandments.
The first commandment is thou shalt not have no other gods before me.
The second of the Ten Commandments is thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
And then he also says not to bow down and worship them,
but here he just says don't even make them.
He didn't say don't worship them, he just said don't make them.
And then the next thing he says in verse number 19,
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven,
and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars,
even all the hosts of heaven,
shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them,
which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
And so turn back to Daniel if you would,
he said don't even make these images
because then you'll be tempted to worship something other than God,
but the clear teaching here is just don't even make it.
Now here's what I think is funny about this.
If you look at the two symbols today
that people will make a molten or graven image of,
again, graven is wood or stone,
molten is metal, melted down.
What are the two images that someone would put
on the back of their car, for example,
to represent the fact that they're a Christian,
they actually pick the two animals
that are specifically listed in the Bible here
don't make an image of any fowl of the air
or any fish of the sea or any creature.
And you think about the little molten fish
on the back of the car or the molten dove.
I mean those are the two they pick.
He only lists two animals.
He says any animal but especially not a bird or a fish.
And then they put, you know,
they got a bird on this side and a fish on this side.
You know, Jesus saves.
You know what I mean?
You can't just sit there and look at what the Bible says
and just, well, that's not really what he meant.
That is what he meant.
And I don't think we should make statues to human beings either.
You know, and, you know, in front of Miles Anderson College,
they have a statue.
I think Dr. Jack Riles was a great man, you know,
but they've got a molten image of him on their front lawn
of their college.
Now that is not right, you know,
because it's too worshipful of a man to put that out there.
And by the way, he didn't even want that out there.
He said no to them and that's why they put it up after he died.
And so, you know, he shouldn't be making a molten image
of a man or of an animal or anything like that.
It's just one of the things that God says no in the Bible.
And so this is what happened.
He made this great image
and he's commanding that every person in his empire,
and if you look at who's there,
look at verse 2, it says,
He sent to gather together a specific group of people.
Okay, this isn't every single person necessarily.
It's basically the princes, the governors and the captains,
the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs,
and all the rulers of the provinces
to come to the dedication of the image
which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
So this isn't every person in his empire that's there, okay?
This is basically just all the leaders,
all the sheriffs, all the rulers, all the counselors,
all the government people,
because a lot of people said,
well, where was Daniel during this?
Daniel obviously, whatever his function was,
did not fall into that category
because if you look at verse 49 of chapter 2,
well, let's look at verse 48 back in chapter 2.
Then the king made Daniel a great man
and gave him many gifts
and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon
and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
Then Daniel requested of the king
and he sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
So Daniel had a different role,
the last word is up,
but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
So he had a different function
than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They were made a certain type of ruler.
For whatever reason,
he didn't have to be at this company meeting
or this organizational meeting
of all of his government officials.
So he's not there.
He's not mentioned in the story.
We know he wasn't on his face bowing down.
I mean, the whole book,
he's standing up to everybody all the time
and refusing to do anything like that.
So basically, they're commanded,
you must bow down and worship this molten image,
this idolatry.
Well, most of these nations, they don't care
because they're worshiping
all kinds of other false gods and false idols,
but it's these Hebrews that would not bow down,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Now, these men were probably the only Hebrews
we don't know because it says these certain Hebrews,
but most of the Hebrews were probably not holding
a high position in this Chaldean empire.
It was pretty much just because
they had excelled in chapter two.
And so the music begins to play,
and when the music plays,
that's the signal everybody's supposed to fall down
and worship this idol.
Isn't it amazing how false religion
always makes an emphasis of music?
Music is a religious thing.
I mean, we have music in all of our services.
We sing the hymns, don't we?
God uses music for His praise, for His glory,
but guess what?
The devil uses music too.
And a lot of false religion heavily leans upon
and relies upon music.
You know, you think of the charismatic movement.
I mean, you go to some of these church services
and literally it's like an hour and a half of music,
maybe five minutes from the Bible.
I mean, I've been to a service like that.
I mean, it's just music.
The music, the music.
But I'll tell you this,
sometimes I feel like a rock concert
is literally worshipping man
because if you look at what a rock concert is,
you got some guys on stage,
you got the music playing,
and literally the way that people act at a rock concert
is sometimes bizarre,
and I think you could call it worship.
I mean, when people are just...
I mean, they got their hands out,
they're reaching out and crying,
and then they get backstage
and they're just having a breakdown
and shaking and everything.
I mean, who's ever seen people react that way
at some kind of rock concert backstage?
You know, it's worship.
You know, when you've got the poster on the wall
and you go to bed at night staring at the poster
that's on the ceiling,
that's not right.
I mean, that's weird.
You're worshipping man.
You shouldn't get so worked up
and lift people up on that high of a pedestal
no matter who they are
to where you're screaming and chanting their name, literally.
That's going too far.
And I was talking to a Roman Catholic today,
and I was trying to give this Roman Catholic lady the gospel,
and I was trying to tell her, I said,
look, you know, she's trying to tell me
how Catholicism is the only true church
because it all goes back to Peter, you know,
and then this and that,
and he was the first pope,
and she's telling me.
I said, well, did you know that Peter was married?
And she's like,
well, he had a mother-in-law, you know.
I'm like,
well, is there another way to have a mother-in-law
besides being married?
And not only that,
it actually said that he had a wife
in one of Paul's epistles.
I forget which chapter,
but it says, you know, Cephas has a wife.
Barnabas, you know, me and Barnabas
are the only guys that are single,
and he's listing off
how all the other apostles all have wives.
And yet the pope is supposedly celibate,
you know, and he's a homo,
but, you know, he's supposedly celibate
and he can't get married.
And I showed her the verse that said,
you know, the bishop's supposed to be
the husband of one wife.
I showed her the verse that said,
call no man your father upon the earth,
for one is your father which is in heaven.
And I told her this,
I said if the pope landed at Sky Harbor Airport,
people would be there
and they would get on their knees before him,
they would get on their face before him,
they would bow down to him and worship him.
And so we're not to worship anything but God.
Remember in the book of Esther,
the stand that Mordecai made,
when everybody else,
you know, they didn't have to, quote,
worship him,
but they just had to get on their knees
and bow down to him every time he even walked by.
And Mordecai refused to bow down to anyone except God.
He refused to get on his knees before man.
And so do I, by the way.
I will not get on my knees before any man
and worship man.
I'm going to worship God.
And I'm not going to get on my knees
in front of a statue or a graven image
or a picture or anything or any similitude.
I'm going to worship God only.
And that was the stand here.
They're not going to worship anything.
Well, the music comes on.
The emotional driven music, whatever it was,
and when the music starts,
everybody falls down on their faces
and worships the golden image
except for three men are just conspicuously standing up.
I mean, you can imagine,
if everybody's down on their face,
it's going to be pretty easy to see
the three guys who are standing up
refusing to do it.
Okay.
So, of course, these little tattletales come
that basically are just so mad,
you know, they have to do it.
Isn't it funny how whenever one person
has to be a slave,
they want everybody else to be a slave with them?
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
It's like, well, that's not fair, you know,
that these people don't pay taxes.
It's like, well, it's not fair
that any of us pay all this tax.
You know what I mean?
It's just like, you know,
oh, man, you know,
these guys didn't have,
how come they didn't have to do it?
How come they didn't have to
bow down and worship this thing
if I'm worshipping this stupid thing, you know?
So then they go and tell the king
and they say,
well, these guys don't worship your God.
There was probably jealousy involved, too,
just trying to get them to do it.
Just trying to get themself a little higher
by taking down some other politicians,
some other leaders,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
So they come and tell on them,
it says in verse 12,
there are certain Jews
whom thou hast said
over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
these men, O king,
have not regarded thee.
They serve not thy gods,
nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar,
in his rage and fury,
commanded to bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Then they brought these men before the king.
And of course he goes through it with them
and says, look,
is it true that you're not worshipping my gods?
Is it true that you won't bow down?
He says, look,
if the music comes on,
I'm going to give you another chance,
I like you guys.
He says if the music comes on
and you bow down, great.
But if not, this and that.
Well, I love what they answer.
It says in verse number 16,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar,
we're not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so,
our God whom we serve
is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace.
And he will deliver us
out of thine hand, O king.
But if not,
be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods
nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up.
Now notice,
they were not careful
to answer him in this matter.
You know, there are certain times
when you should be careful what you say,
and there are other times when
you don't need to be careful what you say.
You see, there are a lot of times
when, like in Daniel chapter 1,
they were being asked to do something
that was not as clear cut
in the minds of the people
who were asking them to do it.
I mean, in their mind,
they knew it was wrong
to eat that meat
that was sacrificed unto idols.
They knew it was wrong
to drink the wine
that the king drank.
But the people who were
giving it to him
did not understand that.
So they basically meekly
went to them
and humbly entreated them.
But this is just someone
blatantly saying,
you will bow down
and worship a false god right now.
They didn't have to think
of, oh man,
let me be careful
in how I phrase this.
Let me stop and think
how I'm going to answer it.
You know, when it comes
to certain issues,
sometimes you just need
to stand up
and just make it clear
where you stand on certain things.
You know, you shouldn't beat
around the bush.
You know, are you a Christian?
Well, yeah.
Right, oh yeah.
So are you one of these
Bible-believing, like Bible,
you know, everything Christians,
fundamentalists?
Well, not really.
I mean, you know,
I do kind of read the Bible,
and I like it.
It should just be
a non-careful answer,
which is basically
just a knee-jerk reaction.
Just tell the truth.
Yeah, of course I do.
Oh yeah, I love the Bible.
Yes, I'm a Christian.
Yes, I'm saved.
So, you know,
do you want to do this?
Do you want to come
to this Catholic service with me?
No.
I'm not going to.
You know, and basically,
there are certain things
where you want to try
not to offend,
but here's a situation
where they said,
you know, we're not careful
to answer thee.
You know, we need to learn
to take a stand on certain things
and not be so worried
all the time
who it's going to offend here.
These guys are standing
before the most powerful
man in the world,
and they were not afraid
of offending him.
They said, look, King,
we will not worship another God.
We're just telling you
that right now.
We're not careful
to answer you.
It's not going to change.
Play the stupid music
as many times as you want.
I will not bow down
to this thing.
Now, that made the king
really mad.
He's very angry
because they stood up
to him like that,
and so it says that his visage
was changed toward them.
It says in verse number 19,
then was Nebuchadnezzar
full of fury,
and the form of his visage,
visage means face,
was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego.
So basically,
he goes from looking
kind of like a nice guy
to just getting,
or, you know,
getting madder and madder
while talking.
His face is changing.
Therefore, he spake
and commanded
that they should heat
the furnace one seven times
more than it was
want to be heated.
Now, than it was
want to be heated
is basically talking
about what it was
designed for.
You know, you think of
in your house,
you have an oven.
It maybe goes up
to 500 degrees, okay,
and you can't really
turn the knob
any further than that.
Well, basically,
he's saying, you know,
oh, it's set up for 500.
You know,
crank it up to 2,000.
You know, but it was
seven times.
I don't know how hot
it was originally
supposed to be,
but he put in
seven times the fuel
or seven times whatever
to make it hotter.
He gave this command.
He said, I want it
seven times hotter
than what it would
usually be.
So they cranked
this fiery furnace up.
It says in verse 21,
then these men were
bound in their coats,
their hosen.
Hosen is an old word
for pants.
Today in Germany,
they still say
die Hose.
That's how you say,
the German class
starts early today,
but hosen is
a new name,
and it says,
and their hats
and their other garments,
and they were cast
into the midst
of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore,
because the king's
commandment was urgent
and the furnace
exceeding hot,
the flame of the fire
slew those men
that took up Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego.
Now, one time
when I was a teenager,
there was something
on the History Channel
called Mysteries of the Bible,
and this show,
my dad would always
yell about this show
how bad it was,
but basically,
what they would do
on this show
was try to explain
why the miracles
of the Bible
happened naturally
without God doing it.
And they explained.
They literally.
I'm sitting with my dad
on the couch.
I don't know why
we were watching it
if it was so bad,
but we were watching it.
It was on the History Channel,
and I threw out my TV
nine years ago.
I haven't seen any TV since,
but that's when
I was a teenager,
and they had a diagram
of the furnace,
and they were showing
how there could be
a cold spot
in this furnace, literally.
They said,
you know,
it's possible that
if they were
in this one spot,
and I mean,
they had this elaborate
computer-generated diagram
how they could have
done it.
So it's like,
wow, they solved
the mystery.
You know,
same thing with the Red Sea.
They were explaining
how the Red Sea crossing
happened without
God doing it,
and it's called
Mysteries of the Bible,
and every week,
it was like
it was just
a different miracle.
They would just
take it apart
how, well,
it happened,
it was all explained
by science.
But the problem
with that is that
the guys who threw
them in died.
It was so hot
that even getting
close to this thing
burned them up
and killed them,
and then the other thing
is that when they came
out of the firing furnace,
it says that
they didn't even
smell like smoke,
and that the fire
had burned the ropes
off their hands,
you know,
and they didn't
get into that
on this show,
but they have
all these theologians
on there,
you know,
with all these books
and globes
and stuff behind them.
Well, you know,
the ancient
Chaldean ovens
were built
in such a way.
They're just explaining
all this garbage
of how it happened.
But that's why
the Bible explains here,
look, the ropes
were burned off
their hands,
and they didn't
even smell like smoke,
and yet they were
in this fiery furnace.
Now, look what it says
in verse 25,
or look at verse 24.
Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king was
astonished,
that's an old word
for astonished,
and rose up in haste
and spake
and said unto his counselors,
Did not we cast
three men
bound into the midst
of the fire?
They answered
and said unto the king,
True, O king.
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.
And of course,
then he calls them
out of the furnace
and so forth.
Now, here's what's
interesting about this.
You know,
you probably knew
I was going to
give you
the New World translation,
the Jehovah's Witness Bible.
Okay, Scott,
how about the Living Bible?
I think that's
the one you read, right?
And then we've got
the New King James,
new and improved,
all right?
And then we've got
right here the New
International Version,
the NIV, okay?
And then we'll give you
the New American Standard,
okay?
So, you want this one?
There you go, all right.
So, Daniel 3,
look up Daniel 3.25
and all these other versions,
okay?
You know,
because these other versions
are going to make
it a little easier for us
to understand tonight,
because, you know,
the King James
belongs in a museum.
It's so hard to read.
So, who's got it?
Who's there?
Put up your hand.
What do you got, Derek?
I've got the New World
translation, and it says,
he was answering and saying,
look, I am beholding
four able-bodied men
walking about,
three in the midst
of the fire,
and there is no hurt to them,
and the appearance
of the fourth one
is resembling
a son of the gods.
Okay, so that
is the New World translation,
and it says,
he was answering
and saying,
look, I am beholding
four able-bodied men
walking about,
and there is no hurt to them.
Okay, so that,
so in the King James Bible
here it said,
he looks in,
it says,
the form of the fourth
is like the Son of God.
Who's the Son of God?
Jesus Christ.
The Jehovah's Witness Bible
says,
a son of the gods.
Now, is that,
that's a little different,
isn't it?
Now, don't read
the whole verse.
Just what's the last phrase?
Read us the last phrase,
Scott.
And the fourth
looks like a god.
So the Living Bible
got a little creative
and just cut out
the sun all together,
and just said,
the fourth looks like
a god.
Okay?
What do you got?
This one didn't change it,
actually.
This one didn't change it?
What do we got here?
I got the new here,
it says,
like a son of the gods.
A son of the gods?
A son of the gods.
Brian?
Wait, which chapter?
Never mind.
Next time, Brian.
Get that thing out of his hand,
he's polluting his mind with it,
he's in some other chapter.
Anyway,
I'm going to read
the last verse.
I'm going to read
the last verse.
I'm going to read
Anyway,
you know,
people just try to say,
oh yeah,
it doesn't really make
a big difference.
You know,
a little change here,
a little change.
That's a pretty big change.
The son of god
or a son of the gods?
Real big change.
And I didn't know
that the gods had sons
in the first place.
So that kind of ruins
the whole meaning there.
But he basically
finishes off here
in verse 28,
and says,
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake
and said,
blessed be the god
of Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
who had sent his angel
and delivered his servants
that trusted in him,
and have changed
the king's word
and yielded their bodies
that they might not serve
nor worship any god
except their own god.
Therefore,
I make a decree
that every people,
nation, and language
would speak anything amiss
against the god
of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego
shall be cut in pieces
and their houses
shall be made a dung hill
because there is no other god
that can deliver
after this sort.
Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego
in the provinces of Babylon.
So that's the story right there.
Now we're going to go
into some other meanings here.
The bottom line
of just the surface meaning is
three guys are asked
to bow down
and worship a false god.
They refuse to do it.
They're threatened
with the death penalty
for not doing it.
They stand tall and say,
we're not even careful.
We're not even worried about it.
We will not do it.
God is able to deliver us,
but they said,
you know what?
Even if he doesn't deliver us,
we'd rather burn than bow.
We'll just tell you right now,
we will not serve your god
even if we have to die
in that fiery furnace.
We will not do it.
And of course,
God protects them.
God keeps them safe,
and they end up
coming out alive.
That's the story.
But look at verse 30.
Let's get into
some other applications here.
Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego
in the province of Babylon.
Now the Bible says,
Therefore,
all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do unto you,
do ye even so unto them,
for this is the law
and the prophets.
You know,
we should do unto others
as we have them do unto us.
And when you see here,
people trying to criticize
their fellow worker,
basically,
because they're all
kind of on the same level.
All these guys
that are bowing down,
they're all bureaucrats
working for King Nebuchadnezzar.
They're all counselors,
sheriffs,
and they're basically
trying to tear down
these guys,
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego,
and guess who ends up
with Shadrach and Abednego?
You know,
what goes around comes around.
You reap what you sow.
And when you're on the job,
if you're the one
who always wants to criticize
and tear down everybody else
and go tell the boss
all their mistakes,
you know,
that's going to come back
around to get you.
What you ought to be doing
in business is
if you see someone
do a good job,
you should report that
to the boss.
And you say,
oh, well,
maybe they'll get the raise.
Maybe they'll end up
getting the better promotion.
But you know what?
The Bible says,
Promotion cometh neither
from the east,
but it comes from God.
God,
it can lift up one
and put down another.
And when you have an attitude
of trying to help
other people succeed,
then God will help
you succeed.
That will come back around.
These guys were being
maligned by people
who wanted the promotion.
You know,
they wanted to take
these guys down a notch
and they ended up
getting the promotion.
But there's a symbolism
in this chapter.
You see,
turn if you would,
keep your finger here,
turn to Revelation 13.
Because the first symbolism
that I want to show you,
and there's several
different things
that I want to show you
that I'm going to hurry up
and try to get
to as many of them
as I can.
The Bible's so deep,
it's hard to hit everything
in one chapter in one night.
So we try to do
the best we can.
But in Revelation 13,
we have a lot of talk
about the Antichrist.
And you see,
Nebuchadnezzar in
Daniel chapter 3
is actually a foreshadowing
of the Antichrist.
Here's a man
who has a worldwide empire
who is basically demanding
them to worship an image.
And presumably,
it doesn't tell us for sure,
but presumably,
the image was of him.
Because if you think of
a 90 foot tall image,
90 feet wide,
you know, that's basically
similar to the proportions
of a man.
And it was some kind of
an image of either
a man or an animal.
It doesn't say anything
about it being an animal.
It was probably an image
of Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Because later on,
we see in chapter 4,
he is filled with pride
and everything.
And so, he also,
if you remember,
had just been told
by Daniel in chapter 2
about how he was
the head of gold,
and he basically
was the king of all the kings
of the earth at that time.
And so, I think what he did
was he took that and said,
okay, well, I'm going to
make a golden image of myself
and have people
bow down and worship me.
We don't know for sure
what the image was,
but we do know
that the antichrist
who will also have
a worldwide kingdom,
who will also demand people
to worship him
and claim to be God,
will have an image
made of him.
Let's look at that
in Revelation 13.
It says in Revelation
chapter 13,
we'll just start
just for sake of time,
in verse number 14.
This is basically talking
about the false prophet
who's going to come
on the scene.
It says,
And deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth
by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do
in the sight of the beast,
the beast and the antichrist,
saying to them
that dwell on the earth
that they should make
an image to the beast
which had the wound
by a sword and did live.
And he had power
to give life
unto the image of the beast
that the image of the beast
should both speak
and cause that as many
as would not worship
the image of the beast
should be killed.
And he causeth all,
both small and great,
rich and poor,
free and bond,
to receive a mark
in their right hand
or in their foreheads,
and that no man
might by ourself
save he that hath the mark
or the name of the beast
or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom.
Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast
for it is the number of a man
and his number is six
under threescore and six.
So here in Revelation 13,
we see the false prophet,
his false religious leader,
is going to be pointing people
to the antichrist,
commanding them
to worship the antichrist,
and he's going to tell them
that they need to build
an image to the antichrist
and that everyone
has to worship that image
and if you don't worship it,
you'll be killed.
And then he also says
that in order to buy
or sell,
you have to receive
the mark of the beast
in your right hand
or in your forehead
or else you will not
be able to buy or sell
and also if you're caught,
you'll be killed
for not worshiping
the image that they set up.
Now, the devil
is always a counterfeiter.
Okay, keep your finger
in Revelation 13,
go back to chapter 7.
In chapter number 7,
it says in verse 3,
saying,
Heard not the earth,
neither the sea,
nor the trees,
till we have sealed
the servants of our God
in their foreheads.
And I heard the number
of them which were sealed
and they were sealed
by the 144,000 of all the tribes
of the children of Israel.
He goes on to list
the individual tribes,
12,000 apiece.
Look at Revelation chapter 9.
Revelation chapter number 9.
This is talking about
the plague of the fifth trumpet
when these locusts
come out of the bottomless pit
and they're attacking
the men that have
worshiped the beast
and have the mark of the beast.
And it says in chapter 9,
let me find my place here,
it says in verse 4,
and it was commanded then
that they should not hurt
the grass of the earth,
neither any green thing,
neither any tree,
but only those men
which have not
the seal of God
in their foreheads.
This concept is also found
in Ezekiel chapter 10.
We're not going to turn there
for the sake of time.
But you see here
that there will be
a special group
in the end times.
This is after the tribulation,
after the rapture.
Basically,
while God's pouring out
his wrath,
there will be these
144,000 saints
that are upon the earth
that are Jewish,
that are of these
different 12 tribes,
and basically,
these guys will be
upon the earth
while God is
pouring out his wrath,
even after we're
already gone.
And these guys
will basically be immune
from being attacked
by all these
hellish creatures
that God is
unleashing upon the earth.
Well, they have
a special mark
in their foreheads.
But you see,
the devil
is a counterfeiter.
When the devil comes
in the form
of the antichrist,
because the devil is the one
who empowers the antichrist,
even though the antichrist
is a human being,
when the antichrist comes
and he has been
given his power by Satan,
he's going to claim
to be the second coming
of Jesus Christ.
He's going to say,
I'm God.
I'm Jesus Christ.
That's why he's
called the antichrist.
And when that man,
he's a false Christ,
he's going to come
on the scene and people
are going to believe
unsaved people
will be deluded
and think,
this is really him.
This is Jesus Christ,
come back the second time.
And basically,
how he's going to lie
to people
to receive this mark
is he's going to use
these passages, I believe,
that talk about
God's mark being
in people's foreheads.
Because it says
in Revelation 22
that all of us
throughout eternity
will have his name
written in our foreheads.
In Revelation 22,
it says,
they shall see his face,
verse 3,
and his name shall be
written in their foreheads.
So basically,
you can see how
the devil's always
listening.
And basically,
Nebuchadnezzar here
pictures the Antichrist
demanding people
to worship him or die.
So we will face
a Nebuchadnezzar.
It could even be
in our lifetime.
Maybe it'll be, you know,
after we've been
dead and gone.
We don't know when
exactly the events
in Revelation will
begin to unfold.
We can see from
a lot of things
that are happening
that we could be
getting close to them.
But this Nebuchadnezzar-like
man, the Antichrist,
will come,
and that's what
Nebuchadnezzar pictures
in the Old Testament.
But also,
what does the
furnace of fire
make you think of?
Hell.
Because the Bible
actually says in
the book of Matthew
about unbelievers.
Jesus Christ said
to the unbelievers,
he said he shall
cast them into
a furnace of fire.
There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So basically,
the furnace of fire
represents hell.
And basically,
the Antichrist
is a substitute,
Jesus Christ.
Nebuchadnezzar
basically was a leader
that thinks he's God.
People have to
worship him,
and if you don't
worship him,
you'll go into his
furnace of fire.
You see how
the devil is a counterfeit
or everything?
He counterfeits the Bible
with all his false
Bible versions.
He counterfeits
Christianity with all
the false versions
of Christianity
and a workspace religion.
He counterfeits
everything that's right
and holy and Yahweh,
and he twists it
and perverts it
and changes it.
He will counterfeit
the second coming of Christ.
But go back,
if you would,
to Daniel 3.
The other interesting
thing about this
is that all these
false Bibles
are you still turning
in the living Bible?
Anyway,
all these false Bibles
also, they change
instead of the mark
being in your hand,
change it to on your hand.
Whereas the real Bible
says the mark of the beast
will be in your forehead
or in your hand.
You know,
I don't know what that is,
but that could be
some kind of an
implantable microchip
or, you know,
we don't know what it is.
Obviously, it'll probably
become apparent
as it gets closer.
But that's another change
in these modern versions.
But back in Daniel,
here's another
interesting thing here.
Jesus Christ was the one
that was the fourth man
in the fire, wasn't he?
The son of God.
I mean, he appeared
in the midst of the fire.
Now that's significant
for many different reasons.
Because of the fact
that Jesus Christ
went into the furnace of fire,
which in effect
saved them from the
furnace of fire, didn't it?
He went in there,
and because he was there,
the other three
had no hurt,
no harm,
their bands were loosed,
and they were basically,
they walked out unharmed,
and didn't even have
the smell of smoke.
The picture that God
is giving us with that
is a picture of salvation.
You know, we basically
have committed sin,
we've broken the law,
and even though this
was a bad law,
they had broken the law,
hadn't they?
They had broken, you know,
that's why we should
never break the law.
But it says here
that the law was
that they had to
worship this thing,
and they refused to do it.
So they had broken the law,
they were guilty,
they had to be thrown
into the fiery furnace,
and what saved them
from that punishment?
Jesus Christ.
Because you see,
Jesus Christ,
in the soul,
descended into the
fiery furnace for us.
Acts 2.31,
you don't have to turn there,
you can turn there
if you like,
but I'll read you
just a few scriptures.
Acts 2.31 says this,
He seeing this before,
spake of the
resurrection of Christ,
that his soul
was not left in Hell,
neither his flesh
did see corruption.
So the Bible
tells us about
the resurrection of Christ
in Acts 2.31,
is the fact
that his soul
was not left in Hell,
and that his flesh
did not see corruption,
because his flesh
was in the grave,
his body was in the grave.
His soul was in Hell
for three days
and three nights.
That's why he said
in Matthew 12.40,
for as Jonas was
three days
and three nights
in the whale's belly,
so shall the son of man
be three days
and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
Now if you were to take,
for example,
any kind of a,
let's take an artichoke.
You know,
where is the heart
of the artichoke?
It's the middle.
Okay,
obviously the heart
of the earth
is not talking about
being in a tomb
on the surface of the earth.
That's not the heart
of the earth.
But if you look at
the earth as a sphere
as it is,
the heart of the earth
would be right
and so that's why it says
that his soul
was not left in Hell.
A few verses up
in Acts chapter 2,
it says in verse number,
let me find my place
here quickly.
It says in verse 27,
because thou will not
leave my soul in Hell
being of Jesus Christ,
neither wilt thou suffer
thine holy one
to seek corruption.
And then if you'd like,
you can also turn
to Ephesians chapter 4
where it speaks of this also.
It says in verse 7,
but unto every one
that every one of us
is given grace
according to the measure
of the gift of Christ.
Verse 8,
wherefore he saith,
when he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended,
what is it
but that he also descended
first into the lower
parts of the earth?
He that descended
is the same also
that ascended up
far above all heavens
that he might fill all things.
So the Bible says there
that before Jesus Christ
ascended up to heaven,
he descended first
into the lower parts
of the earth.
You could read
Ezekiel 30 and 31
talk a lot about
the nether parts of the earth,
the lower parts of the earth
being where Hell is located.
So basically,
Jesus Christ
faced the fiery furnace
for us
so that we would not
have to face
the fiery furnace.
We are never even
going to so much
as smell of the smoke of Hell.
We will never even
be singed whatsoever.
And also there's the imagery
of being bound.
And the Bible teaches that
before we're saved,
we're in bondage.
We're basically in bondage
to sin.
We're in bondage,
the Bible says,
that he might deliver them
who through fear of death
were all their lifetimes
subject to bondage.
But when you get saved,
that bondage is removed.
He said,
you'll be free.
You should know the truth.
If you continue in my word,
then my disciples indeed,
you should know the truth
and the truth
shall make you free.
And so the bondage
is removed there.
The captive is set free
there in the fiery furnace,
and they're totally unharmed.
Now, look at Revelation 2,
if you would.
Revelation chapter number 2.
Gotta hurry up here
because I wanted to give
another imagery here.
But one of the imageries
of the fiery furnace is
obviously it's an image of Hell.
Jesus Christ being there,
the Savior,
delivering them from Hell.
Their bounds are loose
and so forth.
But it's interesting,
the wording in Revelation 2,
when he's speaking
to the church at Smyrna,
is almost identical
to the wording in Daniel 3.
Look what it says
in verse number 11.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh
shall not be hurt
of the second death.
You got that?
He that overcometh
shall not be hurt
of the second death.
Now you say,
what does it mean to overcome?
Well, it says this,
just write a few pages
earlier in your Bible.
It says this,
For whatsoever is born of God,
overcometh the world.
Did you get that?
Whatsoever is born of God,
overcometh the world,
and this is the victory
that overcometh the world,
even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world?
But he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God.
So that's right there
in 1 John 5, 3, 4, and 5.
He lays it out
that what it means to overcome,
and the only place in the Bible
that the term overcome
is ever used
is in 1 John 5
where he explains that,
that basically,
who, listen carefully,
who is he that overcometh the world
but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God?
He's saying,
there is no one else
who is overcome
but those who believe
that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God.
And so then we get
in the context here
of Revelation 2 and 3.
That's what he means
when he says,
him that overcometh
because that's the only places
in the whole Bible
that overcome or use
during 1 John and Revelation.
And you can also get
this definition of overcoming
at the end of Revelation.
I believe it's in
chapter 21 verse 7.
And I want to show you
something about
the second death there anyway,
so look at that if you would.
Revelation 21, 7 says,
he that overcometh
shall inherit all things
and I will be his God
and he shall be my son.
But the fearful
and unbelieving
and the abominable
and murderers
and whoremockers
and sorcerers
and idolaters
and all liars
shall part in the lake
which burneth with fire
and brimstone
which is the second death.
Now, isn't it saying here
that the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone
is the second death?
So the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone
is the second death.
Back in Revelation 2,
he said,
he that overcometh
shall not be hurt
of the second death.
Isn't that what it said
in Revelation 21, 7 and 8?
He that overcometh
shall inherit all things.
I'll be to him a father
and he shall be to me
one of these other people
are going to the lake of fire
which is the second death.
Isn't that exactly what it said
back in Daniel 3
when he said,
Lo, I see four men loose
walking in the midst of the fire
and they have no hurt.
And the four men of the fourth
is like the son of God.
They have no hurt.
He that overcometh
shall not be hurt
of the second death.
So this is a picture here
in the Old Testament
of salvation
through a son of the gods.
No, it's a picture
of salvation through
the son of God.
It's a picture of salvation
through Jesus Christ.
Isn't that a powerful
picture there
when you see it in that way?
But there's another image
that's here.
Because remember,
we always want to get
the primary application
before we get off
on these other symbolic things.
But there is so much
symbolic teaching in the Bible.
But the problem is
when people get carried away
on symbolism
and they miss
the clear teachings of the Bible.
The Bible is so clear
how to be saved.
The Bible is so clear.
And then they'll try
to take some story
and try to, you know.
It's got to jive
with what the Bible
clearly says, okay.
And that illustration
that I just gave you,
boy, it does jive
with what the Bible says.
But here's another
illustration here.
The fiery furnace here
was the punishment
for these people
who basically would not
worship the golden image, right?
They're thrown in.
Now, do you remember
from Daniel 1,
what did Nebuchadnezzar
think about these three guys?
Shadrach, Meshach,
Abednego.
He thought they were
great guys, didn't he?
And he even said this.
He said to them,
he said to these
three exact guys,
you guys are 10 times better
than any of my other,
you know, workers here.
Now, you can see
why people are telling on them,
you know, as soon as
they find something
wrong with them.
He said they're 10 times
better than all these
other guys.
But hold on a second.
Did being 10 times better
than the people around them
save them from being thrown
into that fiery furnace?
Is that what saved them
from going into the
fiery furnace?
No.
So there's another
imagery here of,
hey, it doesn't matter
how good you are.
That's not going to
save you.
You see what I mean?
Like, you can be 10 times
better than everybody else.
That's not going
to deliver you.
You know, the king here
could also represent God
because God is the one
who will actually cast people
into the real fiery furnace.
Of course, he was
a counterfeit fake version
of hell.
It wasn't really hell.
It was just a fiery
furnace.
But it could represent hell
and, look, God will cast
those into hell who do not
believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It doesn't matter
how good they are.
Good, bad, or whatever.
Not that there's
anyone who's good
because, of course,
the Bible says there's
only one that's good
and that's God.
Remember they said
to Jesus,
good master,
what good things
shall I do that I might
inherit eternal life?
And he said,
why callest thou me good?
There's none good but one
and that's God.
And I always show that
to Jehovah's Witnesses
and other people who
don't believe Jesus is God
because I say,
well, is Jesus good?
Oh, yeah.
Well, then he's God.
Oh, oh.
Oh, so you're saying
Jesus isn't good.
No, no, no.
Well, then he's God
because when somebody
called him good,
he said,
well, why are you
calling me good?
There's only one
that's good
and that's God.
You know, I mean,
that's pretty clear.
Either he's bad
or he's God.
And by the way,
no one else is good
but God.
The Bible says
there's none good but one
and that's God.
It says there's none
that do with good.
As it is written,
there's none righteous,
no, not one.
But you might be
ten times better
than somebody else.
I mean, I guarantee you
that you could find
somebody that's ten times
worse than you are.
No matter how bad you are.
You know what I mean?
You say,
well, I'm not as bad
as someone so.
But you know what?
It's never going to be
good enough for all of sin
and come short
of the glory of God.
And the thing is,
you might come short
by a little or a lot
and I'm not saying
everybody's the same.
I'm not saying that
there aren't people
that are worse than others.
Of course there are.
People say,
no, no, no,
everybody's equal.
Then why did God
take away the kingdom
from Saul
and say,
I'm going to give it
to another guy
who's better than thou?
That's what God
told King Saul.
I'm giving it to your
neighbor that's better than you.
So yeah,
you know,
your neighbor might be
better than you
or worse than you
but that's not the point.
I said,
what if Michael Jordan,
you know,
were trying to jump up
and maybe he had to jump
over the Empire State Building.
Okay?
And I have to jump
over the Empire State Building.
You know,
who's going to get
closer to the top?
Me or Michael Jordan?
Jordan.
What do you mean?
Yeah, Jordan.
But guess what?
Both of us are so far
from achieving the goal
that it's ridiculous
to even think about it
and that's the way
it really is spiritually.
I mean,
I might be able to jump
or I might be way better
than ten times better
than so and so
but you know what?
That's not going to save me.
That's not going to give me
to heaven.
Jesus said,
except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case
enter into the kingdom
of heaven.
But that's why Paul said,
not having my own
righteousness which is
of the law
but that which is through
the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is
of God by faith.
He said,
it's not my own righteousness.
He said in Romans 10,
brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved
for I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God
but not according to knowledge
for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness
and going about to establish
their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God
for Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness
to everyone that believeth.
To everyone that believeth
the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the righteousness of God
is imputed unto them
but your own righteousness,
be it ten times better
than someone else,
is not going to save you
from that fiery furnace.
The Son of God will save you
from that fiery furnace.
That's the only way
to be saved from.
It doesn't matter
how much your righteousness,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness
that's enough
to get you into heaven.
I think of the verse in Romans 4,
but to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted
for righteousness,
even as David also
described it the blessedness
of the man
unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works,
saying blessed are they
whose niquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord
will not impute sin.
And so here we see
that these guys
had a great record.
I mean, they were
ten times better.
Wasn't good enough.
They still went
into the furnace.
And so we'll close with that
for the sake of time.
Let's go ahead
and bow our heads
and have a word of prayer.
Father, please help us
to be like these three
great men in the Bible,
Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego.
Help us to have
the backbone to stand up
and proclaim what we believe
unashamedly,
without carefulness,
just to clearly
and distinctly tell people
where we stand,
to stand up for the truth,
to never back down,
even, as the Bible says
in Revelation 2-10,
be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee
a crown of life.
Help us to be able
to have the courage
to be faithful unto death
if need be.
And Father,
please just help us
also to preach
the glorious gospel
of Jesus Christ
to every creature
and to explain to them
salvation,
that hell is real.
Hell is a real place
in that they can only
be saved through
believing on the name
of the Son of God.
And in Jesus' name
we ask these things.
Amen.