of gold, tight with three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits.
He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, 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.
Now Daniel chapter 3 is the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being delivered
from the fiery furnace.
And this chapter has a lot of great parallels with the end times and specifically with Revelation
chapter 13 where the Antichrist and his false prophet end up setting up a great image.
And whoever will not worship that image in Revelation chapter 13, the Bible says that
they would be killed, that it would be against the law not to worship this image.
And that's exactly what we see in Daniel chapter 3.
Now the book of Daniel itself is a book that deals heavily with end times Bible prophecy
and so that's why the first half of the book of Daniel has a lot of chapters in it that
have stories like this of people defying rulers telling them to worship Satan or telling them
to worship idolatry or to eat the meat that sacrificed unto idols or that they can't pray
unto the Lord for a certain amount of time like in Daniel chapter 6.
Why?
Because this book is preparing us for the end times by showing us examples of godly
men who stood up and would rather burn than bow.
They're refusing to give in to what the government and what the devil is trying to force upon
them because they know that the Lord demands that they worship Him alone.
The Bible says thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.
Now what's interesting in this passage is that all of the governors, captains, judges,
treasurers, counselors, and sheriffs, all of these rulers are gathered together unto
this dedication and it's demanded of them that they bow down and worship this great
image.
Let me tell you something, even today in 2018 the same kind of thing is going on where
if you want to rise up high in various government bodies and if you want to become one of the
top rulers in this country or that country, many times you have to worship Satan to get
there.
Tell your soul to the devil, and that's what we see in this passage that Nebuchadnezzar
who represents in this story the devil, he wants to make sure that everybody who's running
his kingdom is totally sold out to the devil.
And that's exactly the way it is today.
We have governments filled with what the Bible calls the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.
Otherwise, explain to me why so many of these important politicians have been out to the
Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco, California, and bowed down to a giant statue of an owl
that's Molenk, and where they do a mock human sacrifice, and many presidents and leaders
have been there, and politicians, it's like a rite of passage for them, and that's why
so many of our politicians, before they even get into those positions of power, they have
to go through organizations like Skull and Bones at Yale University.
Think about how George Bush and John Kerry both say that they were members of Skull and
Bones, and this is mainstream stuff.
Don't try to say that this is some radical conspiracy theory.
I mean, I was walking through the airport and Time Magazine was covering secret societies,
and of course they were trying to gloss it over, "Oh, it's just college kids having
a good time."
But when they explained the initiation procedures for what it takes to get into Skull and Bones,
it's so demonic, it's so perverted, it's openly satanic, and yet our leaders have been through
these organizations, whether it's Freemasonry, whether it's Skull and Bones, whatever other
Illuminati-type organizations, they have sold their souls.
And they go to the Bohemian Grove and worship the devil literally.
And if you don't believe these things, you're just naive.
The information's everywhere, and we can see it by their actions, how they're constantly
going against the Lord and against his Christ.
It's not hard to believe that there's spiritual wickedness in high places today.
And it's not just other countries, it's the United States of America that has spiritual
wickedness in high places.
And so we see the same thing here, right?
Making sure that all the leadership, the sheriffs, the deputy, you know, that they all will worship
this image that Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Now the Bible says that the image was three score cubits tall.
This is 90 feet, so it's a very tall statue, it's huge.
Now it says that it's in the plains of Dura in the province of Babylon.
And if you say the book of Daniel, you notice that Babylon is a city, but Babylon is also
a province, and Babylon is also a great empire.
So that word is used in multiple ways, sort of like New York is a city, but it's also
a state, right?
So Babylon's a city, but it's also an empire, and it's also a province within that empire.
So they're out in the plain of Dura, they're out in their own little bohemian grove.
You know, they're not even doing this in front of the general population.
It's only the elites that have separated themselves out into this wilderness area of the plain
of Dura and set up this great idolatry where they're all going to have a worship service
to Satan, literally, and bow down to an idol.
And it says in verse 2, "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together 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.
Then the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors,
the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together under the dedication
of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then an herald cried aloud, 'To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, dulcimer
and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar
the king hath set up.'
Now again, this is a picture of what's going to happen in the end times with the Antichrist
and the false prophet, and in Revelation 13 it teaches that everyone in the whole world
is going to be commanded to worship that great image in the end times.
So, because this picture's that, notice what it says in verse 4, "To you it is commanded,
O peoples, nations, and languages."
Why?
Because if they've gathered together all the governors and rulers of the provinces, then
they have representatives from all the different nations that are within the realm.
So that's why he says, "To you it is given, O peoples, nations, and languages," because
these people are coming from a diversity of areas.
They're governors of all the different provinces that make up the empire of Babylon, and they're
all there, being asked to put aside their own religion and to just worship this one
image so that they can all unite around this one false religion.
And it says in verse 6, "And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, shall the same hour
be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."
So the punishment for not worshiping this image is that you're going to the fiery furnace.
Now the devil is the great counterfeiter.
He always tries to replicate what God does, but he twists it, he perverts it.
So just as the Lord has his Christ, well the devil has his Christ, the anti-Christ, right?
And just as there are prophets of God, there are false prophets, ministers who are transformed
into the ministers of light, but they're actually the devil's ministers.
And the devil is constantly counterfeiting what God does.
God has a mark that will go in the forehead of his people in the end times after the millennium.
So then, of course, the devil has his mark of the beast, the name of the anti-Christ in
the forehead.
So everything he does is a counterfeit.
Well, God has a great fiery furnace.
It's called hell.
And those who will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior are destined
to be cast into a furnace of fire.
That's the exact wording that Christ used.
They shall cast them into a furnace of fire.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So the devil counterfeits that by setting up his furnace of fire, saying, "Well, you
got to worship me or I'll put you in the fiery furnace."
It says in verse seven, "Therefore at that time when all the people heard the sound of
the cornet, flute, harp, sack butt, saltimer, and all kinds of music, all the people, the
nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
had set up."
Everything's going to happen in the end times.
All the nations of the earth will worship the Antichrist, the Bible tells us.
All nations of the earth shall worship him.
Verse 8 says this, "Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the
Jews.
They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, 'O king, live forever.
Thou, O king, has made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of all these
various musical instruments shall fall down and worship the golden image.
And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of
a burning fiery furnace.
There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These men, O king, have not regarded thee.
They served not thy gods, nor worshiped the golden image which thou hast set up.'"
Now, you may ask the question, "Well, what were the rest of the Jews doing?"
You know, if there are certain Jews and he lists these three, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, what about the rest of the Jews?
Well, remember, the people that are gathered here are the rulers, the governors.
They're the sheriffs.
These are important officials, and we don't really know of any other Jews who had risen
to that level within the Babylonian Empire.
We know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been promoted to that level because of
the events of chapters one and two, so we saw how they got into these prominent positions
of authority, and so they are the ones who are refusing to bow down.
Now you say, "What about Daniel?"
And a lot of people wonder why is Daniel not mentioned in this story, you know, is Daniel
bowing down?
Obviously not, because if we study the book of Daniel from start to finish, Daniel is
probably the most consistent character in the whole Bible.
I mean, this is a guy who is instant in season, out of season, who is just always steadfast,
unmovable, and abounding in the work of the Lord.
There's no way that Daniel is bowing down to this image.
That would be completely contrary to everything that the Bible teaches us about Daniel.
And we can learn a great lesson from Daniel, because Daniel served the Lord according to
the biblical record, what it even shows us of his life.
We can document over 73 years of serving the Lord.
And I'm sure he served the Lord even a little bit longer than that.
But we know for sure that he served for at least 73 years, just consistent.
And you know what?
Christianity's not measured in years, it's measured in decades.
We need to be consistent.
We need to stay with it.
Don't be a Roman candle Christian that just kind of, "Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum."
And then you're just gone.
Where are you?
Up in smoke.
We never see you again.
And believe me, there have been a lot of people like that that I've known in my life and that
have passed through Faith Forward Baptist Church.
They show up, they're fired up, they talk a big talk, and then they're just gone.
We need to be that guy that's here five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from
now, consistently serving the Lord for decades, being like a Daniel.
So we know that Daniel was consistent, and it makes perfect sense that Daniel simply
wasn't there because of the fact that Daniel is so high up in this kingdom, somebody's
got to run things while they're all out at the Bohemian Grove.
Think about it.
I mean, it's sort of like they don't want to put all the members of the royal family
on the same airplane in case that plane crashes, so somebody has to stay behind and hold down
the fort, and so Daniel is clearly just not there, which makes perfect sense because if
every single sheriff is there, every single ruler is there, there have to be some people
left behind running things, and so Daniel is there.
And I believe that the reason God allowed this story to play out in that way is so that
we could see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stand on their own without having to lean
on Daniel.
Because in chapters 1 and 2 they have Daniel who's clearly leading them, and guiding them,
and helping them, and they're following his leadership.
But isn't it great to see these three guys that even when the leader's gone, they step
up to the plate.
They don't, "Well, you know, what's Daniel telling us we need to do?"
They don't have to look to Daniel to figure out what to do.
They already know what to do.
Why?
Because they have their own personal walk with God, they have their own beliefs, they
have their own doctrines that they've got from the Bible themselves.
It's not just, "Oh, well, that's what Daniel said."
No.
They took what Daniel said and they've made it their own.
And they've let it sink down into their own heart.
And that's what every child needs to do that grows up in church.
Because remember, these are children.
And of course, they've grown up now.
We don't know how old they are.
But every child needs to come to a point where they stop just relying on the faith of their
parents and just riding the coattails of their parents.
But there has to come a point in every child's life where they begin to take responsibility
for their own spiritual walk with God.
Because if it's all based on their parents' faith, then as soon as they get out of their
parents' home, what do they have?
No faith.
They have nothing left.
You young people, and I don't care how young you are, if you're old enough to understand
the words that are coming out of my mouth right now, I don't care how young you are,
now is the time to seek the Lord.
Even in the days of your youth, now is the time to start reading the Bible when you're
not being told to read the Bible.
Just yourself, by yourself, totally unprovoked of anyone else, just walk up and pull the
Bible off the shelf and read it because you love the Lord, because you love God, because
you want to learn the truth.
Not because someone's telling you to do it or making you do it.
You need to come to church and listen and let these things sink down into your ears
and make them your own.
Not just ride on the faith of Pastor Anderson or ride on the faith of mom and dad.
You've got to be able to stand on your own two feet because mom and dad may not always
be there and Pastor Anderson may not always be there.
You better have your own walk with God because God's always going to be there, amen?
And so that's what we see here with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These guys were great men of God on their own.
They didn't have to have Daniel right there shepherding them, even when Daniel's gone.
And they do a great job in this chapter.
They stand up strong in this chapter.
It's very impressive.
The Bible reads in verse number 13, "Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded
to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Then they brought these men before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said to them, 'Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
Do not you serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if you be ready, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship
the image which I have made well.
But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning,
fiery furnace.
And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?'"
So you can see just the disdain that he has for the god of the ball.
Who's your god?
He has disdain for the god of the Bible, and he is giving them a second chance.
And he tells us, look, or not us, although I'm that into the story.
I feel like I'm right there.
It's us.
But he tells Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego there, "Look, let me give you another chance.
I like you guys.
You've been great to work with.
I don't want to throw you into a fiery furnace, so let me just make this really clear.
All you have to do is just bow down and worship the devil.
That's it."
It's so funny how the world will come to us with these propositions that to them sound
really reasonable.
They sound really tolerant to them, but to us, they're just a deal breaker.
They're just not going to happen.
We're just not going to do it.
You know, why don't you just back down on this one issue?
Why don't you just back down on that doc?
We can't.
We don't know how.
All we can do is what God told us to do.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered in verse 16 and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar,"
and I love this statement, "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter."
They're not saying, "Okay, you know, let me get my thoughts together.
I want to be sure I say this correctly.
I want to be careful here."
They just say, "No, we're not careful."
I mean, they're just going to tell them how it is.
They don't have to think about it.
They don't have to rehearse it.
Why?
Because it's coming from the heart.
It's real.
They're about to tell the truth.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth is about to speak here.
And they said, "We're not careful to answer thee concerning this matter."
Now, if you remember, in Daniel chapter 1, they were more careful how they answered the
matter about the meat and drink.
Why?
Because that was less blatantly, obviously satanic.
That was something where they knew it was wrong.
They understood that it was wrong.
But the people around them may have not understood what the big deal was.
And a lot of people in this world, they don't understand some of the rules that we follow
as Christians, some of the thou shouts and thou shouts nots that we do.
They might look at it as, you know, what's the big deal about watching this movie, or
what's the big deal about, you know, listening to this music, or what's the big deal about
wearing this clothing or that clothing, or, you know, why wouldn't you go to the casino
with us and play a few slot machines?
You know, what's the big deal?
So there are a lot of things where the world doesn't quite understand where we're coming
from, because they don't know the Bible, they don't understand the scripture and what
it teaches, so these things are unclear to them, even if they're clear to us.
So we don't want to just bite somebody's head off when they try to ask us to do something
that's wrong if it's something that the world doesn't really understand is wrong.
So we're going to be kind and answer them appropriately in that situation.
But you know what?
When somebody's just saying, "Hey, let's bow down and worship an idol," it's not that
they don't understand what's wrong with that or why we can't do that.
That's just something blatant and clear where they're telling us to do something wicked.
I mean, if somebody's telling us, "Hey, commit murder, commit adultery, worship idolatry,"
these are blatant things that even unsaved people, even people who have no training in
the Bible know that these things are wicked.
They know that these things violate our Christian faith.
And in those situations where it's blatant, we need to just draw a hard line on those
things and just say, "No way."
We're not going to sit there and beat around the bush about abortion.
It's murder.
It's clear.
Now, other issues, I'm not saying that they're not clear, but I'm saying that they're clear
to us and they may not be clear to the outside world.
That's why Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in chapter 1 were tactful in
how they approach the issue of food and drink.
Okay, but what we eat and what we drink is a little different than bow down and worship
another God.
That's a huge difference.
That's the difference in attitude here, where they're a little more careful.
They didn't say, "Hey, we're never careful how we answer anybody.
We just crack heads everywhere we go, and we're like a bull in a china club."
That's not what they said.
They said, "We're not careful to answer you concerning this matter."
You know, when it comes to issues that are clear cut, obvious issues, even the world
knows that they're clear cut, even they know it's wicked, I guarantee you that a whole
bunch of these other governors and sheriffs and everything, their own religion, whatever
it was, violated them bowing down and worshipping that idol, but they did it anyway.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are not careful to answer on this matter.
And you know, when it comes to the end times and when the Antichrist is revealed, you know,
we're not going to be careful about how we stand up to that.
It's going to be a hardcore stance that just says no and makes no bones about it.
It's a little different than explaining your dietary or clothing or entertainment standards
to someone, right?
It's a big difference.
And so they said, "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."
Now the reason that they bring that up, how he's able to deliver them, is because of the
fact that Nebuchadnezzar started that because he said, "Well, who's that God that's going
to deliver you out of my hand?"
It's not that they just knew for sure that they're not going to be killed here.
I mean, chances are they are going to be killed.
I mean, if you were in this situation, if you're Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and
you're being told, "If you don't worship this image, you're going to be thrown in this fiery
furnace," and you say, "I'm not going to worship it," and then they tell you the same thing
again, you're probably thinking to yourself, "This is it.
My life's about over."
The reason they bring up the fact that God's able to deliver them is, number one, that
it's true, and they believe that.
But it's because Nebuchadnezzar had just said that God was not able.
So they're contradicting him right away and saying, "Well, wait a minute.
You said that God is not able to deliver.
He actually is able to deliver."
But just to show that they're not 100% convinced that they're going to be delivered, what do
they say next?
"But if not," he says, "He will deliver us out of thy hand, O King.
But if not," in verse 18, "be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy
gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
So it's not that they just knew that they weren't going to be burned up.
It's that they were even willing to die for what they believed.
They would have rather burned than bowed.
And they are saying, "If not, we still won't do it.
Even if God doesn't deliver us, we're ready to die for what we believe in."
And you know what?
The Bible tells us in the New Testament, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give
thee a crown of life."
We ought to be willing to die for what we believe.
Now, most people in the Bible who took a stand for the Lord, they didn't die for what they
believed in.
Most of the time, God delivered them.
Most of the time, God kept them safe.
And it's the same way in today's world.
If we take a stand and we do what's right and preach for what's right and stand for
what's right, most of the time, we are going to be delivered.
And a lot of these people that are afraid of persecution, they're afraid of a phantom.
They're afraid of a boogeyman.
They're afraid of something that's not even there because many times the persecution doesn't
even come to pass.
Why?
Because God delivers us.
God provides a way of escape.
God makes a way for us to continue serving Him in freedom.
But if not, we're ready to lay down our lives.
And the Bible tells us that in the last days, some of you will be cast into prison.
He didn't say all of you are going to prison.
He talked about some that will be killed for the cause of Christ.
He didn't say all of them are going to be killed for the cause of Christ.
Why?
Because most end up being delivered.
You're going to go through hardships.
You're going to go through persecutions, trials, afflictions, tribulations.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, the Bible says.
But out of them all, the Lord delivers them.
So most of the time, you're going to go through hard times.
But in the end, you'll come out doing great, God protecting you, God blessing you.
But if you are one of those who does end up going to prison, or does end up being killed
for the cause of Christ, count it all joy.
That's a special honor too.
Now I don't know what God has in mind for my life.
You don't know what God has in mind for your life.
But we do know that He knows best.
And He loves us, and He cares about us, and whatever happens according to His will, we're
ready to accept it.
So if we can be those that are blessed and we live to a ripe old age and see our great-great-grandchildren,
or if we're even alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, great!
But if we end up having to lay down our life, like Stephen did in the New Testament, even
so, amen.
We can't be one to stand in judgment of God in these matters.
He decides our destiny, and we accept what's given us.
And in the end, we know we're going to be okay, because we're all going to heaven.
So therefore, we have nothing to fear.
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
So they said, if not, and I love the fact that they say, but if not, be it known unto
thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou
has set up.
And I don't think that the if not there is doubting God's ability.
It's just doubting whether it's God's will, because they don't know whether it's God's
will that they die for him and be a great testimony, or whether they survive and be
a great testimony.
Any time you do what's right, you're a great testimony, whether in life or in death.
Any time you compromise and give in, you're a poor testimony, no matter what the outcome
is.
Verse 19, "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury," he's furious, "and the form of his
visage was changed," visage means face.
So they can see the change in his face.
First he's given him the second chance, so he's speaking kindly to them, but as they
answer him in this way, his face starts to change, you know, and he starts getting angry.
And it says, "The form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, therefore
he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was
want to be heated."
Now the word want, W-O-N-T, it means that that's what it was designed for.
That's what it was set up for.
That was the appropriate temperature.
So the temperature that it was set up for, Nebuchadnezzar says, "Let's go seven times
hotter."
Now obviously this is not good for the equipment, okay?
And this is untested, untried.
There's a warning label on the side of this furnace that says, "Hey, don't go above so
many degrees."
He said, "Hey, let's go seven times hotter."
Now this doesn't even make any sense because you could throw somebody in a campfire and
if you keep them in that fire, they're not going to survive, right?
I mean, all you need is a bonfire.
But he's just so mad, he just wants to make a point of saying, "Let's make it seven times
hotter than what it's supposed to be."
And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
And these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, hosen is the old English word for pants.
Even in German today it's still called die Hose, that's the word for pants.
He said their hats and their other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace.
Now why is that mentioned?
What's mentioned is that they're thrown in quickly, they're not given a change of clothes,
they're not put into an orange jumpsuit, they're just thrown in, I mean even with their hat
on nothing is changed about their outward clothing, they're just thrown in as is into
the fiery furnace.
Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, get these guys in the furnace
now and the furnace exceeding hot, probably not seven times hotter, but that's what he
told them to do, probably wasn't even humanly possible to get it that hot, and the furnace
exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego.
So what do we see here?
God is allowing the mightiest warriors of Nebuchadnezzar to be wiped out.
That part of the punishment for Nebuchadnezzar doing so wickedly is that some of his best
guys get wiped out just because he got angry, lost his temper, and gave this stupid commandment
about making it so much hotter when even the normal temperature fiery furnace would have
roasted them just fine.
You know, he wants to crank it up, and because of his wrath, he ended up wiping out some
of his best soldiers.
And I believe part of the reason why God allowed the story to play out this way is so that
we could see that this is truly a miracle, because the furnace was so hot that even the
guys who threw them in got burned up.
I remember when I was a teenager, they used to have this documentary program that would
play on cable television, it was called Mysteries of the Bible.
And I remember my dad and I were sitting on the couch watching this when I was a teenager,
and my dad hated this show.
He would yell at the TV and rant about how wicked it was, you know.
So we're sitting and watching, and what they would do in this show is explain away the
miracles of the Bible, and explain how there's actually a scientific explanation for all
these different miracles.
And, you know, Brother Garrett Kershway, when he was in seminary, they taught him the same
thing.
They taught him, "Hey, you know, when Jesus walked on the water, it's a land bridge that
he was walking on."
And you know, they didn't cross the Red Sea, they crossed the Reed Sea, you know, and it
was just kind of a really shallow water.
And you know, I don't know why Pharaoh's armies drowned in three feet of water, but they're
always trying to explain away the miracles of the Bible.
And I remember watching a particular episode where they showed there was a cold spot in
the furnace.
And they had this computer-generated animation showing how this, you know, if you look at
the way the Babylonians made their furnaces, you know, like as if they know everything
about it.
They're like, "Well, this is a Babylonian-style furnace," and they have all these arrows and
showing the waves of the heat and, you know, this is the cold spot.
If they could just get to that cold spot and kind of hang out there, they're going to be
okay.
What?
The guys who threw them in burned up.
Not only that, they're wearing loose clothing, which always is going to catch on fire if
you get anywhere near the fire.
And not only that, it says that when they came out of the fiery furnace, they didn't
even smell like smoke.
How does the cold spot explain a cold spot?
I mean, what nonsense?
So it doesn't matter what the Bible says if it says, "Hey, it's seven times hotter.
The people who threw them in died.
They're wearing outer, loose garments, and they don't even smell like smoke."
People are still going to find a way to twist what the Bible says.
Wouldn't it make more sense to just say, "We don't believe the Bible.
We're calling God a liar"?
But instead they're like, "Well, it happened, but there's a scientific explanation for
how it happened."
It's nonsense.
So the Bible says in verse 23, "And these three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."
So notice, they're not in that little cold spot.
They're in the middle.
They're in the midst of the thing, right?
They're not off in some corner where they have shelter, which it's not even worth bringing
that up because it's so weird.
But yet I just did bring it up.
Verse 24, "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished."
That means he was astonished.
He's blown away.
"The king was 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.'"
So here they are in the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, totally unharmed, but the fire
burns the ropes right off their hands, so they're not bound anymore.
Now they're loose, and they're walking around, they're moving in the midst of the fiery furnace,
and someone's with them.
The fourth man in the fire there, it says, "The form of the fourth was like the Son of
God."
Now that's a pretty cool verse, because the Old Testament doesn't talk a lot about the
Son of God.
Now it does talk about the Son of God.
The Son of God is mentioned and prophesied, but not a lot.
It's not as much as in the New Testament where that's a major, major theme.
So these Old Testament references to the Son of God are precious.
So of course the devil wants to take them away from us.
That's why your modern versions of the Bible, and we shouldn't even call them versions,
we should call them perversions, that's what they are.
These modern corruptions of the Bible, they will change this to a Son of the Gods.
So if you have the NIV or the ESV, they'll say, "Oh, the form of the fourth looks like
a Son of the Gods."
That's not the same thing at all.
That's dramatically different.
And a lot of people think that these new Bible versions are just a little easier to understand.
They've just been updated.
No, no, no.
They corrupt the text.
Now you say, "Why is this important?
Why does it matter?"
Well, because of the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is under attack in the end
times, and the modern versions are constantly corrupting scripture in regard to the Trinity.
That's why they removed 1 John 5, 7, one of the most powerful verses in the Trinity.
I mean, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one."
That verse is not in the NIV.
That verse is not in the ESV.
It's completely gone.
Other important scriptures about the Trinity and the deity of Christ are corrupted, changed,
modified.
We don't have time to go through them all in this sermon, but I've done whole sermons
on that.
I did a sermon called "Antichrist Bible Versions," where I showed that.
But right here in this passage, they're taking out the Son of God from the Old Testament
because one of the attacks on the Trinity is this oneness or modalist heresy, which
teaches that in the Old Testament, He wasn't the Son of God, right?
We that believe in the Trinity actually believe in the eternal sonship of Christ, that He's
always been the Son of God, He's the Son of God now, and He always will be the Son of
God.
So this is great where we see the Son of God showing up in the Old Testament.
So they take it out.
Now you say, "Well, you know, Pastor Arson, what does it say in the original?"
Well here, let me show you.
You speak Chaldean, right?
You speak Aramaic, right?
No you don't?
Okay.
Well, here's the thing.
We speak English, and so if we were to whip out the Aramaic or the Chaldean original of
this passage, because this passage is not even written in Hebrew, it's written in Aramaic
or Chaldean, obviously that's going to go over your head because of the fact that you
don't know the language.
It would just look as chicken scratch unto you if we were to show you the original.
But you don't have to learn a foreign language to figure out that the King James is right
here and that the modern versions are wrong.
First of all, the proof that the King James is right is that traditional Bibles in multitudes
of language have said the Son of God.
It's in modern times that they've all switched it over to a Son of the Gods.
But right here in the passage, we can prove right here that the NIV and the ESV make no
sense here, because jump down if you would to verse number 28, "Then Nebuchadnezzar spake
and said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath 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.'"
In verse 29 he says, "Because there's no other god that can deliver after this sort."
So he said in verse 25, "The form of the fourth is like the son of God."
Three verses later, what does he say?
He says, "The god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, singular, the god of Shadrach,
sent his angel."
So he's not saying, "Hey, he sent a son of the gods.
The gods sent in one of their sons."
Is that what it says?
So if we actually look at the text itself, and compare scripture with scripture, you
don't even have to speak a foreign language to know that these other versions are wrong.
Because the King James is at least consistent with itself.
Where it says he's the son of God, and then it says God, and not just any god, the god
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, sent his angel.
He sent, and often in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is an Old Testament appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ because angel simply means messenger, the messenger of the Lord,
the one that he sends.
And so here in verse 28, we have the proof, and if you look up verse 28 in the ESV and
the NIV, they still say, "Oh, the god of Shadrach sent his angel."
So it's inconsistent within itself, whereas the King James is consistent.
The form of the fourth is like the son of God.
Why is that important?
You say, "Why does it matter?"
I'll tell you why.
This is a great picture of salvation from hell.
You see, we have broken not Nebuchadnezzar's laws, but all of us have broken God's laws.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And because we've broken God's laws, because we've sinned, we all deserve to go to hell.
Because remember, the devil is counterfeiting God's fiery furnace, the real furnace of fire,
which is hell.
So because we've broken God's laws, because we've sinned, we all deserve hell.
How do we get saved from hell?
Through the Son of God.
It's through Jesus.
How were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saved from the fiery furnace?
By the Son of God.
And how did the Son of God save them?
Did he save them just from staying up comfortable in heaven and just snap his fingers and allow
them to be spared?
No, he actually came down and he actually went to the furnace of fire himself that they
might be saved from the furnace of fire.
And you know what, that's exactly what Jesus Christ did because he came to this earth and
he died for us and he was buried and three days later rose again, but while his body
was buried, his soul descended into hell.
That's why the Bible says in Acts 2.31, "This spake he of the resurrection of Christ, that
his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.
He said, 'Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to
see corruption. The Bible says in Matthew 12, 40, "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." Six feet under is not the heart of the earth. The earth is
about 8,000 miles in diameter. The heart of something is at its core. It's at its center.
And the Bible tells that hell is in the lowest parts of the earth. It's in the heart of the
earth, the nether parts of the earth. So, Jesus Christ's soul descended into the very
furnace of fire itself and then three days later he arose victorious from the grave and
he said, "I have the keys of hell and of death. I am he that liveth and was dead and behold
I am alive forevermore. Amen." And have the keys of hell and of death. So he actually
went into the fiery furnace to save us from the fiery furnace. And there's a beautiful
picture of that unless you get one of these new Bibles that perverts this scripture and
doesn't even make sense, even with itself. Verse 26, "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near
to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said, 'Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither.' Then Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors and
captains and the kings counselors being gathered together saw these men upon whose bodies the
fire had no power, nor was the hair of their head singed. I mean, even a hair wasn't burnt.
Neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Truly an
amazing miracle. Now, at this point, while we're talking about people corrupting God's
word and bringing out counterfeits of God's word, let me tell you about another counterfeit
of God's word, which is the Apocrypha. Now, for those of you who don't know what the Apocrypha
is, these are extra books of the Bible or extra sections of the Bible that have long
been rejected because their authenticity can't be shown to be true. And in fact, the word
Apocrypha, it comes from Jerome, who was translating the Old Testament into Latin. He was living
in Bethlehem in the 4th century AD and he's translating the Old Testament into Latin.
And when they wanted to translate these certain portions of scripture, quote unquote, that
we know as the Apocrypha, these fake books of the Old Testament, he said, "Well, I'm
not going to translate these because they're not found in the Hebrew." Okay? So there were
no Hebrew originals for him to translate. So Apocrypha means hidden, okay? Because he's
saying they haven't been preserved. Now, didn't God say that His Word would be preserved unto
all generations? "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away." It's
easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one jot or one tittle to pass from the law
to all be fulfilled. So they have these translations of these supposed missing books of the Bible,
but they didn't have any Hebrew originals at that time. So he said, "Well, we don't
have the Hebrew originals. This stuff's not in the original Hebrew. I don't think that
this stuff is really part of the Bible." So that's where that term apocrypha comes from.
So throughout history, Christians have rejected these apocryphal books, and the apocrypha
has to do with the Old Testament, not the New Testament. These are scriptures from before
the time of Christ. Now, the Jews rejected these scriptures as false. Christians throughout
history have rejected these scriptures as false. Now, the Roman Catholic Church accepts
the apocrypha as God's Word. Do you want to know when they made that decree though?
That they said, "Hey, we're going to accept these as God's Word in the 16th century."
See, a lot of people don't realize that, that it was the 16th century in the Counter-Reformation
when the Roman Catholic Church said, "Hey, these apocryphal books are scripture." Now,
you know why they came out with that in the 16th century as part of the Counter-Reformation?
It's because of the fact that the Reformers, they all rejected the Apocrypha, okay? So
when they printed their Bibles, they rejected those books and you say, "Oh, the King James
has the Apocrypha in it." Okay, the King James has the apocryphal books in a separate section
between Old and New Testament, separated out, saying these are not in the Hebrew and it
says in their introductions derogatory things about the books. If you actually look at the
replica, we have a replica back there, it'll even have derogatory comments saying, "Oh,
this is a corrupt text right here. This verse here is corrupt. This contradicts the Bible.
This guy's clearly trying to imitate King Solomon." Okay, and in fact, if you don't
believe me, look up the 39 articles of the Church of England. When this... King James
was printed, right? Because it was printed by the Church of England. One of the 39 articles
of the Church of England is that, "No doctrine shall be based on any of these books." And
it lists all the apocryphal books, and it says, "No doctrine is to be based on these.
We only have them just for historic value." Just because they're old books, so we could
get moral and historic value from--well, what does the Bible say? The Bible says, "All
scripture is profitable for doctrine." So if you're saying, "Hey, don't get any doctrine
out of this stuff," what are you saying? It's not scripture, okay? And that's the same thing
in the Martin Luther Bible. The Martin Luther Bible rejected the apocryphal books as, "Hey,
these aren't scripture. They're just for historical or moral value." Frankly, I don't even think
they're worth that. I think they should all be thrown in the trash, and that they have
no historical or moral value. But, you know, because I think that they're written by complete
liars and frauds, so why would I trust the history of people who have proven themselves
to be liars and frauds? And if you, look, if you do any reading in the apocrypha, you'll
notice right away that it's junk. It's garbage, and you know what? It just screams off the
page at you. This is somebody trying to pretend to write a fake Bible. Like, this is somebody
trying to pretend to be a prophet of God, or trying to write scriptures that sound
like the Bible. It's sort of like when you pick up the Book of Mormon. It's trying hard
to be the Bible, and it's falling way short. That's how it is when you read these apocryphal
books. They have no power. So, the reason that you say, "Why are you bringing up the
Apocrypha?" The reason that I'm bringing up the Apocrypha is because there's a section
of the Apocrypha, most of them are whole standalone books, but there's a section of the Apocrypha
called "The Song of the Three Holy Children," and this section, "The Song of the Three Holy
Children," are verses that modern Catholic Bibles will insert into Daniel chapter 3 that
are not in the original, okay? And so this is part of what's known as the Apocrypha.
Well, this "Song of the Three Holy Children" is just a total knockoff, trying to sound
like the book of Psalms or trying to sound like the Bible. There's nothing of value in
it. It's total junk, and in fact, it totally interrupts the flow of the story. When you
read Daniel chapter 3, it flows well, it makes sense. This being juxtaposed in, it doesn't
even fit the character of the people in the story. It's completely out of place. You'd
have to be crazy to think that this is actually part of Daniel chapter 3. But I'm just going
to read for you a couple excerpts from this fake edition to Daniel 3, just to show you
how fake it is. This is what supposedly Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are saying while they're
in the fiery furnace. Okay.
Neither is there at this time prince or prophet or leader or burnt offering or sacrifice or
oblation or incense or place to sacrifice before thee and to find mercy. Nevertheless,
in a contrite heart and a humble spirit, let us be accepted. Let me tell you something.
That's false. How can they say, "Oh, there's no prophet of God right now." Hello, their
best buddies with one of the greatest prophets of all time, Daniel. I mean, Daniel has shown
himself to be a prophet in chapter 1. He's shown himself to be a prophet in chapter 2.
He's going to show himself to be a prophet in chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. In fact, he
was such a great prophet, even his own contemporaries knew of him. And he's even mentioned elsewhere
in the Bible as being a great prophet of God by his own contemporaries, the book of Ezekiel.
Oh, we don't have a prophet. I mean, whoever wrote this was so dumb that they put that
in there, they put that mistake in there. And then it also talks about the cold spot
in the furnace. Yeah, the Apocrypha covers the cold spot. Listen, here's from the Song
of the Three Holy Children. "And it passed through and burnt those Chaldeans it found
about the furnace. But the angel of the Lord came down into the oven, together with Azariah
and his fellows, and smote the flame of the fire out of the oven, and made the midst of
the furnace as it had been a moist, whistling wind, a moist, whistling wind, so that the
fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them." So, according to this,
it was a cold spot. And then it also talks about how flames, it's just embellishing
the story and the whole thing sounds dumb, but flames are coming out of the oven like
75 feet in all directions, according to this. Well, that's interesting because Nebuchadnezzar
walks right up to the mouth of the Fertus. So, I mean, even just in this one short section
of the Apocrypha, you can find several contradictions that don't make sense. And it's only like
67 verses long and I just had trouble even keeping my interest because it's so badly
written. And that's how all the Apocrypha is. You say, "Well, how do we know that the
books of the Bible that we have, you know, how do we know we have everything? What about
these other missing books?" Try reading any of them and immediately you'll understand
why they're left out of your Bible. There's a reason why there's 66 books in your Bible,
friend, because there's 66 books of pure greatness, of power, of mighty Word of God that you can
open it up and read it and just the power is on every page. You read the Apocrypha and
it's like, "Come on, are you serious?" Now someone may say, "Well, you know, I didn't
notice. I can't tell the difference." Well, okay, get saved then because everybody who's
saved has the Holy Spirit inside of them and they know the voice of the shepherd and they
know the voice of strangers and if your mind is so blinded where you can't tell the difference
between God's Word and the power of God's Word and a cheap imitation, you know, it sounds
like you're probably not even saved at that point. And so don't be fooled by modern perversions
of the Bible, like the ESV and the NIV, and don't be fooled by ancient perversions of
the Bible, like the Apocrypha and Deutero canonical books. But let me finish up here
in Daniel chapter 3, it says in verse 28, "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 which speak anything amiss against the God
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made
at Dung Hill, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.' Then the
king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon." So what's the
result of these three men standing up for what they believed in? The result is that
God's Word goes out to all nations. Because Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree to all people,
all nations, and all languages that glorifies God. Now isn't it great that this happened?
Because that allowed people all over the world to hear about the true God. They got to hear
about His power and His might, and they got to hear His Word. Part of the book of Daniel,
they got to hear that. Why? Because three men stood up for what was right and they would
rather burn the back. If we're going to do great works for God, we don't necessarily
have to die. We don't necessarily have to be burned up, but we have to be willing to
die and we have to be willing to be burned up. We have to do what? Yield our bodies.
He said, "These guys yielded their bodies." And you know what? As a result, the whole
world heard the gospel. The whole world gets to hear about this. Well, in the New Testament
we're told, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your
bodies." A living sacrifice unto God. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And that's what they did, and that's what God expects us to do in these last days.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this great
chapter in your Word, Lord. We just pray that you would continue to teach us and continue
to enlighten us as we study your Word, Lord. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, please
open our eyes and show us how we should live and how we should be prepared for whatever
life brings our way. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.