The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, O king.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Synopsis
King Neb made an image of gold (a very large statue), and he summoned all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. A herald proclaimed that all people had to bow to the image when they heard the sound of music. Whoever did not bow, and did not worship the image, was to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews and told how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego paid no attention to the decree, which made King Neb furious. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told the king that they would not serve his gods or worship the image he had set up. Again, Neb was furious. He ordered the furnace heated seven times stronger and had the three men thrown inside it. Yet, to his amazement, there were now four men inside, and one looked to him like a son of the gods. Neb saw the four walking around inside the furnace unharmed, so he called for the three men to come out. When Neb saw that the God of these men had rescued them, he praised their God. He recognized that the men had trusted their God in defying the king’s command, and that they were willing to give up their own lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. So, he ordered that any nation or people who said anything against the three men’s God was to be punished.
Parallel Story
First of all I would like to note that there is a parallel story in the Bible found in Revelation 13, only this story is not one of the past, but of the present and the future. This one is about a beast with ten horns (kings or kingdoms/nations) and seven heads (rulers). Men worshiped the dragon (Satan) because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. The beast was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them, and he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all whose names have been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”
A second beast had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. He deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the first beast. “He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark…”
Practical Application
This first beast appears to represent a world government, i.e. a government that will conquer the entire world and will rule the world. This is happening right now in our day and time. Our own leaders in the USA and our own military are a part of this global world order that is conquering the nations of the world, even as we speak, one nation at a time, and they will conquer the USA, too. This is already in process. The military force is NATO, and a private police force of this global government similar to Hitler’s S.S. Squad, I believe. Notice how many nations of the world have undergone or are presently undergoing uprisings and takeovers of their governments in the past year or two. Is this an epidemic, or a well-planned out plot to overthrow the governments of the world by this global order? I believe it is the latter. In each case, the “international community” has entered into the situations in these nations and has brought about “unity” governments in each of these nations. “Unity” means under one rule of authority world-wide. We may not yet be in the time of tribulation, but the beast is forming and he is conquering nations, and Christians are being targeted and killed, even by our own government leaders and military throughout the world. The Lord Jesus has been showing me this for some time now. You will not find this in the mainstream media, because the media is part of the beast. This calls for much wisdom and discernment.
The second beast appears to represent a religious system and is also called “the false prophet.” Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This beast appears like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon, i.e. this is speaking of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That means this beast is in (or is) the institutional church, and is deceiving the church. He has two horns (rulers; authority). The institutional church in the USA is under the government (a horn) and also falls under some type of religious authority (another horn), i.e. the institutional church is in a partnership between the government and the religious authority of the church, which would make it two-horned. Overall, though certainly not saying every congregation is like this, I believe the institutional church in the USA fits this description of this false prophet for it has divided loyalties. It has the appearance of a lamb (Christ and his true followers), yet it speaks like a dragon (Satan, the world, the government). So much of the institutional church is following the ways of the world and the philosophies of men over and above the ways of God and the teachings of scripture.
This second beast (the false prophet, i.e. this false religious system) will set up an image of the first beast and will force the inhabitants of the earth to worship the image and to receive a mark of this first beast. This has already happened to some degree here in the USA as we were taught in school and in the church from early on to “worship” the US government via the pledge of allegiance to the flag (an image of the government), and we were taught to have unquestioning allegiance, loyalty and devotion (worship) of the government of our land, and to believe what they tell us, and to support our military, not even knowing what our government is doing or our military is really involved in within the various nations of the world. What if we are the bad guys and we are going throughout the world killing innocent civilians and Christians? And, we are part of this first beast which is conquering the nations of the world by force? I believe this is what is happening. Should we support this?
This second beast (the false prophet) will get us to be man followers instead of followers of God; followers of men’s philosophies, teachings, marketing schemes, and strategies for how to build big churches (organizations of men) instead of followers of the teachings of scripture. I have personally witnessed this taking place in many congregations, as this man-made religion has swept across America’s churches like a cult movement, and church leaders have bought into it “hook, line and sinker.” And, they are teaching and training their congregations to follow suit. Along with this comes a watered-down gospel message which tickles the itching ears of people, and which gives people a false hope of eternity with God in heaven. Repentance and obedience to Christ are no longer taught as necessary for salvation. The word of God is often replaced with books of men. Secular movie clips are played, song lyrics are watered down to give a “feel good” message, and the world is comfortable in our “worship” services because church is “fun.” They are not made to feel guilty for their sin, or are called upon to repent (turn from their sin), but are taught that they can receive Jesus Christ absent of repentance and obedience in many cases, and the people like this because it does not offend people, so that they will come back.
Jesus, nonetheless, has called us to come out from the world and to be separate, to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross daily (die to self and sin) and follow (obey) him. He said if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. If we claim to have fellowship with Christ but we continue in willful and unrepentant sin (in lifestyle), we are liars. If we claim to love God but hate our brothers, we are liars. If we claim to know God but we do not obey his commands, we are liars. We cannot be in a relationship with Jesus Christ apart from true repentance and a walk of obedience to Christ and to his commands. True worship of God is not done in a “worship” service if it is not first of all done in spirit and in truth, and if it is not preceded by us giving our lives over to the Lord as living sacrifices to God, holy and pleasing to him, and we choose to no longer be conformed to the ways of this world, but we are transformed by the Spirit of God in the renewing of our minds and hearts. The way in which we come to know Christ is by putting off our old lives of sin (repentance), allowing the Holy Spirit of God to transform our minds and hearts, and by putting on our new lives in Christ, in true holiness and righteousness (obedience). I pray today, if you have bought into a gospel other than this, that you will turn from your sins, will allow the Holy Spirit to transform you, and that you will truly be born of the Spirit of God and made new.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
The Peace of Christ / An Original Work / October 31, 2011
Based off of Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 5:19-20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you,
As you teach with all wisdom,
Teaching one another to not
Think on earthly things;
Think instead on things above,
Where Christ sits with God, in love,
Saving us from all of our sins,
Cleansing us; made new within.
Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts,
As you sing songs unto Him;
Speak to one another with psalms,
Hymns, and spir’tual songs;
Always giving thanks to God,
In the name of Christ, His Son,
Who gave His life up for us all,
And gave us eternal life.
Let the love of Christ within you
Rule in your hearts; grace within,
Purifying you from your sin,
Make you whole within.
Forgive as the Lord forgave.
Show His kindness ev’ry day.
In word or deed, whate’er you do,
Glory give to Jesus Christ.
http://youtu.be/tW7HXchJ9qE
http://www.godcares.tv/video/1277/The-Peace-of-Christ
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