A Time to Disobey
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
replied to him, “King
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to
defend ourselves before you in this
matter … we want you to know, Your
Majesty, that we will not serve your
gods or worship the image of gold
you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16,18
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• Over the last three weeks, we learned:
1. if we intentionally engage the culture around us by
taking calculated risks based on the assumption that
God is active in our world, then God will put us in
the right place at the right time and equip us
properly to participate in His activity in the lives of
people.
2. we’ll often be called to speak
tough truth in love and that we
are not guaranteed of any given
reaction by those to whom we
speak.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
Setting the Scene
• About 16 years has passed since Daniel’s miraculous
dream interpretation and these events described here.
• Over those years, the awe that had been inspired in
Nebuchadnezzar has faded, as he has engaged in the
business of governing a world power.
• Nebuchadnezzar builds an enormous
monument to himself for people
to worship!
• Seems strange, but it does fit with
the self-absorbed nature of
Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
The Statue
• Taller than an eight story building
and overlaid in gold, this monolith
would have been quite the sight to
behold.
• Even conservative estimates
suggest that Nebuchadnezzar’s
image probably cost billions of
dollars and several years to
complete.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
Daniel 3:1-23
• Nebuchadnezzar calls together all of the important
dignitaries for an inauguration ceremony.
• The King’s decree – “When you hear the music, bow
down and worship the statue. If you don’t, it’s BBQ
time for you”.
• The band kicked in and everyone
fell down in worship of King
Nebuchadnezzar – well, almost
everyone that is … Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego remain
standing.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• The astrologers, probably angry that foreigners held
positions of power and authority in Babylon, sense their
opportunity to take back those positions of power.
• They know how the Jews will probably respond to the
king’s decree.
• They run off to the king, informing him of their
disobedience, knowing the hungry furnace awaited.
• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
are dragged before the king, who
questions why they have refused to
bow down before the image.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• Without hesitation, Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego refuse to worship the image.
• We might question, why not just do this one time act
and then continue to worship God on their own
terms?
• For these three men NOTHING came before their
relationship with God.
• For them, there is no room for compromise here – it
really is an all or nothing situation.
• It is at this moment that the three
Israelites reach their limit in engaging
Babylonian culture.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• Nebuchadnezzar next utters an ill advised challenge:
“what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”.
• The response from the three men shows incredible
tact, confidence and wisdom.
• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s disobedience is
interpreted as a direct challenge to Nebuchadnezzar’s
authority and, in response, he flies off the handle.
• He orders the furnace heated 7 times than usual and
just to ensure that no escape from
his wrath could be possible,
Nebuchadnezzar has the three men
tightly bound with rope, all in
preparation for an Israelite roast.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• The fire is stoked and the knots tightened and the
gathered assembly watches as the three men tumble
into the fire, while those charged with throwing
them in fall dead to the floor.
• For one brief moment, the King’s anger was satisfied
and the hopes of the astrologers were within reach.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• Today’s passage shows us a third possible reaction to
delivering tough information – sometimes the deliverer
of such information will face some serious backlash
from the hostile culture for taking a stand against that
culture.
• This is a major storyline within Christianity – there is a
strange group of people (Israelites and Christians) who
stand up and stand out within culture and receive their
lumps for it.
• Another possible outcome of
engaging hostile culture as a follower
of Jesus is that persecution and
suffering may come our way.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• The first application is to question how well we as
Christians stand up for Jesus Christ.
• It is very possible to stand out for the wrong reasons.
• One of the most unfortunate things in our world today is
that we as Christians are often known more for what we
stand against than what we stand for.
• This morning, I challenge you to consider whether your
faith is comprised of all of your heart, mind, soul and
strength or whether your faith is
based upon Christ’s stance on certain
issues with which you resonate.
• Do you follow Jesus because of who
he is and what he has done or because
of his stance on certain hot topic issues?
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• This passage should also cause us to consider whether we
can accept, even desire, suffering for Christ; Scripture makes
it clear that suffering is part and parcel of following Jesus.
• “… it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to
believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” (Philippians 1:29)
• The promise of scripture is that our allegiance to Christ will
draw us into uncomfortable situations, into conflict with the
culture around us.
• There will be times when we must “disobey” earthly
authorities in order to remain faithful
to Jesus Christ.
• We should expect to suffer for Christ to
some degree, viewing this as evidence
that we are on the right track in our faith.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
• Finally, I’d like to leave you with some steps to “standing
up under the heat”:
1. we need to remember who is in control. Our call is to
simply engage culture with the good news of Jesus
Christ and allow His Spirit to work out the details.
2. we need to remember that suffering is temporary, but
God is eternal; “our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all.”(2 Corinthians 4:17)
3. we must remember God’s presence
with us in suffering; “so we fix our
eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen, since what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
Daniel so far …
1. if we intentionally engage the culture around us by
taking calculated risks based on the assumption that
God is active in our world, then God will put us in the
right place at the right time and equip us properly to
participate in His activity in the lives of people.
2. we are called to speak tough truth into the lives of the
people God brings us into contact with, understanding
that three reactions can follow –
“Nebuchadnezzar moments” where
praise is given to God, “rich young
man moments” where we face
rejection and dejection, and “fiery
furnace moments” where persecution
comes our way.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth
3. In each of these situations, we need to be assured
that God is at work and that He “works for the good
of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
4. The result of cultural engagement in this manner is
that God blesses our efforts and provides us with
greater platforms for engaging the hostile culture
around us.
Daniel 2:31-49 – Speaking Tough Truth