Ye Are My Witnesses - Part 1

• 
• 

by Joseph Hunting

SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO

About the year 600 B.C., the armies of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar plundered Jerusalem and carried away captive the cream of Jewish youth. Their assimilation into the culture and civilization of Babylon began immediately they entered the land of their exile. Among the captives were four young Jews whose lives had such a profound effect upon Nebuchadnezzar that he ultimately forsook the pagan gods of Babylon to worship the Lord God of Israel. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but immediately after their life-long exile began, their Hebrew names were changed to Babylonian ones, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

At that time Babylon was the religious centre for every kind of idolatry that was abhorrent to these four observant Jews. Some of the most important posts in the kingdom were filled by astronomers and magicians. Indeed their services were in constant demand and no decision of importance was made before the specialists in the black arts were consulted. It was in this foreign atmosphere that these four your men were groomed to stand before the greatest monarch of the time, Nebuchadnezzar.

A WITNESS IN INTEGRITY

The first test of their integrity and their Jewish faith came when they were required to eat the food set before them by commandment of the king. How could they bring themselves to eat non-kosher food! "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank ... Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Prove thy servants I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. Then let our countenance be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest deal with thy servants. So he consented with them in this matter and proved them ten days. And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat." (Daniel 1:11-14)

The intensive training in the arts and sciences of the Chaldeans covered three years, and at the end of that time their passing-out parade was before none other than Nebuchadnezzar. "And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." (Daniel 1:19,20)

Someone has said, "God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform" , and a dream that distressed Nebuchadnezzar was certainly a mysterious thing. It could not have been an ordinary nightmare as was subsequently revealed by Daniel's Divinely-inspired interpretation of the dream. So greatly was the king impressed wih the wisdom of the young Hebrew captive, "Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets ... Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, the chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon." (Daniel 2:46-48)

And so these four Hebrew captives became rulers over the very kingdom that had brought them into captivity! Not only had their names been changed, but they had been carefully groomed in all the culture of the most powerful civilization of the time which was totally foreign and abhorrent to their religious upbringing.

A WITNESS IN ADVERSITY

When their assimilation seemed complete and their enviable appointment as rulers of the province of Babylon was secure, the king inaugurated a programme that soon developed into a collision course between himself, the absolute monarch of the realm and his newly-appointed Hebrew rulers. The latter boldly adopted a policy of 'no compromise' where the God of Israel was concerned. Daniel himself records the incident. It is such a magnificent testimony of sheer courage in the face of an awful death that the account is recorded in full.

"Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was three-score cubits (about 90 feet), and the breadth thereof six cubits (about 9 feet): 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 and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, 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 captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto 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, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

"And whoso falls not down and worships shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

"Wherefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, suckbut, psaltery and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

"Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews.

"They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever.

"You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image:

"And whoso falls not down and worships, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

"There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded you: they serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

"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 unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, do not you serve my gods, nor worship the golden image I have set up?

"Now if you be ready at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, 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 who shall deliver you out of my hands?

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you 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 your hand, O king.

"But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up." (Daniel 3:1-18)

One cannot help but be enthralled by the courage and daring of these young Hebrews. On the one hand Nebuchadnezzar threw out the mocking challenge concerning their God's power to deliver them out of his hands. They in their turn accepted the challenge and their reply is one of the most noble and courageous declarations of faith in the whole of Scripture. "Our God whom we serve IS able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king."

And He did just that! Not only did He deliver them but He went into the fiery furnace with them.

A WITNESS IN FAITHFULNESS

The four Hebrew captives carried into Babylon resolved right from the outset to be faithful witnesses of the God of Israel. Two centuries before they were cast alive into the fiery furnace, Isaiah prophesied: "But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

"When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: WHEN THOU WALKEST THROUGH THE FIRE, THOU SHALT NOT BE BURNED; NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME KINDLE UPON THEE.

"For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour ... YE ARE MY WITNESSES SAITH THE LORD …" (Isaiah 43:1-3,10)

The fearless witness given by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the most powerful monarch of the time resulted in the following decree: "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 a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." (Daniel 3:29)

• < Prev
• Next >