Daniel 3:12-18 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men… I. THE SINGULAR CONDUCT OF THESE YOUTHS. There stand three men upright — when all are bowing — who dare to disobey the king's command — who know a higher authority than that of any earthly potentate... Well for us if we have learnt to judge our actions otherwise than by the popular voice and popular example. If our inquiry is, not what saith the multitude, but what saith the Lord. II. THE SINGULAR TRIAL OF THESE HEBREW YOUTHS. The punishment which Nebuchadnezzar pronounced against those who should disobey his decree was that they should be cast into a burning fiery furnace. This form of punishment seems to have been common in Babylon. Jeremiah speaks of "Zedekiah and Ahab whom the King of Babylon roasted in the fire." That it was so, is moreover evident from the fact that the furnace was to be heated "seven times more than it was wont to be heated." It was in the face, then, of such a terrible doom that these youths determined to stand true to their God — that they refused to conform to the idolatry with which they were surrounded. What a trial of their faith; and what strong faith must theirs have been which enabled them in the face of all this to remain "stedfast and unmoveable." "Though he slay them, yet will they trust in Him." Nebuchadnezzar, unfortunately, is not the only one who has presumed to dictate a religion to his fellows, and sought to enforce his command by the stern logic of the flames. Not long ago we visited the old city of St. Andrews, and saw where Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart suffered amid the fires "for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ — the reek from the faggots infecting as many as it did blow upon." And, as we east our eyes over the continent of Europe, many similar spectacles rise to view. Now in France it is a Shuch, in Bohemia a Huss; and has not Spain of late been but reaping the harvest which it sowed when kings and nobles gathered themselves together and looked with unpitying eye upon the followers of Christ suffering amid the blazing piles? III. THE SINGULAR DELIVERANCE OF THESE HEBREW YOUTHS (W. R. Inglis.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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 serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. |
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