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Clarence’s Bible curriculum and we’re in the Book of Daniel today we’re in Lesson four of our quarters theme gone protects and restores and today’s lesson you all if you just speak loudly without a special Mike being passed around which is great because it means we can talk a little bit more we can interact a little bit more so before we talk about today’s lesson let’s talk about what we discussed last week last week we looked at Jeremiah 31 and God’s proclamation of a future new covenant we saw last week that unlike the Old Covenant given given to Israel through the law at Mount Sinai the New Covenant would be unconditional God unilaterally would restore Israel’s prosperity would change the hearts of his people and forgiveness people for their sins as you will do nothing to merit these promises and could do nothing to lose them we explore some of the implications of that covenant as well as our place as Christians and as even for many of us as Gentiles in the new car but there’s one thing we didn’t get to talk about last week and I didn’t want to mention it this morning before we move on we actually had this question when we were talking about the New Covenant and the Old Covenant if the Old Covenant was always meant to point people to their need for the new covenant then how have people saved under the Old Covenant well if we mean who was saved through the Old Covenant well the answer is nobody because the Old Covenant Mosaic Covenant can’t do that all I can do is point out sin it can give knowledge of sin that’s its purpose it can’t provide salvation so no one was ever saved through the Old Covenant but if we mean who was saved during the time of the Old Covenant oh then plenty of people Moses David Joshua Rey half of IJ neba name in the Syrian many others they were saved in the time of the Old Covenant well how are these people saved if it wasn’t through the Old Covenant well they were saved not not by the law but by the same means that you and I are saved salvation by faith in God and faith in God’s provision for sin because think about it whenever the New Testament talks about or no let me say it this way in the New Testament we have a number of writers Paul the writer of Hebrews and James they all point to the Old Testament for the example of salvation by faith and to whom do they point as the father of all those who believe by faith Abraham that’s right and was Abraham ever under the Mosaic Covenant now it was before Mosaic Covenant yet Abraham was clearly saved and counted righteous and this is what Genesis says Genesis 15 five and six and God took Abram outside and said now look toward the heavens and count the stars and count the stars if you were able to count them and he said to him social your descendants be then he that’s abraham believed in the Lord believed in the hallway and he reckoned it to him as righteousness he believed and was counted wrenches now did abraham believed on his own or did God cause abraham to believe that’s right God is the one who gave him the fate now doesn’t say that explicitly there but we know are in Genesis but we know that from the other scriptures so Abraham was saved just as those in the new continent were safe and as as were and are all the Saints before and after Abraham their salvation was unconditionally fulfilled as God gave them new hearts to believe in him to love his law and to trust him that God would do what was necessary to take care of sin so they didn’t have all the specifics of how God was going to take care of soon but they knew that God was going to make atonement and provide forgiveness and that was in the details of that were includes to increasingly revealed in the Old Testament and we have the full revelation as New Testament believers for Old Testament Saints that the Mosaic Covenant was also meant to show them their sin and inability to meet God standard so that they might cry out to God for mercy and believe in him to provide so the law function for them the same way that it functions for us in terms of salvation it was to point them to their need for God’s mercy apart from anything that they can do we actually see this um receive this vividly played out in one of the songs in Psalm 19 you may remember Psalm 19 that’s the one is um all right now I think talked about in the past Psalm 19 begins with David acknowledging that God reveals his glory in creation and then how God reveals his goodness is holiness and his wisdom in the law and remember the Old Covenant stipulations are contained in the law the law of Moses he talks about how wonderful God’s law is what is able to do for a person but what does David’s reaction all of that looking at creation looking at the law does he say I look there your law so great don’t worry I’m gonna keep the whole thing I’ll perfectly keep the law no worries God is that what Davis reaction is now that’s not this is what David says Psalm 19 verses 12 to 14 right after looking at the law and talking about how great God is for the law and how great the law is he says who can discern his errors acquit me of hidden faults also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins let them not rule over me then I will be blameless and I shall be acquitted of great transgression let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight the Lord my rock and my Redeemer so David was telling god I know I cannot and do not perfectly keep your law I am sins I don’t even know about so please have mercy on me I need you to UM I need you to be my Redeemer I need you to make me acceptable in your sight and you can look at other songs to where David is asking god I need you to cleanse me and if you cleanse me I know I’ll be clean so David and the rest you Old Testament Saints they didn’t know exactly how God would accomplish acquittal their sins but they knew that he would and they had this the picture of that in the Old Testament sacrificial system therefore the Old Testament Saints were confident that when they died they would be with God and we also hear testimony of that from Joe Jobe 19 verses 25 to 26 joke says asks for me I know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will take a stand on the earth even after my skin is destroyed yet from my flesh I shall see God so in summary salvation has always been given by grace through faith so that those who believed in the Lord or accounted righteous and had assurance of eternal life it was this way in the Old Testament before Moses in the Old Testament after Moses and it still is today now another question may rise on top of that discussion if salvation has always been accomplished in a way that’s similar or part of the new covenant then how is the new covenant new how’s the new covenant new and Jeremiah whoa there are at least two ways one is its new because the means of salvation in the New Covenant had never been or means of salvation before the New Covenant had never been revealed but it is fully revealed one the one who inaugurates the new covenant who actually mediates the new covenant arrives that’s Jesus right Jesus Christ and we see his work in the New Covenant his blood being shed his sacrifice being made on the cross the revelation of Jesus and his work was never in the Old Covenant or in the Old Testament it was going to be something new that would come so even though people works were benefiting from the effects of the New Covenant before it arrived the one who actually brings the New Covenant validates New Covenant mediates new continent that was yet to come and so in essence that would be very new but there’s something else that’s also very new about the new covenant and that is that it’s a salvation covenant made with all Israel God made a covenant with all Israel before the Old Covenant the mosaic coming those not of coming into salvation I was a covenant that says if you obey me I’ll bless you and you disobey me al kursi there was no guarantee of salvation for everybody in that cup but in the New Covenant God tells Israel and Judah I’m going to change all of your hearts and the hearts of your descendants this is something that never happened before with Israel and other people would be part of that that promise but specifically the newness of the Covenant is that would be a new experience for all Israel those are at least two of the ways questions about what I’ve just shared or about what we talked about last week all right here a question yeah I think I heard mostly what you said um is that steep who is that wait who wasn’t it okay I thought I thought that was your voice but I couldn’t see the form yeah I totally agree the gospel will certainly declared in the Old Testament and that’s why we can say that our that’s one of the reasons what we can say salvation has always been by fate and I think you’re right the point now Steve that one of the New Testament verses you can sense that the gospel was preached to a ram so yeah definitely any other questions about last week’s lesson okay well as we transition from what we learned last week to what we’re going to learn about today I want you dad think about some questions the Guinness ready for today’s lesson the questions are these think of the last time that you were tested by trials persecution or the prospect of future hardship how did you respond in that time did you trust God and proceed in obedience or did you yield to sin were you happy and confident worry anger minds in the moment of testing did you flee from the opportunity to make God’s worth known or did your obedience chime as a light to the world I ask these questions because what we’re going to look at today in our Sunday School class are two other examples of God sovereignly providing for and as you know from the email or other sources what we’re going to be talking about today these are well-known accounts these are well-known account to the Bible yet I fear my concern is that we have not really learned what we ought to from that you know that the scriptures are designed to change us we are responsible to here to meditate on and to implement God’s truth in our lives and so even for the well-known stories accounts that needs to be true and may God make that true this morning what precisely are we looking at today here’s our outline we’re going to hear what God did when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a furnace to die rossman hear what God did when Daniel was thrown into a Lions pit to be killed and then we’re going to come back and consider application for ourselves let’s pray before we go on Great God Yahweh hello and I pray that you would help me to be able to explain your word this morning help us give it understand it lord I pray that you would provide for this whole Sunday School lesson with his technical aspects but also just fee for the explanation and understanding of your word okay low that we would be changed we’d be encouraged that we’d be emboldened that we would say with the psalmist we will not fear because you are with us do your work this morning o spirit and I pray that if we need to repent of sin that you would accomplish that but also we need to be encouraged we need to put habits of righteousness into our lives that you’d be doing that also in jesus name amen okay please open your Bibles to Daniel three Daniel three is where we start today we’re going to read this entire chapter four do let’s remind ourselves in the historical situation at this point I remember we’re back idanian we’ve been in Daniel before at this point at least part of Judah is an exile not sure how much time has gone gone gone I sense Daniel one but at least part of Israel’s in exile Judah rather Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah they’re the ones we met in Daniel already they came with the first wave of captives around 60 70 605 BC they lived as faithful Jews despite the pressures to compromise and God bless these for Judy and young men with wisdom and success so that they were placed into positions of power and prominence and Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom now Daniel to which we didn’t talk about but just I’m going to summarize God gave Daniel understanding of one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams let me commit Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a segmented statue was made of different pieces of metal and this statue was crushed by an uncut stone Daniel explained that the different segments of this statute represented a succession of world kingdoms culminating with the kingdom of God now if you know for this statue the head was of gold what did the head of gold represent it’s right it was the the kingdom or the Empire of Babylon the head of gold was Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar being the ruler of Babylon now I’m never kid about it Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and pleased with Daniel’s explanation and he was so pleased that he promoted Daniel and honored Daniel’s God and the event at Daniel’s request promoted Daniel’s companions Hananiah Mishael and Azariah two positions there are two high positions with an ax so that’s in the backdrop of chapter 3 let’s not read chapter 3 this is page 884 if you’re using the few Bible so Daniel 3 we’re going to read the whole chapter please follow along as I read Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold the height of which was 60 cubits and it’s with six cubits he set it up on the plane of Dora in the province of Babylon then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the SAT traps the prefix and the governor’s the counselors the treasurer’s the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up then the sad traps the prefex and the governor’s the counselors the treasurer’s the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the King has set up and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar has that hot then the herald loudly proclaimed to you the command is given o peoples nations and men of every language that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn flute liar trigons sultry bagpipe and all kinds of music you want to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King has set up but whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire therefore at the time when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn flute liar trying and sultry bagpipe and all kinds of music all the peoples nations and men of every language fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up for this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews they responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the King Oh King live forever you O king I’ve made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horns Newt lata try and sultry and bagpipe in all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image but whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire there are certain Jews who you have appointed over the administration in the province of Babylon namely Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is that the other names given to the man we mentioned earlier these men OU qing have disregarded you they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up and Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego then these men were brought before the King Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my god or oh my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up now if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn flute liar trigons sultry and bagpipe and all kinds of music to fall down a worship the image that I had made very well but if you do not worship you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire and what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands Shadrach Meshach and Abednego replied to the king oh never can either we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter it could be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and he will deliver us out of your hand ok but even if he does not let it be mailed to you O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered towards Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated he commanded certain guyot warriors who were in the army to tie up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire and these men were tied up in their trousers their coats their caps and their other clothes and they were cast into the midst of furnace of blazing fire for this reason because the commands king’s command was urgent and the furnace has had been made extremely hot the flame of the fire slew those men who carried out Shadrach Meshach and Abednego but these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste he said to his high officials was it not three men we cast into the midst of the fire it replied to the king certainly O king he said look I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods the nemah cleanser came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire he responded and said Shadrach Meshach and Abednego come out you servants of the Most High God and come here then Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire the sand traps the prefex the governors and the Kings high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their heads singed Lord were their trousers damaged new had the smell of fire even come upon him Nebuchadnezzar responded and said blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him violating the king’s command and yielding up their body so as not to serve a worship any God except their own God therefore I make a decree then any people nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their house is reduced to a rubbish heap and as much as there is no other God who was able to deliver in this way and then the king called Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon alright just an amazing account let’s observe and start our analysis the text with observations back at the beginning notice that Nebuchadnezzar built a great statue of gold this statue is 60 by six cubits remember qubit is about 18 inches long there’s some variations of that measurement but we’re looking roughly at a 90 foot tall and a 9 foot wide statue that’s about depending on what you consider a story six to nine stories high this is a huge statute work even though the description of that statue subject or appearance we don’t know what it depicted we don’t know how exactly it looked we know it was dig and we know it was old notice who Nebuchadnezzar summons to the statute all his governors his rulers and administrators that’s what the term sand traps and prefix means there are different types of governors and administrators and notice why he invites them they are attending the dedication tending the dedication of the statue and they are too when the music plays bow down and worship the statue I just say later on that he refers to all peoples and tongues and they’re all to bow down so there may have been some other people who weren’t the officials and governors but specifically it was the administrators who were invited and they were the ones who were commanded are and then they were the ones that are specifically commanded to do certain things now notice all the instruments mentioned actually I think a little bit funny that it’s mentioned four times every every single specific instrument well it’s quite the worship band in case you’re not from there the liar the try again and the psaltery they’re different types of stringed instruments they’re similar to hearts so all these instruments are going to play and they’re going to make music and everyone’s posted back and there’s the penalty for failing to bow and worship the golden image I’m burning in a fiery furnace you’re going to be casting me thrown into this fiery furnace by the way bowing down on worshipping the statute we would have violated which of the Ten Commandments I think I heard something certainly the first and the second hi you have no other gods before me and you shall not make a graven image to bow down to it so this would certainly be a violation of the law has given by God for Annie Jew or any really any person to do this now notice how Nebuchadnezzar learned that the three Judeans did not mount they’re not bowing certain Chaldeans accused them before the King notice the King’s response he’s enraged though he gives the three second chance to explain themselves and bow down like he ordered he warns the trio that failure will result in their deaths by fire even adding what God is there that is able to deliver you from my hand and notice the point in response of the three Jewish men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego first they say we need not give you an answer that is we don’t need to defend our actions make excuses or reconsider our position second they say our God is able to deliver us you say no God is able to rescue us we know that our God can third they say God will deliver us from your head and I just have to fill up the sliding in God will deliver us from your hand but then they say fourthly even if God doesn’t we will not serve your gods or bow to your attention mr. Kings response here even greater fury Daniel tells us that the Kings face was altered because rage was very visible no more mr. nice guy now you’re going to get the face of wrath they not only disobeyed the king’s command in front of everyone which was enough to enrage in Ebenezer but they also balked at the Kings gracious opportunity to reconsider so he was enraged and he orders the furnace to be made seven times hotter and he picks valiant warriors from his army to tie up a tie up to three in their coats caps and clothing and then throw them into the furnace everything is happening so fast and the fire is so hot that the warriors that are throwing in Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are killed by the fire the heat and flames kill these warriors and meanwhile Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are thrown in with the bindings still on them but then notice what astounds Nebuchadnezzar though three were cast in he sees four inside the furnace and they’re walking around and they’re unharmed and the fourth one looks like a son of the gods now some translations say the son of God but probably the better sense is a son of the gods never kinesiology is probably not monotheistic Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar commands the three to come out to him but notice how he tells them to come out he says come out you servants of the Most High God all the governors and officials gather around to see these men come out and notice what they observe the fires had no effect on the men’s bodies their hair or their clothing they don’t even smell like fire the only thing that burned when they were casting were the bindings that were put on apparently cuz they no longer happen and then notice Nebuchadnezzar’s further reaction he blesses their God and He commands their behavior how they yielded up their bodies to be were to be burned rather than worship any God except their own they know just that they trusted in their god they entrusted themselves to Yahweh Nebuchadnezzar then decrees that anyone speaking against this God will be torn apart and have his house destroyed and notice the new declaration that King gives about this guy he says there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way alright now that we’ve made these observations let’s interpret why didn’t Emma can either build a golden statue and somebody answered nice and loudly you say that again it probably has to do with a dream now again we can’t say for sure because the text doesn’t tell us explicitly but we do know that the context of this passage is chapter 2 where Nebuchadnezzar was told you are the head of gold your kingdom is the head of gold o gold I mean he’s had this dream of a statue and I god I’m thinking I’d like to make a golden statue of myself that’s probably why but we can’t say for sure what did the statue probably depict of what was the statue representing probably Nebuchadnezzar himself again were not told well make we can make this inference I think because of the dream and because that was a that was a human-looking statue before and the head of gold represented Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar so probably a statue of himself based on this passage before we see God’s deliverance how would we describe Nebuchadnezzar to view of themselves I’m considered again oh very inflated view yes he he sees himself on the level of the gods who is able to oppose me what God is able to deliver you out of my hands you need the worship the statue that I’ve set up because I’m so great he has a very high view of himself he believes himself to be supreme in power and worthy of worship or at least worthy of being obeyed now why actually i’m going to skip that question and never condenser wanted to show himself and his gods to be great he want to do that before his officials and maybe some of the regular people who were there but what is the unexpected results of this dedication service you you that’s certainly true he sees that there is some resistance to his plan to exalt himself and exalts his gods but think about how all of this ends does the end up exalting his gods no he doesn’t exalt his gods but he exalts Yahweh he himself is giving testimony I mean God gives testimony based on what God does but then Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges it he says is Scott there is no one like this guy no one is able to rescue like this guy so this dedication service turns out to do the total opposite of what Nebuchadnezzar intended but that’s gone giving himself the glory now why did certain Chaldeans report the Jews for not bowing we’re not told specifically but considering the rapid rise of these three Judeans considering the fact that they believe in a totally different religious system and come from a different culture this is probably motivated by envy this is probably people once to see these three lose their position get in trouble and maybe ingratiate themselves more than to kinetic get we’re not told specifically but that certainly makes sense and we know that’s what’s going to happen later on with Daniel regarding his position now thinking about the trio’s response to the Kings rebuke the three said that they believe God would deliver that but even if God didn’t they still wouldn’t bow down now by saying these two things did the three demonstrate true faith in God or does there if not reveal that they actually were doubting God at least somewhat I would say the same thing yes they did show true faith because we have a commendation given to them in the New Testament if you’re familiar with Hebrews 11 that is a section of Hebrews that just details how different people manifested faith in the Old Testament showing that salvation has always been by faith righteousness has always been obtained by faith and what does it say regarding Shadrach Meshach and Abednego let me be part of it to you Hebrews 11 32 to 34 and what more shall I say but time will fail me if I tell of Gideon barracks Tamsin Jeptha of David and Samuel Samuel and the prophets who by faith conquered kingdoms performed acts of righteousness obtained promises shut the mouths of lions talk about that a little bit later quench the power of fire escape the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong became my name war put foreign armies to flight so it kind of said only quickly there but the New Testament affirms that these men were acting by faith it was a Dem demonstrable worthy of being imitated fake well I just one second okay so if it means hasn’t affirms that they were strong and faith if their faith was worthy being imitated then how should we view their admission that God might not choose to sink that yes they they did have faith that God was going to do good that God was going to accomplish whatever he wanted they were acknowledging that God is sovereign and then they couldn’t they didn’t know what God and His sovereignty was going to do they knew that God was going to somehow take care of them but they didn’t know if it was going to be by protecting their lives or just by resurrecting men after they die by bringing them into his presence because remember we were talking before about how even though they didn’t know everything about or they don’t necessarily have all the details about having that the New Testament believers did they certainly knew that they were going to be with God after they died so they knew that if they followed Gaga was going to preserve them reward them even for method they were going to die and they did not know they knew God could deliver them that he could miraculously save them but they didn’t know if he was going to so with Ivan faith an admission of not knowing god’s sovereign will those things they still go together one way or the other they knew God would keep his promises to them to them and they were made themselves ready for either outcome they made themselves ready for whatever God’s going to you I think there’s a valuable principle for us here in what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do we sometimes I think get hung up when the new testament sorts us to when we pray believe that we will receive what we have asked and if we are asking according to God’s promises then we ought to do that God always keeps his promises so if we’re praying on the basis of a promise then we there should be no doubt we should believe that God will give us what he has pledged if you ask God to provide for you believe that he will because he’s promised to do that there’s no you can’t say to yourself well I don’t really know what god I’m going to do no God has already promised to provide for you so you can’t believe that there’s no reason to doubt would be wicked for you to doubt or if you um if you ask God to save you cleanse you from your sins if you actually repense you can believe that God actually does that because God’s promise to do that right he says on all those who come to me I will not cast out he says that he does not refuse the broken and contrite heart so if we are coming to God on the basis of his promise then we ought to believe him without doubting those are specific promises given to us by God but what about when we ask for things that were not specifically promised by God maybe some of the details of how God is going to provide we do pray these types of things God please heal this cancer God please save this family member God please give me this job I really need it now there’s no guarantee that God will give us those things we need to be like a Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and let God hath his way those are worthy things to pray for they’re not wrong things to pray for and we know that whatever God’s answer is it’s going to be in accordance with his promises so sometimes it is to give us exactly what we asked but we must let God have his way we are to come to God in prayer and to act in our lives in a way that shows we believe God’s promises but we are not to presume on God this is not the name it claim it sort of faith that some articulate if you just pray and believe that God will do something then he’s obligated to do that no it’s not really the way it works I think Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are an example of that but like them like the history Jews when we act or pray according to our belief in God we are acknowledging God and we know you are able to do this now we’re not doubting that but if this is what you don’t choose to do we’re going to remain obedience we’re going to remain obedient whether you choose to do this or not because if you’re not going to do what what we pray for if you’re not going to do according to what we believe you would do or believe you could do we know that you’ve got something else another question why does why do we get all these details about the fires temperature the Warriors being killed who cast them in the fact that the trio emerged unbound and the complete lack of effect of the fire on the bodies and clothing of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego why do we get those details say that again please yeah the is a supernatural Display of power here and a power that was obviously greater than even Nebuchadnezzar zone I mean what it what a very specific control of the fire on the one hand that people throwing them in our kill because it’s so hot so it’s not like this fire was not not burning or something like that also their bindings are burned in the fire so the fire does burn and yet they are not harmed or affected in their clothing and body at all it’s like an extremely selective in detail control over what this fire does even seven times heated which was a manifestation of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath I’m not going to make you burn I’m gonna make you burn but God says no you’re not because I have the control not you and God preserves them so this is a definite demonstration of God’s power over any human power and even over the natural world now who is the one who would look like a son of the gods now some translations like I said say the son of god is this the son of God cannot say for sure certainly as a Nebuchadnezzar says this is some one from God he says an angel from Yahweh came and protected these men and it could be the angel of the Lord remember we’ve talked about in previous lessons the angel of the Lord is the son of god it’s the pre Incarnate Christ is Jesus a lot of people i think favor in the interpretation that this is actually the son of god with him in the fire we can’t say that for sure but even if it’s just an angel this was still a personal act of power and care from God he’s not only going to save these three men but he’s going to testify that I my personal presence is with them I’m sending my angel to directly comfort and protect and care for them and he didn’t that you didn’t just want to show that 10m but he showed that to everybody who was observing she led to Nebuchadnezzar to show that to his officials so what is the point of all this why does Daniel give us this account why do we hear about God saving these three Jewish this Jewish young man I believe it’s the same as the whole point of the Book of Daniel that’s if you read the book of Daniel and you keep going through it’s all about how God is the true king and he’s the one who has sovereign control Kings officials and nations are in the Lord’s hinge remember back in chapter one where you had these Jews coming into a new land and yet they were granted favored by various officials because God gave from that favor they were granted ability because God granted them that ability they were granted ability to UM to not defile themselves with a king’s food God provided for that God provided so that they would be just as healthy and an even better and being even better health with their diet then with the Kings best food it was God who’s providing all those things it was God who provided Daniel the dream in chapter 2 and it was God who even in that dream is showing I have control over all of history I’m bringing all these things about and then here Daniel 3 we see the same thing God says I am the one who is totally in control I’m a controlled the the fire I’m the one who was able to confound the Kings plans I’m the one who’s able to protect and save my people and how should men react based on God’s continual display of power and his desire to protect his own by trusting in the Lord trusting the Lord and obeying him isn’t that what Nebuchadnezzar says these three entrusted themselves to their God and God saved them that’s the point that’s the point of all Daniel if God is really the one who is it who is God is the king and is the sovereign then we can have trust ourselves to him we must entrust ourselves to him and obey Him and that’s what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did we had to fear God to believe in him and trust him that he is able to take care of us that trust is going to manifest itself in obedience know what God had done wrong to let these three Jews died as martyrs would that have been wrong no that wouldn’t have been wrong God couldn’t let that happen God didn’t say that I’m gonna totally save my people from death every time today oh baby we certainly know number of the prophet in the Old Testament they were not seeing when they were um when they were being injured or when they were being killed but God chose to save these three and I believe it’s because he wanted to give testimony you want to give an example if I’m able to do this for these three men so obviously in supernaturally then I’m able to save protect and preserve you when you are obedient that’s what God is showing us he can save our lives you can get into a situation in your life you say there’s no way out there’s no way out of this without me being injured or killed but you know that your God based on this account you know that your God actually is able to save he’s able to prevent you from being injured at all he’s also be able to prevent you from being killed but even if not as these men declared you know that if God is able to save them in physically he’s also able to save them spiritually he’s able to say them after they are killed he’s able to preserve you and bring you safely to his heavenly kingdom that’s why this that’s why God gave us this he said I want them to see that I am the saving God it was able to rescue no matter the situation even when my servants are killed so these shoes are these truths are for our instruction now they’re further emphasized by the other account I want to look at today so let’s move from Daniel 3 over to Daniel 6 turn there with me please at this one this account we’re not going to look at as closely we’re just going to read it make some quick observations and then we’ll consider application so Daniel chapter 6 here we have another situation where we have another situation that’s going to play out very similarly to the one that we just read this is jane 06 12 28 we’re going to read the whole chapter this is many years later under a different ruler which is no longer Babylon or Nebuchadnezzar this is the Persians under Darius the Mede number two the number of years ago by this point Daniel is probably in his 70s or 80s let’s read what happens to Daniel Daniel chapter 6 it seemed good to do Darius to appoint 120 SAT traps over the kingdom that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom and over them three commissioners of whom Daniel was one that these sad traps might be accountable to that now that the King might not suffer loss then this Daniel began to distinguishing or began distinguishing himself among the commissioners in San trust because he possessed an extraordinary spirit and the King planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom then the commissioners and sand traps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs they could find no ground of accusation up or evidence of corruption and as much as he was faithful and no negligence where corruption was to be found in him then these men said we will not find any grounds of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regards the law is God then these commissioners and sat drops came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows King Darius lived forever oh the commissioners of the kingdom the prefex in the sash half the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish her stature didn’t enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition any God or man besides you okay for 30 days shall be cast into the Lions Den now O king established and junk sign the document so that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which may not be revoked therefore King Darius signed the document that is the injunction now on Daniel knew that this stock that the document was signed he entered his house now his in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God and then they approached and smoked before the king about the Kings injunction did you not sign an injunction than any man who makes a petition any goddamn man besides you O king for 30 days this be cast into the Lions Den the King applied the statement is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians which may not be revoked then they answered in spoke before the King Daniel was one of the exiles from Judah pays no attention to you O king what’s the injunction which you sign that keeps making his petition three times a day and as soon as the King heard the statement he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel and even had some son said he kept exerting himself to rescue him then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king recognize o king that it is a lot of the Medes and Persians and no injunction or statue which the King establishes may be changed and they then the king gave orders and Danny was brought in and cast into the Lions Den the King spoke and said to Daniel your God whom you constantly served will himself deliver you a stone with brawn laid over the mouth of the Dead and the Kings sealed it with his own signet ring and when the Signet rings of his nobles is that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting and no entertainment was brought before him and is simply fat from collecting him then the King arose at dawn at the break of day well once in haste to the Lions Den mean it come here to dent Daniel he cried out with a troubled voice the King spoke and said to Daniel Daniel sermon of the Living God has your God whom you constantly sir been able to deliver you from the Lions then Daniel spoke to the king Oh King live forever my god sent his angel and shut the Lions mouths and they’ve not hardly and as much as I was found innocent before him and I also and also towards you boo King I have committed no crime then the king was very pleased and gave us Renae no to be taken up out of the den so Daniel was taken up out of it then and no injury whatever was found on him because he had trusted in his God the king then gave a witters and they brought to his men who emotionally accused Daniel and they cashed them their children and their wives into the Lions Den and they not reached the bottom of the den before the Lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones mend areas the King wrote to all the peoples nations and men of every language who were living in all the land may your peace abound I make a decree that in all the Dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel for he is the Living God and enduring forever and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed and his Dominion will be forever he delivers and rescues and perform signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions so this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius in the reign of Cyrus the Persian just another astounding account yet this really happened did you notice how similar or did you notice the similarities in the account that we just read to what came earlier we have God sovereignly from bringing Daniel into a high position in the kingdom then which generated Envy among the Kings other officials these officials contrived a way to place a it’s placed Daniel in mortal danger and they’ve made a lot of the new Daniel wouldn’t keep because he trusted and gone I’m not late at all Daniel and Daniel remained faithful even boldly faithful to god it’s not like Daniel L said I’m gonna pray but I make sure that nobody sees me you just did what he always did Daniel believed that God would provide for Daniel through Daniels of meetings Darius when he heard about all this they’ll be but sad was compelled to put Danny on the Lions Den a laws of the Medes and Persians can’t be changed look like there was no way to save Daniel even though Darius tried so Daniel what’s thrown in the lion’s den and left there all night but in the morning what does Darius fine only that Daniel is alive and he testifies that he’s unharmed because God sent an angel to close the Lions mouths not to mention restrain the lion’s claws because remember Lions can hurt you more than just their mouth the text says explicitly Daniel was taken out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he trusted in his God like Nebuchadnezzar Darius then gives glory away it commands all the people to fear the God of Israel but unlike Nebuchadnezzar Darius commands those who conspired against Daniel along with their families to be fed to the Lions and did you catch that striking detail in verse 24 says they had not reached the bottoms of the den before lines overpowered them and crushed all their bones so it wasn’t a problem with the Lions in fact considering the ferocity and the power of the lines for it those being thrown into then after Daniel I’m I don’t think that’s normal I mean certainly the Lions are kept hungry so that they’ll be ferocious but they hadn’t even hit the ground that seems like there’s a little bit of supernatural work there so what is the point of this account I submit that it’s the same as before the show that God knows how to protect and rescue those who wait for him and persevere in obedience and we can ask the same question and we get the same answer about Daniel it’s a good with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did God hath the same Daniel by preserving his life no he didn’t and after suffering him waters death Daniel would then have been rescued in a different way he would been brought by God’s angels safely into God’s kingdom but God chose to save Daniels life physically preserve Daniel physically because he wanted us to see the example he wanted the Jewish exiles in us today the scene example one is to behold the power of God the heart of God the saving nature of God said we would not be afraid there’s new situation not financial not social not mortal from which God cannot rescue you nothing is too difficult for God and if he doesn’t rescue in one way it’s because he’s already in Sherman that he’s gonna rescue in another way he’s gonna preserve you in another way even if that way is to bring you to heaven now should we expect to face life or death situations like Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah well right now that seems unlikely in America the things can change fast regardless of probability we know what it means to be a Christian if you’re gonna be a faithful Christian then you will be God testifies you will be hated it will be insulted you will be persecuted by the people of the world not necessarily every person but some of them but Jesus already told us about that he says they hated me first therefore they’re going to hate you but he also says be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life so we can put our confidence in Jesus you can put our confidence in Yahweh no matter the danger were suffering we can say like Paul for this reason I also suffer these things but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I’m convinced that he is able to guard what I’ve entrusted to him until that day that’s second Timothy 112 none of us can say for sure hmm none of us can say for sure how we’ll respond to a life-or-death situation like these men one obedience will cost us our lives or could cost us our lives but we can’t get some idea of how we respond by how we respond with our current trials he was faithful a little thing as saiful and much how do we respond to the little persecutions the little trials did we trust the Lord God gave us an account in Daniel so that like these four Jewish exiles we might not be afraid to entrust everything we have to him because he is powerful to protect to rescue and provide pretty much brings us to the end of our lesson today any questions about what you’ve heard if you have a question just go ahead and speak up I can’t really see the hands okay if you think of other question oh i think there’s a question there’s someone someone have question go ahead okay okay I think I’m hearing my own voice coming back to me not like someone’s talking all right if you have any questions feel free to email me I would love to go over anything that that you still would like to ask about but you’re just some other application questions to think about Anthony and today’s class this is just a spark your meditation this is not going to be the exhaustion of how we can apply this passage but these are some things to think about the new testament promises that the godly will be persecuted but also ones that Christians are not to suffer for doing evil so ask yourself do you experience persecution if so if you do why is it truly for godly reasons but if not why not because God says that that will be the experience of a faithful person another question where lately have you failed to trust God when faced with a daunting trial or costly active obedience how does Daniel show you you want to change and what steps will you take to secure this change and then one more question the Lord cares deeply about the sufferings of his Saints and he promises to be with them do you draw comfort from Christ’s presence with you his promised presence do you really believe that he is with you and does that give you comfort do you rest in his power and his promises for you and you love him for his saving heart there really is no one like the Lord with like Nebuchadnezzar said no other God is able to save in this way not only because he has the power because he had the heart my god is by nature a saving God there is no other Savior besides the Lord do you love the Lord for saving heart that’s it for this week next week we leave Daniel and we go to the book of Esther let me pray and then I’ll sign off hello God we thank you for this word what a beautiful testimony of your ability and your heart to save well you gave us this word you save these men as examples for us that we might not be afraid would let us not be afraid forgive us God for we’ve where we have been ashamed but we have not trusted you when we come into trials the big and the small trials well that is not a manifestation of our true faith in you as another manifestation of our actually belong to you what if we know you we’ve become known or we’ve been known by you and we will trust you so let that reality give true in our lives okay that you’d use this word to emboldened us and encouraged us in Jesus name Amen all right Calvary I’ll see you next week all right bye