Daniel 3:26-30; Not A Hair of Your Head ~ 20210829 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

08/29_Daniel 03:26-30; Not a Hair Of Your Head; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20210829_dan03_26-30.mp3


We left Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace last time. You would think that’s not a great place to leave them, but we did see that although their executioners died, they survived. In fact, it seems they were thriving; the fire freed them from their bonds, and they were walking, enjoying fellowship with the Son of God in the midst of the fire. So all in all it was not a bad place to leave them.

Let’s pick back up in verse 15 for context with the king’s threatening:

Daniel 3:15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made... But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this 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. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Challenging God

Remember, Nebuchadnezzar was in a furious rage that they refused to serve his gods or worship his image. In pride, he challenged the gods; ‘who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’

Nebuchadnezzar is king of kings; he had made a 90 foot god of gold and demanded that all peoples, nations, and languages fall down and worship the image that he, Nebuchadnezzar, had set up. He forgot the lesson learned in chapter 2, that although he was king of kings, it was the God of heaven who gave him the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory. It was God who placed in his hands authority over all the children of man, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens (2:37-38). The power was not inherent in him; it was a gift, given to him by the God of heaven.

It seems he was challenging this God, shaking his fist in defiance; ‘Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’ Now, in the seven times superheated fiery furnace that killed his strongest soldiers, he saw the three he had thrown in the furnace, now freed of their bonds, and walking in the midst of the fire apparently unharmed, and a fourth man with them, a divine being, like a son of the gods.

Safe In The Fire

Daniel 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

Nebuchadnezzar came near (but not too near; he could feel the heat of his superheated fiery furnace; he had seen what it did to his strongest warriors), and he commanded the three to come out. In the fire, they were safe. Neither Nebuchadnezzar the king nor his next strongest soldiers (he had already lost his strongest) could reach them. They were safe in the fire, with their Lord. They did not come out until they were summoned. It seems they were in no hurry to come out; they were content to stay in the midst of the fire, enjoying fellowship with their God. But when the king summoned them, they obediently came out.

Ready to Meet God?

It is interesting that Nebuchadnezzar calls the three by name. He saw four men walking in the midst of the fire. But he only asks Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to come out. He did not dare to command the fourth man, the divine being to come out. He knew he had no authority over him, nor was he ready to meet face to face the God he had so arrogantly defied; a God who obviously was more powerful than his hottest fire. Nebuchadnezzar had seen God’s wisdom in chapter 2 in interpreting his dream, and he had acknowledged him as God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries’ (Dan.2:47). Now he perceived this God’s power greater than the hottest flames. But he is not yet ready to encounter this Most High God. He is comfortable speaking with the servants of this God, but he is not yet ready to face God directly.

The Pervasive Power of Fire

Daniel 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.

I’ve been in the middle of fire. It was an elementary age science experiment gone wrong that involved a small enclosed space, a highly flammable aerosol can and matches. Don’t try this at home! My friend and I were momentarily engulfed in flames, and after the split second flash, the hardest thing to conceal from mom was our singed hair; head hair, arm hair, eyebrows, all singed, curled up on the ends from an instantaneous flash of the flames. And the smell. There is nothing like the smell of burnt hair. Hair burns fast. We had some friends over for dinner; this was the early 90’s with way too much hairspray, and a candle in the window sill of the dining room. Our friend leaned back a little too far, and vooom! Her hair was literally on fire.

I like fire. I enjoy a good roaring campfire. I like to cook over fire. But it is amazing how much the smell of smoke permeates clothing and lingers. You can’t hide that you’ve been around a fire.

When these three came out of Nebuchadnezzar’s superheated furnace, all those who had conspired to get these three thrown into the fire, who had witnessed them being thrown into the fire, came around them to examine the lack of effect the fire had on them. The smell of charred flesh still hung in the air from the soldiers who had thrown them in. But on these three, they all observed that the fire had not had any power over their bodies. Not a hair singed, no damage to their clothing, not even the smell of fire on them.

This fire was real fire; it was lethal, demonstrated graphically by those that threw them in. But these that had been thrown down into the burning fiery furnace were unharmed. The fire was powerful; it incinerated the ropes that tied them. But supernaturally the fire had no power over their bodies.

Not A Hair Of Your Head

Jesus told his followers that they would be persecuted, some even to death. But then he said something very strange.

Luke 21:16 You will be delivered up ...and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

I’ve scratched my head over this. ‘Some of you they will put to death, but not a hair of your head will perish.’ What does this mean? How does it make sense that they will be killed, but not even one hair will perish? What does it matter if my hair remains intact if I am dead?

Jesus said earlier in Luke:

Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Fear God alone. God alone has power to destroy both body and soul in hell (Mt.10:28). God has every hair of your head numbered. And although many Jesus followers have been burned to death, yet not a hair of their heads have perished eternally. You see, we believe in a physical bodily resurrection. Not an immaterial ghost-like existence; Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that our hope is bodily resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

He says in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Fear not! Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. They may put you to death, but not a hair of your head will perish! Our God promises to be with you in the flame, he is able to preserve you through the flame, and he promises that although they may kill the body, not a hair of your head will perish for eternity!

Repent or Legislate?

The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors all witnessed something. They were eye witnesses of the impotence of the king before the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He had been respectfully resisted by them, and his most furious efforts were powerless to bring about their execution.

What do you do when you are the most powerful man on the earth, and you have been disregarded, disobeyed, with a flat out refusal to bow to your authority? When in a rage you order the execution of the rebels, but the execution backfires and you loose some of your best soldiers, the fire serves only to free the exiles you are angry with, and God himself walks in the fire with those you sought to destroy? What do you do?

Here’s what you ought to do. Repent. Acknowledge you were wrong to demand absolute allegiance; only God has that right. Acknowledge that you were wrong to set up an image and demand worship; only God deserves the worship of all peoples, languages and nations. Cry out for mercy from that God whom you have offended by your arrogance and pride. Repent. You ought to repent.

Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

In response to Daniel revealing both the king’s dream and its interpretation, the king fell on his face and commanded an offering and incense be offered. He acknowledged God as God of gods and Lord of kings, revealer of mysteries.

Here, in response to God’s thwarting of his execution, of God’s own presence, visible, protecting in the fire, of the three brought safely through the fire, the king didn’t bow, didn’t offer offerings. He didn’t repent. He didn’t confess his sins or acknowledge that what he had done was wrong. He blessed God and he made a decree. He legislated protection for the religious freedom of these three. He rewarded their civil disobedience. He acknowledged that their God is unique in his ability to rescue in this way. He didn’t repent, he issued a decree!

This would be laughable if it were not so tragically ironic! Nebuchadnezzar who defied God and was publicly defeated by God still is deluded to believe he has power. How difficult it is for a rich man, or a man with power or authority, to enter the kingdom of God (Mk.10:23). Nebuchadnezzar, who had publicly failed in his attempt to execute those who defied him, now issues another death threat, this time to defend the God who proved himself more powerful! But the burning fiery furnace thing didn’t work out so well, so we’ll revert back to the tearing limb from limb. God defeated him publicly, in front of his satraps, prefects, governors, and counselors, and he tries to save face by passing legislation, promoting to power, and making more death threats.

Application

I said this would be laughable if it were not so tragically ironic. We want to laugh at the foolishness of Nebuchadnezzar, but we need to look in the mirror. How often are we deluded by our own grandeur, thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think? How often are we confronted by God? He is pursuing us, he is pursuing a relationship with us; but we refuse to deal with him, to fall on our faces in repentance and faith. Instead we do the thing we’ve always done, we pretend to have power, we pass resolutions, we make decrees. We try to save face in front of those we so desperately want to impress. We’ll talk to other people, but we won’t face him, we won’t deal with him.

Here’s the good news. He knows what you’ve done. He knows who you are. He already knows. And he is pursuing you. Surrender. Lay down your pride, turn, face him. Run to him. Find forgiveness. Find freedom. Jesus paid your price at the cross. Let go whatever you are clinging to, and turn to him.

***

2021.08.29 Sermon Notes

Daniel 3:26-30 Not A Hair of Your Head!

Challenging the God who gave

Daniel 2:37-38; 3:15

Safe in the fire

Daniel 3:24-25

Are you ready to meet God?

Daniel 3:26

The pervasive power of fire

Daniel 3:27

Not a hair of your head; the hope of the resurrection

Luke 21:16-28; 12:4-7

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5

The irony of legislation when repentance is called for

Mark 10:23-25; Romans 12:3; Luke 13:3; 2 Peter 3:9

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org