Almost any child who has ever
attended Sunday School can tell you the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
as well as the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. I love those stories, and they both point us
to Jesus. The book of Daniel is full of
pictures of Him -- not only in those two
stories of real events that happened during Daniel’s life in Babylon, but also
in the dream that Daniel interpreted for King Nebuchadnezzar and also in his
own dreams and visions. Those dreams and
visions were prophecies of events that were to occur in the future. Some of those prophecies came to fruition
during Daniel’s life: The downfall of Nebuchadnezzar,
the fall of the Babylonian Empire, the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire, the
rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
Many more of Daniel’s prophecies have come to pass since then: The rise of the Greek Empire under Alexander
the Great, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the coming of Christ and His
death and resurrection, God’s blessings of the Gentiles. And many more of Daniel’s prophecies are yet
to occur, but we can be assured that they will: The rapture of the church, the
coming of the antichrist, the great tribulation, the second coming of Jesus
Christ, His eternal Kingdom.
In the story of the flaming
furnace, the three men who would not bow down to the golden idol were condemned
to die by fire, but the pre-incarnate Jesus was with them in the fire,
protecting them. They emerged from the
furnace unharmed, not even smelling of smoke.
Their experience was a testimony to the king, causing him to bow down
and worship God, The King of Kings:
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke, and said unto his
counselors, “Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They
answered and said unto the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said,
“Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no
hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. . . And the princes,
governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together,
saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their
head singed, neither were their coats changed nor had the smell of fire passed
onto them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel and delivered His servants who
trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies,
that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. Therefore I
make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak any thing
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 who
can deliver in this way.” (Daniel
3:23-25, 27-29)
Jesus does the same for us today. When we allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives,
even when we are in distress, He will give us the joy of His salvation which
gives us the strength to face adversity with grace and dignity. He does not promise us that we will always emerge
from persecution without “being burned or smelling of smoke.” To the contrary, many Christians have suffered
because of their faith, and, sadly we are seeing the number of Christians who
are martyred for their faith increase daily.
But God’s word does promise us that He will be with us in our suffering
and that He will use it to His glory:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the
fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you; but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that,
when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. . . Yet
if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
God on this account. (1 Peter 4:12-13,
16)
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into
divers temptations, knowing this: that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. (James 1:2-3)
Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s
sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with
eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall
also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him,
He also will deny us; (2 Timothy 2:10-12)
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs — heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we
may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. (Romans 8:16-18)
Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans
8:37-39)
Followers of the One True God have been
persecuted and condemned by kings and rulers since the day Adam and Eve sinned
in the Garden of Eden. We can be assured
that persecution, ridicule, marginalization, and even martyrdom will continue
until the end of this age. But we are
promised that this age will end. Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream,
as well as his own dream, assures us that all kingdoms of men will one day be
conquered. We can look forward to the
day that Christ, The Smiting Stone, will return and destroy the kingdoms and
nations of this world, and rule His Kingdom in perfect righteousness and peace:
“Thou sawest until a stone was cut out without
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and
broke them to pieces. . . And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the Kingdom shall
not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Inasmuch as thou sawest that the stone
was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the
iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God hath made
known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain
and the interpretation thereof sure.” (Daniel 2:34, 44-45)
And the seventh angel sounded, and there were
great voices in Heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever!” (Revelation
11:15)
There are many other references to Christ in
Daniel. Why not read the book for
yourself and see how many you can find?
Here’s a hint to get you started.
Read the story of Daniel in the lion’s den (chapter 7) and see how many
similarities you can find with Christ.
To start you off, look for how they were both blameless, both set up for
trial by powerful men, both thrown into a hole in the ground that was sealed by
a stone, and both emerged alive…
My prayer for you and for me this week is Daniel’s
prayer, from Daniel 9:4-5, 18. It is a
prayer of confession, for we have all sinned and come short of the glory of
God. And it is also a prayer for mercy,
knowing that God loves us in spite of our sin, and that He will forgive us if
we will trust in Him and Him alone:
“O Lord, the great and fearsome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments, we have sinned and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments . . . O my God, incline Thine ear and hear. Open Thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called by Thy name; for we do not present our supplications before Thee because of our righteousnesses, but because of Thy great mercies.
All scripture is from the 21st
Century King James Version.
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