Martin Luther King in 1968 delivered his “I have a Dream” speech to a quarter million people on the mall in Washington. This was a difficult time for America, as there had just been the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in which four little girls were killed President Kennedy was assassinated. It was around this time Curtis Mayfield wrote the song 'People Get Ready. ‘ This song was inspired by the March on Washington, surrounded by all these events
People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord
People get ready, there's a train to Jordan
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There's hope for all among those loved the most
There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner whom would hurt all mankind
Just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place against the kingdoms throne
People get ready there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket, just thank the lord.
This song speaks about having the conviction to stand up for your faith, having the courage to stand apart when the pressure is on to be just like everyone else. King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue on the plains of Dura in Babylon a ninety foot high - 6 foot wide gold statue. It was a test of the loyalty for all his subjects in the land and all the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials were to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.
They were all told to bow down to the statue when the Empires band started playing music. It was a test of their allegiance and loyalty to the king, and all but Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego bowed down were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar, as they’re again commanded in a private ceremony, now bow down to this statue. They were told that failure would result in being thrown immediately into a blazing furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar’s taunt was “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" The question Nebuchadnezzar asked is who has more power than me? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stand their ground. The music started playing they stood upright. This was their way of saying “Our bodies may be in Babylon but our hearts are in Jerusalem.” As we read in verse 19
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual.
It is as if this furnace was being heated up to reflect the King’s rage. Nebuchadnezzar orders his strongest soldiers to throw them in. This furnace they were thrown into was most probably one which had an opening at the top and a window at the side. They were brought to the top of the furnace, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fall in, while the strong men are killed. For these strong men their loyalty brought about their death, and something else happens. As Nebuchadnezzar immediately leaps to his feet asking the question "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" Now he is seeing something no one else can, verse 25
25… "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
This is the man who had just issued the challenge “what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" He was so shocked by what he sees, he orders the 3 to come out. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerge from the furnace, just as they were when they had been thrown in unharmed. The question so who is this 4th figure that suddenly appears in that furnace? It is one of those questions that cause some confusion. Is this the Son of Man we meet later in Daniel 7; or some supernatural being or the angel which Nebuchadnezzar calls him
in verse 28?
"Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants!
In one sense it doesn’t make any difference, even if this figures an angel, it’s still God’s angel. God is still the redeemer. These men when they’re thrown in fully dressed for a royal occasion in robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes
when they emerged “They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” Having come in contact with something divine; and having seen a miracle performed right before his very eyes Nebuchadnezzar has to now acknowledge something he should have acknowledged all along there is a greater king than himself; and this only came about because Shadrach Meshach & Abednego
stood their ground and committed themselves to be faithful to God. As Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that God is their redeemer how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been right to obey their God than his decree for Nebuchadnezzar “No other god can save in this way.” Nebuchadnezzar has some more way to go before he will come to acknowledge God as the rightful ruler of this world. At the start Nebuchadnezzar issued the challenge as to who was to most powerful on the earth the focus was all on one man and the statue he had built, and by the end the focus has shifted to the same king acknowledging the power of a greater king, praising him instead. The focus has rightly come back on God so what insights or challenges does a passage like this one raise for us? Are we able to take a step back to see the larger perspective on God? The question is what is it we find captures our hearts allegiance there are so many people who try to find and live other alternatives than living God’s way. As someone put it this way…
“to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego God was: More than a safety net. More than a genie in a bottle. More than the great Santa Claus in the sky
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God was the Creator God to be served and worshipped because He is God not because he provides protection. To be God on His terms not on theirs. To be loved for who He was not what He could do. This was a whole new concept of God to King Nebuchadnezzar a God who may not always make things comfortable for his followers. A God that is not made in the image of our perceived wants. Our God is no designer god built by man to please man. Our God is not a god made in the image of man where we must ask what kind of God do we have? What kind of religion do we have? Is our God made in our image, there to fulfill your needs responding like a genie in a bottle to your wants? To provide protection? To call on in trouble and forget in the good times? To answer all our prayers[1]”
The heat reveals our hearts allegiance. Testing times remind us of these words of Scripture
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
One day everything will make sense or as Jesus warned his disciples, although tyrants and despots may seem powerful although there might be many things to
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:28-33
God’s providence is so embracing not even a little sparrow drops from the sky apart from the will of God. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were saved in the fire not from the fire of that furnace. Also that forth person who looked like an angel was a reminder to them and to us our God is Immanuel, God with us. God dwelt with the 3 friends in the midst of the flames to preserve them from harm. In that sense as Christians we can’t but help see how Jesus snatches us out of the jaws of death. This is not so much that we might escape the experience of death, but that we might have victory over it. God will stand with us whatever we’re going through
Let’s pray…
David Hassan @ Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church 3-9-17
[1] http://president.southern.edu/sermons/designergod.rtf