Suffering and Deliverance (Part 30) - Jehoiachin; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Part A)

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23. Jehoiachin A. Jehoiachin, king of Judah, was an evil king (2Ki 24:8-9). B. He was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem before he later destroyed it when Zedekiah was king of Judah (2Ki 24:10-18). C. After he spent 37 years in prison in Babylon, the new king of Babylon released him from prison, spoke kindly to him, and placed him on a throne above the other kings in Babylon (Jer 52:31-32). D. He was fed by the king all the days of his life until his death (Jer 52:33-34). E. There are some lessons we can learn from this. i. There are harsh and long-lasting consequences for sin. ii. God is merciful to the just and unjust (Mat 5:45). iii. God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy (Rom 9:15). iv. God can move men to have mercy on us and show us kindness for no apparent reason. v. Sometimes God will let us suffer for a long time before He delivers us. vi. When deliverance finally comes, it often comes very quickly (Gen 41:14, 40-44; Exo 12:31-33, 39-41). vii. The Lord can bring men out of prison to reign (Ecc 4:14). viii. No matter how low we get, the Lord can raise us up to very high places (Psa 113:7-9). 24. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego A. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made an enormous image of gold (Dan 3:1). i. Image n. - 1. An artificial imitation or representation of the external form of any object, esp. of a person, or of the bust of a person. a. Such an imitation in the solid form; a statue, effigy, sculptured figure. (Often applied to figures of saints or divinities as objects of religious veneration.) ii. He likely got the idea from the image that he saw in his dream which Daniel interpreted (Dan 2:31-33). a. Nebuchadnezzar was represented by the image's head of gold (Dan 2:36-38). b. He apparently decided to make an imitation of that image made entirely of gold (Dan 3:1). iii. The image was enormous, being about 90ft (60 cubits) tall and 9ft (6 cubits) wide B. Nebuchadnezzar called all of the rulers in Babylon to attend the dedication of the golden image he made (Dan 3:2). i. They all came and stood before it (Dan 3:3). ii. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were advisors to the king which stood before him (Dan 1:19-20) and were set over the affairs of the province of Babylon (Dan 2:49). iii. They either were not present at the dedication, or if they were they did not bow down to the image (Dan 3:12). iv. The peer pressure would have been intense for them to attend the dedication and worship the image along with the rest of the rulers of Babylon. v. Notwithstanding, they would not go along with the crowd (Exo 23:2) as the rest of the story will reveal. C. All the people of the empire were commanded to fall down and worship the image when they heard the orchestra of music playing (Dan 3:4-5). i. The musical instruments were used to get their attention and to stir their emotions in order to prompt them to worship the idol. ii. If that didn't work, a threat of death was issued for those who would not worship the image to "encourage" them to do so (Dan 3:6). a. Satan will use this same strategy when sets up his one world government and religion (Rev 13:15). b. "History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes." – Mark Twain iii. When the music started playing, all the people from every nation and language under Nebuchadnezzar's dominion fell down and worshipped his idol (Dan 3:7). a. He had in essence created a one-world religion which brought together all the people of the empire. b. Nebuchadnezzar was imitating Lucifer who wanted to like the Most High and be worshipped by all men (Isa 14:12-14; Mat 4:9; 2Th 2:4; Rev 13:3-4). c. Satan has made use of music instruments in his religion for thousands of years (Rev 18:22). iv. "Here were the charms of music to allure them into a compliance and the terrors of the fiery furnace to frighten them into a compliance….Note, That way that sense directs the most will go; there is nothing so bad which the careless world will not be drawn to by a concert of music, or driven to by a fiery furnace. And by such methods as these false worship has been set up and maintained." – Matthew Henry commenting on Daniel 3. D. Some busybodies reported to Nebuchadnezzar that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not serve his gods nor worship his golden image (Dan 3:8-12). i. These were people would be called "Karens" today. ii. Busybodies are evil people and are for good reason classified with murderers (1Pe 4:15). E. Nebuchadnezzar was in a furious rage when he learned of their refusal to worship his golden image (Dan 3:13). i. It is perilous condition to be the object of a king's wrath (Pro 14:35; Pro 16:14; Pro 19:12; Est 7:7-10). ii. Godly men cannot fear the wrath of the king (Heb 11:27), but must fear God instead (Heb 12:28-29). iii. Those who fear men will be snared (Pro 29:25). iv. We must trust in God and not fear what man can do unto us (Psa 56:1-4).