{"id":23581,"date":"2022-10-14T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T05:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-2_31-49-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T15:38:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:38:24","slug":"daniel-3_1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-3_1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Worship Out of Love, Not Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel\u00a0 3:1-15 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 3:1-15.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 3:1-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language:
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 Did King Nebuchadnezzar command all of his government officials to worship this colossal image because Nebuchadnezzar himself loved and worshiped this image?\u00a0 Not necessarily.\u00a0 A good argument can be made that Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s command had less to do with worship and more to do with Nebuchadnezzar testing the loyalty of his government officials.\u00a0 Thus we don\u2019t even learn the name of this image; instead, it is repeatedly referred to as the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.\u00a0 Some scholars think it may even have been an image of Nebuchadnezzar himself, although other scholars believe that the image was most likely that of Marduk, the Babylonian\u2019s primary god.\u00a0 In any event, notice that the focus was on Nebuchadnezzar and obeying his orders.<\/p>\n

By the way, to cue Babylon\u2019s government leaders to fall down and worship the image, Nebuchadnezzar arranged for all kinds of music to play together at the same time.\u00a0 That must have sounded scary and awful.\u00a0 Even scarier and more awful was the consequence for not falling down and worshiping the image: being thrown into a blazing furnace.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0You can either lead people with fear or you can lead people with love.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar chose the former and his kingdom did not last.\u00a0 Jesus chose the latter and his kingdom has lasted far longer to this day, and will go on to last forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, from a worship perspective, we learn that many people worship out of fear as a response to the threat of punishment.\u00a0 God made us to worship out of love as a response to the reality of God\u2019s goodness, expressed in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Daniel 3:8-12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold,
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon–Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego–who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-12:\u00a0 You may be wondering:\u00a0 where was Daniel in all this?\u00a0 Did Daniel bow down to the image Nebuchadnezzar had created?\u00a0 Knowing Daniel as he is described in this book, it would be inconceivable that he did.\u00a0 Also, the astrologers in verse 8 denounced the Jews as a group, which suggests that Daniel, a Jew himself, did not bow down to the image.\u00a0 More likely, the reason Daniel is nowhere to be found in this story is because all this was happening in the plain of Dura (v1) while Daniel remained in the royal palace in the capital city of Babylon due to his job duties (2:49).\u00a0 So Daniel did not personally have to face the dilemma of whether or not to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

Daniel 3:13-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-15:\u00a0 This incident likely occurred after the events of Daniel 1 and 2.\u00a0 If so, then how could Nebuchadnezzar go after Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, especially after their God had miraculously revealed the nature and meaning of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s disturbing dream in Daniel 2?\u00a0 Keep in mind that Nebuchadnezzar did not become a worshiper of Yahweh after the events of Daniel 1-2.\u00a0 The events of Daniel 1-2 showed Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel\u2019s God was real and the revealer of mysteries.\u00a0 However, in Babylon where people worshiped many gods, Nebuchadnezzar had not reached the point of becoming a worshiper of Yahweh exclusively.\u00a0 Through this incident Nebuchadnezzar would learn that Yahweh is not only the revealer of mysteries, but also a Saviour like no other.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Often it takes multiple encounters with the Lord before someone will profess their faith in Him.<\/strong>\u00a0 Just as God was patient to woo Nebuchadnezzar to Himself, so you and I need to be patient when it comes to loving people to faith in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father for how patient You were \u2013 and still are \u2013 with me.\u00a0 Thank You for each and every time You go out of Your way to woo me to Yourself.\u00a0 Thank You also that we get to worship You out of love and not out of fear.\u00a0 Loving You and being loved by You is truly what I was made to do.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 3:1-15.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 3:1-7 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 Did King Nebuchadnezzar command all of his government officials to worship this colossal image because Nebuchadnezzar himself loved and worshiped this image?\u00a0 Not necessarily.\u00a0 A good argument can be made that Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s command had less to do with worship and more to do with Nebuchadnezzar testing the loyalty of his government officials.\u00a0 Thus we don\u2019t even learn the name of this image; instead, it is repeatedly referred to as the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23581"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23584,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23581\/revisions\/23584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}