Sermon Cloud

The story of Nebuchadnezzar's continued efforts to prove himself greater than even the gods gets even more bizarre and the Jewish writer of this book pokes justified fun at the central character. Nebuchadnezzar goes to enormous lengths and huge expense to set up a massive golden idol before gathering the Balylonian intelligensia together and forcing them to worship it. Nebuchadnezzar's power trip nearly works, but the three Jewish administrators know that it was the worship of false gods that had brought their people into exile from Israel. They aren't about to make the same mistake again, so they refuse to go along with Nebuchadnezzar's demand, even in the face of death. It turns out that these three are the wisest in the kingdom. How would we have reacted in that situation? More than likely we would have caved in to the temptation to go along with the foolishness, while claiming that we haven't really turned away from God - but our actions would have betrayed our lack of faith. They put their trust in the only God who was able to save them completely. As they are called unharmed from the fire it is clear that there isn't even the smell of the fire on their clothes! God's salvation is absolute. To his credit, Nebuchadnezzar sees the truth of the situation and declares it to all his people. Here are three points we can take from this story: 1. God is close and He will stand up for those who stand up for Him. We will not be abandoned if we don't abandon Him. 2. The foolishness of idol-worship; no other god can save but the living God. Some of today's idols: popularity, personal achievement, Christian service (think about it!). How foolish you would feel if you prayed for salvation to one of these? 3. The vindication of those who trust God; there is a day coming when we will be justified before those who mock us today.