Daniel NL 2025

Today we get to hear an entire story,  and well done Jayden for reading it!!!

Today’s reading is one of a set of 6 stories that compose the first half of the book of Daniel.  These stories are familiar to many of us, although we may not recall that they are all in the book or Daniel, or know that these stories are all in a row. 

The first story of these 6 stories tell of how Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego join the court of King Nebuchadnezzar and how they are given food from the table of the King.  However, the food provided is not permitted to them by Jewish law.  They challenge the authorities to let them eat a vegetarian diet for a time and then to judge whether it has done them any harm.  As they are proven to thrive on their own foods, the Jewish boys are permitted to follow their diet and are rewarded by God for their devotion to the law.  All of them are given positions of prestige in the Babylonian King’s court and Daniel is given the ability to interpret dreams, which comes in use right away.

The second story concerns King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue with feet of clay and iron, thighs of bronze, a chest of silver and head of gold…in the dream, the statue is struck by stone and crumbles.  The King is greatly troubled by what this could mean and insists someone tell him what he dreamt was and what it meant.  When none of his own wise men can, Daniel proves that he is able to interpret the dream for the king and is then greatly rewarded.

The Third story is that of today, wherein the three friends show their faith and the power of God. 

The Fourth story has King Nebuchadnezzar having another troubling dream and Daniel interpreting it for the him, prophesying the King’s destruction and God’s glory.

The fifth story we hear concerns King Nebucanezzer’s son, King Balthazaar.  After calling for the holy items his father had pillaged from the temple in Jerusalem and using them for a drunken feast, thus defiling the relics, Balthazaar saw a hand write a message on the wall of his chamber.  Once again Daniel is called to interpret and tells the King that his infamous actions will result in his doom, which we read follows that very night.

The final of this series of tales, is that of Daniel in the Lion’s den. Similar to today’s reading, but concerning a different King.  King Darius proclaims he is to be worshiped and Daniel, loyal to God refuses.  Thus, he is sent to the Lion’s den but escapes unscathed.

Like today’s story each of these are far more nuanced when you read them.  They are also very similar to one another, almost like tales in a book, as they all have the same purpose and follow a similar theme.

The book of Daniel takes place after Babylon had captured and sacked Jerusalem, destroying utterly the temple King Solomon had built and stealing much of its wealth.   During the destruction of Jerusalem, all the ruling houses, nobility and the elite were captured and taken to Babylon as hostages to discourage any uprisings or opposition by the people in Israel. 

Jews were not technically enslaved, but they were certainly oppressed.  We read in the first chapter of Daniel that he and his friends were hand picked to serve the Babylonian court.  They were intelligent, noble and handsome, thus they were acceptable specimens of the captured population. 

They were re ‘educated’ at the palace for three years, learning a new language, new culture and given new names, in fact todays’ heroes Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were originally named in Hebrew Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.    These stories in Daniel are are the stories of a captured and oppressed people.   They are stories of resistance, tales that would be told around the table to remind the Jewish people, oppressed and under military Babylonian and later Persian rule, that they must never forget who they are. 

Our heroes may be captive in a palace and elevated to positions of power and authority, but just like other biblical heroes such as Esther and Jospeh, they are not safe and many people we read plot against them because of their faith and they face many daunting challenges and prejudices.   We read of this in today’s reading:

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.’

 

These stories are morality tales that demonstrate the power of God to save to those follow his commands.  They also tend to ridicule the gentile leadership, presenting them as short sighted and self indulgent buffoons.

Today’s image of King Nebuchadnezzar is a great example, I mentioned that in an earlier story King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a statue and how it crumbled, and how Daniel gave King Nebuchadnezzar God’s interpretation of how this statue represented how Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty would weaken over time. 

The King gave thanks to Daniel and glory to God saying : The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!”

Nevertheless, the King seems to have forgotten quite quickly the prophesy and instead of honouring God for the blessing of wisdom and forewarning, he decided to honour himself with a statue of gold.  Hubris in the extreme. 

Then knowing full well that Daniel and his friends worship God, that the power of interpreting dreams comes from God and that they have already shown their devotion to God; King Nebuchadnezzar is shocked that they won’t worship him. 

The King then further demonstrates a lack of self control, in clear contrast to the self control demonstrated by the Jewish heroes and burns even his own people in his uncaring rage.

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary 20 and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to …. they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.

As we know the three friends are protected by God even in these most extreme of circumstances and by their faith they witness to God’s power and glory, so that even the King must once again acknowledge God’s power.

 

Stories like these were so important to the Jewish people who spent generations in exile.  Long enough to start to forget their language and culture and begin to assimilate into Persian and Babylonian culture.  These stories helped to remind the Jewish people of where they came from and how God had not and would not abandon them. 

The stories themselves may seem a bit exaggerated, but they were meant to be, they were meant to inspire, to commend faith and perseverance in ordinary circumstances.  After all, if God could save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace or Daniel from the Lion’s den, then surely He can save me.

The same holds true now.  Perhaps we aren’t literally facing a fiery furnace, but these lessons certainly apply to our context.  We live in a culture and context that often runs in opposition to our faith and morals and there are several ‘golden statues’ we are encouraged to worship by society; be they financial, cultural or found within ourselves. 

We, like our ancestors are called to look at what is going on around us, look at where God has called us to follow and discern if the two are in line.  If they are not, we know what we are to do.  Be faithful.  Be loyal.  Follow God’s teachings and God will be with us.  We may need to learn the language and culture of what is happening around us, but we are not to forget who we are and who God has called us to be.

We too must stand up and abide by our faith and principles when we see the world around us straying into the sins of worshiping those golden statues that are perpetually erected around us.

Our bible study group spoke of this the other day.  Of how it is necessary sometimes to step away from places or peoples that discriminate against your faith.  Those who would  denounce you and your faith rather than support and uphold you.  We are all dealing with different issues in our lives, different joys and different struggles.  We need these stories to inspire us to have faith in God even as we walk towards the furnaces in our lives.  To reassure us that God walks with us and will provide for us and all He asks in return is for us to believe and stand firm in our belief.

We may not be facing life or death, but we all face choices and opportunities to show our faith to those around us, to chose how we will live our lives.  Regardless of whether we are at table, or at work or in the crowds we can look at each decision that we make in terms of faith first, so that, like our spiritual forbearers we can be assured that the life we live is one weh  bbbbb b can live with.

amen