Daniel 3:12-18 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men… Hero worship is the one form of religion, if you will allow me to call it so, that binds the whole world. Dare great things, look at them in the face, and at once you are secure of the crown of laurel. What the world has to decide is the highest kind of courage. Some types of hero at once rise to your mind. There is the soldier type, for instance. He will dash through a storm of grape, and stand first upon the enemy's breastwork, covered with wounds. Or here is another, there is the fireman. He will rush through suffocating smoke and scorching heat, and come forth presently with the life he has rescued from the flames. Or here is the coast-guardsman. He will swim through the boiling surf, with a rope in his teeth, to the ship that has been stranded. Noble types of courage all of them — heroes worthy of crosses and of honours. But there is one thing to be said with regard to all these, they have all one strong inducement to heroism — the onlooking and the applause of the spectators. But if you wish to know who the true heroes of men are, ask who are those who dare to do right, simply because it is right, secure of no applause from the world, certain only of disapproval — standing alone. To be honest when honesty is the best policy, to be right when broad lines of right and wrong are marked down and acknowledged by all men, that is good; but to dare to be honest, and good, and true when it is not the best policy, when it is not popular — commend me to the man of this sort for the highest hero. And it was of such heroism that the men in our text are an example. The golden image. No figure emerges from the mist of ancient times more clearly defined than Nebuchadnezzar. He occupies a large space in Scripture, and the disinterred libraries of the East are filled with the records of his glory. While yet only crown prince he had swept in triumph through Syria and Palestine, and inflicted a severe defeat on Egypt. Greater than his victories abroad was his conquest of the magnificent city of Babylon, with its colossal walls and temples, which may justly be called his creation. To a certain magnificence and generosity of character he united vast arrogance, an ungovernable temper, and vindictive cruelty; yet he was so religious that all the records of his deeds are ascription to his god. What is the meaning of this decree? Doubtless, in the first place, it was largely political — a method, not unwise, of uniting the many different elements of his scattered empire, and securing his own supremacy. But it is not difficult to see that Nebuchadnezzar's god was, after all, only a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. The true man comes out in such phrases as these: "Is not this the great Babylon which I have built? .... Who is that God, who is able to deliver you out of my hands?" Yes, the image, overlaid with gold, flashing in the sun there, is an image erected to success and human glory. It is the worldly power triumphant. Men and women, the image of Dura is with us still. It is no longer embodied in outward form of idol or king. It is the world spirit, the spirit of earthly glory, wealth, success; and a right lordly spirit it is, towering, like Nebuchadnezzar's image, aloft, and decked out, too, like it, with flashing gold. It has allurement still; it gathers to it still all music, art, and refinement, — everything that delights the senses, and makes the homage of its worshippers easy; but it is arbitrary and capricious as ever. No religion or morality may control it. Its first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"; and for all its beauty and refinement, it is cruel — oh, deadly cruel. Resist it, and it is swelling with rage. Resist still, and it opens the furnace, no longer the furnace of wood or pitch. We have changed all that. The times are refined, but it has still its deadly enmity, as sharp in the teeth as ever. If it is no longer a furnace, it has sneering and scorning and social ostracism. The image flashes, the music sounds, the king is looking on, and in a moment the vast assembly is prostrate as a field of corn before a sudden tempest. Scythian purple, fine white linen, all kiss the dust. Just so, just so. Always where the world-spirit is upreared the world-power is down with one consent. Character, religion, these matter nothing. Wealth, show, rank, glory, these are your gods, O Israel. What kind of man is he that you ask us to worship? They say that he has broken hiswife's heart; never mind, "bow your heads"; and at once the whole multitude make their universal salaam. Here another splendid equipage comes along. Hats off! It is said, Who is he? What has he done? He has made his fortune. They say he has taken his millions out of the gutter. What does that matter? He is a rich man. Bow your heads; and again there is an universal acknowledgment of the old image of Dura. Our god is Success. This is his great Babylon that he has built. And so, when the music sounds the scene of Dura is repeated in every age, and the golden image is still worshipped by all. Not by all! Thank God, there are heroes still. Let us consider what they had to do. Young men they were, we are told, standing on the very threshold of life. Aye, and when is life ever so sweet? When is the grass so green, and the sun so bright, and that light upon land and sea so pleasant? When is it so difficult to turn one's back upon it, and leave it all? And not only life was before them, but, look you, such a life full of advantage. Would they not say, "God, pardon for once. We find the noise of the multitude, and the wrath of the king, and the allurements of music too much. God pardon us?" They had a very good precedent for it. You remember that when Naaman the Syrian was cured, he said to the prophet, taking the prophet's God to be his in this thing, "The Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon; when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing." And the prophet said, "Go in peace." And was there no prophet to say to these men that their sin was very small, and they might go in peace? There was higher than the king there that day. "They endured as seeing Him who is invisible." But we have not yet touched the full height of their heroism. Let us follow the narrative. The tongue of envy is at once set ageing. You will see that the envious tongue is the tongue of the Chaldeans, and you need not wonder at that when you find in the chapter before we have a record of a victory over the Chaldeans at the hands of Jehovah. They cannot bear to be thus humbled, prostrate themselves. You can hear cutting words like these: "Straight-laced!" "Who are they that they should be setting themselves up, indeed!" "Holier than all the rest!" Just so, just so. Do you worship with me? No; you dare to be different. How dare you? Who are you that you should set yourself up that I am wrong and you are right? And so the king heard of it, and was swelling with rage. Don't you wonder at the king? But a little while ago he had said of a truth, "your God is a God of gods and a Lord of lords." And yet it suited him to forget. The former interference of the God of gods had been quite in a line with his policy'. "And if the God of gods and the Lord of lords will interpret my dreams to me, and give me satisfaction, why, I have no objection to His being God of gods; but if He interferes with my lordship, if He sets me down from my pedestal and my golden image, erected to my glory, ah! then who is that God who will deliver out of my hand?" That is the morality of the world, the world's god. They knew God. Well, they had their answer. "Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." "But if not." Men and women, I wonder if you see the amazing heroism of these three words. What does it mean? Ah! here is what it means. Religion pays. Honesty is the best policy. If you do not get on in this world you will in the next. If you are good, there is Heaven; if you are bad, there is hell. It is best to be good. But if all that arrangement of yours for the reward of good and the punishment of evil were to-night upset, where would your morality be? It is convenient for you to be an honest fellow. You have the repute of your fellows. But that hope beyond — but if not, if there should be no reward for your goodness, if there is no Heaven to keep you up, if there is no hell to terrify you, nothing but right — that is right, whether it is reward or not. I wonder if you would be bold enough to say, "If not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." But marvellous things happen. With startling dramatic power it is put before us in this narrative. "Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, rose up and said, "Lo! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Ah, whatever interpretation you make of that verse, on the whole doctrine the story is true for all time. Truth lives in the furnace. It was a great thing these men had looked forward to when they said, "Our God is able to deliver us from the furnace, and He will deliver us." That was great, but who of men ever thought of this greater thing by far — "Our God is able to deliver us in the furnace." These men went free; nothing was burned but the bonds which their fellows had laid upon them. The lesson of it all is this, that truth — nay, let me say this, to speak in New Testament language — the truth, us it is in Jesus, devotion to Christ, is a thing marked off from the world by as sharp a line as it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar — and to young men — yes, and old men — there comes the same choice on the one side, the lordly bringing to itself all worldly advantage, surrounding itself still with cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, with the furnace not far off, is claiming your allegiance; and by the side is your Lord and Master, asking you to witness and be faithful to Him, to His Person, to His atonement, to His resurrection, to all that He is and all that He has given us; and He has asked of you, "What will you do to-day?" Ah! the world says, "No need to be so sharp; let us have airy notions and ill-defined beliefs; let us have a large margin, wherein it may be lawful now to bow to the golden image, and now to bow to Jehovah." No, no. Keen — keen is the dividing line still — the worship there, Christ here; the music there, the furnace here — and for your choice. God help you in that day when the two forces strive for your allegiance! I say, God help you to say, "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so the God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us. But if not, we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image thou hast set up." (W. J. Macdonald.) Parallel Verses KJV: There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. |
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