These three men, like Daniel, loved the Lord and they made up their minds that they would not bow down to the idol, even if it meant a horrible form of execution. To fail to bow down before the image meant certain death. To bow down before the idol would be to acknowledge a god other than Jehovah. This presented a major problem for three young Hebrew captives: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nevertheless, he was determined to make them bow down and worship – to force them to accept his decree or else. Oh, to be sure, he could make the young men bow down to the idol, or he thought that he could, but he had to know that it was impossible to force them to actually worship the image. Worship is a matter of the heart and the King had to know that he was asking for something impossible when he intended to make everyone woship him.
You might be able to force someone to attend church services, but you cannot force that person to actually worship God. In reality, you cannot actually force someone to worship.
This presented a difficult problem for the King, for he simply couldn't allow someone anyone to skirt the law and get by without it appearing to be diminishing his authority and power. There were three young Hebrew men who loved the true God and they refused to bow down or bend a knee to worship the idol statue. In our text today we read that King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image in the Plain of Dura and then required everyone in his realm to bow down to worship the image. He was King of Babylon, and he thought the world revolved around him. He must have been like the man I read about the other day who had a sign in front of a man’s house that read, “Never mind the dog, beware of the owner.” Nebuchadnezzar might have had a sign like that in front of his palace. Nebuchadnezzar was a vicious man - an arrogant brute. Well, today we are going to look at a man who was a real mean character. Her friend asked her, “You mean to tell me that he actually asked you to return all his presents?" The young girl said, “Not only that, but he also sent me a bill for forty-four house calls." The moral to this story is to never date a doctor if you suspect that he will charge you for house calls when you break up with him. Some people are just plain mean! A pretty young girl found this to be true when she broke off her engagement with a young doctor. Mike Minnix, Editor, Sermon 4 in a series of 9 Sermons entitled: Living Right When Life Seems Wrong Introduction
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