Reflection 04 - The Fiery Furnace

On Sunday we were looking at one of my favourite stories in the Bible – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace, from Daniel 3.

This is a story from very far away – in terms of distance, in terms of culture, in terms of time. It is a great story. But when we read the Bible - hopefully we have an appreciation that it is more than just a great story – it is supposed to ‘do something’. That’s what we mean when we talk about it being God’s word, a living word and being useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. But the Bible was not written with us in mind. The authors were not thinking about Christians in the UK in 2021 when they put pen to paper (or stick to clay tablet or quill to papyrus).

And when we read these stories from the Old Testament we need to look beyond ‘good’ or ‘bad’ examples to copy or avoid. Just because Daniel and his three friends didn’t eat meat or drink wine doesn’t mean that we should follow their example. (Of course, there are good reasons why we might want to avoid doing both those things – but just because Daniel did, isn’t one of them.)

From a very young age we have a strong sense of what is fair and what is not. And many people carry this sense over into their understanding of the way in which the world works. It is certainly the way that churches that teach the prosperity gospel think. The thinking goes, ‘if I do the right thing then God will bless me’ – and by ‘bless me’ they mean, ‘everything will go well in my life’.

One of the problems of this way of thinking is that it is totally unbiblical!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been faithful to God and, along with Daniel, they had been promoted. All well and good so far. But their rapid promotion, their integrity, their honesty, their work ethic, their obedience to God, their unwillingness to fit in and go along with the crowd – these were all things that marked them out as different, and therefore a threat to their work colleagues. And when they had opportunity, these disgruntled work colleagues were only too happy to stab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the back.

**Spoiler alert** We’ll see this again in chapter 6. **Spoiler alert over**

There are many examples in the Bible where a person’s obedience and allegiance to God got them into trouble. If they’d been happy to go along with the crowd then their life would have been a lot easier.

 

Many of us will spend about a third of our time this week at work. And we need to be aware that living as followers of Jesus may make that a very hostile environment for us. It might be that our commitment to integrity means that we can’t go along with the prevailing office culture. It might be that calling out racist language puts noses out of joint. It might be that our desire to do the very best job we can creates jealousy. It might be that our compassion for people rather than numbers challenges ethos and policy.

So if you’re having a really tough time at work this week remember:

•  you’re in good company,
• your difficulties may well be a consequence of living out your faith, and this shouldn’t be a surprise,
• God has promised to be with you in the fire,
• to let people at church know so that we can support and encourage and pray for you – your struggles at work are as much a part of God’s mission as those face by missionaries in Chad.

And if you’re not having a really tough time at work then thank God for this blessing and pray for those who are.

Something I got up to over the weekend

Reflection 03 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

At the beginning of this new series I encouraged all of us to read the book of Daniel – ideally in one go. It’s quite a short book so just keep going until you get to the end. Depending on your grasp of and interest in ancient near eastern history you may be tempted to stop here in chapter 2 and try and work out the different empires of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – the Medes and Persians, the Greeks with Alexander the Great, the Romans… And if you then turned to the internet, or even to a handful of commentaries on Daniel, to try and work out what the ten toes are all about, you’ll probably still be bogged down with the detail. On Sunday Mandy alluded to some of the relatively recent suggestions that have been put forward for the identity and meaning of these ten toes.

There are certainly times when it is right to be interested in the detail – after all, we’ve been given the detail for a reason. The Bible is a book that requires careful reading and prayerful meditation. We’re supposed to read a passage, and then re-read it and then read it again asking God to speak to us through it. We’re supposed to allow different parts of the Bible to help us understand other parts. As Mandy pointed out on Sunday, when the Bible talks about ‘mysteries’ it is talking about something that can be known – but only with revelation from God. 

No doubt there are many different responses to the dream passages in Daniel. Some of you will be fascinated and want to dig into the detail. Others of you will find it daunting and go back to reading the New Testament. Others will find it confusing and be discouraged – thinking that you will never understand the Bible, even though you really want to. And then there will be other responses too.

Whatever your response to these passages I would encourage all of us to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the big picture. To make sure that we don’t become so obsessed with the trees that we lose sight of the forest. 

The big picture, broad brush stroke image of Daniel 2 is that God is in control. He not only knows the past and the present – he also knows the future. And God’s kingdom will overcome all other kingdoms and it will endure forever.

Whilst there is much in Daniel that we may find confusing, the overarching big picture is a story that gives us hope and encourages us to faithfulness.

Reflection 02 - Taking a stand

On Sunday we started our new teaching series from the book of Daniel and one of the main themes of Daniel 1 is that God is in control. If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the sermon you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/48CeNLlgW64 

And as we read through the rest of the book of Daniel (**Spoiler Alert**) we discover that God is not just in control of the past and the present – he is in control of the future too.

But for Daniel and his friends, it didn’t look like that for large parts of their story. They’d seen the Babylonians march into Jerusalem, overrunning the city and destroying the temple. Many of their friends and families would have come to a nasty end.  Daniel and his friends were chained up and marched away. What was to become of them? They would have had no idea at the time.

We meet Daniel and his friends as they begin a three-year training programme in the court of king Nebuchadnezzar. A quick look at a map of the time would leave you with the impression that Nebuchadnezzar was very much in control. His empire stretched from Iran, through Iraq, Syria, parts of Turkey and down through Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and threatening the borders of Egypt. The logical conclusion was that it was the size, strength and skill of Nebuchadnezzar’s army that made the conquest of Israel possible, and that this was just a part of Nebuchadnezzar’s plan to make inroads into Egypt – or at least to provide a ‘buffer zone’ between Egypt and his empire.

But Daniel 1:2 leaves us in no doubt. This had nothing to do with Nebuchadnezzar’s might or plans. It was God working out his plans and fulfilling the warnings that punctuate 2 Kings and the prophets. It might not look like it, but God was in control.

People that spend their lives writing books about Daniel do not agree why Daniel and his friends chose to take a stand over the food and drink from the king’s table. It’s not simply because of the Old Testament food laws. If that was the case, then only some choice meats would have been excluded and the wine would have been OK. If it was because these foods would have been prepared in a non-kosher way, then surely that would also be true of the vegetables. And later, in Daniel 10:3, we find Daniel fasting from meat and wine, so obviously he started eating at least some of them at some point.

Daniel and his friends would have had very little control over their lives. As we’ll soon see they could say ‘no’ – but that, under normal circumstances, would have meant death. And whilst they could have refused to dress or talk or work like Babylonians, their death would have meant their godly influence wasn’t felt in Babylon for the next few decades. Although we have no idea, I like to think that the magi who visited the boy Jesus five hundred years later were aware of the prophesies about the Messiah because of the influence, teaching and writings of Daniel within the Babylonian court.

Daniel’s wisdom extended to knowing which battles to fight and how to fight them. In chapter 3 it was a straight ‘no’. But here in chapter 1 it’s a quiet word to the chief official – and when that doesn’t work, he follows it up by hatching a cunning plan with the person next in line.

One of the key things here is – what’s going on in Daniel’s head. Always, at the front of his thinking, there is the fact that God is in control. That God is king. That his allegiance and obedience are ultimately to God alone. And so, possibly on Day One of their training, very quietly and politely, with respect, Daniel plucks up the courage to say ‘no’. 

Daniel rejected the conventional wisdom of the world in which he lived and chose a restricted diet – and trusted God for the outcome. 

I wonder whether there are areas in our lives where we need to reject the conventional wisdom of the world and take a stand by choosing a ‘restricted diet’? Not allowing our fears to govern our choices but trusting God for the outcomes rather than relying on our own resources. This might be to do with our finances, our career or how we use our time or maybe some other area in our lives.

What is God saying to you today?