Introduction to the Most High God

  King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! *2*It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. 
*3* How great are his signs, 
                how mighty his wonders! 
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
                and his dominion endures from generation to generation. 

Daniel 4:1–3.

What a start to a letter! 

You’d expect some pretty great stuff to be revealed from that intro wouldn’t you?! The promise of great signs and mighty wonders! If a letter from the king wasn’t enough to warrant listening to it, then this assurance of some exciting news is surely enticing to the hearer! King Nebuchadnezzar is declaring to his kingdom that there is a God that; is Most High, has worked on his behalf, performs signs, completes wonders, lasts forever and is for everybody. That’s an impressive opening! 

This God that Nebuhadnezzar has finally seen, is the same God that Daniel, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah have followed and shown to him - The God of Israel. Previously, to Nebuchadnezzar, the conqueror of many nations, this god was just another foreign god. One of many, as insignificant and powerless as any of the others. Now, he refers to the God of Israel as ‘the Most High God’. God is above all else. He is exalted above any other idea, doctrine or thing. Clearly, there has been some kind of revelation that Nebuchadnezzar has experienced to pick out this god out as of significance. This ruthless, proud, Babylonian king, has seen something of who God is, and he wants to share it, not just with those close to him - but the whole kingdom!

Can you sense the excitement in the first paragraph of this letter? It is like there are not enough words to commend this God to his readers. Are you or I that excited about who God is? 

What have you seen or heard about God's wonders? How has God shown himself to you? Are you sharing that with others who do not yet believe?

*3* How great are his signs, 
                how mighty his wonders! 
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
                and his dominion endures from generation to generation. 

Nebuchadnezzar did not get a lot of things right, and it isn't certain that he fully understood what faith in Israel's God was like - did he just worship this god along with others? or did he realise the fullness and reality that this god isn't just higher than anything else, but is exclusively to be worshipped? Yet he gets this right. He has seen something of who God is, and he wants to share it. Not just in his court or palace, but to anyone and everyone, so that they too can live knowing this God, maybe even so that they can be saved from experiences like he had. Doesn't that inspire you? A pagan king, seemingly a hardhearted man, can still be reached with the gospel, and when he is - it changes his mindset and his life. 

So, today, consider;

Who are you intentionally sharing God's good news with? 

What would your introduction to God be like? 

How can you prove his existence, what signs and wonders are you able to describe in order to reveal God to people? 

It may be worth your while having a think about it and writing it down, then sharing it - who knows whom you could inspire to follow God - maybe even a king!

Facing the Furnace

  

*24*Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” *25*He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 

*26*Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. *27*And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. *28*Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. *29*Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” *30*Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. 

Daniel 3:24–30.

WOW!

Don’t you think this account is incredible? 

The three men; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are thrown into an overheated furnace and survive - that’s amazing in itself, but we also learn that; there’s another person there the, ‘fourth is like a son of the gods’, and not only that but they do not even smell of smoke when they walk out, and there is no evidence on their bodies (or clothes) that they have been anywhere near any fire! That’s incredible!

Now, I wonder what the onlookers were thinking or feeling! Especially those whom were responsible for these men being thrown in. They must have been awestruck, devastated and terrified all at the same time! Some of those gathered had planned for these three jewish men to be killed, but the plan had failed in an unbelievable and almighty way. Then, not only that, but the very people they wished dead, were now promoted! How vulnerable and confused the accusers must they have felt.

What a beautiful picture of how God switches things around. He brings the dead back to life, and the proud and aloof to humility. 

Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego had been given the death sentence, and they still did not renounce their faith. They faced a powerful, ruthless king, and they did not fail to stand in hope. The accusers accused, and these men still stood for what they knew was right, even though it meant they had to face death, the result was that their faith was revealed through the fire as genuine.   

These men; Meschach, Abednego and Shadrach were doing what they knew was right by their God. They stood up for what they believed and did not fall into what the rest of the world expected from them. They faced persecution for it. For being different, for not conforming to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:1). For being faithful followers of the One True God, they were rejected by those in power, accused by those in authority. 

So, if today you are facing trials, accusation, persecution, even death, you are in good company. Shedrach, Meschach and Abednego also did - Will you hold on to what you believe, like they did, to the end? Do you have the courage to admit the faith you have when faced with opposition (- that’s a tough one as it is often tempting to be quiet).

I am encouraged, and a bit scared by the examples we have read today, of men really staking their lives on their faith and not being ashamed to do so. Would I stand and face the furnace knowing that God can do something miraculous through it? Would you?