All due respect: How God made a believer of King Nebuchadnezzar
The reports of Yahweh's death were greatly exaggerated. A story from the Book of Daniel.
“…for no other god can save in this way.” — King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Daniel 3:29
God puts us through tests so he can reveal himself.
For the people of Israel, the test is being different and apart from other people.
It comes with unique customs, viewed as odd by outside eyes. Those customs bring suspicion from outsiders. The demands of the faith are total. Even in the face of fear.
In Exodus 1, Pharaoh decides, after the death of Joseph, that his people have grown too large,. He suspects they wouldn’t be loyal, either, if an enemy attacked.
Pharaoh thought the Hebrews were too different, and as such a threat. They could not be citizens. They could only be subjects, and slaves.
What resulted, after much gnashing of teeth, was the first and largest labor force walkout in history, the exodus. All Moses had asked was for a few days off. Perhaps Pharaoh should have given it.
And perhaps he might have, if God had not hardened his heart against Israel. This happens nine times in the exodus story, including one last time right before Israel flees Egypt.
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, again, so he would pursue the Israelites. When he did, his men and their horses and their chariots fell into the Sea of Reeds.
Had Pharaoh not given chase, it could be said he let Israel go.
No, the chase had to happen, and it had to fail, to make the story work, and to reveal God’s “mighty hand.”
He (God) made the wheels of their chariots come off, so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” — Exodus 14:25
That was a nice moment, the men of Egypt tapping out at God’s overwhelming force.
And it was a fulfillment of God’s wishes, expressed in Exodus 14:18: “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
But it wasn’t quite the same as Pharaoh, personally, admitting to God’s greatness.
That would've been better.
By Daniel 3, Israel is back where it started Exodus: Under a foreign power.
In this case, it’s King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who sacks Israel in 2 Kings 24.
Worse than that, Nebuchadnezzar exiled Israel from Judea to Babylon. Most times, the power follows the flag. The subjects stay where they are.
Exiling people from their homeland to yours risks a mixing of cultures and customs. Since Israel was enamored with foreign customs and foreign gods, God decided exile was a fitting punishment.
One imagines God saying: “If you like foreign gods so much, why don’t you move in with them?”
After the defeat, King Jehoiakim of Judah and select “elite” Israelites were brought in to serve Nebuchadnezzar.
Among them were four wise men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
All four were renamed, per Babylonian custom. Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar, but is called Daniel throughout the book.
The other three are called by their slave names. Hananiah was Shadrach; Mishael was Meshach, and Azariah was Abednego.
In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar has built a golden image in the form of himself, standing 90 feet high, 9 feet wide. Selfies were expensive in the ancient world.
Nebuchadnezzar set up a dedication to the image, and orders all the wise men of Babylon, Chaldean and Jew alike, to attend.
That part was fine. But when ordered to bend the knee to the golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused. The consequences of refusal were clear: Certain death.
“Whoever does not fall down and worship,” a herald told the crowd in Daniel 3:6, “will be immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Yet the trio refused anyway.
Only faith kept them from bending knees and bowing heads. Only God kept them alive.
The trio had no doubt read Exodus, and the Golden Calf Incident, and the anger that Israel’s idolatry inspired in God. Israel was exiled to a foreign land as punishment for idolatry.
At a purely human level, we might read the story and ask why the big deal — why not just bow? Might makes right, right?
But idolatry was the sin God hated most. If this were a test, the trio was going to pass.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego decided that death in a fiery furnace was preferable to worshipping an image of gold-plated wood.
If Adam and Eve stepped out on curiosity in eating forbidden fruit, the trio in Daniel stepped out on faith in not honoring the golden image.
Nebuchadnezzar was so angry to be denied that he ordered the furnace turned up to 7X its normal heat.
He had the strongest men of his army strap down the three would-be martyrs. And he had him cast them into the furnace.
But the fire was so hot, it killed the soldiers.
This was reminiscent of Esther, and the story of Haman.
Haman was a type-of Babylonian soldier in this way, building a gallows for a man he hated, Mordecai, and being hanged in it himself. Mordecai had refused to pay deference to Haman, presumably because he was too faithful.
All this opting-out seemed to confirm people’s suspicions, that the Hebrews were a people apart. The early Christians faced similar treatment, and responded in similar ways, under Roman rule.
After the soldiers are burned, an angel saves the trio from the fire. When they emerge, they don’t even smell like smoke!
In all three stories, in Exodus, in Esther, and in Daniel, the Jewishness of the would-be victims, and their fit in a foreign order, was at issue.
And in all three stories, the God of Israel delivered. Against all odds.
In Exodus, God earns the respect of an unnamed Egyptian. Which is nice.
Things escalate by Daniel. Now God has earned the respect of King Nebuchadnezzar, personally:
Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save this way.” — King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 3:28-29
King Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful man, who was used to having his orders obeyed.
What kind of faith leads a powerless people to tell the king no, and mean it? What kind of God helps men survive the fires set by man?
That faith had to be respected. That God had to be respected.
Nebuchadnezzar did not convert to Judaism. He did not tear down the golden image. He was still a Babylonian, a powerful man, and vain.
But he was moved by the strength of the three men and the strength of their God.
God gave his Third Commandment — “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name,” Exodus 20:7 — to Israel.
Now King Nebuchadnezzar, a foreigner, was making it the law of his land.
Just outta respect.
Who, but God, could do that?
The reports of Yahweh’s death were greatly exaggerated.
Good essay.
I was leading Sunday School a few weeks back and we were talking about Job. In the King James version they refer to Job as a perfect man. Very few people in the Bible get that treatment.
Noah, Job, and Daniel do. Do you think the translation is fair? I would love to get your take on perfect men.