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Tag: Nebuchadnezzar’s statue

A king’s dream (of an everlasting kingdom)

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On January 22, 2013

In Christian

In addition to my mother, Dr. Iris Paul’s birthday (Happy Birthday Amma), on January 21st, 2013, we celebrated MLK day, celebrating the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is well known for his fight against racial discrimination and his famous “I have a dream” speech. In that speech, Dr. King, Jr. expressed his dream of seeing America one day without any discrimination on the basis of race.

The Bible records in Daniel 2:31-45 , the dream of another king, king Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler over Babylon, and this was his dream –
He saw standing before him a huge, shining statue of a man, which was a frightening sight. The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. As he watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

God’s servant, Daniel interprets this dream as the events that are and that are to come saying “The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is trustworthy (certain)”.

King Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold and prophet Jeremiah calls Babylon, a gold cup in the Lord’s hand (Jeremiah 51:7). But after his kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom (Medo-Persian led by Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian), inferior to his, will rise to take his place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom (Grecian lead by Alexander the Great), represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one (Roman empire), as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix. During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom (Jesus’ kingdom, for he was God’s Only begotten Son, not fashioned by the hands of any man) that will never be destroyed or conquered. Jesus’ kingdom will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. That is the meaning of the rock (Jesus the Rock of our Salvation) cut from the mountain (Mount Golgotha/Calvary), though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold.

When Jesus was born, it was asked of him “Where is he, who is born THE KING (of the Jews)?” (Matthew 2:2) When Jesus was killed, it was inscribed in the titulus placed over his head, on the Cross, the inscription “This is Jesus THE KING (of the Jews)” (Matthew 27:37). And when you believe in Jesus, there is no Jew or Gentile discrimination, for we all become the children of God (Galatians 3:28) and he is the Sovereign King over all. His kingdom is indestructible and indomitable, one without end, ever expanding to cover the whole earth and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11)

Points to ponder:
Only those who have trusted in Jesus and have been born again by the Spirit of God belong to the indestructible, indomitable, never-ending, non-discriminating Kingdom of God? (John 3:1-18). Do you belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ? The kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).

Galatians 3:26-28 (KJV)
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 11:15 (KJV)
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Mark 1:15 (KJV)
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Daniel 2:44 (KJV)
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Lessons from the 3 Hebrew men :: What’s in a Name?

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On September 20, 2010

In 3 Hebrew Men, Christian

If I was to ask you, what are the names of the three Hebrew boys who defied king Nebuchadnezzar, and refused to bow to His image, even if it meant that their life could end, chances are that most of us will respond, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego”. Even our beloved 4 year old son, Reuben, has this Veggietales DVD entitled “Rack, Shack and Benny” which is a rendition of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego. Unfortunately, most of us are familiarly acquainted with this fantastic 3 by their Babylonian names but their real Hebrew names were Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah. Why is this important?

With one’s name is closely tied that individual’s identity. This is why we have rechristening which often includes a name that signifies that we belong to Christ. The Babylonians had changed the names of these faithful worshippers and servants of the One true God (Yahweh), to names that had ties to the gods of Babylonia (Shadrach purportedly means the command of aku, a Babylonian moon god; Meshach supposedly means the servant of a Chaldean god and Abednego means the servant of Nabu/Nego, another Babylonian god).

But from the 3 Hebrew boys, we learn that while the world may rename us or know us by names that it gives us, our true identity must be as one bearing the name of Jesus Christ, the one TRUE God. And when we recognize that, we can be confident that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Hannaniah (Shadrach) means ‘Yahweh is gracious’, Mischael means “Who is like Yahweh?” and Azariah means “Yahweh has helped”.  Shadrach must have known, that God was true to His Name and that God was gracious. Meshach must have known that there was no one like Yahweh and interestingly Abednego must have recognized that God has helped. Note, Azariah does not mean God will help, but God has helped.

What do people know you as? And when they call us by our name, does it reflect on the One who has the Name above all names?

Christian Verbs :: E is for Exalting

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On July 16, 2010

In Christian, Christian Verbs

The word ‘Exalt’ means ‘to lift up’ or ‘to lift high’. We often seek to reach the zenith with a selfish self-aggrandizement attitude. We strive hard to be on the top, and our corporate/work culture pushes us to pursue a status quo as one above the rest, sometimes at the cost of our Biblical virtues, principles, ethics and morals.

Interestingly, the Bible uses the word ‘exalt’, explicitly in two contexts. One is to exalt the Lord and the other is to not exalt ourselves. In fact, it is only the Lord that is to be exalted because He is Holy (Psalm 99:5,9); because He is our God (Psalm 118:28, Isaiah 25:1); because He does wondrous thing (Isaiah 25:1) and because He is Faithful and True (Isaiah 25:1). It is solely the Lord God that is to be lifted up (exalted) and not ourselves. In fact, it is quite the contrary that we need to be doing when it comes to exalting ourselves. Instead of trying to lift ourselves up, we are to be humbling our selves. The Bible cautions that whosoever will exalt himself  shall be abased (brought down low) and he that humbles himself shall be exalted (Matthew 23:12). A classic example of these very words of Jesus can be seen demonstrated, even before Jesus spoke of it, during the time of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar built a statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide, exalting himself above and was abased to the status of a beast of the field, until he repented and acknowledge that it the Lord of heaven who has the power to raise up or to put down. (Daniel 4).

We are to exalt the Lord God, Jesus Christ alone.  God the Father has exalted Jesus the Son, and given Him a name which is above every other name (Philippians 2:9). So the question that remains is if we are doing the same in exalting (lifting up) Jesus. O magnify the Lord (Jesus) with me, and let us exalt (lift up) His Name together. (Psalm 34:3)

Matthew 23:12 (KJV)
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Psalm 34:4 (KJV)
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

No matter what – I will not bow

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On October 14, 2009

In Christian, No matter what

Many decisions that ought to be taken are not taken due to one of the following reasons:
1. we try to rationalize the situation assuming that our finite and limited human minds has infinite comprehension and abilities or
2. we think of the consequences of the decision and are paralyzed for fear of life or fear of being ridiculed.

In today’s text, taken from Daniel 3, we will look at the three Hebrew men Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah known more familiarly as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who chose not to bow to any idol and worship NO MATTER WHAT.

As a backdrop to these characters, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had erected a statue (idol) of himself and decreed that all should fall down and worship it and those who failed to obey would be cast into a fiery furnace that very hour. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were appointed administrators serving the king, chose to stand their ground and not succumb to this edict, knowing that in doing so, they would violate God’s commandments. When questioned by the king, they responded that their resolve in deed was, that they would not bow to his idol or worship him, irrespective of whether they are delivered or not. This infuriated the king who commands that the fire be heated seven times more and they are bound and cast in. Soon after the king witnesses that the three are loose, walking, not hurt and with them he see another whose appearance resembled that of the Son of God. The three are asked to come out of the fire by the king and they do. Seeing that they are free (who were bound) and who had quenched the thirst of the fiery furnace coming out unscathed and without a single singe, the king promulgates that there should be no longer any defiance against the God whom Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worship, the one true God.

These men chose not to bow and worship any idol or image, NO MATTER WHAT. If Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego  had rationalized or thought of the consequences, they may have succumbed to the edict of the king. Of course the rational thought would have been that we are appointed to serve him, why not worship his image as well. The consequences of not following the king’s order meant immediate (within an hour) certain death by fire. However, their act of faithfulness to God not only did it deliver them from the fiery furnace, but also proved to the heathen king, that the God whom they served and solely worshiped had the power to meet his faithful ones, in the midst of the fiery situation they are in, and can break the bonds that bind them, and deliver them. These three chose not to bow to anyone or anything else, other than Jehovah God, NO MATTER WHAT and this meant that they were unwilling to violate God’s first and second commandments – You shall have no other gods before me and You shall not make any idols, even if such a decision meant the price to pay is your life. They knew that succumbing to the first death by fire was infinitesimally insignificant when compared to  the second death in the fiery lake of hell and so chose not to bow and worship the king’s image, NO MATTER WHAT.

Points to ponder:

  1. What are the idols/images that you and I succumb to (bow down) and worship (give preeminence) before God?
  2. Can we take the step to not bow and worship anyone or anything else, other than God, without rationalizing or thinking of the consequences, NO MATTER WHAT?

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