Matthew 25:21, âHis Master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your Lord.’â
Todayâs Letter is taking a new direction. My oldest, living cousin is 90-years old. He is a
Christian, a Navy veteran, and like me, he lost his Christian wife a few months ago. He
sent this link to me, and I was moved to share it with you. But, before I do, I want to ask,
Do you have a âLife Objectiveâ?
Before you reply, retrieve and watch this short video. It has a message of genuine Truth,
shared by a Navy pilot. Just relax and enjoy it.
âTo seek, trust, and gloify God through humble service and continual prayer.
To raise up qualified disciples as quickly as possible, so that some day I might
hear God say, âWell done, My good and faithful servant.ââ â Steve Scheibner
Amen, Steve! May the LORD build that Holy Fire within all of us; and may we live
faithfully as we move closer and closer to that Day.
Daniel 6:16, âThen the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.”
Did you ever say something you wished you hadnât, but couldnât take it back? Did you ever do something you wished you hadnât, but couldnât reverse the damage it had done? If so, you will understand King Dariusâ delimma.
He allowed the men in his service to trick him with flattering words, while simultaneously laying a trap for Daniel. Darius had agreed and signed into law as silly proclamation that said no one in his kingdom could ask a petition of anyone except Darius himself for a period of 30 days!
Yes, Darius was tricked, but Daniel was the victim. Those evil men knew that Daniel prayed to the LORD three specific times every day. They laid a trap for him and then tattled to the king. The result? The result was that Daniel was legally (although not morally) condemned to death in the lionsâ den!
âDiscoveries among the ruins of Babylon have shown that the mode
of punishment by throwing offenders against the laws to lions was actually
practiced there, and these discoveries may be classed among the numerous
instances in which modern investigations have tended to confirm the statements
in the Bible.â
If youâve ever engaged in something only to find out later that you had been misled, you have some notion of how Darius must have felt. Too late he learned what he had done!
And every effort he exerted to deliver Daniel proved fruitless. All Darius could do was to try and encourage Daniel by saying, âYour God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.” That was a pretty empty encouragement from Dariusâ point of view. But Daniel had a faith of which Darius had no clue!
King Darius couldnât sleep all night. Daniel rested quite well. Yet, no one knew what had happened until Darius raced to the lionsâ den and cried out with a lamentable voice â a voice full of anxiety, a voice of grief: âO Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
âThen Daniel spoke to the king, âO king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel
and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found
innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crimeâ”
Had everything ended there, it would have been a glorious conclusion to this whole messy thing. But there is more. It was customary in ancient times to believe (right or not) that a wrong perpetrated by person in point of fact included all of his family. Thus, the entire families of those men who wronged Daniel, were themselves thrown to the lions. This time there was no protective angel.
ââŚand they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered
them and crushed all their bonesâ (v. 24).
Once again, moral rightness triumphs over immoral schemes. What does all of this mean
to your life? âShall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? (Gen. 18:25). Absolutely! And we should always live so as to glorify Him!
Daniel 3:11, ââŚwhoever does not fall down and worship (the image) shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.â
It seems to be the nature of self-exalting rulers to establish images of various kinds in their own honor. In ancient times it was much easier for pagan rulers to command their subjects to bow before these images. Those who refused, for whatever reason, subjected themselves to whatever heinous punishment suited the king. In ancient Babylon, and under King Nebuchadnezzar, that punishment was death in a fiery furnace.
One writer stated it like this:
âThe furnace was probably a furnace used commercially as a lime-kiln, or brick-kiln.
Eastern potentates of that day were accustomed to practice methods of cruel punishment
for the slightest disobedience to their commands. Refusal to do homage to the image,
since it was erected by the king and for his glory, would be regarded as equivalent to
treason to the state. Whatever the king approved of, they all approved of. There is no
stability of principle in the ungodly.â
Another writer noted,
âA traveler of some three centuries ago (1671-77) by the name of Chardin went to the
territory of Persia and noted that two furnaces of fire were kept burning for a month for
consuming those who overcharged for food.â
Hananiah (âBeloved of the LORDâ); Mishael (âWho is as Godâ); and Azariah (âthe LORD is my helpâ) all determined not to fall down and do homage to the statue or to the king. And while it is interesting to note that no mention was made of Daniel during this time, there is no credible reason to believe that he would have taken any other stand than that taken by his Jewish companions.
The three Jewish lads took a positive stand against the king and his edict. Listen to their boldness:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
17 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing
fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 “But even if He does not, let it be
known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden
Ultimately, the lads were cast fully clothed into the fiery furnace! If you wonder just how hot the furnace was, verse 22 states, âbecause the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegoâ for the purpose of casting them into the furnace.
One interesting point is that those scheduled for destruction, lived, while those participating in the ladsâ intended destruction, died themselves in the flames. That reminds me of Haman in the Book of Esther. He plotted against Mordecai, but ultimately died on the very gallows he prepared for Mordecai.
Nebuchadnezzar actually visualized the LORDâs control. He saw four men walking in the midst of the fire! And when the three lads were released, the fire âhad no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon themâ (Dan. 3:26-27).
Never be afraid to follow the LORDâs instructions! Be afraid not to! He is always in control.
ââŚdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your bodyâ (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Heartily in Christ Jesus,
(Dado III)
P. S. Today Teri and I visited the nurses who so lovingly cared for Rose Marie. Even Dr. Schaefer,
her hemotologist, came out to greet us. There is no doubt that she made a lasting, Christlike impression on all of them. Please pray for Nurse Ruth Minerâs husband, who today underwent surgery similar to that of Rose Marie. Ruth and her husband are Christians.
Daniel 1:6-7, âNow among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abed-nego.â
It was Shakespeare who wrote,
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)
Everyone âwell, almost everyone has a name. You have a family (last) name, and you have a Christian (first) name. Does it really matter what your name is? It certainly does!
Your name is the basic identification of who you are. Over the past decade or two, many young people have wanted to be known only by their Christian or âfirstâ name. They said that gave them personal identification. (It may have been that their parents wanted it that way, and the youths pretended it was their idea.) In any event, names are important.
Names have historical meanings, too; that is, a name made famous by an historical personality. For example, the name Lincoln may be an historical link to Abraham Lincoln, the 16TH President of the United States. If that were your family name, Iâm sure it would be of great value to you.
When Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem for the third time (587 B.C.), he carried away Daniel and his three friends: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Being Jews, each of them possessed Jewish names, and their names had meaning. Daniel means âGod is my Judgeâ; Hananiah means âBeloved of the LORDâ; Mishael means âWho is as Godâ; and Azariah means âthe LORD is my help.â Nebuchadnezzar couldnât have Jewish lads living in Babylon with meanings like that, so he changed their names.
Daniel became Belteshazzar, which means âBelâs Prince,â identifying him with one of Nebuchadnezzarâs gods. Hananiah was named Shadrach, Rak being the name of the sungod, and meaning âIllumined by the sungod.â Mishael was renamed Meshach, meaning âwho is like Venus,â still another pagan goddess. And Azariah was re-named Abednego, meaning âthe servant of Nego, a false god.
There is no indication in the entire book of Daniel, that Daniel or his friends ever resisted their new names. However, they never lived according to them. They lived as honest, Jewish lads, standing always for the LORD and resisting affiliation with the evils of their captors.
When we yield our lives to Jesus Christ, we take on the name âChristian.â We vow to live according to His Word and His ways. When we relax from being Christians, we take on the look and life of the unsaved. We dishonor our LORD Jesus Christ and all for which He stands. The world then views us as with them instead of with Him. Be faithful in carrying the Name of Christ, even more faithful than carrying the Flag of your beloved country. Whatâs in a name? Everything! Be careful how you wear it.
Daniel 6:15, âThen the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.”
King Darius had been tricked. Evil men in his administration had persuaded him to sign a senseless decree saying that anyone who made a petition (offered a prayer) to any god other than to the king, for forty days, would be destroyed in a den of raging, hungry lions.
If you are a Christian, you can virtually count on being âset upâ for some ignominious act by some who claim to be your friends. Thus, Daniel appeared to be in deep, life-threatening trouble! What could he do to avoid death by the lions? He could do absolutely nothing! His only hope was in knowing the One who could.
Daniel had already pled his case before the Supreme Ruler of the Universe:
Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house
(now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he
continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks
before his God, as he had been doing previously (Dan. 6:10).
You know. we say that we believe in prayer, but we all-too-often elect to use everything at our disposal except prayer as a means of deliverance from difficulties. King Darius tried with all his might to deliver Daniel, but there was nothing he could do. The law he had signed sealed Danielâs fate. Yet, he spoke encouragingly to Daniel when he said, âYour God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.â
I suppose there a thousand things the LORD could have done to spare Daniel. Perhaps He was testing Danielâs faith. Remember those three friends, Shadrack, Meshack and Abed-nego, who were delivered from that excessively-heated fiery furnace? Perhaps Daniel was looking back at their deliverence and gaining faith to believe he would be delivered. What-ever might be said, the LORD is always in control. He controls the timing of the events. He had created the lions, so even they were under His control.
You know who was miserable beyond words? King Darius! He didnât sleep! Daniel did!
Rose Marie used to sing a little song when things went wrong and I was worried:
Cheer up, ye saints of God,
Thereâs nothing to worry about;
Nothing to make you feel afraid,
Nothing to make you doubt.
Remember Jesus never fails,
So, why not trust Him and shout?
Youâll be sorry you worried at all tomorrow morning.
It was true for Daniel, and it was true for me. Itâs true for you, too. But you have to trust Him.
I have had surgery on my eyes, surgery on my hand, surgery on my neck âand each time I trusted the surgeon. How could I not trust the Great Physician? How can you not, also?
