My daughter, Selah, is kind of obsessed with babies right now. It’s kind of funny… like she’s got a little baby that she carries with her everywhere… to bed, to the breakfast table, in the car, at the park… she loves little baby “booboo.” She’s about to be a big sister, so we kind of wish that was the game she was playing at all times… like helping little sister get dressed, and get fed, and get ready for bed… but she’s playing little mama, instead of big sister… and that’s all she talks about and when she has a say, that’s all she wants to play…
And when she’s repeating the same thing over and over again, you can assume she’s pretty excited about it. And we’re like… we get the point, because she repeats it over and over. I don’t know if she fully understands she’s gonna have a baby sister here in a few months, Lord willing, and she’s mentally preparing for that, or if she really just wants to be a mom. Either way, that nurturing characteristic is sure innate in her… I think it’s pretty cool.
But I think the Bible kind of operates in a similar way at times… if the Bible repeats something over and over, sometimes in a small amount of space… you might want to pay attention to it because it might be the key to the text. It might just be the main idea the Holy Spirit is trying to get across.
In Daniel 3, the word “worship” is repeated 9 times in 15 verses… over and over… worship, worship, worship…. So I wonder if the big idea of Daniel chapter 3 has something to do with worship. 
Chapter 3 starts right in, coming off the heels of the vision and interpretation of chapter 2 – where there’s this giant statue, with a head of gold…. Let’s walk through the text…
Daniel 3:1, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.”
He probably made this thing in response to his dream… a statue in his image might have been a little narcissistic, but he takes it a step farther when he attaches the image to worship. He sent for all the bigwigs in Babylon to dedicate the statue… and as they gathered, he sends out a decree…
Daniel 3:4-5, “Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, 5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.”
So everyone is to worship this image and if they don’t, verse 6 tells us what happens… “But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
And in the midst of this, we see the word “worship,” 9 times… in 15 verses. I wonder why that is?
To steal a line from Shane Wood… “because in the book of Daniel, worship is war.” This means that worship is actually the arena where battles are fought… and this is the arena where the enemy is attacking… because when we worship, we are pledging allegiance… and when we worship we are claiming an identity. And when we worship, we are being transformed into the likeness of the One whom we worship. And if worship really is war, then Nebuchadnezzar sounded the battle cry at the start of Daniel 3…
Worship also found itself at the center of the ancient world… it functioned like a symbiotic relationship function… like where both parties kind of operate off of a contract… like if I give you this, then you give me that. You give me something that I want, then I’ll give you something that you want. And ancient pagan gods all had a bloodlust for sacrifice… if you give me sacrifices, then I will give you power or protection or provision… because that’s what all the kings and all the kingdoms were really hoping for in the ancient world.
The deity would be satisfied with blood shed through sacrifice, and you would be satisfied with the power or the authority that the higher power would offer. Both parties gave… but it was conditional. It was contractual. I do this, you do that. You do this, I do that. Like a cosmic negotiation that they slapped the label “worship” to.
Nebuchadnezzar wanted power, and prominence… and in Daniel 3, he’s using his authority to get it. At the center of his worldview of how to actually get it… is worship. And worship was a bit of a sticking point for the Israelites. Matter of fact, this was something they struggled with through most of the Old Testament narrative.
But wasn’t that the first commandment in the ten commandments there in Exodus 20? 20:3-5a, “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
What was the expectation for the Israelites… “you worship God alone.” It’s almost like worship is identity language. It’s almost like worship defines who you are. And this has been a problem for the Israelites because they struggled not to compromise their worship to YAHWEH by offering it to other gods. And so this moment they’re in, is not really new for them… Nebuchadnezzar puts up this statue and expects everybody to worship it. It wouldn’t have been all that surprising for the Israelites to act the way they had been acting for much of their history up to this point. I mean… their idol worship is what got them into this mess in the first place! This is the reason God judged them and sent them into exile to begin with!
And Nebuchadnezzar was willing to go to war over this. He spells out that anyone who does not fall down in worship would be cast into a blazing furnace.
But we see that Daniel’s friends are willing to go to war over this, too… verse 12 says, “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Worship is worth warring over. The friends got tattled on… and the snitch follows the symbiotic formula… you gave them things, but they’re not giving you worship in return! They are not agreeing to this symbiotic relationship! And to top it all off… their worship reveals their true allegiances, their true identity… because in the ancient world and in the book of Daniel, worship is war.
When Nebi hears that Daniel’s friends were defying his decree, he flew into a fit of rage! He brings them into his presence to confront them. He asks them, “is it true?” And he puts them on the spot… when you hear the noise, you can fall down and worship my image, or you can be cast into the furnace.” And he throws a little taunt in there too about who they worship… at the end of verse 15 he says, “…and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”
The guys are like “we don’t need to give you an answer on this one.” But in verses 17 and 18, they speak some of the most profound words in all of Scripture… “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 image that you have set up.”
As you can imagine, Ol King Nebi kings really mad… and he orders the furnace to be cranked up 7 times hotter than it was usually heated… he orders some of his soldiers to tie the trio up and cast them into the fire. And the text includes a pretty funny detail in verse 21… “…these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.”
The author made a special point to notice that they were all fully clothed when they were thrown into this 7x hot furnace! It was so hot that the flames actually killed those soldiers who threw them in. But the guys find themselves tied up in this fire.
Nebi witnesses the things that took place and the text says he was “astounded and stood up” – like when you’re a baseball game and it’s tied up and the bottom of the last inning and you’ve got runners in scoring positions… and the batter gets up and swings and the ball goes flying… and everybody in the crowd stands up to see what is taking place.
Nebi stands up and leans over to the officials next to him and says, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” 25 He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” – vv. 24b-25
I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds like the Preincarnate Christ showing up and ministering to these guys sentenced to death… their suffering provided a closeness to Christ … He is the Suffering Servant after all. There’s a fellowship with Christ as you suffer for Christ. Bewildered King Nebi calls them out of the fire and actually refers to them as “servants of the Most High God” (v. 26) and is like, “they’re walking around… they’ve not been hurt at all… they came out unfazed… not even a little singe… not a single hair… and their trousers are fine, too! We can’t even smell fire on them!”
And the chapter ends with King Nebi blessing the Most High God, singing His praises, recognizing God’s deliverance, and actually making a decree that anyone who says something bad against God would be torn limb from limb and their houses destroyed to rubbish. And the three continued to prosper in Babylon. An absolutely amazing narrative, right?
Those of us who are most familiar with this narrative, are also the most at risk of missing the main point… now this might come as a surprise to you, but I would contend that the main point has very little to do with the rescue… the point of the fiery furnace is not that they wouldn’t worship Nebi, and not even that they worshipped God and were delivered from a fire… The point is that we worship God because of WHO HE IS, NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE GET.
We see this in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s confrontation… Nebi demands their worship of his statue, and listen to verse 16… “we do not need to give you an answer…” like, we don’t need to defend ourselves! If we’re thrown in then the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. And they go on and actually add this to the end of their statement, “and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”
Like, we will be delivered from you, even if it means we die! He could save us but that’s not the point. And even if He does not rescue us, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods. We will not bow down to your image. Even if it is made of gold!
God is worthy of our worship not because of what we will get in return… God is worthy of our worship because of who He is. They’re showing a contrast!
This isn’t a symbiotic relationship where we give Him something and He gives us something in return… where we are mutually dependent on exchanging with one another. NO, even if we die in that furnace, it does not change our allegiance and it does not change our worship and it does not change who we are and it does not change who belong to.
Because our God is not some cosmic Santa Claus in the sky… and I think we would do well to come to terms with that. He’s not a God who will just put you on the good list when you do good things. Doing good things does not guarantee perpetually good health, or all the wealth in the world… and if that is the god you serve, then he’s not the god of the Bible. And if your god is not the god of the Bible then you shouldn’t be surprised when you find yourself in exile and you are not only willing to compromise, but even willing abandon or reject your convictions altogether… because at that point, you will worship whatever or whoever might promise to make your circumstances better. If you’ve mistaken the God of the Bible for a Santa Claus god, then don’t be surprised when you walk away and worship some other “god” instead. Don’t be surprised when you declare allegiance to another.
Maybe one of the most fascinating details about this narrative is the paradigm shift that Nebi experiences… the three friends come out of the furnace and the king recognizes that they trusted their God to the point of defying the king’s command, to the point of being willing to give up their lives, and resolving not to serve or worship any God except their own God. And it was like Nebi’s entire paradigm got flipped upside down because his worship was centered on what he gave them or did not give them… but he says something deeper here… he notices that these Jews gave their God worship simply because of who He is, not because of what they could get.
So, if worship is war… then worship speaks the language of identity. Worship defines who you are. Or maybe better said… worship defines who we become because when we worship we become like the One we’re worshipping. We take on His traits and His characteristics and His values and His eyes and His heart… and we start to think like Him and talk like Him and look like Him. Worship is transformational. True worship is life changing. In worship the things in our lives that are not from God are confronted and sidelined. And here’s the hard, uncomfortable truth about this whole narrative… who you trust is who you worship.
Hear me when I say this… Christian… who do you trust? Do you trust only the people, or systems, or idols, and that give you the good things that you ask for? Do you only trust the laws of the land? Do you only trust your bank accounts? Do you only trust your politicians or your vote? My goodness ministry is a little harder during an election year…
I think the way we talk about the candidates we like is revealing and I think the way we talk about the candidates we don’t like is revealing. And the way we talk about the other side, especially when our side loses… is revealing… like we talk in apocalyptic terms every 4 years… the end of everything is at stake…like everything is going to crumble. And I’m not trying to minimize that possibility… I know things can change fast and I know that this is important…but sometimes I wonder if we have maybe had a hard remembering who we are and why we’re here.
I’ve been off social media for awhile now… call me out of touch, but I am free. Back when I was on social media, I remember getting on Facebook around an election… terrible idea! Here’s a good rule of thumb… stay away from social media, especially when it’s election time.
And just being honest with you… I wasn’t really bothered by people being upset… I was more bothered with what Christians were saying… because it revealed who they trust.
One preacher talked about a post he saw from an old Sunday school teacher of his… her post said, “last night when I heard the results of the election, I began to weep. In fact, I cried myself to sleep last night.” The preacher didn’t comment on the post, but he shared this thought… “when was the last time you cried yourself to sleep about orphans and widows in distress? When was the last time you cried yourself to sleep about the boys and girls caught in sex trafficking? When was the last time you cried yourself to sleep over the lost who don’t know Jesus?”
But you’re shedding tears over election results… who you trust is who you worship. So I’ll ask again… who do you put your trust in?
Because worship is war… not just in Daniel’s world… but in ours, too. Worship is the way we fight. Regardless of what happens, regardless if we get our way or not, the One we worship is unchanging. We don’t worship Him for what we can get… we worship Him because of who He is. And the truth of the matter is this… worship is directly connected identity. Who we worship is who we become like…
I read about 21 Egyptian Christians paraded onto the banks of Libya by a group known as ISIS in 2015… they were recording the events of that day to send a message to the Jesus followers in the western world… the terrorists chanted and sang worship to their god and then one by one, beheaded each of the 21 Christians. As two young men (they were actually brothers) were speaking their dying words, they yelled out in their native tongue, “Jesus is our Savior. Jesus is our King.” I was filled with so many mixed emotions as I read that story… I was thankful for those brother’s faithfulness in the face of death, sad for the lostness of those terrorists, mourning for the state of our world, and yet longing for Jesus’ return… and I thought of Daniel 3…
Let’s speak candidly here… sometimes the faithful are not saved from the furnace. And sometimes they are. But regardless of where you find yourself you’re still able to fight in the battle because the battle is not measured by whether you live or die… the battle is won based off of where you decide to put your trust.
Which is why worship is war. Nebi knew that. Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael knew that… but my question for us today in the church is this… do we know that? Do we know worship is war? Do we know that who we worship is who we become like? Because if that’s true then the body of Christ should continually look more like the crucified King. And maybe this is something where we need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves an honest question: who do I look like? Do I like the god of Nebuchadnezzar? Or do I look like the God of the cross?
Application
What about us? What do we do with this? I’ll give you one big application, with three sub-applications to follow… One big application: TRUST GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY.
God’s sovereignty in three words… He’s got this. Like whatever is happening in your mind or your body or your story or your family or your community or your nation… He’s got this. Nothing can happen that God cannot redeem! No action you take, or mistake you make, or sin you commit or sin which is committed against you can stop Him. No evil in this world can take place that God cannot turn around and weave into His good plan and for His good purposes. The main I thing I want you all to do today… is to just get the sovereignty of God in your mind and keep it there.
I know that sounds a little nebulous and a little subjective, so maybe this will help… 3 Sub-applications we can put into practice today as we walk this path of trusting God.
- Stop demanding that God do things your way.
- If God is sovereign, then stop demanding that God follow your lead! That’s not the way things work if we have a God who’s sovereign. Which means that we can and should stop demanding our way with the God of the Universe.
- Only God rules the world. Which means you don’t. You’re not God… it’s not your life, it’s His. They’re not your children, their His. This isn’t your church, it’s His. This is not my ministry, it’s His. That’s not your school, it’s His.
- He is the I AM… which means that you are the I am not. Which means things are okay even when we don’t get what we want! He’s not Santa Claus, He’s not a genie in a bottle… and His primary job is not to grant you wishes. Which means that we are free to stop demanding that God do things our way.
- Stop trying to control outcomes. Of course we want things to turn out alright, but outcomes tend to be out of our jurisdiction! These guys gave us the example… God might save us from this fire, He might not… either way He can still bring about His good purposes… He will still be God, and you will not.
- There’s a level of trust here that I pray we will develop as a church. That we find contentment in knowing that we are not called to make things turn out right! Only God rules the world, which means you don’t.
- We grow to have a deep trust in what God has done and in what God will do. I don’t know if there’s a single instance in Scripture where one of God’s servants is expected to control an outcome. God doesn’t say, “go win the war.” He says, “step onto the battlefield and watch me fight for you.” And Jesus doesn’t tell us to be responsible for changing hearts… He tells us to plant and water, and He’s the One who brings the growth…
- This doesn’t mean that we don’t work hard or that we don’t pursue effectiveness. We ought to work harder than everyone and excellence should always be our pursuit. But I want us to be content with not controlling the results because we know that God is reigning and working all things out according to His good will and His good purposes.
- I want you to have a trust so deep that you can shake the dust off your feet and be okay when your best efforts don’t work how you want them to… and they won’t always work… but you’re still okay because you’re operating from the knowledge that there is a God and He is sovereign, which means He’s got this! You’re free to stop trying to control outcomes and you can find rest in trusting who He is.
- Stop worrying about everything. Big scary moments and small boring ones, too… stop worrying about them.
- You know… I remember the last time half of America was freaking out… it wasn’t too long ago… I’m starting to notice that this tends to happen every four years. And in those moments even the most stable, level-headed, Bible-believing people can have these moments of panic. Like good people, the kind that aren’t easy to stir up, people who love their family, are faithful to the church, try their best read their Bible and follow what it says, people who serve God faithfully… can sometimes worry about silly things and be totally ridiculous!
- Like we forget the words of Psalm 2… “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed… He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.” (vv. 1-2, 4).
- The nations are conspiring against God, and God sees this and laughs at them! Do you see how “NOT BOTHERED” He is by this!
- Maybe we forget the words of Psalm 46… we know the “be still and know that I am God” part… but we skip right over the beginning… “God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea…” (vv. 1-2). Later in the Psalm he says, “The nations have made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” (vv. 6-7). What’s the big takeaway? Things might be bad… and our God is not afraid!
- We believe in a God who laughs at the pretentious plans of the self-described Great and Powerful… and He’s not bothered by these things in the slightest!
- Have we forgotten that we are a people called to cast our cares and anxieties onto Him! We’re called to never be afraid of anything other than Him… are there plenty of things in this world to worry about? Well sure… but not really! Look no further than Daniel! In this book alone we see that God alone is the Revealer of Mysteries, the God of gods, and Lord of Kings, the King of Heaven, the Living God, the Ancient of Days, the great and awesome God, YAHWEH, the God Most High. Why do we let go of worry? Because we know who our God is. Like if we saw Him clearly, I don’t think anxiety would be a thing anymore… I’m not trying to guilt anybody, I’m inviting you all to see that our God has more than what is needed to face any task or situation we might face… nothing can stop Him.
And in case you’re thinking I’m preaching a sermon highlighting God’s sovereignty without talking about the cross… think again. At the cross we see His power, love, and wisdom on display – His sovereignty demonstrated by His death for our sins. And His invitation is to live at peace through relationship with Him though the mountains may be thrown into the sea.
I can’t claim to have the slightest clue of what will happen these next four years, let alone the next 40 generations… but you know what? We won’t panic. We won’t freak out. We won’t run in fear. We won’t shrink back. We won’t lose heart. We won’t be afraid. Why? Because the safety of our souls relies on one thing… whether God still sits on Heaven’s throne… and He does and He’s not going anywhere people. God can be trusted. We must trust Him. That’s why I can say with confidence, “In God We Trust.”