Modern Thinking on Acceptance - I Shall Not Bow

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Modern Thinking on Acceptance – I Shall Not Bow

I owe the inspiration for this post to the Lord through a message my
Pastor gave yesterday. He mentioned a few scriptures and in a few
moments this post came to me.

For reference text I offer Daniel Chapter 3 (see the end of the post for
it in its entirety)

Nebuchadnezzar made an image that his entire kingdom was to bow before.
It was worship to a false god and to the king. No room for
interpretation, only obedience or stiff penalties resulted. The
religious community (the Chaldeans) accused the followers of God (the
Jews) of not bowing. You see they knew the law and it punishment and
they knew the LAW and ITS punishment and they had an understanding of
what is important and what is not. Now the men of this story were not
ordinary Jews…they had a position in the Babylonian system, so they were
not just troublemakers.

They knew that the punishment for not bowing to the idol was to be
thrown in the furnace. But they knew that God was the only one to be
worshiped.

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third

Pretty simple, did not require a great deal of thinking nor
understanding…a rule to obey or receive the related punishment; just as
the king’s law.

Now in our time of acceptance and ecumenism we are asked to get beyond
the actual words of the Bible and get to the “intent”. Often times it is
insinuated that we are really not capable of understanding the deeper
truths of God and that we need the “anointed” man tell us what God
really meant. Often this “anointed” man is a theologian, a schooled man,
and a man that presumes he has great wisdom. They will tell us that we
should not have doctrinal or denominational boundaries that we should be
isolationist, separationist or fundamentalist. They ascribe these labels
based upon a stand we take on the Word of God. We claim black and white
truths in the Word and claim that they are not great mysteries, but
simple words from a loving God that desires us to know and understand
His will and to strive to be His friend and live eternally with Him. All
he asks is for us to chose Him. For us to be faithful to Him. For us to
make Him Lord of our life and lastly for us obey Him.

Now being a being that possesses some logical skills and a being that is
fleshly by nature we tend to try and logically justify an easier way.
Using pretty words and half-truths (patterned after the serpent in Eden)
they cloud the issues and make the hard line seem wrong. They attack
generalities and defend rebuttals with the same. They never make a hard
stand in theology except to prove you wrong and try to make you accept
them.

Sound familiar? This is the first of Daniel 3, forget your laws and
beliefs and bow to our ideas!

Now a thought would be that if we bow we could be accepted and thus
become better witnesses. If they like us they might listen to us…but we
have an example….

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
(meaning there is no need to even discuss this)
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O
king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then they say…it is in our God’s hands…we will obey Him and Him alone
and let Him decide our fate. They made a stand on the Word of God and
trusted in Him.

They made a stand and paid the consequences…

Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery
furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye
servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's
counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies
the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither
were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Dan 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered
his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god,
except their own God.
Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and
language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be
made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after
this sort.
Dan 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the
province of Babylon.

And God honored their effort and gave increase greater than they could
have ever accomplished themselves. The increase was for not bowing to
theology that is not in the Word of God. So if the theology is not
backed by the Word of God….

I Shall Not Bow!

Lord Bless;
Bill

PS : Daniel repeated this story in his not stopping to pray in spite of
King Darius’ decree….and got him chunked into the lion’s den. Again God
honored the stand!


Please pardon the long scripture quote here, but it is necessary for the
context of the post.

Dan 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was
threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in
the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Dan 3:4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people,
nations, and languages,
Dan 3:5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and
worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
Dan 3:6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour
be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of
the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all
the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Dan 3:8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused
the Jews.
Dan 3:9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for
ever.
Dan 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall
hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and
dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the
golden image:
Dan 3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be
cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of
the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O
king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the
golden image which thou hast set up.
Dan 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the
king.
Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship
the golden image which I have set up?
Dan 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but
if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of
my hands?
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O
king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Dan 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his
visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he
spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times
more than it was wont to be heated.
Dan 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning
fiery furnace.
Dan 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and
their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of
the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the
furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took
up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down
bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in
haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three
men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the
midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery
furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye
servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's
counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies
the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither
were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Dan 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered
his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god,
except their own God.
Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and
language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be
made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after
this sort.
Dan 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the
province of Babylon.



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