Daniel 3 & 4

Man, will the king never understand that God is the one to be worshipped or what!? How many times does God have to show him...oh, wait- this applies to all of us! God has just used Daniel to show Daniel the dream that the king had and its interpretation, then he goes and sets up a gold alter to himself. This is what each of us do every day- God shows us wonderful things, we get pumped up about something and we pray fervently, read the Word, talk to others about Him. Then, we forgot or we grow complacent and we begin doing those things in our life that take away from our time with God. Our precious time with family, our education, our hobbies...I suppose anything that robs God of his precious time with us. God shows us all, individually, great things and comforts us...then we pull a Nebuchadnezzar and build an idol to worship. Well, he also shows us what happens if we put our trust in Him during our tough times with the example of the fiery delieverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. They placed their faith in God above their own perceived image, their comfort, and their very livelihood. They stood out for God and God rewarded them with his protection- much like he promises to do for each of us when we stand for His principles.

Daniel gives us another example of our worldly ways by showing the quick forgetfulness of the king. After receiving his second dream and interpretation, the king is given 12 months to change his behavior and repent. God gives us ample time to turn from our wicked ways, to ask for forgiveness and he would give us a repreive from our judgment. However, if we don't change our ways, He is just to enter into judgment. The king was made insane by God, roaming the fields with animals and eating like an animal for a set time period. The king had to be humbled so that he could become exhalted again, which God was merciful enough to do at the end of the trial. God is seeking the king, giving him every opportunity to come to a real knowledge of Him. I suppose it's hard for any of us to see that God is humbling us to bring us to a closer relationship with Him while we are going through any particular trial, but it's plain to see when we're on the other side.

I recently heard someone say that they believed the Bible is made up of stories that are embelished to help us with our faith, but that all the stories can't be taken literally. I believe that outrageous stories, like this one in Daniel 3 with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, are true, literal applications from God. Doesn't it cheapen the Bible if these 'tales' are embelished at all? We know God is capable of all things, and saving 3 men from fire wouldn't be any great feat to Him. If people believe that stories like these are embelished to make a point, it would be simple to argue that they would believe raising one from the dead would be 'embelishment' also. If the resurrection isn't the literal truth, we don't have a savior. I just thought the view was interesting...