Lessons in Religious Liberty from the Experience of King Nebuchadnezzar.
By W. W. Prescott
BY PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR was king over all the earth, and it was a new thing for anyone to dispute his absolute authority. It was to him a case of unbearable insolence when the three Jewish captives from conquered Jerusalem presumed to withstand him to his face.
“Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 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. Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.”
The king of Babylon did his utmost. The furnace was “exceeding hot,” and from its fiery mouth it breathed forth death to “the most mighty men” that were in the army of the king of Babylon. They were literally slain by the breath of its mouth. Not one of that assembled multitude could say that the flame and the heat were not real, for it was demonstrated that men selected for their power of resistance could not endure to approach near it. To them it was “a consuming fire.” And there was no possibility left to the three captives for escaping from the furnace, for they “were bound,” and they “fell down bound” into the very center of the flames. Thus did the king of Babylon purpose to inflict summary punishment upon those who presumed to question his right to dictate what and how they should worship; and by making a public example of these few he would effectually check any such tendency to these treasonable sentiments on the part of his other subjects. But he did not know with whom he was dealing, for he had not yet become acquainted with the God whose dwelling is with flesh, and there was no Gamaliel to say to him, “Refrain from these men, and let them alone. . . . lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” That God who had brought these men to Babylon to reveal his power to save, and whose presence was known to them, would through them make his presence known to all the people.
“Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 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. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”
THE GREATEST KING OF EARTH ONLY A SUBJECT.
It was through the direct providence of the God of heaven that Nebuchadnezzar held a universal dominion. Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord had said: “I have made the earth, . . . and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. . . . And all nations shall serve him.” And in his interpretation of the dream Daniel had said: “The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” It is evident, therefore, that the Lord expected all the people of the earth to be obedient to Nebuchadnezzar. Why then did he work in such a wonderful manner to deliver from death those who had refused to obey the king’s decree?
The key to the answer is found in the words of the Lord, “the king of Babylon, my servant.” These three Hebrews were servants of the most high God, and they were loyal, faithful servants. The king of Babylon was also a servant, but he was disloyal; and his unfaithfulness could not absolve the faithful few from their allegiance to the God of heaven and earth.
When God gave the dominion of all the earth into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, he did not resign any of his own authority over the universe. “The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King; at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.” “The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it and his hands formed the dry land.” “He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the198people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.” “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before him all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth.” “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.”
In the beginning God gave man authority over all the earth, and over every living creature; but this authority was only under God as supreme. As soon as man ceased to be loyal to God, he lost the dominion. Now to Nebuchadnezzar had God given the dominion (compare Ps. 8:4-8 and Jer. 27:6; Dan. 2:37, 38); but Nebuchadnezzar had no power except as he received it from God. “There is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.” Nebuchadnezzar’s great dominion was but a proof of the fact, which he ignored, that he was but an instrument in the Lord’s hands, with no power of his own. See Isa. 10:5-18. Nebuchadnezzar’s obligation to “fear God and keep his commandments” was not lessened, but rather increased, by his being placed in high position. As an individual he owed to God the same allegiance that the most despised Hebrew captive did, and as a king over all the nations of earth there was upon him the far greater responsibility of setting to all men an example of loyalty to the Creator and supporter of all. The disregard of the three Hebrews to the edict of the king was in reality an exhibition of the highest kind of loyalty, namely, to God, the King of kings.
Moreover, the three Hebrews were more faithful to the interests of Babylon than was the king himself. When they were taken captive, God said to them, “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof ye shall have peace.” But peace comes only to those who keep the commandments of God. “Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall cause them to stumble.” “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.” Babylon’s safety depended solely on its loyalty to God and his commandments. Its fall was foretold, only because of its sins. Therefore in refusing to worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, the Hebrew captives were showing greater solicitude for the safety of Babylon than its king was.
This is a lesson for to-day for all the dwellers, the rulers, and the captives of Babylon,—the whole earth. In the obligation to be subject to the powers that be, no man is absolved from the obligation to be subject to God, from whom all rulers hold their power. The injunction to every soul to be subject to “the higher powers,” includes subjection to the Most High power. All men alike, both high and low, owe to him common allegiance; and if the king whom God has placed or allowed to be placed in the position of “a little brief authority” forgets his dependence upon God, and presumes to exalt himself above him, by setting at nought any of his laws, then the subject must remember that his duty cannot possibly rise any higher than obedience to God, and he must show the way of life to the disloyal ruler who is jeopardizing the peace of his own dominions.
GOD NEEDS NOT HUMAN SUPPORT.
But although Nebuchadnezzar recognized that “there is no other God that can deliver after this sort,” he really held himself as still above even that God, by threatening to destroy any who should speak against him. Any god who needs the assistance of an earthly king in order to maintain his standing among men, is certainly not so great as the king, and the king who offers such assistance shows that that is his view of the matter. Nebuchadnezzar was just as much out of his place in seeking to enforce the worship of the true God, as in commanding the worship of his image. God himself does not compel men to worship him. He invites and seeks to win by a wondrous revelation of his own character, and he commissions every man who hears the invitation to invite others, but he does not need and will not accept the assistance of any earthly power to enforce obedience to him. Every such effort hinders rather than advances the kingdom of God in the earth. The state may make man a hypocrite, but only the creative power of God can make a man “a new creature.”
The last which we hear of these three men is that they were “promoted,” “in the province of Babylon.” When they stood before the angry king and witnessed for the true God, they had no assurance that they would not seal their testimony with their lives, but the flame of the furnace was to them simply the light of the glory of God in which their true character was revealed to the king of Babylon, who gave them the place to which their worth entitled them. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”