If you think this is about Rob Bell's new book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, then you will be disappointed. I haven't read the book nor do I plan to (although may break down eventually and read it).
I came across an interesting story the other day and have had a few thoughts about it, but I wanted to take some time to really delve into it and fully understand the story and how I could relate it to today. It's a familiar parable that most everyone has heard. It's about chocolate bunnies and disobedient fruit.
So there's this King. King Nebakanoozie or Barakahatrumpy or something.
Or King Nebuchadnezzar. That works too. (I had to research how to spell that.)
Anyways, this guy made this.. thing. The NIV says an image of gold. I'm guessing they mean a statue, because they say it's about 90 feet tall and about 9 feet wide. It doesn't really say what it looks like. It just says that it's about 90 feet tall and about 9 feet wide. It's big- you get the point.
So after- well, the Bible says HE made this statue, but I have a feeling it wasn't him. :) You know, like Pharaoh made the Pyramids. No he didn't. The Hebrews did.
But that's beside the point.
So Nebazeunheidt- I mean, Nebuchadnezzar, gathered all of the officials and nobles to the ends of his reign. He proceeds to tell them that they have to bow down and worship this great piece of metal (that just sits there, might I add). They have to bend their bodies- they have to 'fall down' whenever the music sounds- again, to worship this amazing piece of metal.
What do you think the king saw in this? All of his people- all of the people that he reigns over, are now not focused on him, but focused on something that only King Nebuchadnezzar has invested time and power into. How did he get everyone to listen to him?
He was a great leader! I mean, he got an entire nation to bow down and worship a silly little (or big) piece of solid metal! Precious metal, mind you!
Just kidding.
He gave his people an ultimatum. He told them that if they didn't bow down and worship, he would throw them into a 'blazing furnace'.
I don't know about you guys, but I hate the idea of burning to death. Unless they added a little salt and pepper..
A furnace (no doubt taken from the latin word fornax- meaning oven) from the 1st or 2nd century would look a little different than today's conventional 'oven'. Back then, it was called a blast furnace- chemicals and fuel are continuously supplied from the top while air is blown from the bottom- creating a whirlwind of chemical reactions (fires) that are taking place throughout the entire furnace.
To put it simply, if King Nebuchadnezzar was to drop you into the furnace, you would be dead before you hit the ground- that is, if there was anything left of you by then. My apologies for the gruesome details.
Anyways, to move the story along- the music played and the people bowed down. And the king was happy.
Until some nosey, tattletale Chaldeans (part of the Assyrian peoples- known for their high level of cruelty and torture) ran to the king and let him know that there were three jews who, when the music began to play, did not bow down.
So Neb summonned them. He was pretty straightforward with them- 'Either you bow down to my gods and my statue when my music plays, I will throw you into my blazing furnace. Then what god will save you then?'
King Neb gave them a second chance! They could have gone free and all could have been avoided.
But no.
They replied to him- 'We do not need to defend ourselves from this matter. Regardless of if our God saves us or not- we will not bow down to your god, we will not bow down to your statue, and we will not bow down to you.'
Now, you can understand how angry this made the king. In fact, it made him so angry that he ordered the furnace (which was already fatally hot enough) to be heated to seven times hotter than the usual.
So the guards roped up the three jews and took them to the top of the furnace so that they could fall into the heated abyss that Neb had created for them. In fact, the king had ordered it so hot that when the guards pushed the three men into the fire, the heat killed the guards.
So here is Nebuchadnezzar with a couple of cooked guards and a kingdom of people who will obey him.
And the four people in the furnace- we can't forget about them.
I mean really- did you think this story was going nowhere?
Nebuchadnezzar looks into the fire and sees four figures walking around.
Didn't he throw three in?
Why in the world are they walking around?
Who is this fourth person?
What? Wait, wait, wait. This isn't how it was supposed to go.
Guys drop in the furnace, furnace goes poof, guys go bye-bye. The end.
Or not. God had a different idea.
So now you've got these four guys walking around inside the furnace- so King Neb calls them out of the furnace. So the three men walk out of the furnace- unharmed.
Who was in the furnace?!
Well duh, silly. It was an angel. Haven't you heard these types of stories before?
King Nebuchadnezzar and the officers and nobles of the kingdom surrounded the three in awe of what had just happened. The king decrees that no harm be done to the three, on pain of death.
Right- so the king was gonna kill these guys, but when he finds out that their God is not one to pick a fight with, he protects them.
Sounds like a real wimp to me. Pushover.
But really- what was Jesus' point in telling this parable?
We have those above us in authority that have the power to create, to manipulate, to coerce, to reward, to do just about anything to make us do what they want us to do.
We have possessions that- whether intangible or tangible- defer our attention away from God.
Technology, communication, people, ideas, self. Those are a few of the idols I see worshipped today.
When I was a little boy, my family would all gather together and we would pray together.
But we wouldn't just stand there and hold hands or sit around the table and pray.
We would all physically bend down and fold our hands together and close our eyes and we would take turns, listening to each others prayers.
I'm not saying that there is something about doing that that makes it official- but I am saying that it makes it authentic.
We, as a family, kneeled- bowed- fell to God and worshipped him. Now, as we got older, we stopped doing that.
Or should I say, we stopped doing that together.
Often times, after crawling in bed and getting all warm and cozy, will crawl back out of bed and kneel by my bed and fold my hands and close my eyes and have one on one time with my God.
Sometimes I will wake up at 1am (even though it's 3am now) and crawl out of bed and say a quick prayer.
I just can't help myself but ask:
Where has the authenticity gone?
Where has our focus gone?
Where has our determination gone?
The questions are endless.
The answers?
Well, that's up to you.
