Have you ever faced death? Have you ever faced death. I mean, have you ever looked death square in the eye and lived to tell about it? The Bible captures several “cheating death” stories. In Daniel 3. speak of the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. No doubt, some of you remember them from Sunday school as being called The Three Hebrew Children. This took place in what is now Iraq is possibly the oldest continually inhabited piece of real estate on the face of the earth. It is believed by many that the area was the birthplace of civilization; that the Garden of Eden was quite possibly there. History seems to point to an advanced civilization in the region some 4,000 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. This makes the region much older in history than Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Some of the people that lived there include: Adam and Eve and their children, Noah was probably from somewhere in the general area, Abraham originated from Ur which was in the region as well. Jacob, who later became Israel, spent at least two decades of his life there. You might also recall that it was there that Cain killed his brother in what was history’s first murder. The Bible mentions that Nimrod (Genesis 10) was from Babel. He was a warrior thus we see that the first wars were fought there. I imagine that some of you would also recognize the names of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus. Each one were kings over this area. Down through the centuries this part of the world has been known as: Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Assyria. The evil city of Nineveh – remember Jonah was dispatched there — was once the capital of Assyria. While here, I want to take an additional moment to note that the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) — where God confused the languages – was there too. In time, Babel became known as Babylon and the region about the city became known as Babylonia. At one time Babylonia was thought to be the largest city in the world with a population of perhaps as many as two million people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had amazing courage and faith. They were unlike the two boys years ago that walked into the dentist’s office. The older of the two boys said, “Doc, will you pull a tooth right this minute?” The dentist replied, “You mean you don’t want any gas or Novocain?” The boy said, “Nope! Just one big yank!” The doctor replied, “Sure! That’s what I call being brave and courageous. Now show me the tooth you want pulled.” The boy turned to his little brother and said, “Come here Wilfred and show the Doc your tooth.” Daniel 3:16-18 gives us the response of, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us. I would say these boys knew their God.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:58:53 +0000
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