Noah.
15And God spoke to Noah, saying, 16Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you. 17Bring forth every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the ground--that they may breed abundantly on the land and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.18And Noah went forth, and his wife and his sons and their wives with him [after being in the ark one year and ten days].19Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird--and whatever moves on the land--went forth by families out of the ark.20And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean [four-footed] animal and of every clean fowl or bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.21When the Lord smelled the pleasing odor [a scent of satisfaction to His heart], the Lord said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination (the strong desire) of man's heart is evil and wicked from his youth; neither will I ever again smite and destroy every living thing, as I have done.22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:15-22 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Beloved Noah was a human being like you and me. He lived in the days of numerous evils, like today. The bible recorded that he was the only righteous man in the midst of evil inhabitants of the Earth. He refused to be corrupted. He was the only preacher who kept on preaching that human-kind should repent. As you know, nobody listened to him until the wrath of God visited them. God destroyed the men and women of his generation and every living thing on Earth and except Noah, his household and the animals on the ark.
Noah and his household were in the Ark of God for one year and ten days. Child of God, the story here was not just that God saved Noah and his family from a mere accident or disaster but from destruction that wiped away what was known as the Earth of his days. All that he used to know before was destroyed and the memory lingered in his mind for the remainder of his lifetime. He was horrified, terrified and traumatized.
What did Noah do after surviving this disaster that nearly claimed his life and the members of his family; and which was worse than the devastating effects of any modern day Tsunami or hurricane Katrina can wreck? The bible said he bowed down, worshipped God and offered a sacrifice to Most High God. Noah did not take credit for his survival; he did not give glory to himself for building the Ark nor to his ingenuity, skilfulness and master craftsmanship. He simply gave glory to God, offered a sacrifice and served Him.
Reward. What was the reward of Noah? Let’s see his reward from Almighty God:
1And God pronounced a blessing upon Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.2And the fear of you and the dread and terror of you shall be upon every beast of the land, every bird of the air, all that creeps upon the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are delivered into your hand. 3Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables and plants, I give you everything. Genesis 9:1-3 Amplified Bible (AMP)
God blessed him. God re-established the covenant He made with Adam with Noah, with a charge to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. God commanded every other living thing to fear and dread Noah. God restored all the lost glory and dignity of man back to Noah; all because he was righteous and thankful.
Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was a king who lived and ruled in a different era from Noah’s. He was the king of Babylon. His case was a story of a man that started nicely and ended up badly because of pride. Hence I would want us to study his case in detail for there are a lot of lessons to learn from his story.
During his days, God decided to use him to teach his chosen people a lesson for their sins. Remember he was a gentile, a sinner, and an unbeliever but God decided to use him to punish His people. The following scripture details how God commissioned him for this task through a dream.
37You, O king, are king of the [earthly] kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory.38And wherever the children of men dwell, and the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens--He has given them into your hand and has made you to rule over them all. You [king of Babylon] are the head of gold” (Daniel 2:37-38 Amplified Bible).
He was merciless and discharged this mandate with horror and dread. He took the people of God captive, he destroyed Jerusalem and desecrated the temple of the Most High God and took the most holy things of God to Babylon and placed them in the temple of his idols. However to his credit he allowed everybody to practice his or her religion. There was freedom of religion and worship. Babylon was an ancient example of the secular world. But when pride came upon him he forgot how good God was to him and how Great the Most High God is. He forgot he was just a mere channel, a tool and an instrument in God’s hand He wanted to use to accomplish His purpose on earth at that period in time.
In Daniel 2,God made him ruler of all the earth and gave him absolute power and authority. Soon pride began to reign and rule his life. Let’s see what he did: one of the first abominable things he did was to build a gold statue and commanded that all should worship it and whoever refused would be thrown into a furnace of fire. Again, the bible puts it this way:
Nebuchadnezzar's Gold Statue
1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, 90 feet high and nine feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.2 King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up. Then they stood before the statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up.4 A herald loudly proclaimed, "People of every nation and language, you are commanded: 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire." (Daniel 3: 1-6 Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Then his advisers told him certain Jews – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego- refused to serve his god of statue. He was full of anger and summoned them, and said:
14 “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up”( Daniel 3:14-18 New Living Translation ).
He was so furious by their reply that he ordered them to be thrown into fire. So Nebuchadnezzar’s men tied up and threw these three Hebrew youth into blazing fire after making it seven times hotter than usual.But what happen? The almighty God who is the God of gods, the maker of Heaven and Earth, the maker and owner of every soul, including that of Nebuchadnezzar, stepped up and proved Himself. He saved the three innocent youths from being hurt or burned to death in the fire. He is God! Praise the LORD! Let all bow down, worship and serve Him, and Him alone.
The bible said Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up and said in wonder and amazement to his counselors,
24 “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”(Daniel 3:24-25 New King James Version)
He came near the furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!
Beloved the question is, do we need the God Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worshiped to save us from death, or a death sentence or a furnace of fire for us to believe He is the Most High God like Nebuchadnezzar? Do miracles, signs and wonders ever make the proud to believe in God or repent? We shall see as we continue to study and take a closer look at king Nebuchadnezzar’s case. I am signing off here. In our next post we will continue from where we stopped. Thanks and God Bless.
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