(a) Explain how the faith of Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego was tested in Babylon. (b) Give four examples of cultural practices which are contrary to the Ch...

(a) How the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was tested in Babylon (Daniel 3)

• King Nebuchadnezzar set up an enormous golden image on the plain of Dura and issued a decree that at the sound of music everyone must fall down and worship it.
• Anyone who refused to bow was to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace.
• Certain Chaldeans accused the three Hebrews before the king, reporting that they neither served his gods nor worshipped the golden image.
• Nebuchadnezzar, in fury, summoned them and gave them a second chance to bow, threatening the furnace and asking which god could deliver them from his hand.
• They boldly replied that their God was able to deliver them, but even if He did not, they would still not serve the king's gods nor worship the image.
• Enraged, the king ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter; it was so hot that the soldiers who cast them in were killed by the flames.
• The three fell bound into the fire, yet the king was astonished to see four men walking unbound in the flames, the fourth like a son of the gods.
• They came out unharmed, not a hair singed, no smell of fire on them; the king blessed their God and promoted them.

(b) Four cultural practices contrary to the Christian faith in our society

• Idol worship and worship of ancestral gods.
• Consulting oracles, diviners, witchcraft and juju.
• Human sacrifice and the killing of twins.
• Harmful widowhood rites and forced female genital mutilation.