A Story of God and All of Us Young Reade - By Roma Downey Page 0,28

and soldiers of Babylon assemble on the plain. The subject of all this exuberant commotion is a giant golden statue. It is ninety feet tall and nine feet wide.

Now Nebuchadnezzar raises his royal arm. This is the signal the trumpeters have been waiting for. A single note floats through the air. Instantly, the crowds grow silent and drop to their knees in worship of the statue and Nebuchadnezzar. Everyone bows: chief priests, soldiers, Jews, Babylonians. Everyone.

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Daniel's worst fears are made manifest as his friends Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah refuse to bow. They alone remain standing, refusing to honor any god but their own. "With all our heart, we follow you," Azariah prays aloud to the God of Abraham.

The trumpeters lower their horns. The desert plain is silent save for the screaming of the chief priests, who are demanding that the three faithful Jews fall to their knees.

"We fear and seek your presence," the prayer continues. This time the words come from the mouth of Mischael.

Now guards are wading into the crowd, eager to beat on the slaves. But the three of them remain standing. Daniel looks on from the distance. "Oh, my dear friends. Your faith will be tested now," he marvels to himself.

Even as Daniel speaks, the guards seize his friends. Daniel follows close behind as Nebuchadnezzar bolts from his throne and makes his way out from his shaded awning. The crowd parts instantly as the king strides toward the rebels. Daniel hurries alongside. Ahead of him, he sees his friends'

hands being bound.

"They will serve you faithfully all their lives, as I will," Daniel reassures Nebuchadnezzar, searching for the soothing words that will calm the king.

"But--"

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"Your friends will bow--or I will make them bow," he replies.

But even when the guards try to force the three Israelites to their knees, they do not utter a word of worship to King Nebuchadnezzar. They seem fearless, which unleashes the king's legendary temper.

Daniel does not fear for his friends any longer, for he knows that God is near.

He sees the silhouette of a fourth figure standing guard over Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah. The fiery silhouette offers a blessing to the three men.

This is not an apparition that only Daniel can see. Nebuchadnezzar's face has grown white as he sees this mysterious presence. His chief priests are mumbling incantations, summoning their own gods to protect them. These men have claimed to be spiritual their whole lives, and yet this is the first time they've actually seen and felt the presence of God.

"The Lord hears my weeping. The Lord hears my cries for mercy. The Lord accepts my prayers," Daniel prays.

Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah are completely unharmed. Tears in his eyes, Daniel gives a humble thanks to God.

As his chief priests turn and leave, desperate to escape any wrath that this God of Daniel's might

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want to inflict, Nebuchadnezzar sinks to his knees. He grasps Daniel's leg in an act of supplication and something else. Something for which Daniel has

prayed for many, many years.

That something is faith. Nebuchadnezzar is deeply impressed by the power of God.

In the grandstand of Nebuchadnezzar's folly, God showed up. His power is there for the entire world to see. Guided by Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar soon allows the captive Jews to worship their God in peace.

Twenty-three years after Nebuchadnezzar's death, a new king gallops toward Babylon. He rides a splendid white horse and leads an army tens of thousands strong. This man is from the east, and he wears a heavy gold crown, lest anyone not know that he is king. For three years, this king of all Persia has swept across the land. He has conquered everything in his path, and now he rides forth to take control of Babylon. This is his greatest prize of all: his gateway to the west and the south, possessor of the plundered riches of Egypt and Israel.

High on a tower in the center of the city, Daniel stands among a group of royal ministers, watching the coming army. Among the group are his lifelong 116

friends Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah. They are all in their sixties now, and they have spent the vast majority of their lives in this foreign land. But they do not call it home. They never will. They don't fear the new king--they welcome him. To them, he is a liberator. Daniel has studied the new king and knows that the people in every territory that the Persian conquers have been left free to live and worship in their own traditions. Daniel