Daniel 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
This passage of scripture describes for us the amazing turnaround of Nebuchadnezzar's thoughts, after he realized that the Eternal God had made a signal interference in his own nefarious purposes to burn the three Hebrews alive, on account of their steadfast adherence to truth and principle. This humbling of himself before The God of heaven is indeed commendable, and it will be well if the teeming multitudes of earth's inhabitants will follow his lead, by humbling ourselves when the truth is brought home to our consciences in stark reality.
However, there is a deeper and much more serious issue that needs to be addressed, as it pertains to the restriction of the freedom of speech on the part of the king of Babylon, for he went to the other extreme end of enforcement by the law he instituted, to cut in pieces anyone who spoke anything against God. While his motives were good, yet his method was wrong, and did not bear the signature of heaven, because God does not restrict our freedom of choice or speech, even though we may speak and do things that are not in harmony with His revealed will. Nebuchadnezzar's methods therefore bring to light, a system of operation often employed by satan in stirring up evil, then moving upon human agents to enact laws which on the surface seem to be good, but are really contrary to God's principles and methods, and therefore we are under sacred obligation to study his devices, lest we be taken in the snare of legislated morality.
The king of Babylon, inspired by satan, first employed the use of force to coerce the three Hebrews into a false system of worship, and then when he was stopped dead in his tracks by The God of heaven, he again enlisted the use of force, to accomplish that which is inherently good. In other words, it is good for no person to speak anything against the Eternal God, but it is not good to cut in pieces anyone who does. God was not behind the first nor the second move, for the use of force in coercing our consciences does not originate with God, who has given to each of us the freedom of choice. This same method is often used in our day to put in place laws, which on the surface seem to be in the best interest of the people, and even religious in nature, but which under scrutiny, reveal that they do not bear the signature of heaven.
Case in point is the way the devil succeeded in legislating Sunday observance in America in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, for he first used a valid, evil reason to make the case for mandatory Sunday observance, before moving upon lawmakers to institute Sunday as the official day of rest, and those laws are still on the books in many states, only awaiting re-enforcement, when the mark of the beast will be instituted. Back then, in the early days of our nation, drinking alcohol had become a national epidemic, and in order to stem the tide of the evil that he himself had created, the adversary then recommended to legislators that a national day of rest will solve the situation, and consequently, many sincere Christians and politicians bought into the idea, which then produced the well-known Sunday blue laws that are still currently on the books.
The same method was used recently in getting legislators in many states to legalize the use of marijuana, for many people across the nation were really suffering with chronic pain, and so in order to alleviate the situation, he moved upon human agents to advocate for the use of "Weed", which we all know will not stop at use for chronic pain, but will cascade downward, to recreational use, then into a national epidemic of drug addiction, by which millions upon millions of people will ultimately lose their way. Satan's method is to inspire evil, then institute laws which seem to counteract it, and then those laws when fully adopted will produce much more evil, thus dragging the human race downward to perdition.
In our day we enjoy the freedom of speech, which is one of the features of American society which makes this country great. But the devil moves upon many individuals to abuse this freedom with the use of foul language, hateful, racist speech, and words used by extremists and radicals, to fan national instability and produce an atmosphere of insecurity. Then when he has brought the evil to the boiling point of a national crisis, he then moves upon some lawmakers to restrict the freedom of speech, and in doing so, the good news of salvation also gets greatly restricted in the process. It is now becoming a liability to speak in favor of the marriage institution as ordained by God, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, for in the near future, it will be considered a crime to speak anything "Amiss" against the mark of the beast when it is instituted.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us all to serve God in sincerity and truth, not succumbing to the device of legislated morality, nor moving the moral compass as stipulated in the scriptures, but living according to truths and principles of the revealed word of God alone. Let's read:
Titus 2:7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned" ........ 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!