DANIEL CHAPTER 3

Unwilling to bow down in front of Nebuchadnezzar's golden idol, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
All this took place in what we now call Iraq. For millennia that country has had oil just oozing out of the ground, something like The Beverly Hillbillies. It had a profound impact on the region’s economy, touching Egypt (they preserved their dead with pitch) and Rome (Mark Antony gave the oil-trading city of Petra to Cleopatra) Nebuchadnezzar's long-ago furnace may have been fueled by a petroleum seep.

I've been reading the Bible's apocalyptic writings (Daniel, Isaiah, Revelation) lately.
Daniel spans the life of a high-born man. Taken into exile in Babylon (now the country known as Iraq) while still a youth, he retains his identity where many of his co-religionists become anomic. As he becomes indispensable to the king's administration he receives heavenly messages that look forward centuries to the coming of Christ and Judgement Day. By the end of his life he sees the return to Jerusalem.

I've also combined this fascination end-times with the MP3 functionality on my PDA.

Ray C. Stedman of the Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA has some messages on Daniel (dating from 1969!) I like what he says. I also like that the material is timeless, 1969 or a thousand years ago the Bible’s message does not change, unlike the Inconstant Constants of scientific theory.

Chapter 3 Excerpts
(MP3)

King Nebuchadnez'zar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnez'zar sent to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnez'zar had set up.
...And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnez'zar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace."
...Then Nebuchadnez'zar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego be brought. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnez'zar said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up?
...Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego answered the king, "O Nebuchadnez'zar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."