Daniel – Chapter 3
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar erects an image and demands all worship it. The image is erected. There is considerable debate regarding when this happened; some think it was a short time after chapter 2; others think it was many years. The image was more like a stylized obelisk than a normal statue (90' high; 9' wide); and it was not pure gold, but probably wood overlaid with gold (a customary method of construction in Old Testament times). There is a discernible link between chapters 2 and 3; we see Nebuchadnezzar's attempt to be the entire statue, and to defeat God's declared plan. "On the plains of Dura there stands today, a rectilinear mound, about twenty feet high, an exact square of about forty-six feet at the base, resembling the pedestal of a colossal statue."
Daniel 3:2-3 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
All of Babylonia's dignitaries are gathered at the dedication ceremony of the image. Satrap is a Persian loan-word which means "protector of the realm"; it refers to a specific category of public officials. Nebuchadnezzar's motive was to use the worship of this image as a unifying pledge of allegiance to his god (Nebo); and thus to him and his state. Politicians have always wanted to use some type (any type) of religion to strengthen their grip on the people. In 1960, the President of Ghana had a slightly larger than life-size statue of himself erected in front of the nation house of Parliament. An inscription on the side of the statue read, "Seek ye first the political kingdom and all other things shall be added unto you." The statue was destroyed after a bloodless coup in 1966.
In 1936, Herr Baldur von Schirach, head of the youth program in Nazi Germany, said: "If we act as true Germans we act according to the laws of God. Whoever serves Adolf Hitler, the fuehrer, serves Germany, and whoever serves Germany serves God."
Daniel 3:4-6 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, [That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
The command to worship the image. Some of the musical instruments are difficult to define precisely; but the idea is clear. Some have objected to Daniel's authorship of the book because he uses Aramaic words that were borrowed from Greek words ("lyre," "psaltery," and "symphony" in 3:5, 7, 10, and 15). Supposedly, Daniel would not have had these Aramaic/Greek words at his disposal in the sixth century BC, and they would not have come into the Hebrew vocabulary until the third century BC. Ancient records however, tell us that there were Greeks in the region of Assyria, Babylon and Persia as far back as the eighth century BC!
As well, archaeology proves beyond a doubt that Greek mercenaries were fighting and making military settlements in and around Judea even before the time of Daniel.
The command is empowered by a naked threat; refusal would be high treason. Nebuchadnezzar was not a man to allow a law breaker to go unpunished. In a cuneiform writing, Nebuchadnezzar is described as so devoted to justice that "he did not rest night or day." The document also tells of a criminal guilty of a second offense, who was decapitated and a stone image of his head was displayed as a warning.
Daniel 3:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down [and] worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
The crowd reacts to the command. Literally, verse seven reads: As soon as they were hearing they were falling down. There was total and immediate obedience to Nebuchadnezzar's command!
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Daniel 3:8-12 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, [that] he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Three Hebrew men refuse the demand. The accusation of the Chaldeans against the three Hebrew men. Obviously, the Chaldeans had a political motivation against these Jews who had been promoted to high office along with Daniel in chapter 2. A jealous rage was the driving force behind their accusations, even though they were true.
Daniel 3:13-15 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Nebuchadnezzar interviews the disobedient Hebrew young men. To his credit, Nebuchadnezzar will not accept the accusation against these men on hearsay evidence; he wants to make sure of it. But there was no way that Nebuchadnezzar was going to lose face at such an important occasion; so his pride made him declare, "You shall have no other gods than me." Nebuchadnezzar thinks nothing of insulting all gods (who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?); he is more a secularist or a humanist than a theist; the god he really believes in is himself, not the gods of Babylon nor obviously the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob .
Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee 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 thine hand, O king.But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
The three Hebrew young men insist they will never worship the image, no matter what the consequences. They have no need to defend themselves; their guilt in the matter is clear - they simply will not bow down to this image. They had a clear grasp of God's omnipotence (our God whom we serve is able), and His sovereignty (He will deliver us . . . But if not); they show both faith and submission. Often Christians whine too much about their "rights" and what is "fair"; it is sometimes preferable to make a stand and take your lumps, leaving your fate in God's hands. They would not presume to doubt God's ability.
With Job, they would say:
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15).
These men recognized that God's will might be different than their desires; I have my own desires and dreams, and I pray that God fulfills them. But if He doesn't, I can't turn my back on Him. God’s ways are higher than ours and different from ours. That is part of what faith and trust is all about.
They had great faith to be able to say this; and God used the smaller things of obedience to prepare them for the big things. These men stood firm when challenged to eat food that was polluting, according to their law, and they saw God bless their obedience. That gave them the courage to obey now, when the stakes were much higher. Are you waiting for something "big" before you really start to obey God? Is your life filled with a hundred little compromises?
Start today, walking in obedience with the small stuff in your life, if you don’t when it comes to the really big stuff, you will find you have neither the faith nor the backbone to rest in the promises of God.
What they did not have was excuses. In a testing such as this, the excuses come flooding in on us. There is nothing to gain by resisting; wouldn't we do more good by living? It is easy to say, "we must live," but in reality, we all must die - so why not die making a stand for God? We are in a different place; the world presses us to follow the adage: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Does God have limited jurisdiction? Do you only "perform" religiously when you have an audience that knows you? We will lose our jobs and our standard of living. Often when God has blessed us, we make the blessing an idol, and compromise God to keep our "blessings". After all, we are not being called to renounce our God. They might have had a super-elastic conscience; one that would say, "we are not bowing down to the idol, but in respect for the king, or to the music." But anything, in fact, will serve as an excuse, when the heart is bent on compromise. Everybody else is doing it. We must cultivate brave personalities, willing to stand alone; willing to swim up stream when everyone else is swimming down stream. Can you say with your heart, "though none go with me, yet still I will follow?" It is only for once, and not for very long. Ten minutes, just for the king. It is stupid to throw our lives away for ten minutes. But ten minutes can change your whole life, nay ten minutes can change your entire eternity; ten minutes can chart the course of your eternity. This is more than can be expected of us; God will understand just this once. You are right; God does understand; that is why He loves the sinner, and has made provision at the cross for you to overcome your sin. "God understands" should be a spur to obedience, not provide us with a license to sin.
These were men who did not love too much. As in the Revelation they did not love their life unto the death, they were willing to give up their lives right then and right there without even so much as flinching. There are popular self-help books that have that thought; Women Who Love Too Much, etc.; but many Christians are willing to love too much. Early Christians were thrown to the lions, not so much because they worshipped Jesus, but because they refused to worship the emperor. This is the challenge of our day; many do love Jesus and think highly of him. But their worship is corrupted because it is directed towards so many other things. You can love too much; you can worship too much; you can serve too much.
Daniel 3:19-23 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
The three Hebrew young men in the fiery furnace. They are cast violently into the furnace. Everything is done to make sure that they are quickly and completely burned!
Daniel 3:24-25 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, [and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Nebuchadnezzar sees them, along with another Person, alive and well in the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar tells us who the fourth Person with them was: the Son of God; the pre-incarnate Christ was literally walking around with them in the worst of their trial. Nebuchadnezzar also noted that they were loose and walking in the midst of the fire; all the fire destroyed was their bonds, it did their bodies and their clothes no harm. Why even the smell of smoke was not upon them when they came out.
Daniel 3:26-27 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
The Hebrew men leave the furnace and are found to be unharmed. The fact that they did not even have the smell of fire on them shows what a miracle this was. The "fourth man" (Jesus) never came out of the furnace with the three; I wonder if the three Hebrews knew He was there all the time? Sometimes Jesus' presence with us during trial is very real, but quite invisible. Sometimes we do not realize it until after the trial is over and the fact we were able to persevere and endure is proof of His presence.
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.
Aftermath. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the greatness of the God of the three Hebrews. But notice: He is clearly their God, not his; Jesus means little to us until we can say with Thomas:
"My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).
The miraculous work right in front of his eyes impressed him, but his heart was still not changed.
Daniel 3:29 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.
Nebuchadnezzar makes a proclamation that nothing evil should be said against the God of the Hebrews. This also is Nebuchadnezzar's recognition of God's effective rebuke: God's image, with only a head of gold, is the true one; Nebuchadnezzar's self-glorying image entirely made of gold isn't valid.
Daniel 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
The three young Hebrew men are promoted. Their decision to take a stand and walk in obedience to the word of God brought power with God (obviously) and favor with man.
We can suggest Nebuchadnezzar as a type of the Antichrist, who forces the whole world into one religion of idolatrous worship. Revelation 13 also describes an image which the Antichrist will demand the world worship. The fiery furnace is a type of the tribulation, which will be great affliction for the Jews - the tribulation is also called the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). The Hebrew men are a type of Israel, who will be preserved through the tribulation. The executioners who perished are a type of those in league with the Antichrist, who Jesus will slay at His return. Where was Daniel? Perhaps ill; perhaps away on state business; but his absence is significant. Why would a pseudo-Daniel leave him out? Nebuchadnezzar may have been prevented from such a foolish thing if Daniel were present. His absence completes an interesting type; Daniel is a type of the church, who isn't even present! One last type: Nebuchadnezzar as a type of Satan, trying to force believers to bow down to his own image of what men and women should be, instead of God's image.