Daniel 3:1-30 [+/-]Daniel 3
[3:1]King Nebuchadnezzar 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.
[2]Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather 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 that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. [3]Then the
satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors,
the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the
officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of
the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they
stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
[4]And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O
peoples, nations, and languages, [5]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 Nebuchadnezzar has set up. [6]And
whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be
cast into a burning fiery furnace." [7]Therefore, as soon
as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre,
trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the
peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the
golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
[8]Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward
and maliciously accused the Jews. [9]They declared to King
Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! [10]You, O king,
have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of
the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind
of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.
[11]And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be
cast into a burning fiery furnace. [12]There are certain
Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the
province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These
men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve
your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
[13]Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought
these men before the king. [14]Nebuchadnezzar answered and
said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the
golden image that I have set up? [15]Now if you are ready
when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon,
harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and
worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if
you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a
burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver
you out of my hands?"
[16]Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to
the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you
in this matter. [17]If this 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. [18]But if not,
be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your
gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
[19]Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the
expression of his face was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven
times more than it was usually heated. [20]And he ordered
some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning
fiery furnace. [21]Then these men were bound in their
cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments,
and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.
[22]Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace
overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took
up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. [23]And these three
men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the
burning fiery furnace.
[24]Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up
in haste. He declared to his counselors, "Did we not cast
three men bound into the fire?" They answered and said to
the king, "True, O king." [25]He answered and said, "But I
see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like
a son of the gods."
[26]Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the
burning fiery furnace; he declared, "Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come
here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from
the fire. [27]And the satraps, the prefects, the governors,
and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that
the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those
men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks
were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
[28]Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed be the God
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel
and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set
aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies
rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
[29]Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or
language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and
their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who
is able to rescue in this way." [30]Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
(ESV)
INTRODUCTION: Â Two major truths emerge out of this chapter. Â First, God is showing us how Nebuchadnezzar is being brought to an increasingly dawning awareness of how great and mighty is the God of Israel. Â The book opens with God showing the king that He has the ability to show his servants the meaning of dreams and the King honors God. Â This chapter will go a step further and this king will acknowledge God as the One who is above and over all the other gods and then in chapter four God will be acknowledged as the great King whose kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. Â The second truth that emerges out of this chapter is the response of the three to the king that God is able to deliver them but even if He does not it is because He wills not to deliver them and they will serve God in accordance with His will. Â What these three say to the king belongs among those great sayings of the Bible such as Mordecai reminding Esther that her going to the king in behalf of her people may in fact cost her her life, but God may well have brought her to Persia for such a time as this.
I.  The Golden Image:  The Power of Idolatry  3:1-7
A.  The image of gold signifies the King’s own interpretation of the dream.  He makes the image entirely of gold to assert his absolute supremacy over every king that has come before him and every king that will come after him.  He is saying that his is the eternal and everlasting kingdom.  Babylon will be forever!
1. Â The size of the image and the space upon which it is placed both speak volumes about the arrogance of the king. Â The statue was ninety feet high and nine feet wide. Â This is no small image, and all of pure gold. Â It was both very expansive and very expensive. Â The plain of Dura where the image was placed was located about six miles south of Babylon and is roughly equivalent to the location of the plain in Shinar where the tower of Babel was built (
Genesis 11 [+/-]Genesis 11
[11:1]Now the whole earth had one language and the same
words. [2]And as people migrated from the east, they found
a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [3]And
they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and
burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and
bitumen for mortar. [4]Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens,
and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed
over the face of the whole earth." [5]And the LORD came
down to see the city and the tower, which the children of
man had built. [6]And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one
people, and they have all one language, and this is only
the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they
propose to do will now be impossible for them. [7]Come, let
us go down and there confuse their language, so that they
may not understand one another's speech." [8]So the LORD
dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth,
and they left off building the city. [9]Therefore its name
was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the
language of all the earth. And from there the LORD
dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
[10]These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100
years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the
flood. [11]And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500
years and had other sons and daughters.
[12]When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered
Shelah. [13]And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah
403 years and had other sons and daughters.
[14]When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.
[15]And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and
had other sons and daughters.
[16]When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg.
[17]And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and
had other sons and daughters.
[18]When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu.
[19]And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had
other sons and daughters.
[20]When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug.
[21]And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had
other sons and daughters.
[22]When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor.
[23]And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and
had other sons and daughters.
[24]When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah.
[25]And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and
had other sons and daughters.
[26]When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram,
Nahor, and Haran.
[27]Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah
fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
[28]Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the
land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. [29]And Abram
and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran
the father of Milcah and Iscah. [30]Now Sarai was barren;
she had no child.
[31]Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran,
his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son
Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the
Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came
to Haran, they settled there. [32]The days of Terah were
205 years, and Terah died in Haran. (ESV)
). Â This tower was built for two purposes: Â to assert their own power and to keep themselves from being scattered over all the earth. Â They wanted something to keep them together so that they could move forward in pursuing their own purpose. Â What was the plan on plain of Shinar is the same as the plain of Dura and both are frustrated by God.
B.  Nebuchadnezzar gathered all the leading officials and all the leading musicians.  It is no accident that the number for the list of officials and the number for the musicians is seven.  Nebuchadnezzar has created a sovereign image and has as he sees it the perfect plan to consolidate his power and the power of his kingdom for years to come.  We know something of what the king was thinking from a document that has been recovered from this period that reads, “beside my statue as king I wrote and inscription mentioning my name I erected for posterity.  May future kings respect the monument, remember the praise of the gods.  He who respects my royal name who does not abrogate my statues, change my decrees, his throne shall be secure, his life last long, his dynasty shall continue.â€
II. Â The Fiery Furnace, 3:8-30
A.  The Accusation, 3:8-12.  The key to this section is the word “maliciously†in verse 8.  What makes the accusation and malicious accusation?  We must read this account in conjunction with accounts like Esther and Joseph etc. because what is the essence of “malicious†here is the essence of “malicious†everywhere else.  And every one of us is very capable of it.
1.  The phrase “the Jews†indicates an animosity toward these men that was there and had been building.  Were they jealous of them?  Was there position a threat to these men?  Who is it in our lives that evokes this kind of suspicion?
2.  They are too affirming of the king and his authority.  They come to him with compliments but are not so sure of what he might do so that they remind  him of his decree.  They know what they want and they know what they must do to get it.  This is manipulation at its most marvelous.  Do we do this kind of thing when we want something from somebody so we have one person go to the other to say one thing and another go to say another so we can get that person to do what we want them to do.  If this kind of thing was sinful then, why isn’t it sinful any more?
3. Â They accuse the Jews of ingratitude and impiety, 12. Â He has given them leading positions and they neither honor him nor his gods.
B.  The Confrontation  3:13-25
1. Â Here we come face to face with the focal point of this passage. Â Nebuchadnezzar is in a rage and confronts the three. He gives them an opportunity to repent but they use the opportunity to respond to him out of who they are as children of God.
2. Â Their response found in verses 16-18 includes three elements. Â First, they want him to know that they do not have to respond to him. Â He is not their king. Â They are owned by another. Â They will give him the courtesy of a response but they are not compelled to respond. Â Second, they do not ever doubt that God is able to deliver them. Â He can throw them in and He can snatch them out. Â Third, they are submissive to His will which could be deliverance or destruction but either way they remain decisively devoted to God. Â
Isaiah 43:1-7 [+/-]Isaiah 43:1-7
[43:1]But now thus says the LORD,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
[2]When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
[3]For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
[4]Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
[5]Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
[6]I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
[7]everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
.
3. Â Nebuchadnezzar is in a rage and orders the furnace heated to seven times what is normal and he ordered the three men to be bound and thrown into the furnace. Â One of the supreme ironies here is that those whose lives were being lost were saved and those whose lives were being saved were in fact destroyed. Â So fierce was the heat that when the men threw them in, the men were killed.
4. Â The king saw a fourth man in the fire and recognized him as one like a son of the gods. Â What about his appearance caused him to come to this conclusion?
C. Â The Culmination, 3:26-30
1. Â Nebuchadnezzar called out the three men and affirmed them as servants of the Most High God. Â This term is the highest affirmation that he has yet used of God. Â What he king sees along with all the other officials is that the fire had not harmed them, their hair was not singed, and their clothes had no smell of smoke. Â Nebuchadnezzar affirms who they are as the servants of he Most High God.
2. Â Nebuchadnezzar blesses their God as the one who sent his angel to deliver them because they chose to obey their God rather than men. Â He honors their God by issuing a warning against anyone who would dare to speak anything against the god of these three.
3. Â Nebuchanezzar promoted these men to an even more prominent place.
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INTRODUCTION: Â Two major truths emerge out of this chapter. Â First, God is showing us how Nebuchadnezzar is being brought to an increasingly dawning awareness of how great and mighty is the God of Israel. Â The book opens with God showing the king that He has the ability to show his servants the meaning of dreams and the King honors God. Â This chapter will go a step further and this king will acknowledge God as the One who is above and over all the other gods and then in chapter four God will be acknowledged as the great King whose kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. Â The second truth that emerges out of this chapter is the response of the three to the king that God is able to deliver them but even if He does not it is because He wills not to deliver them and they will serve God in accordance with His will. Â What these three say to the king belongs among those great sayings of the Bible such as Mordecai reminding Esther that her going to the king in behalf of her people may in fact cost her her life, but God may well have brought her to Persia for such a time as this.
I.  The Golden Image:  The Power of Idolatry  3:1-7
A.  The image of gold signifies the King’s own interpretation of the dream.  He makes the image entirely of gold to assert his absolute supremacy over every king that has come before him and every king that will come after him.  He is saying that his is the eternal and everlasting kingdom.  Babylon will be forever! Read more here! »
