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Daniel Chapter 3
When things get
hot!
By I Gordon
Introduction
Daniel chapter 3 is a well known and well loved chapter in the Bible. It
contains things we all like in a story... 90 foot idols, furious kings, fiery
furnaces hot enough to kill people who are just passing by... That sort of
thing. When we left our friends at the end of chapter two everything was going
along very nicely. Daniel and his three amigos Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were
exalted to a position of privilege and power in
A defiant image
Dan 3:1-6 King Nebuchadnezzar made an
image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the
plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps,
prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the
other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set
up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges,
magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication
of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
Now where do you think they got this idea from? While the Bible doesn't
say exactly what the image was of, many commentators have suggested that the
king would have been inspired by the vision that he had had in chapter 2 and
created an image of a man. The Bible states it was all in gold. You may
remember from chapter 2 that in the dream of the statue he was the head of gold
but he also learned that this head of gold would come to an end. It is therefore
likely that king Nebuchadnezzar had this image set entirely in gold to indicate
that his Babylonian empire would never perish or be conquered. While this is
speculation, knowing the pride of Nebuchadnezzar it's probably on the
money. So the king gathers all his leaders in preparation of some grand
dedication. Seems like something big is on the cards!
“ The times, they are a changin’ ”
Dan 3:4-7 Then the herald loudly
proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men
of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the
image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down
and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” Therefore,
as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all
kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down
and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
This passage and event constitutes a change for the lives of all Jews
exiled in
When the world puts you on the spot!
Dan 2:7-15 Therefore, as soon as they
heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music,
all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the
image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. At this time some
astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King
Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You have issued a decree, O king, that
everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and
all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that
whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.
But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the
So what do you do? You've been led into captivity to a foreign country
and suddenly the king, whose favourite saying is that he will 'tear you limb
from limb and turn your house into rubble', is commanding that you fall down
and worship this golden oversized monstrosity. You know that to do so will
break the first two commandments in that you should not have any other 'gods'
or idols. There are times when Christians have to disobey the law of the land
when it goes against what is being commanded by God. There are times, in the
words of the apostle Peter, that 'we must obey God and not men' (see Acts
4:18-20, 5:27-29). Believers, like me who live in the west are not used to
persecution for their faith. We are not used to our freedom to preach the
gospel being in question. But persecution because of the name of Jesus is
coming to the western nations. The opening question of what do you do when
you're put on the spot is only going to become more and more relevant.
Especially for those who the Bible tells us will face this very thing in the
last days.[2]
So we've left our three friends with quite a decision to make. The horns
of a dilemma you might say. The king, without a hint of a smile on his face has
just challenged them with 'if you do not worship it, you will be thrown
immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you
from my hand?' So it seems that the king has already forgotten about the God of
Daniel and his friends that he was introduced to in chapter 2. So here is the
moment of choice for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
True faith in the face of the fire
Dan 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend
ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace,
the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your
hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that
we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
What amazing faith our three amigos had! Having committed themselves to
the God of Israel[3],
God now commits Himself to them and supplies[4] the
boldness and strength to stand and defy the king! What an amazing testimony
they gave[5]. How do
you think the king would respond? What’s is going to happen to these three
little worms that don’t want to go along with this new one world religion?
Dan 3:19-23 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious
with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He
ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of
the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and
throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes,
trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing
furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the
flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
It is about now that we are reminded that God’s ways are not our ways!
You can probably imagine the prayer groups leaping into action as Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego are lead away. If we were a fly on the wall it might have
gone something like this:
Prayer Group: “Oh Lord, we beseech thee, change
Nebuchadnezzar’s heart!”
God: “No”
Prayer Group: “Oh Lord, don’t let your faithful
servants be thrown in the fire… please, think of their families!”
God: “I want them thrown in the fire”
Prayer Group: “Oh Lord, they’re getting close, um… I
command the flames to be gone in Jesus name!”
God: “My child, it is my will and desire that they go
through the flames – I have something for them but it is only found in the
midst of the fire.”
If you think about it, probably 95% of your prayer life is spent telling
God what He should do. But God didn’t take the fire away. He can, and sometimes
does, but in my experience he usually has a purpose in letting people go
through the fire. So let’s look at that very purpose:
The purpose for the flames
Dan 3:24-25 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped
to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men
that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.” He
said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed,
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
What a result! In direct fulfilment of Isaiah 43:2 the flames didn't
even touch them! In fact, the only thing burnt by the flames were the ropes
that the king had used to bind our three friends! That is God for ya! He can
even use a nasty trial to free us from the things that would seek to bind us.
And notice why it was that they were able to come through this fiery trial
(quite literally!) intact - because one like 'a son of the gods' was with them.
That is Jesus, who is with His people through their trials.[6] So what
was God’s purpose for the flames?
Dan 3:26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the
opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
"But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego yelled back saying "Na,
na, naaa! You come on in where we are!' Ok, so that's not their real response
but it would have been a good one! Here is the real one -
Dan 3:26-30 So Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal
advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their
bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched,
and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be
to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and
rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and
were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except
their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who
say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into
pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can
save in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in
the
Nebuchadnezzar was obviously, and rightfully, blown away! Probably
couldn't believe his eyes but one thing he knew for sure is that the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was unlike any other 'god' he had come across
before! And so, our three friends received a job promotion. Form zero to hero
you might say. Straight from the depths of the fire and into a new job ruling
over the provinces of
Praise be to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who
through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of
trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in
praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love
him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled
with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your
faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
[1] I see a parallel coming for the church in the west. Things seem to be moving from being influenced to being persecuted. We are moving from Daniel 1 to Daniel 3. Maybe not in the same extent because we would consider ourselves slightly more ‘civilized’ but the times they are a changing.
[2] Daniel is a prophetic book. I'm sure you know that.
But apart from the overtly prophetic portions of scripture in Daniel, there are
also some glimpses of the end times through the stories that occurred in the life
of Daniel and his friends. This chapter, chapter 3, is definitely one of those
times. Here is what we have... a wicked King, with absolute power, setting up
an image that must be worshipped. Disobey and you’ll lose your life. A global
decree has gone out: ‘All peoples, nations, men of every language had to bow
down!’ What exactly is happening here? What is Nebuchadnezzar doing? I believe
he is uniting world religion! He would have known that the kingdom that was
struck and smashed in chapter 2:41 was a divided kingdom. That’s what made it
weak. So the king’s thought is to unite religious belief in the worship of his
image! Note also that this new image is 60 cubits by 6 cubits! (Remembering
that the number 6 is the number of man). If this is not yet clear. let me spell
it out. In the last days, this shall happen again as we read in Revelation
13:11-18. A king will rule the entire earth and will unite worship unto
himself. The false prophet shall setup an image that the entire earth has to
worship. One religion once again! And he will give that image power to speak
and cause those that will not bow down in worship to be killed. Although, like
in the days of Daniel, there will be some that it cannot touch. (more on that
later). That is where things are heading. As it was in the days of Daniel 3, so
shall it be again.
[3] Commitment is becoming a rare quality in this age (in the west at least). Especially this type of commitment that places no conditions on God whatsoever. We tend to give in and give up. This happens in jobs, marriages, faith and even our lives. Even Christians can sometimes believe that God primarily exists for their benefit… He exists to bless them. Nope. We exist for His pleasure. Our friends placed no such conditions on God – deliverance or not, God is good and worth obeying!
[4] Probably said this story before but
I like it. When Corrie Ten Boom was afraid as a small girl that she would never
have the courage to put her faith on the line for Jesus, her godly father
simply said to her ‘Corrie, when we take the train to Amsterdam, when do I give
you the money for the ticket? Three weeks early? No. I don’t give you the money
until we approach the ticket office. So it is with God. He provides the
strength we need at the time we need it.’ That’s how it would have been with
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego I believe.
[5] What they
did in the midst of this fiery ordeal is what Peter tells us to do:
'...don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you... if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.' (1 Pet 4:12,19)
[6] Now, as a prophetic side note, this passage also
reminds us of the another set of Jewish males who will not bow down in the end
times. But they also will not be harmed. In the last days, 144,000 Jewish males
will be set aside by God and will have His seal in their forehead. This will
mean that they will not be able to be harmed by the different trials that will
come upon the earth. (See Rev 7:1-8). No doubt, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
stand as a type of this group that in the last days that will be similarly
protected. Just as Daniel, who is completely absent from this whole scene,
represents the Church that is removed before the tribulation comes upon the
earth.