PHIL HARRIS
Introduction
In the previous chapter Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a huge statue that portrayed the sequence of the major succeeding world nations that would affect Israel from Babylon to the time when when all the peoples of the world will eternally worship the Messiah, the Son of God.
Although Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged Daniel’s God when the dream was revealed to him, the king apparently misunderstood or outright ignored the significance of the one true God who not only revealed his dream through Daniel but also his private thoughts preceding the dream.
The primary purpose of this week’s commentary on Daniel 3 is to help us avoid Nebuchadnezzar’s arrogant mistake. All people are called to place their faith in the power of the one and only true God and to both know and respond to the gospel message of Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is Lord of lords and King of kings (Rev. 17:14,19:11-16). In other words, all people are called to bow down and worship only God—a response that includes believing in the Son of Man who took on flesh and who will receive the kingdom from the Father (Dan. 7:13, 14).
In fact, Revelation 17:14 describes the contrasting outcomes of those who refuse to believe and trust Him and those who do:
“They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev. 17:14).
Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold
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 (Dan. 3:1)
If we assume a cubit to be about 18 inches, the height of this image would have been 90 feet with the breadth being about nine-and-a-half feet wide. The technology to erect such an image is rather staggering. The Plain of Dura is thought to be a short distance southeast of the City of Babylon. In our own time, the ruins of Babylon are due southeast of the city of Baghdad.
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. 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 (Dan. 3:2-3).
All government officials had been called to the dedication of the image, and all who did not fall down and worship the golden image of the king would be cast into a burning fiery furnace (Dan. 3:4-6).
One has to ponder why Nebuchadnezzar thought it necessary to impose such an appalling death upon any who failed to comply.
The Malicious Accusation
Certain Chaldeans maliciously reported to the king that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down and worship the image and the king as commanded by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 3:7-12).
The loyalty of these three Hebrews to the one true God foreshadows Satan’s temptation of the Lord Jesus hundreds of years later. When, after His baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Mt. 4:1–9), Jesus quoted Scripture:
If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:7-8)
Interestingly, Daniel does not appear in the account recorded in Daniel 3. Apparently the Chaldeans didn’t dare include Daniel in their malicious accusation. It is obvious he would not have bowed down before the king or this pagan image, either.
Our God Is Able To Deliver Us
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not recant. Instead, they told the king that their God whom they served was able to deliver them from the burning fiery furnace. Furthermore, even if He didn’t deliver them, they still would not worship the king’s gods nor worship the golden image (Dan. 3:13:-18). They trusted God regardless of the outcome.
They displayed the kind of faith the people of God have exhibited from the beginning of the world. Hebrews tells us about the nature and depth of this faith, and we read that Abel had this kind of faith when his brother Cain killed him. Abel knew God was holy, faithful, and just, and he trusted him even to death:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks (Heb. 11:1-4).
Nebuchadnezzar’s Fury
In rage at the testimony of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they refused to bow down and worship him and the image, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that they be bound with all their cloths on and cast into the furnace. Because Nebuchadnezzar had ordered the furnace to be over-heated, the men who cast them into the furnace dropped dead (Dan. 3:19-23).
In Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath he displayed Satan’s hatred of God’s chosen people. We see this satanic hatred played out in John’s prophecy in Revelation 12:
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (Rev. 12:13-14).
Four—Not Three—In the Fire
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.” 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.” 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. 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 (Dan. 3:24-27).
In amazement the king now sees four—not three—unbound and unharmed men walking around in the fire that had killed those who had cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace. In response to what he sees, Nebuchadnezzar says the fourth person “is like a son of the gods”.
Blessed Be God
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. 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.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon (Dan. 3:28-30).
Nebuchadnezzar learned what all who rule should know:
“I am Yahweh, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am Yahweh, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these (Isa. 45:5-7 LSB).
Application In Our Own Lives
In our own time and place, the apostle Peter gives Christians, those who love God, instructions on how to do right rather than bowing down to what is evil in 1 Peter 3:8-22:
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil (1 Peter 3:13-17).
All biblical quotes taken from the ESV
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