Daniel 3

Daniel 3:1-30

Divine Calling: God Calls the Gentile Nations to Worship Him Only (The Golden Image and Fiery Furnace) (586 B.C.) – Daniel 3:1-30 records the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s deliverance from the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the great image of King Nebuchadnezzar. In the fiery furnace the king sees a fourth person in appearance as the Son of Man. This story emphasizes the calling of the Gentiles to serve God through the testimony of these three brave Jews and the miracle that accompanied their proclamation that they will only worship the true and living God. As a result of their testimony and its accompanying miracle, King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges Jehovah as the Most High God (Daniel 3:26). The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s deliverance from the fiery furnace records the first time that King Nebuchadnezzar has faced a power greater than himself. He now rules the known world, wielding enormous power for an individual. He now faces a call to acknowledge the God of Israel as the Almighty God, a call which he accepts by giving those who worship the God of Israel immunity in his kingdom. These three men were tested in their faith in God. They were given a choice of either bowing down to the powers of darkness and sin and idolatry of this world or face death. In choosing death they were miraculously delivered. This story serves as a testimony of those men of faith who “quenched the violence of fire” referred to in Hebrews 11:34. The reference to the fact that the cords that bound them were burned off symbolizes how true freedom is found in Christ Jesus and not in this world’s system. Hebrews 11:33-34, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Historical Setting - This chapter is not dated as are many of the other stories and visions found in the book of Daniel. We know that the historical section of chapters 1-6 are placed in chronological order from the dates of many of these chapters. We can conclude that the story of the king’s golden image should follow the story of his dream of such an image found in the second chapter. We can conclude that the story of the king’s humbling experience in the fourth chapter would come after the story of his prideful attempt to have men worship him, as recorded in chapter 3. Thus, we can logically place this story of Dan 3:1-30 between 603-602 B.C. and 582 to 575 B.C. We can also note that the LXX places this story in the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, which was the year he took Jerusalem (586 B.C.). Note that the prophet Daniel is not mentioned in this story of the Golden Image and Fiery Furnace. Perhaps Daniel had been assigned to another city, or was simply not present during this event. 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. Daniel 3:1 — Comments - The fact that the king is building such a great image of gold after having a dream of a similar image suggests that his dream gave the inspiration to build this structure. Daniel 3:5 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: Daniel 3:5 — Comments - It is interesting to compare the similarity of this story to the one in Revelation 4-5, 7, and 11 in which worship accompanies praise to God. We know that this man-made worship of Nebuchadnezzar was an inspiration of Satan and that Satan was attempting to imitate heavenly worship around the throne of God. Daniel 3:17 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. Daniel 3:17 — Comments - These three men were not doubting if God could save them; but they were saying if it is in God’s plan and will to save them, then their God is able to deliver them. Daniel 3:25 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. Daniel 3:25 — Comments – A number of modern English versions translate the phrase “the Son of God” in Daniel 3:25 as “a son of the gods” (ASV, BBE, NIV, RSV, YLT). This phrase could then be interpreted figuratively as it is done so in Genesis 6:2; Genesis 6:4 and Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7 to refer to the angels as “sons of God.” The king would have seen an angelic being in the fiery furnace, which is called a “son of God,” rather than the pre-incarnate Christ, as some commentators have suggested. This interpretation is supported by the king’s statement in Daniel 3:28, which refers to this being as an angel. He said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel (ξַ ?μְ ?ΰָ ?κְ) and delivered his servants that trusted in him…” The Hebrew word (ξַ ?μְ ?ΰָ ?κְ) (H4398) with the suffix δּ is used twice in the Old Testament (Daniel 3:28; Daniel 6:22). However, it is essentially the same word as (ξַ ?μְ ?ΰָ ?κְ) (H4397), which is the Hebrew word that is commonly used for “angel” throughout the Old Testament. 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.” Daniel 6:22, “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” In contrast, when Daniel has a vision of Christ Jesus coming in the clouds in chapter 7, he refers to him as “the Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13). Daniel 7:13, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” Daniel 3:26 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. Daniel 3:26 — Comments – The king of Babylon recognized the God of Israel as the “Most High God,” a title that reflected the highest view of the God of Israel in the midst of a polytheistic culture. 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. Daniel 3:28-29 — Comments - King Nebuchadnezzar and Polytheism - The ancient Oriental mindset of these people was polytheistic. King Nebuchadnezzar decrees in Daniel 3:28-29 that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the greatest Deliverer that he had ever encountered. For this king had defeated many people groups whose gods did not deliver them from his hands. But the king did not state that this was the only God in heaven. It was not until the king had spent seven years as a beast in the field and his mind restored that he acknowledged the God of Israel as the everlasting God and the King of Heaven (Daniel 4:1-3; Daniel 4:34-37). Daniel 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.