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THE BOOK OF 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.In the following four chapters, we can see an example of how it will be in the last days of the gentiles. In response to the revelation, Nebuchadnezzar orders the building of an image entirely of gold. This is image is not a image of Nebuchadnezzar but is a image of what produces life. It has only two dimensions, only a circle has two dimensions. It is six cubits by 60 cubits. Six times he sets it between verse one and verse 8. At least six kinds of music is played when the people were to fall down and worship the image.The number of man is six.
Daniel 3: 2 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.Daniel 3: 3 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.The image is dedicated at a worship service that had been commanded by the king.
Daniel 3: 4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,Daniel 3: 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:Daniel 3: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Music is used during the worship service because it is a universal language and it is a forced religion by the king.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 musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Daniel 3: 8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.The Chaldeans accused the Jews of not doing what the king had commanded.
Daniel 3: 9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.Daniel 3: 10 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:Daniel 3: 11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.Daniel 3: 12 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.Daniel 3: 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.In rage Nebuchadnezzar bought the men before him and reminded them of the command, and told them if they did not bow down they would be thrown into the blazing furnace.Daniel 3: 14 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?Daniel 3: 15 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?Daniel 3: 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.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: 18 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.Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told the king that they could not do this because they served the true God, and they told the king that their God was able to rescue them, but even if He did not, they would not bow down before the image. They knew the commandment that had been given by God to the Nation of Israel.
Exodus 20: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Daniel 3: 19 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.
There must have more than one furnace because the king commanded them to heat furnace “one” seven times more that it was wont to be heated.Daniel 3: 20 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.Daniel 3: 21 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.Daniel 3: 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.Daniel 3: 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.Daniel 3: 24 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.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.As Nebuchadnezzar watched, he was astonished to see four men walking in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and he said the fourth is like the Son of God. The fourth figure could have been Christ as Angel of the Lord.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: 27 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.
This is a picture of the second coming and those that are able to endure the fires of the tribulation. (Isa 43:1-2)
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 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: 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
Their marvelous deliverance prompted Nebuchadnezzar to issue a decree that anyone who would say anything against the God of Israel would be cut in pieces. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were promoted in their positions in the province of Babylon.The chapter is history, but is a picture of the ultimate restoration of Israel in spite of the wrath of the gentile world in the tribulation period at the time of the second coming of Christ. Also it was an important chapter in the progress of Nebuchadnezzar understanding the power and glory of the God of Israel.
