Lesson 3: Daniel 3 Daniel 3 contains a single story, with a clear beginning, middle and end. As with the first two chapters, Daniel 3 is set during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. But this is the first chapter that does not give a more precise chronological marker. Chapter 1 in the third year of the reign of king Jehoiakim king of Judah. Chapter 2 in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar At the close of chapter 2, Daniel stayed in the royal court while his friends were made administrators over the province of Babylon. We pick up the story this week in chapter 3. It is thought that 16 to 20 years have passed. There has obviously been a gap of time because of the shift we will see in Nebuchadnezzar from honoring God s devotion to the events in this chapter. Verse 1 What are we told King Nebuchadnezzar made?. How big was it?. All we learn about this statue is its dimensions and the material that it was made out of. Idols known from this time period suggest that the statue was gold plated rather than solid gold. Remember back in chapter 2 after Daniel had interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar s dream. The king fell on his face before Daniel and gave homage to him and gave him gifts. Listen again to what Nebuchadnezzar said in verse 47 of chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar seemed to honor God, saying to Daniel, Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of Kings and a revealer of mysteries... Why then would he build a huge gold statue and order that it be worshiped? Verse 2-3 The dedication service required the attendance of the whole range of civil service employees and the homage paid was equivalent to a pledge of loyalty to the state. 1
They weren t required to give up their deities of choice. All they had to do was bow down and worship the image and then go back to their favorite religious superstition. Satraps the highest political officials in each province. Prefects military chiefs. Governors (captains) Heads of sections of the provinces. Counselors (advisors) High ranking judges. Treasurers Superintendents of the treasury. Judges (counselors) Secondary judges. Magistrates (sheriffs) Lower level legal officials. All the rulers of the provinces Subordinates of the satraps. These groups represented all the administrative government officials of the wide-ranging empire. Verse 4-5 Who is this command given to? What is the signal that they are to respond to?. What are they supposed to do when they hear this music? The musical instruments: Horn a trumpet, usually made of animal horn Flute a musical pipe; a cylinder-shaped instrument producing a high shrill sound; made of wood, reed or bone. Lyre Triangular instrument with four strings. Possibly played with a plectrum (a small piece of wood or metal for plucking stringed instruments) 2
Trigon An ancient triangular lyre or harp. Probably a small triangular harp. Psaltery another type of stringed instrument Bagpipe a musical wind instrument. Verse 6-7 BUT Remember, the word but means a contrast. What happens to those who don t fall down and worship? Let s look at the pressure this would have put on the Jewish believers. Pressure from authority in verses 1-7 it mentions Nebuchadnezzar the king six times, and then only twice the rest of the chapter. This was a very powerful man. Pressure to conform you have all the civil servants gathered together. They are then commanded to bow down and worship the golden image. Pressure from intimidation The king is threatening death to those who don t conform and bow down by means of a burning, fiery, furnace. Verses 8-11 We are told certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. The Chaldeans who brought the charges about the three Jews were nobles. They would have been in positions to profit personally from the execution of these three men. Notice how they address the king in verse 9. What do they say?. Verse 12 What do they inform the king about? 3
The charge is disregarding the king s command concerning pledging allegiance by bowing before the image. They are trying to show that these Jews did not worship the king s gods and were not loyal to him. In situations like this, no crime is greater than nonconformity. Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. What are we told not to do according to these verses? Verse 13-15 What is King Nebuchadnezzar s reaction to this news?. What is the first thing the King asks them? He seems to be taking their disobedience as a personal affront as well as an act of insubordination. Then Nebuchadnezzar adds something else. What does he say at the end of verse 15?. Even though Nebuchadnezzar had witnessed and testified to God s sovereignty earlier (2:47) he clearly doesn t believe that even He could save them. Verses 16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego reply to the king. What is their reply?. The we in this verse is emphatic in the original text and implies a contrast with Yaweh. God would give an answer to the king. 4
Notice how they still show respect to Nebuchadnezzar as they acknowledge him as king, while giving their ultimate allegiance to the king of kings. BUT, what?. Their answer deals with the ability of God. They are sure of God s ability; they are unsure about his purpose. Notice how these three men did not lose sight of the crucial matter. What matters for them is not deliverance, but obedience. These three men display one of the noblest examples in scripture of faith fully resigned to the will of God. It s a faith that says Though he slay me, yet I will trust in Him. (Job 13:15) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego stood their ground when they could have given many reasons to compromise. In 715 BC, very shortly before the events in Daniel take place, the prophet Hosea said in Hosea 13:4, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no savior except me. God does not accept worshipping any idol under any circumstances, and these three men knew that. These three men give us a full balanced picture of faith: Faith knows the power of God (he is able vs. 17) Faith guards the freedom of God (but if not vs.18a) Faith holds the truth of God (we will not serve your gods 18b) Faith does not predict God s ways; it simply holds to God s word. Faith obeys God s truth, rather than manipulate God s hand. Faith is not required to plot God s course, but only to obey God s command. Verses 19-30 Nebuchadnezzar is about to receive the answer to his question of verse 15 Who is the god who will deliver you? How does Nebuchadnezzar react to their reply? 5
What does he have done?. In verse 20 what does Nebuchadnezzar command certain valiant warriors to do? What specifically are we told in verse 20?. Because the furnace was made so hot, what happened to the men who threw them in? We are told in verse 24 that Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and stood up in haste and asks his officials Wasn t it three men bound and thrown into the furnace? They give an affirmative answer. But what does he see according to verse 25? How does he describe the fourth person?. There was obviously something different about the appearance of this fourth person in the fire. Some think it was an angel or Jesus himself. Who does he acknowledge them to be in verse 26? This title for God appears 13 times in Daniel, more than any other book except Psalms. By using this title, Nebuchadnezzar is ascribing greater power to their God than to any other. God had delivered them as they said he could and the leaders of the Babylonian Empire just witnessed the miracle. What did everyone see about these three men? 6
The fire had no effect on them- no hair was singed, their clothes weren t damaged at all; they didn t even smell like smoke. What was Nebuchadnezzar s response to this? An important thing that I really want us to see in all of this is that God did not deliver them from the fire, but in it. Isaiah 43:2 says, When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree. What does it say?. The fact that Nebuchadnezzar could cancel one of his laws and replace it with another shows just how powerful he was. Rulers of the Medo-Persian Empire that replaced the Babylonian empire could not do this. It was impossible for them to override a previously written law. In essence, Nebuchadnezzar made Judaism a recognized religion with rights to toleration and respect. This might have played a part in the fairly comfortable conditions under which the Israelites lived in Babylonian exile. Life for them was relatively pleasant compared to what their ancestors experienced in Egypt. What do you think about Nebuchadnezzar s commitment to the Lord in verses 28-29? Twice now we ve seen King Nebuchadnezzar have profound reactions to what he has witnessed God doing. It is obvious after the first encounter Nebuchadnezzar didn t have a true change of heart. When we see God do amazing things what is our response? How do we move beyond just the emotions of the moment to real life altering change? 7
What happens to these three men according to verse 30? As you look back over this chapter, what lesson(s) about risks and rewards of obedience are most significant to you personally? Why do some people react so strongly to others standing for what they believe in? How can we use those moments for good? No matter how strong our faith is, it doesn t mean that we will never be subjected to a harsh ruler or boss, or that we will never be unjustly punished, or that we will not suffer a great loss. The most devout Jews and Christians have suffered greatly throughout history. Jews suffered horrendously in the concentration camps in WWII. Christians who refused to worship the Roman emperor in the first century were dipped in tar and set on fire to brighten the imperial gardens. Look at what is happening around the world today to Christians. Faith is not an insurance policy against disaster. I Peter 1:3-7 3 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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 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. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8
One thing we know for sure is that we will all have moments where we face opportunities like the one Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced. It may not be in front of a King and a 90 foot golden statue, with the threat of death hanging over us, but we will face moments where we will need to make a choice. We will all have a chance, if we haven t already to live in a way that is counter cultural and goes against the flow. More and more we will be put on the spot about what values and beliefs we hold to and whether they will influence the decisions we make... or whether we go with the flow of the world s opinions. In those moments we need to find ways to have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. A faith that recognizes that our God is powerful enough to save us, but even if he doesn t we know we have made the right choice. Remember, we are not alone in any of this! Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 9