V 1 Nebuchadnezzar the
king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits
and its width six cubits; he set it
up on the plain of Dura in the province of
A. The golden image was around 90 feet tall.
1. Wonder where he
got the idea to make a statue of Gold.
2. Remember his
dream that Daniel interpreted for him.
3. The head represented
V 2 Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and
the governors, the counselors, the
treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all
the rulers of the provinces to come
to the dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
B. So when it was complete, the king commanded all his
rulers from the greatest to the
least to
come to the dedication of the gold statute.
V 3 Then the satraps,
the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the
judges, the magistrates and all the
rulers of the provinces were assembled for the
dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood
before the image that Nebuchadnezzar
had set up.
C. All the king’s rulers came.
1. Was Daniel there?
2. Were Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego there?
V 4 Then the herald
loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples,
nations and men of every language,
D. There was a proclamation made to all peoples regardless
of their nationality.
V 5 that at the moment
you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery,
bagpipe and all kinds of music, you
are to fall down and worship the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up.
E. The proclamation was that when the weird music began,
they must stop whatever they
were doing
and fall down and worship the image.
V 6 But whoever does
not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst
of a furnace of blazing fire.
F. The penalty—burn in the fiery furnace.
V 7 Therefore at that
time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre,
trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all
kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men
of every language fell down and
worshiped the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
G. So when the weird music began, all peoples fell down and
worshiped.
Vv 8 – 18 Worship of the Image Refused
V 8 For this reason at
that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges
against the Jews.
A. The Chaldeans made the charges were brought against the
three children of
B. They gave the king his due respect, live forever.
V 10 You, O king, have
made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn,
flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and
bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and
worship the golden image. V 11 But whoever does not fall down and worship
shall be cast into the midst of a
furnace of blazing fire
C. They repeat the decree to the king.
V 12 There are certain
Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the
king, have disregarded you; they do
not serve your gods or worship the golden
image which you have set up.
D. They become tattle-tales.
1. In Kindergarten
your teacher would have told you not to do this.
2. How did these
three men get their job in the King’s administration? Daniel 2:49.
V 13 Then
Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego; then these men were
brought before the king.
E. The King is furious and orders the men brought to him.
V 14 Nebuchadnezzar
responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-nego, that you do not serve my
gods or worship the golden image that I
have set up?
F. Look guys, after all I have done for you, you still don’t
respect me?
1. You don’t do
anything I ask?
2. You won’t serve
my gods?
3. You don’t even
worship the image of ME!
V 15 Now if you are
ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre,
trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all
kinds of music, to fall down and worship the
image that I have made, very well But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"
G. Alright children, I’ll give you one more chance.
1. Here’s what you
do, when you hear the music, you got to do what daddy says.
2. You must fall
down and worship me.
3. You got it?
V 16 Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do
not need to give you an answer
concerning this matter.
H. There’s no need to try this a second time.
1. No second chance
needed.
2. We’re simply not
going to serve your gods.
V 17 If it be so, our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing
fire; and He will deliver us out of
your hand, O king.
I. Maybe our God will deliver us from you hand.
1. He could you
know.
2. However, He may not.
V 18 But even if He
does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to
serve your gods or worship the
golden image that you have set up.
J. How certain of your God are you?
1. Will he deliver
you from the fire?
2. Is he big enough
to keep you?
3. Can he handle you
finances?
4. Can he run your
church, or do you have to run it?
5. But know that
even if he can’t do anything of these things, he is worthy of praise
and
worship.
Vv 19 – 30 Daniel's Friends Protected
V 19 Then
Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered
toward Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat
the furnace seven times more than it
was usually heated.
A. Daddy really gets mad and punishes the kids!
1. I’ll show you,
you disobedient, ungrateful brats.
2. I’m really going
to spank you, now!
V 20 He commanded
certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego in order to
cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
B. He had them tied up.
1. Ever wonder why
he tied them up?
2. They were going
to be just as dead tied or untied!
3. So they couldn’t
grab someone and pull them into the fire, too.
4. Are there other
reasons?
V 21 Then these men
were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other
clothes, and were cast into the
midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
C. They were bound in the dress they were in.
1. Perhaps one
reason for mentioning that they were bound in their clothes is because
clothes
were important, and usually before being executed, they were stripped and
the clothes
given to someone else—usually the soldiers.
2. I think it shows
how angry the king was at these, his trusted advisors for their
disobedience.
3. My version, NAS,
says “trousers.”
a. pattish is Aramaic and means “hammered
out as wide i.e. a gown.”1
b. ASV says
“hosen” which is the Aramaic word above.
c. KJ reads,
“hosen.”
d. NIV is, “they
were wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes.”
e. NKJ translates
it as, “their coats, their trousers, turbans and other clothes.”
f. ASV says,
“These men were bound in their mantels, hats, tunics and other garments.
g. LB uses, “bound
them tight in their clothes.”
4. My point in all
this madness!
a. I didn’t know
they wore trousers then!
b. I don’t think “trousers” is the right translation—rather an Americanization.
V 22 For this reason,
because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been
made extremely hot, the flame of the
fire slew those men who carried up
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
D. The furnace was so hot that the men who threw them into
the flames died, too.
1. Just getting
close to the furnace killed these men.
2. Could it be that
the fire inside the furnace wasn’t fire at all but God’s glory?
a. Sin can’t
reside in the presence of God’s glory.
b. The Hebrew
children, even though sinful, had been baptized into Moses
(1 Cor.
10:2); therefore, they could pass under God’s glory protected.
c. These heathen
Babylonian soldiers had none of God’s protection on them.
d. Those Hebrew
children who still lived by their names and viewed the world from
that
perspective were totally protected from the glory of God.
1) Notice that
the only thing destroyed were the things that bound them.
2) God takes
away the things that bind us through the glory of Jesus Christ.
V 23 But these three
men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the
furnace of blazing fire still tied
up.
E. You can’t come into the presence of God bound!
1. Nothing binds you
up in Jesus.
2. When you stand
before him, you’ll be blameless:
1
Corinthians 1:8.
Ephesians
1:4
Ephesians 5:27
Colossians
1:22
Jude :24
Revelation
14:5
3. Without reference
to sin:
Hebrews
9:28
4. Holy:
Ephesians
5:27
Colossians
4:22
Colossians
3:12
2 Timothy
1:9
Hebrews 3:1
1 Peter 2:5
Jude :14
Jude :20
Revelations
20:6
5. All the shackles
and fetters that bind you have been taken away.
6. Start acting like
it!
V 24 Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his
high officials, Was it not three men
we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They
replied to the king,
"Certainly, O king."
F. Wait a minute guys! Didn’t we just throw three men into
the fire?
V 25 He said, Look! I
see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire
without harm, and the appearance of
the fourth is like a son of the gods!"
Pg 5 Chapter 3 Daniel 23
G. There are four in there now, and one looks like a son of
a god.
V 26 Then
Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he
responded and said, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants
of the Most High God, and come here!
Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
came out of the midst of the fire.
H. How was Nebuchadnezzar able to approach the furnace?
1. He now recognizes
in his heart that God is God.
2. Notice that the
men were so protected by the glory of God that they didn’t leave until
they were
ordered to come out.
3. How does this
event show that they believed their name meant something?
V 27 The satraps, the
prefects, the governors and the king's high officials gathered
around and saw in regard to these
men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of
these men nor was the hair of their
head singed, nor were their trousers damaged,
nor had the smell of fire even come
upon them.
I. Only the things that bound them had been burnt.
1. Their clothes,
very volatile material, were not burnt.
2. Their physical
bodies hadn’t been harmed.
3. The best proof,
their hair hadn’t been singed?
4. They didn’t even
smell like smoke!
G. Because their was no smell or visual damage to their
bodies, hair or clothes, the
Chaldeans
knew that a miracle had taken place.
1. Why is this
account even more believable to us today because of these proofs?
2. They could have
had fire-proof clothes on.
V 28 Nebuchadnezzar
responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego, who has sent His
angel and delivered His servants who put their
trust in Him, violating the king's
command, and yielded up their bodies so as not
to serve or worship any god except
their own God.
J. Did Nebuchadnezzar believe in the God of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego?
1. No.
2. He only
recognizes him as a potent God among gods.
V 29 Therefore I make
a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything
offensive against the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn
limb from limb and their houses
reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is
no other god who is able to deliver
in this way.
K. You don’t have to worship their God, but you must not say
anything bad about him.
1. Did you know
people still feel like this today.
2. Someone will
curse in front of me and say, “Oh! Sorry preacher.”
3. You see, they
recognize him as Lord, but they don’t worship him as the True God.
V 30 Then the king
caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the
of
L. Here’s a lesson in prosperity.
1. Does the Bible
teach prosperity? Yes, it does.
2. Does that mean if
you worship God you will prosper? Yes, it does.
3. You see, God
determines your prosperity.
4. These men didn’t
worship God to prosper.
5. They worshiped
Him because He is real.
6. Because of their
valuable testimony among heathen, God honored them with
physical
prosperity.
7. He does you the
same way.
8. If we used our
resources and managed our money they way the Bible teaches,
none of us
would ever need anything.
Daniel
Chapter 3
Study Questions
1. How tall was the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar?
2. Was this image for physical beauty or religious purposes?
3. Were Daniel and
the 3 children of
4. Why do you think that the Chaldeans brought the charges against the Hebrews?
5. The King gave them one more chance, but what did they tell the king?
6. Why did the king have them tied up before he threw them into the furnace?
7. Could the furnace have been made so hot that it would kill anyone who got near it?
8. Why were there four men inside the furnace instead of three?
9. How was Nebuchadnezzar able to approach the furnace without being killed?
10. What was inside the furnace?
11. As a result of the testimony of the 3 Hebrew Children, what happened?
12. What’s important about the fact that the people observed that the hair and clothes of the Hebrew Children had not been burned nor did they even smell like smoke?
13. In Verse 28 where Jesus is called “His angel” an appearance of Jesus in another form, what is this called?
14. What happened to them personally because of their
testimony?
Howard
Who You Are Isn't Based on Performance with God. Who You Are Should Have A Direct Bearing on How You Perform.
