In each blog, I often reference many different topics that I've already covered (or will soon cover), and maybe you've missed. Please review my blogs to read more...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
________________
Below are just the highlights of Daniel 3 and it would be good for you to read the whole chapter in your Bible.
This could be viewed as a foreshadowing of what's to come for Christians during Daniel's 70th Week at the hands of Antichrist.
We're going to be expected to worship the beast and the image. There will only be two acceptable choices.
[1] Accept his mark and worship the beast and the image, or...
[2] ... refuse both and face the consequences.
Just as in this case of Daniel 3, there may be others watching on in expectation of our choice.
I think it's interesting that "at the sound of the music" they are all commanded to fall and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar has constructed. It should remind you of Islam's same practice in the Middle East and how they pray at certain hours while the music is broadcast over the city.
Also, I just want to point our that the image of gold is not of a man, nor of Nebuchadnezzar himself... it is tall and thin, as an obelisk shape... note the size in Dan 3:1 (90' x 9').
Certain Chaldeans seem to be jealous of these "certain Jews" (Dan 3:12) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego's and their new role in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian court. If you'll recall the three were promoted along with Daniel after the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2.
The Chaldeans point out to Nebuchadnezzar that he had decreed a law and that when the music was heard, everyone was to bow down and worship the golden image, however certain members of his own court were not doing so.
Dan 3:11-12 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."
This fills Nebuchadnezzar with rage, and he sends for the three and asks them if this is true. Just to make sure, he gives the three an opportunity to do so in front himself, almost like a second chance:
Dan 3:15 "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?"
One of my favorite responses in all of Scripture:
Dan 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. "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. "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."
This filled Nebuchadnezzar with even more rage. We see in Dan 3:19 that his facial expression changed... almost as if he expected a different response from the three. Nebuchadnezzar orders that the furnace be heated up to maximum and commands his warriors to tie the three up and cast them into the furnace.
The fire was so hot, that it killed the men who carried them up to the furnace.
Dan 3:23 makes a point to inform us that the three fell into the furnace "still tied up".
Dan 3:24-25 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." 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!"
I would imagine he was astonished! We're also told that everyone around also witnessed the above. This was no doubt, a very strong witness and Jehovah was given all the glory on that day!
The fourth is likely what theologians refer to as a "Christophony" which is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament.
No matter what fiery trial we may go through in this life, Jesus will be right there with us in the midst of that trial just as He was with the three in the furnace.
It is often a temptation, when trials come to doubt, and/or get angry with God and move away from Him... but - if we decide to use the trial as a reason to draw even closer to God, He will be nearer than ever before. When we are at our worst, He is at His best, but we must not run away from our trials... we must face those trials head on.
God does not want to yank us out of those trials, but go through them with us. Why? So that we learn from Him... he will break those bindings, just as the three were bound, and He will be right there with us as we go through our furnace.
Once we learn that lesson, what could possibly stop us?
Isa 43:2-3 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. "For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
This also had a positive impact on Nebuchadnezzar and all that were there that day.
Dan 3:28-30 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. 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. Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
There are many lessons to learn from the Book of Daniel and this is one of my favorites.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
________________
Below are just the highlights of Daniel 3 and it would be good for you to read the whole chapter in your Bible.
This could be viewed as a foreshadowing of what's to come for Christians during Daniel's 70th Week at the hands of Antichrist.
We're going to be expected to worship the beast and the image. There will only be two acceptable choices.
[1] Accept his mark and worship the beast and the image, or...
[2] ... refuse both and face the consequences.
Just as in this case of Daniel 3, there may be others watching on in expectation of our choice.
I think it's interesting that "at the sound of the music" they are all commanded to fall and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar has constructed. It should remind you of Islam's same practice in the Middle East and how they pray at certain hours while the music is broadcast over the city.
Also, I just want to point our that the image of gold is not of a man, nor of Nebuchadnezzar himself... it is tall and thin, as an obelisk shape... note the size in Dan 3:1 (90' x 9').
Certain Chaldeans seem to be jealous of these "certain Jews" (Dan 3:12) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego's and their new role in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian court. If you'll recall the three were promoted along with Daniel after the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2.
The Chaldeans point out to Nebuchadnezzar that he had decreed a law and that when the music was heard, everyone was to bow down and worship the golden image, however certain members of his own court were not doing so.
Dan 3:11-12 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."
This fills Nebuchadnezzar with rage, and he sends for the three and asks them if this is true. Just to make sure, he gives the three an opportunity to do so in front himself, almost like a second chance:
Dan 3:15 "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?"
One of my favorite responses in all of Scripture:
Dan 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. "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. "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."
This filled Nebuchadnezzar with even more rage. We see in Dan 3:19 that his facial expression changed... almost as if he expected a different response from the three. Nebuchadnezzar orders that the furnace be heated up to maximum and commands his warriors to tie the three up and cast them into the furnace.
The fire was so hot, that it killed the men who carried them up to the furnace.
Dan 3:23 makes a point to inform us that the three fell into the furnace "still tied up".
Dan 3:24-25 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." 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!"
I would imagine he was astonished! We're also told that everyone around also witnessed the above. This was no doubt, a very strong witness and Jehovah was given all the glory on that day!
The fourth is likely what theologians refer to as a "Christophony" which is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament.
No matter what fiery trial we may go through in this life, Jesus will be right there with us in the midst of that trial just as He was with the three in the furnace.
It is often a temptation, when trials come to doubt, and/or get angry with God and move away from Him... but - if we decide to use the trial as a reason to draw even closer to God, He will be nearer than ever before. When we are at our worst, He is at His best, but we must not run away from our trials... we must face those trials head on.
God does not want to yank us out of those trials, but go through them with us. Why? So that we learn from Him... he will break those bindings, just as the three were bound, and He will be right there with us as we go through our furnace.
Once we learn that lesson, what could possibly stop us?
Isa 43:2-3 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. "For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
This also had a positive impact on Nebuchadnezzar and all that were there that day.
Dan 3:28-30 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. 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. Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
There are many lessons to learn from the Book of Daniel and this is one of my favorites.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
No comments:
Post a Comment