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| Photo by Andreas Borchert 2012 |
As we saw last week, Daniel exemplified triplets of Christ-mind in that he knew God’s Word, took it to heart, and applied it to his life by obeying God. He shared his God-given wisdom with Nebuchadnezzar, for he correctly told and interpreted the king’s dream.
This was
the first of three interpretations
Daniel would share with Babylonian kings, as we shall see in subsequent posts.
This first dream was of a great (powerful), bright (brilliant),
and terrible (frightening) image (Daniel 2:31), symbolizing three future kingdoms that would
replace Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The king revered Daniel for his wisdom, falling on his face before him, worshipping him, and offering sacrifices to him as one would
to a god (Daniel 2:46).
Although the king spoke favorably of Daniel’s God as a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer
of secrets (Daniel 2:47),
indicating head knowledge regarding the one true God, he lacked heart wisdom to fear God and understanding
in his heart to worship God, not Daniel. Nonetheless, God used Nebuchadnezzar’s
admiration for Daniel to place His faithful Hebrew servant in a position of
great power in a pagan kingdom, as he did with Esther, “for such a time as this”
(Esther 4:14).
Nebuchadnezzar made
Daniel a great man, and gave him
many great gifts, and made him ruler
over the entire province of Babylon, as well as chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon and minister of affairs over his newly promoted companions, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 2:48-49).
Because of the king’s lack of wisdom and understanding,
however, it was not long before his thoughts turned from Daniel’s
interpretation of the vision to gratifying his own ego. He had an image (presumably
of himself) made of gold, threescore (three
times twenty, or sixty) cubits tall and six (three times two) cubits wide (Daniel
3:1).
Although three is God’s perfect number reflecting the Trinity,
six is the number of man (Genesis 1:27-31;
Revelation 13:18). These dimensions are therefore fitting for this
statue glorifying man rather than God. Nebuchadnezzar summoned all the political leaders, judges,
and civil servants of all people, nations, and languages
to hear a special proclamation. Whenever they heard special music, they were to
fall down and worship the idol or be
thrown into a burning fiery furnace within the hour (Daniel 3:2-6).
But Daniel’s three
companions, who were now in charge over the affairs of the province of
Babylon, refused to worship the idol, for their allegiance was to the one true
God. Here was the proof of Daniel’s leadership: these young men had not only
learned from David’s example in following God’s dietary law (Daniel 1:8-14), but now they were
making even bolder wise decisions on their own to obey, worship and serve only God, regardless of the
consequences (Daniel 3:12).
By following God alone,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had disobeyed the king; they refused
to serve his gods, and they did not worship the golden statue. When
Nebuchadnezzar confronted them, they stated
their position without fear, trusted
God’s power to deliver them from the fiery furnace and the king, and would not disobey God even if His will
was not to rescue them (Daniel 3:12-18).
In his fury, Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to be thrown
into the burning fiery furnace (three words emphasizing the extreme heat, foreshadowing
the flames of hell; Mark 9:43).
But hell has no power over those who are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Although Nebuchadnezzar demanded that the furnace be heated to seven times its normal
temperature, it could not harm those under God’s protection (Daniel 3:19-21).
Seven is God’s number of perfection or completion (Genesis 2:2-3; Matthew 18:21-22, etc), indicating that His power
is absolute, and man’s schemes against His children are no match for it (Romans 8:31-39).
The guards who
threw the prisoners into the furnace were themselves burned to death, while the
prisoners remained unharmed, thanks
to a fourth man “like the Son of God,”
namely a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ Himself. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that the prisoners were “servants
of the most high God,” commanded them to
exit the furnace, and ordered them
to come close to him so that he and his entourage could get a better look (Daniel 3:22-26).
As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego left the blazing furnace that had no power over them, not a single hair of their head was singed,
nor was their clothing changed, nor did they even smell like smoke! Nebuchadnezzar
said their God was blessed, for He sent His angel, and delivered His servants who trusted Him.
They had proved their trust in their God by not following the king's decree to worship his false god, by offering their bodies to God’s will, and
by worshipping Him alone (Daniel 3:27-28).
Despite his personal
knowledge through experience of God’s miraculous power, and his subsequent
actions which seemed to show understanding
of what God would have him do, it still appeared that Nebuchadnezzar lacked a heart relationship
with God.
Instead of naming God as his own Lord, he referred to Him as “the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”
Nonetheless, he ordered that every people,
nation, and language saying anything bad against that God be cut in pieces and
their houses brought to ruin.
God rewarded His three faithful servants by sparing their lives, by giving them an amazing testimony before
the king and his court, and by increasing
their political influence, for Nebuchadnezzar promoted them (Daniel 3:29-30).
Daniel must have blessed,
thanked and praised God when he learned that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had not only followed his example of obedience, but exceeded it and used it for God’s glory! May we be Godly mentors like Daniel, leading
not as dictators but by example! May those who come behind us find us faithful!
© 2016 Laurie Collett
