Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

Daniel 3:1–7 ESV

1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

There are no dream in this chapter, however we have just come through the dream of the statue of gold, bronze, iron, and clay and the interpretation of that dream revealing the fragility of the empires. Now, Nebuchadnezzar is building a statue, an idol, of gold (most likely a gold plating, but still valuable). But now comes the third test of Daniel. First, food and drink, Second interpretation of dream, NOW (third) the command to worship this golden idol. Daniel emphasized ALL that were called together for the dedication; satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, justices, magistrates, all the officials of the provinces.

SATRAPS - A viceroy or vassal ruler placed over the provinces in the neo-Babylonian and Persian empires.

PREFECTS - An ancient Roman high official, possibly the ranking governor of a region or city.

GOVERNORS - A ruler of a region, city, or town.

COUNSELORS - A king’s counsellor, or more generally of one who gives counsel.

TREASURERS - An officer charged with receiving and disbursing funds and goods.

JUSTICES - One who hears and judges a legal case.

MAGISTRATES - Title of a public official who acted as judge and administrator of a given municipality.

OFFICIALS - A person in authority in government or an organization.

So, it is listed in order of greatest power to least power, meaning ALL those who are in charge from the greatest to the least were to be present. This was a big event that was to bring attention to an already inflated ego.

What were the people commanded to do?

When you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

What was the consequence of NOT following the command?

Whoever does NOT fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

Notice in verse 7, the people blindly fell down and worshiped with no thought of what it meant.

Refusal to Worship Idol

Daniel 3:8–18 ESV

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Why did the astrologers complain to the king about the Jews?

What did the king do about the complaint?

How did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego respond to the king?

Who were the Chaldeans? Ethnic group located in southern Babylonia during the first millennium BC; briefly ruled the ancient Near East. Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Judaeans. They went to “tattle” on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for NOT worshiping the golden image. However, we have to remember these three and Daniel would not allow themselves to be defiled by the king’s wine and food. Now, the certainly won’t allow an image to come between them and God, as it was specifically prohibited in the 10 commandments.

Exodus 20:3–5 ESV

3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

That thought of exiled Jews ruling over the province of Babylon did not sit well with the king’s Chaldean astrologers. Therefore, they seized an opportunity to remove them by discretely using the king’s decree. The fact that Daniel and the three Hebrew exiles had positions of power carried a strong message—namely, that a Jew could eventually be placed at the head of all the nations. Joseph had made it to second in authority in Egypt.

The astrologers’ proper court greeting, “Long live the king!” is ironic as it addresses someone who has just threatened to cut short the lives of those who do not bow to his commands. The astrologers made Shadrach’s, Meshach’s, and Abednego’s refusal to worship a personal affront to the king by accusing them before him: “They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty.” (Remember the three Jews would have been committing idolatry if they had bowed down to the golden statue). The king would have to deal with these Jewish dissenters because of the position he had craftily been put in by these informers, a situation that Darius the Mede also found himself in later. Daniel would face a similar penalty when he was thrown into a den of lions.

Nebuchadnezzar’s attempt to persuade these three exiles from Judah to bow down and worship his image was powerful but ineffective. As the previous chapter has shown, the king would not take “no” for an answer. The king’s offer of “one more chance” is noteworthy, because he had earlier refused to give his own wise men any second chance, but had granted the Jew, Daniel, a short period of time to seek an answer. Nebuchadnezzar opened the door to a possible solution to all this when he asked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego a rhetorical question: “What god will be able to rescue you from my power?” His “power” translates the Aramaic word for “hand”; Daniel’s God had already delivered the entire nation of Israel from the “hand” (power) of Pharaoh —Daniel knew this well, as did these three Judean youths.

The theme of deliverance in various circumstances is paramount in the book of Daniel, and this story continues to develop this theme. In both this chapter and chapter 6, the same words signifying “rescue,” “deliver,” and “save” are used. Both stories are referred to as models of deliverance in the New Testament. The three youths answered the king’s rhetorical question as if it had been a real question. They used the same word twice for “rescue” that he had used when asking his questions—and they asserted that their God would, if he so chose, rescue them from the king’s hand. And even if God wouldn’t rescue them, they would not worship the image. Deuteronomy, the capstone book of God’s law, was well known by Daniel and his friends, and their God had instructed his people to worship only him. These three Jews, as God’s people, refused to be assimilated into the king’s universal, syncretistic worship program. He would soon angrily pass the sentence of death upon them.

Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:19–30 ESV

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

The king responds to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s defiance by having the furnace heated 7 X normal and thrown into the furnace.

This section begins with an ingenious wordplay (see note on 3:19). The image the king made and set up is referred to by the same Aramaic word that is used for the distorted facial features of the king when the three Hebrew exiles refused to bend to his command. He was so “furious” that, literally, his “image changed.” The writer thus mocked the king’s response and tied his visage to the face of the image. A subtle hint, perhaps, that the image did in fact reflect the king and vice versa.

The details related in 3:19–23 are there to show the enormity of the deliverance God provided for these three faithful servants. The “sevenfold” heating of the furnace is hyperbole to express the extraordinary heat directed at the destruction of these men. Surrounded and bound even by their own cumbersome clothing, there was no chance that they would escape their fate. The heat was so high even at the periphery of the fire that it was enough to kill the strongest of the king’s soldiers. Fully clothed and securely bound, they fell into the midst of these flames with no chance of survival. Sealed in a fiery tomb, it would take divine intervention to save them. God had broken into the realm of the natural before to reveal a dream and its interpretation to Daniel. Could he or would he do more? Would he make his presence known by “coming down” to rescue his people?

Nebuchadnezzar witnessed the amazing deliverance of his adversaries. His wise men had asserted that the gods “do not live here among people” but he now saw what he could only describe as someone who looked “like a son of the gods” rescuing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from their bonds, protecting them from the consuming heat, and walking about in the flame with them. No other king, according to the Bible, had such a direct encounter with the God of Israel and his delivering angel. Unlike the distant gods of the Babylonians, this God involved himself with his people. This God had walked about in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve; he did not cease to walk with his people in the time of their greatest need, because they trusted in him. He could deliver from fire as well as flood. Neither the hair on their heads nor their clothing was singed! All of those gathered to celebrate the dedication of the king’s image witnessed a greater event—God’s supernatural intervention. All of the “high officers, officials, governors, and advisers” examined the physical evidence of the deliverance surrounding these three persons who had walked out of the furnace, who would not bow down and worship the image. One can only imagine how they felt after having prostrated themselves in abject obedience to the king and before his lifeless idol, so dead compared to the living God of the Jews!

These three faithful Jews were delivered—a theme throughout the book. Daniel and his friends were “delivered” from eating the king’s rich food; the wise p 359 men of Babylon including Daniel and his friends were delivered from execution. This will continue for Daniel and his people until they are finally granted deliverance even from the grave. In the meantime, however, some will pay the ultimate price for their faithfulness. After Daniel’s time, we read of seven Jewish brothers and their mother who suffered martyrdom, but who all expected to be raised up again. Although this may be a legend, it was undoubtedly inspired by the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as well as the hope of a resurrection from the dead put forth in. Later still, we read of a Christian saint who served Daniel’s God by following his Son: In a vision, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, saw that he would be burned alive as a martyr for his faith in Christ. After his vision he declared, “I must be burned alive”. At the age of 86 in the arena he was asked to revile Christ. His reply was “How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”. He gained the crown of immortality.

It is no surprise that Nebuchadnezzar was moved to save face and issued a decree in praise of this God—rather than foolishly denying the evidence. But his inward attitude and beliefs about how great he was did not change—at least not for long —they only found another outlet. The major themes of this event are succinctly recapitulated by the king: (1) God’s marvelous rescue and deliverance; (2) the trust of his servants; and (3) the Jews’ refusal to worship any god but their God. Two further points stand out: Irony abounds in the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar arrogantly commanded all people of whatever “race or nation or language” not to speak against, mock, or blaspheme the God of these three Jewish exiles in any way—upon pain of death. The entire purpose of the king against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had ended up topsy-turvy. The nations were made to recognize the true God’s deliverance as it was publicized among the officials and rulers under the auspices of the royal government of Babylon.

As to the image? Nothing more is said. There is no decree praising his image or celebrating the success of the universal worship. The Jews were not obliged to worship it. We are not further informed about the other races, peoples, languages, and nations. Nebuchadnezzar let the subject drop from his decrees. The authority and force of the image was certainly greatly curtailed, to say the least. The promotion of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was a clear slap in the face for those who would have demoted them. These persons could no longer dare speak in a derogatory manner against these Jews, nor their worship of their God—the God who had delivered, not only Noah from a flood, Israel from Egypt and the Assyrians, but even these three men from the furious Babylonian king’s decree. Eventually, their God would deliver them from the fiery ordeals of the Exile itself. Jewish exiles now occupied some high, influential positions in the upper echelons of the governmental structures of their captors—the mighty Babylonians. The Jews’ God was the God who rescues like no other god! No greater message could have been trumpeted to the nations or to Israel in exile in Babylon, or to the individual servant of the true God who might have to give his life because of commitment to the God of Israel. Later, Daniel testifies to a remedy for even those who die trusting their God.

In addition, Nebuchadnezzar openly declared respect and recognition for the God of Israel. Amazingly, he even praised the three Jewish exiles for trusting their God and defying his command. This praise and their subsequent promotion certainly sent a powerful message to exiled Jews, and potentially for others as well.

But where is Daniel in this narrative? It seems he was not at the dedication of this idol, perhaps having been excused by the king. Daniel knew how to handle himself at the royal court and, undoubtedly, given his religious commitments, was excused from more than eating the king’s food or wine, especially after his strong witness to his God before the king in chapter 2. There, the king certainly treated Daniel with amazing respect and deference, declaring his God to be God of gods. Had Daniel been at the dedication of the image, he would not have bowed and worshiped. We can be sure of that. Daniel, though, was often somewhat elusive: He never flaunted his abilities; he didn’t barge arrogantly into the scene in chapter 2, but had to be sought out and brought in by Arioch. He comes in “at last” before the king in the next chapter. In chapter 5, he was extremely hard to find, and in chapter 6 those who wanted to destroy him had to carefully lie in wait to catch him at home before they could accuse him.

What happened to the three men?

Why was the king amazed?

What did the crowd observe when the men came out of the fire?

How did the king respond to God’s deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?