Daniel 3

Background

Nebuchadnezzar has created a stature of Gold that each person in the kingdom must bow down to

Might have been a connection to the dream of Daniel 2, but not necessarily a direct link due to the unknown construction date

3 guys refuse to bow down

Get told on by the Chaldeans

Imagine you conquer a territory and the nation you enslaved is now of higher position than you are

they wanted them out immediately

V 13-18

The king confronts these 3

now he does ask them if this true, but he also must confront the fact their being disobedient

If they don’t do this, death is guaranteed

How do the 3 respond?

Go for it. We won’t bow down to your or your idol.

They in essence spit in the face of Neb

But their confidence resides in far more than just their belief to not worship other gods

they don’t flinch in the face of death

V 17-18

There is a confidence in the character of the Lord

Notice the difference between confidence of character and character in circumstance

They didn’t say anything about their hope hinging on his deliverance

But rather that he is just as good of a God regardless of if he does save them or not

his character is not dependent on how he intervenes in a situation

V 19-24

Nebuchadnezzar is enraged

How could they defy his greatness and his authority? How dare they think they don’t need him

Furnace is heated up 7x hotter

the original heat would have killed them

this heat was so hot that it killed the men throwing them in

Remember that we read this story in retrospect. We know that God can and does deliver them. But to these men, they were prepared to be nothing more than a faithful 3 friends who looked to the Lord and gave up their lives

Yet they not only are able to see that there are 3 men in the fire, but there is actually 4

Christophany

Appearance of Christ outside of his specific earthly ministry

Christ is with us in the midst of trials. We do not experience hard times and trials of our faith on our own.

V 25-30

Nebuchadnezzar sees what has happened and he has completely changed his mind

These men have said nothing. They have not given a great theological discertation or explained their faith perfectly, but rather they have shown the work of the Lord

his mind isn’t just slightly convinced, rather he radically flips to the other end of the spectrum.

But there is still work to be done

He makes this great claim about the God of these 3. Enough to acknowledge he is powerful.

But it is not enough to