Courage in the midst of Captivity (3)

Daniel 3-4

This is a well-known Bible story out of the book of Daniel, however, it isn’t a story at all. We will be covering 2 of the 4 major life events of Daniel that we have discussed before. King Neb constructs a great statue of himself. This statue was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide, and made of solid gold. He set this statue up so the people would worship it, thus worship him. It was set up to exalt his name. The statue had two purposes: 1.) To elevate Neb.

Bob Thieme calculated that there were over 4,400,000 pounds of gold in the statue, worth over 2,315,000,000 at just $33 an ounce. Today, gold is worth 50 times that much.

2.) To consolidate his empire through a test of loyalty-having all leaders in his empire swear allegiance to him.

All the VIPs were gathered, the orchestra was ready, and at the sound of the music, all were to bow or burn. When the music started, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego remained standing. Do you remember back in chapter 1 when we talked about having convictions in your hearts? Like Daniel did when it came to not defiling himself with the king’s food or drink? The faith of Daniel’s friends were about to be tested to the max. You never really know how strong your faith is until your faith gets put to the fire. The three are brought down to the king and offered a final chance to bow down, but all three refused, because they had convictions in their hearts that they would only worship the One , True God. (Dan. 3:15)

Neb. started to blaspheme the name of God. Who is the god that will deliver you out of my hand? They give their response in verse 17. The God we serve is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us out of your hand. They had faith and knew that God would deliver them. Just like when we pray, we need to pray in faith that God will answer our prayers. Neb is now furious, and he demands that the furnace be heated 7 times hotter than normal and the 3 Hebrews be thrown in. The furnace is so hot that when his soldiers got close to the furnace to throw them in, they perished.

The king sees something that he marvels at. He sees the Hebrews walking around loose inside the furnace. He was amazed to see a fourth walking around with them that looked like the Son of God. Neb then calls for the Hebrews to come out of the furnace. In verse 28 he praises the name of God. He then promotes the Hebrews to higher offices in his court.

Daniel 4

This is the second and last major dream of Neb before his great fall. This event took place about 30 years after the incident of the Fiery Furnace. Starting in verse 10, Neb describes his dream. A large, leafy tree grew until it reached the heavens and shaded and fed the world. A heavenly figure orders the tree to be cut down with only a banded stump remaining. This represents a man who will lose his sanity having the mind of an animal for 7 years. This would show the world that God rules all kings and kingdoms. In verse 18, Neb asks Daniel for the interpretation of the dream. The large tree which reached the heavens but is cut down in judgment is King Neb. The heavenly figure who ordered the tree cut down in judgment was an angel. The stump represented that Neb would survive. The king would be judged with 7 years of insanity for pride. The king would only be restored when he realized that all his power, authority, and accomplishments came from God. Neb would then be restored to his throne. Daniel warns the king to repent of his selfish pride in verse 27. Twelve months after the dream, in verse 30, the king started boasting on himself and everything “he” has accomplished. He was using pronouns like “I” and “my”. While Neb was speaking these words, the voice and judgment of God fell. He was driven from men, ate grass like an ox, slept on the ground, grew long, scraggly hair, and grew long fingernails like claws. The king’s insanity is corroborated by secular history. Josephus quotes a Babylonian historian named Berasus who mentions the strange illness suffered by the king. There is also the testimony of Abydenus, the Greek historian (268 BC).

At the end of the 7 years, God released Neb from his madness and the king was restored to his throne. He then composed a great hymn of praise to the one and only true God as the everlasting Sovereign before whom all men are as nothing.