Daniel 3.17-Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Tell Nebuchadnezzar That Their God Is Able To Deliver Them Out Of His Hand
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 27, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:17-Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Tell Nebuchadnezzar That Their God Is Able To Deliver Them Out Of His Hand
Lesson # 92
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:17.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:17, which records Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego affirming with Nebuchadnezzar their God’s ability to deliver out them out of his hand.
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king sculptured an image composed of gold, its height ninety feet, its width nine feet. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king issued an order to assemble the satraps, military commanders as well as the governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers, judges in other words, each and every one of the dignitaries from the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue, which Nebuchadnezzar erected. 3 Then when the satraps, military commanders as well as the governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers, judges in other words, each and every one of the dignitaries from the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king had erected, they stood directly in front of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar had erected. 4 Next, a herald publicly proclaimed with authority: “To all of you nations, ethnicities and language groups, all of you are commanded: 5 At the precise moment when all of you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer, drum as well as each and every type of musical instrument, all of you must fall down in order to worship the gold statue, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king has erected. 6 However, whoever refuses to fall down in order to worship, in that very hour, they will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace.” 7 Because of this, at the precise moment when each and every one of the people from the nations heard the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer as well as each and every type of musical instrument, each and every one of the nations, ethnicities and language groups fell down worshipping the gold statue which Nebuchadnezzar the king had erected. 8 Because of this, during this time certain Chaldean men made assertions, specifically, they slanderously accused some individuals from the Jewish race. 9 They made a statement to the king and said, 10 “O King live forever! You O king issued a command, namely that each and every person who hears the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer as well as drum and in addition every type of musical instrument, must fall down in order to worship the gold statue. 11 However, whoever refuses to fall down in order to worship, they will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jewish men, because you assigned them the administration over the province of the city of Babylon-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, these men have absolutely no respect for your command O king. By no means do they serve your god, that is, by no means do they worship the gold statue which you erected.” 13 Then, because of rage, yes and a furious rage at that, Nebuchadnezzar issued an order causing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be brought into his presence. Consequently, these men were brought into the king’s presence. 14 Nebuchadnezzar asked a question and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, all of you are refusing to serve my god, that is, all of you refuse to worship the gold statue, which I erected? 15 Now if all of you are ready, namely that, at the precise moment when all of you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer, drum as well as each and every type of musical instrument, all of you must fall down in order to worship the gold statue, which I erected. However, if all of you refuse to fall down in order to worship, in that very hour, all of you will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace. Now, let’s see, what God exists who has the ability to effect the rescue of all of you out of my power?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, as for us, we are by no means obligated to respond to you concerning this matter. (My translation)
Daniel 3:17 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.” (NASB95)
“If” is the conjunction hēn (הֵן) (hane), which means “certainly” rather than “if” since it is functioning as a marker to show a mode of certainty.
Here it denotes the certainty that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego exists in the state of being able to deliver them from the furnace of blazing fire.
To translate this word “if” expresses the idea of doubt indicating that Daniel’s friends were expressing doubt as to if there God exists, which is obviously not the case.
The idea with this word is the exact opposite of doubt since it expresses the certainty of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that there God exists in the state of being able to deliver them from death.
“It be so” is the particle of existence ʾî∙ṯǎy (אִיתַי) (ee-thah´ee), which means “exists” since it is a particle of existence indicating that the God of Israel “exists in the state of being” able to deliver them from death.
The use of this word by these three is an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s rhetorical question, which challenged the existence of a God who is able to deliver Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the king’s power.
The word is not used by these three to affirm the existence of their God with Nebuchadnezzar since the latter knows He exists as a result of Daniel telling him his dream and interpreting it for him as recorded in chapter two.
Rather, they use the word in response to the king’s rhetorical question in which he challenges the existence of any God who is able to deliver them from his hand.
“Our God” is composed of the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “the God of” which is followed by the first person plural pronominal suffix -nā(ʾ) (־נָא) (nah), “our.”
The noun ʾělāh means “the God” without reference to a particular member of the Trinity and is modified by the first person plural pronominal suffix -nā(ʾ) which means “our” referring to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and expresses the personal covenant relationship that these three have with their God.
“We” is the first person plural personal pronoun ʾǎnǎḥ∙nā(ʾ) (אֲנַחְנָא) (an-akh´-naw), which is referring to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and serves to contrast these three who are willingly serving God with Nebuchadnezzar who is not.
The implication is that the king should be serving their God willingly since in Daniel 2:37 Daniel told the king the God ruling the inhabitants of the first, second and third heaven gave him sovereignty, military might, governmental authority as well as honor.
In Daniel 2:38, Daniel told the king that wherever members of the human race, wild animals of the field or birds of the sky live, the God ruling the heavens has given them into his power.
Consequently, God has caused him to rule over each and every one of them.
“Is able” is the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb yeḵil (יְכִל) (yek-ale´), which means “to be able” indicating that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego serve their God “who is able” to deliver them from death.
The use of this word is an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s rhetorical question, which challenged the existence of a God who is able to deliver Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the king’s power.
“To deliver” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is the shaf’el (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb šê∙ziḇ (שֵׁיזִב) (shez-ab´), “deliver.”
The verb šê∙ziḇ means “to rescue, to deliver” from physical harm with the implication of being spared from physical death indicating that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego has the ability to cause them to enter into the state of being rescued from physical death, i.e. preventing their deaths.
Daniel 3:17 “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.” (NASB95)
“And He will deliver us out of your hand, O king” is a result clause since the conjunction wa, “and” is used as a marker of result.
This indicates that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego exists, whom they serve, who is able to rescue them from the blazing, fiery furnace “so that” or “with the result that” He will rescue them out of Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, i.e. power.
“Out of your hand” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (min), “out of” and its object is the feminine plural construct form of the noun yǎḏ (יַד) (yad), “hand” which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “your.”
The noun yǎḏ means “power” in the sense of possession of control and authority over someone or something.
This indicates that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego has the power to rescue them from the blazing, fiery furnace so that He will cause them to be delivered out of the king’s hand, i.e. power in the sense that their God can deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar’s control and authority or power.
The noun yǎḏ is the object of the preposition min, which is a marker of separation meaning that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego has the power to deliver them “out of” Nebuchadnezzar’s power.
“O king” is the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), which of course is used with reference to Nebuchadnezzar referring to the fact that he was governmental head of Babylon.
We have the vocative use of this word since Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are directly addressing Nebuchadnezzar according to this title and they are demonstrating respect for him out of obedience to their God who put him in power.
Daniel 3:17 “Certainly, our God, whom, we serve, exists in the state of being able to rescue us from the blazing, fiery furnace so that He will cause us to be delivered out of your hand O king.” (My translation)
In Daniel 3:17, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when addressing Nebuchadnezzar affirm they are serving their God as well as their God’s ability to rescue them from death and thus out of the king’s hand.
They are evangelizing the king by bearing testimony to their God’s ability to save from death and the power of any king, no matter how powerful.
Therefore, in Daniel 3:17, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are affirming the omnipotence or power of God before Nebuchadnezzar.