Daniel 3.19-Nebuchadnezzar Is Enraged With Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego And Issues Orders To Heat The Furnace Seven Times Hotter Than Normal
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 17, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:19-Nebuchadnezzar Is Enraged With Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego And Issues Orders To Heat The Furnace Seven Times Hotter Than Normal
Lesson # 94
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:19.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:19, which records Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction to the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey his order to worship the gold image he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.
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. 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. 18 However, if not, let it be known to you O king that we are refusing to serve your god, that is, we refuse to worship the gold statue, you erected.” (My translation)
Daniel 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. (NASB95)
“Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath” is a result clause since the preposition b- which is prefixed to the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin function together as a marker of result.
They mark the actions of the king recorded in verse 19 as being “the result of” the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3:16-18 to his question in Daniel 3:14, the repetition of his order and warning of death for refusing to comply with his order in Daniel 3:15.
“Was filled with wrath” is composed of the third person feminine singular hitpeʿel (Hebrew: qal) passive perfect form of the verb melā(ʾ) (מְלָא) (mel-aw´), “was filled with” and then we have the feminine singular noun ḥǎmā(h) (חֲמָה) (khem-aw´), “wrath.”
The verb melā(ʾ) means “to fill” and denotes that the king “was filled with” wrath or rage as a result of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to obey his order to worship the gold statue he erected of himself.
This verb expresses the complete degree of rage of the king and denotes that he was in a complete rage as a result of their disobedience.
The noun ḥǎmā(h) means “enraged” which describes Nebuchadnezzar rage as intense, violent and avenging.
Daniel 3:19 Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar was totally and completely enraged. Also, his facial expression was changed against Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He responded and issued an order to heat the furnace seven times more than which it was normally heated. (My translation)
Daniel 3:19 records the reaction of Nebuchadnezzar to the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey his order to worship the gold statue which he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.
This verse contains three statements concerning this reaction.
The first describes the king as totally and completely enraged because of their disobedience.
The second describes his facial expression being changed against these three as a result of this disobedience, which manifests his hostility toward them.
The third describes Nebuchadnezzar as issuing an order to heat the furnace seven times more than which is was normally heated.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary of the Old Testament “Blast air from a bellows was usually used to raise the temperature in the furnace. ‘Seven times hotter’ is just an expression. Depending on what the furnace was being used for, the temperature would be maintained at between nine hundred and eleven hundred degrees centigrade. With their technology they were not able to exceed fifteen hundred degrees centigrade.”
This order is absurd since no human being could have survived an instant from such intense heat.
In fact, if he wanted to increase the suffering of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego he should have lowered the intensity of the flames since it would have extended the duration of the punishment.
By making the fire hotter, he actually would kill them instantly.
His order here is obviously to set an example not to disobey him at any time.
This reaction by the king reveals once again that Nebuchadnezzar was prone to temper tantrums when he didn’t get his way.
He often manifested irrational anger and behavior as demonstrated in Daniel chapter two where he gave the order to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men as a result of the occult priest, necromancers, witches and astrologers inability to tell him the content of his dream.
This order would result in the deaths of innocent people like Daniel and his three friends and others like them who were not connected to these four groups since the king’s executioner Arioch sought to arrest Daniel and his three friends as a result of this order from the king.
Though Nebuchadnezzar was a ruler of an empire, he could not rule himself.
His anger exalted folly.
Proverbs 14:29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly. (NASB95)
The king was acting foolishly by reacting with such anger.
Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated. (NASB95)
Though he captured many a city in battle, he was unable to rule himself, thus he was weaker than a person who can control his anger.
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. (NASB95)
Nebuchadnezzar demonstrated by rage that he lacked discretion because he could not overlook a transgression.
Proverbs 19:11 A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression. (NASB95)
He was not someone you should associate with.
Proverbs 22:24 Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, 25 or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself. (NASB95)
Nebuchadnezzar’s rage manifested the fact that he possessed a sin nature since anger is one of the manifestations of it (Galatians 5:20).
The Christian is commanded to refrain from anger (Colossians 3:8) since it does not achieve the righteousness of God (James 1:19-20).
By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian can control his or her temper.