Daniel 3.20-Nebuchadnezzar Orders Strong, Valiant Soldiers To Tie Up Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego To Unceremoniously Deposit Them Into The Blazing, Fiery Furnace
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday July 18, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:20-Nebuchadnezzar Orders Strong, Valiant Soldiers To Tie Up Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego To Unceremoniously Deposit Them Into The Blazing, Fiery Furnace
Lesson # 95
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:20, which records Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to certain strong, valiant men in his military to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for the purpose of depositing them unceremoniously in the blazing, fiery furnace.
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.” 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 3:20 He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. (NASB95)
“Certain valiant warriors” is composed of the masculine plural form of the noun geḇǎr (גְּבַר) (gheb-ar´), “certain” which is modified by the masculine plural construct form of the noun gib∙bǎr (גִּבַּר) (ghib-bawr´), “valiant warriors.”
The noun geḇǎr is in the plural and means “certain men” since it is used in a comparative sense referring to a human adult male and refers to “certain men” in Nebuchadnezzar’s army.
It is modified by the noun gib∙bǎr, “valiant warriors,” which is correctly translated since the word refers to a brave or valiant soldier and thus an elite soldier.
The two words literally mean “men of valor.”
Also, modifying the noun geḇǎr is the noun ḥǎ∙yil (חַיִל) (khah´-yil), which describes these valiant men in Nebuchadnezzar’s army as “strong” or “powerful.”
The noun gib∙bǎr is in the construct state meaning that it is governing the noun which follows it, which is ḥǎ∙yil, which expresses a genitive relationship between these two words.
Specifically, the noun ḥǎ∙yil is describing the construct noun gib∙bǎr in an attributive sense meaning that these valiant warriors or men of valor possessed the attribute of being strong or powerful.
“In order to cast them” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active infinitive construct form of the verb remā(h) (רְמָה) (rem-aw´), “cast.”
The verb remā(h) means “to deposit unceremoniously” into the midst of a furnace blazing with fire and does not mean “to be thrown.”
Though linear movement is understood by the term, it does not denote the hurling of an object but rather it refers to placing a person or object in a rough and hurried manner (DBL Aramaic, #10667).
Therefore, this verb denotes that Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to certain strong, valiant men in his military in order to “unceremoniously deposit” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a blazing, fiery furnace in the sense of doing so in a hurried and rough manner.
This corresponds with the fact that the executioners who placed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the midst of the furnace blazing with fire were killed by the leaping flames (cf. Daniel 3:22).
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of the verb remā(h) indicating the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to certain strong, valiant men in his military to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
The purpose of the order to tie them up was to unceremoniously deposit them into the blazing, fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:20 Then, he issued a command to certain, strong valiant men who were in his military to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for the purpose of depositing them unceremoniously into the blazing, fiery furnace. (My translation)
As we noted in Daniel 3:19, the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey Nebuchadnezzar’s edict to worship the gold statue he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon resulted in the king becoming totally and completely enraged.
Also, his facial expression was changed against these three.
He then issued an order to heat the furnace seven times more than which it was normally heated.
Now, here in Daniel 3:20, the reader is told that following this order, Nebuchadnezzar issued another command to certain, strong valiant men who were in his military to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for the purpose of depositing them unceremoniously into the blazing, fiery furnace.
This verse tells us that they were roughly and harshly treated since the verb remā(h) means “to deposit unceremoniously” referring to placing a person or object in a rough and hurried manner (DBL Aramaic, #10667).
Nebuchadnezzar’s order to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for the purpose of placing them unceremoniously into the blazing, fiery furnace and his order to heat the furnace seven times more than which it was usually heated simply serve to make their deliverance from the flames by God much more impressive.
This leads to answering the question as to why would God allow His children to suffer the ordeal of being burned alive.
He did so in order to glorify the manner in which He delivered these three.
By permitting them to suffer this ordeal, the Lord was able to demonstrate His power over creation before the Babylonians including Nebuchadnezzar.
Their undeserved suffering would serve to confirm what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego already were convinced of, namely that their God was faithful and omnipotent.
He let them suffer undeservedly in order to advance them spiritually in the sense that this trial was to draw them closer to Himself and increase their faith in Him.
He also let them suffer undeservedly in order to evangelize the king of Babylon and those dignitaries and executioners who bore witness to their deliverance.
The Lord allowed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to suffer undeservedly because He wanted to reveal Himself to the king and the other dignitaries and military personnel so that they would forsake the worship of their gods and worship Him.
So there was a purpose for letting them suffer undeservedly at the hands of this heathen king.