Daniel 3.30-Nebuchadnezzar Cause Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego To Propser In The Province Of The City Of Babylon
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 9, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:30-Nebuchadnezzar Causes Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego To Proper In The Province Of The City Of Babylon
Lesson # 105
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:30.
This evening we will complete our study of chapter three of the book of Daniel by noting verse 30, which records Nebuchadnezzar causing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of the city of Babylon.
Daniel 3:30 Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon. (NASB95)
“Caused to prosper” is the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active perfect form of the verb ṣelǎḥ (צְלַח) (tsel-akh´), which means “to cause to prosper” and its subject is Nebuchadnezzar and its object is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Thus, it indicates that the king caused these three to prosper in the province of the city of Babylon.
The word does not mean that they were promoted but rather that they were prospered.
This is indicated by the statement in Daniel 2:49.
Daniel 2:49 Next, Daniel requested from the king that he assign the administration over the province of the city of Babylon to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego while Daniel was at the king’s court. (My translation)
In this verse, the verb menā(h) means “to assign” in the sense of appointing someone to a particular duty or task.
Here it refers to Nebuchadnezzar “assigning” to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the duty or task of administrating over the province of the city of Babylon.
The noun ʿǎḇî∙ḏā(h) refers to the administration of a governmental region.
Here it denotes the “administration” of the province of the city of Babylon.
It speaks of the performance of executive duties over the province of the city of Babylon by Daniel’s three friends.
So Daniel requested from Nebuchadnezzar that his three friends would receive positions of authority within the provincial administration.
The noun meḏî∙nā(h) means “province” referring to a governmental administrative district.
Here it refers to the province of the city of Babylon.
This word is the object of the preposition ʿǎl, which is a marker of authority meaning that Daniel requested that Nebuchadnezzar appoint his three friends the administration “over” the entire province of the city of Babylon.
Therefore, we can see that the king had already promoted them the administration over the entire province of the city of Babylon.
Thus, the verb ṣelǎḥ in Daniel 3:30 does not mean that Nebuchadnezzar promoted them since they could go no higher in the province of the city of Babylon.
Rather, the word means “cause to prosper” indicating that the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of the city of Babylon, which implies that financially and materially they were prospered.
The hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil stem) stem of the verb ṣelǎḥ is causative and denotes Nebuchadnezzar causing these three to prosper financially and materially.
Daniel 3:30 Then, the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of the city of Babylon. (My translation)
In Daniel 3:30, we read that Nebuchadnezzar caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper financially and materially in the province of the city of Babylon.
They were not promoted in the province of the city of Babylon but rather they were prospered because Daniel 2:49 says that they held the highest positions of power in this province as a result of Daniel requesting of the king to give them this appointment.
Thus, we can see these three young men were being rewarded for their faith in the Lord while enduring undeserved suffering to the point of suffering a violent death.
Of course, the Lord delivered them from this violent death by means of His omnipotence.
This miracle serves to give Nebuchadnezzar greater revelation with regards to the God of Israel.
In chapter 2, we saw that the Lord revealed Himself as a revealer of mysteries by giving Daniel the content and interpretation of his recurring vision in a dream.
In this chapter through Daniel, the Lord was teaching the king that the God of Israel was sovereign not only over the nations of the earth but over all of history.
In fact, He was sovereign over human history.
However, in chapter 3, we see the king of Babylon learning through experience that the God of Israel is omnipotent and more powerful than the heathen gods and even more powerful than himself.
This revelation resulted in Nebuchadnezzar trusting in the God of Israel as expressed by the fact that he praised Him and no unbeliever is ever recorded in Scripture as praising the God of Israel.
So in Daniel 3:30, we read that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were being caused to prosper by Nebuchadnezzar in the province of the city of Babylon which they were administrating over.
However, this financial prosperity only came after they were prospered spiritually.
Their miraculous deliverance from death by the intervention of the preincarnate Christ has richly blessed them.
They have experienced the power of God in their human weakness and impotence.
From their perspective, this financial prosperity was nothing compared to the spiritual wealth and prosperity they were experiencing in their own souls.
Material wealth and prosperity is temporal and transitory whereas spiritual wealth and prosperity as a result of intimate fellowship with God is eternal in value.
God is most concerned with our “spiritual” prosperity rather than our “temporal” prosperity since our spiritual growth into greater Christ-likeness is His objective for our lives from eternity past according to Romans 8:29.
This “spiritual” prosperity is experienced through fellowship with God.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s undeserved suffering resulted in a more intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and rewards.
Therefore, spiritual prosperity involves a more intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and greater Christ-likeness and rewards.
The church age believer’s spiritual wealth and prosperity resides in His union and identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session (Ephesians 3:8).
Infinite spiritual wealth resides in the believer’s union and identification with Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14).
In Ephesians 1:18-23, Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would receive enlightenment and insight into the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints, which is the result of their union and identification with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.
In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul taught the Ephesian believers that the surpassing riches of God’s grace are manifested to the believer through his union and identification with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.
In Colossians 1:24-29, he taught the Colossian believers that the indwelling Christ is a mystery doctrine for the church age and is the riches of God’s glory.
In Romans 15:13, the apostle Paul taught the Roman believers that trusting God’s Word will prosper them and give them confidence.
In 3 John 1-2, John wrote to Gaius who was experiencing this soul prosperity.