Daniel Chapter 3

Daniel

chapter 3: Bow or Burn

The three men were tightly bound, clothes and all, as they were thrown into the fiery furnace. This should have made quite a spectacle in the furnace as the clothes were expected to burst into flame almost immediately.

The flames raged well above their normal temperatures as slaves compressed the huge bellows to create additional heat in a frantic attempt to appease the king. A back draft hit the party as they opened a roof-top door, killing the soldiers.

Daniel 3:24-26

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king leaped to his feet astonished, and said to his counsellors, "Did not we throw three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."

He answered, "Look! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods."

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out, and come here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire.

The men are no longer bound but walking around. Having them bound was clearly part of God's plan so that He could get Nebuchadnezzar's attention more dramatically. Imagine the scene: three men walking around, unharmed, with someone shining with supernatural light that even a pagan king understood!

Obviously the fourth being is an angel, but some Bible teachers think it could be a 'Theophony,' an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. That is a possibility, but we shouldn't make too much of the king's reference to one "like a son of the gods." Some try to turn that statement into "one like the Son of God" to give it special significance. It is unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar, the Gentile and pagan king of a pagan nation that worshipped a plethora of gods, would have referenced the angel in a way that positioned him as Messiah, the Son of the one and only God.

Nebuchadnezzar calls for them to come out. It's interesting that he didn't call for the fourth one to come with them. The being with these men must have been so remarkable that no doubt was left in his mind. It was not a vision or mirage of light, but something very real and powerful beyond imagination. The fourth figure probably scared the wits out of the king.

Daniel 3:27

And the satraps, prefects, governors and king's counsellors gathered together around these men. They saw that the fire had no power to harm their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed, neither were their coats scorched, nor any smell of fire upon them.

All these officials from across the kingdom were still in Babylon, seeing with their own eyes something beyond human understanding, on the very day that the king proclaims allegiance to gods that had never proved themselves in any way! They would take this story to every corner of the empire!

Daniel 3:28-29

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him. They have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God.

Therefore I make a decree, 'That the people of every nation and language which speak anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be made into limbs, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other God that can save in a way like this.'"

We laugh when we read this decree because we see the human weakness in the king that we can all identify with. He immediately resorts to old habits and wants to apply his usual techniques of brute strength to the situation. Impulsive as ever, the king now turns his attention to the hooligans who put him up to the whole charade. No doubt he is well aware that it was a setup and he now makes sure that it is put behind him by establishing a severe punishment for any further accusations against the Jews.

Nebuchadnezzar was not a guy who fooled around, or waffled when his preconceptions were tested. He quickly adapted and recognized that the God of the Hebrews was stronger than his own gods. Other tyrant leaders we are familiar with, like Hitler, probably would not have immediately acknowledged God publicly the way Nebuchadnezzar did.

The king was clearly aware of angels and their significance. Where did he learn this? From Daniel?

Though some Bibles use the phrase "cut into pieces," the Aramaic does not refer to cutting instruments. This phrase is the same used in chapter 2. The punishment was to be "torn limb from limb" which probably referred to a form of punishment where the victim was tied hands and feet to four trees. When the binding holding the trees together was unloosed the trees would fly apart, ripping the body into pieces.

The reference to turning the house into a dungheap or pile of rubble is actually quite rough: in the Aramaic it literally means turning their houses into outhouses, places where dung is gathered.

Daniel 3:30

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

These men were already high officials, so the promotions must have been quite significant.

In their positions, these men would be even more influential in talking about the God of the Hebrews. Nebuchadnezzar did not seem at all concerned about the impact they would have on his attempt to unify the nation in a religious sense.

Nobody knows what became of the statue. Presumably it was quickly abandoned, stripped of its gold covering, then left to decay on the Plain of Dura.

Son of the gods?

The reference to "son of the gods" comes from Nebuchadnezzar's own lips. Unfortunately, too many Bible teachers try to make a big deal out of this, as if Nebuchadnezzar was acknowledging the Triune Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is probably not what he was trying to say, so we shouldn't distort his words to fit our perception of what we would like him to have meant. He was simply stating that the fourth figure looked like a divine being.

At the same time, we can certainly enjoy the Holy Spirit's detail by using the same word used in Genesis 1:1, the Aramaic form of "bar elohim." This can be used as God (Trinity) or gods, depending on the context. Both are true.