Daniel 3:1-30 • The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Steve Schott
3 hours ago
13 min read

► I think it's important to remember that the Book of Daniel is not presented to us in a chronological manner, but rather is laid out topically.

► When casually reading through the book, one can become confused when the dialogue will mention a particular king, then change to another one, then go back to a previously mentioned one, and so on.

► So in the way of a reminder, here is a layout of the book that references the various sections.

Click on the chart to see a larger copy. Chart from paultanner.org

► In a nutshell, there are 3 main groups...

→ Chapter 1 - This is the Personal History of Daniel, where we find out how Daniel, a young man who was a member of the upper echelon of Jewish society in Jerusalem, ended up in Babylon, being trained to work in the government of that country.

→ Chapters 2 - 7 are focused on the Gentile Nations of the World, those being the current state of Babylon, currently being run by the Chaldeans, but soon to be replaced by the Medo-Persians, then the Greeks, and eventually the Romans.

→ Chapters 8 - 12 focus mainly on the future of the Nation of Israel. And not so much on the immediate future, but the future of Israel as it pertains to the events of the end times.

► Today we will be looking at chapter 3, where we will see King Nebuchadnezzar for the 2nd time create a situation where God will intervene in a way to bring Neb to a point of acknowledging Him as the one true God.

► Daniel 3:1-30 →

The King's Golden Image

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold,

→ 1^st off, this passage is somewhat unique in that there is no reference as to when this event occurred.

• Unlike several other places where it says something like “in the 519^th year of King So & so”, this passage has no time stamp.

• Chapter 6, which details the event of Daniel in the lions’ den is another chapter with no specific time stamp.

→ This event most likely took place shortly after the events in chapter 2, where Nebuchadnezzar saw a giant statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay.

→ For this passage we are not told what exactly the “image” represents.

→ Most likely this is the same statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in chapter 2, only in this case he’s made it completely of gold, to represent that he will ALWAYS be the man in charge.

the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits;

→ A cubit is roughly 18”. Literally, it is the measurement from the tips of your fingers to your elbow.

→ That being said, then the statue is 90’ high and 9’ wide.

→ That’s about the height of a 9 story building.

he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

→ No one is exactly sure where this is other than it was outside the city.

→ Perhaps in a more open area so as to not detract from the magnificence of the statue.

→ This would also allow plenty of room for large masses of people to be able to prostrate themselves in front of the image.

² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³ Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

→ Nebuchadnezzar wanted ALL the leadership people to show up.

→ Governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the Supreme court, all the cabinet members, etc.

→ He wanted everyone in leadership to be there.

⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,

→ A herald was someone whose role was to relay a message from the king to the people.

→ And this message is for EVERYONE – peoples, nations, men of every language.

→ This should help us to understand that Babylon, while being predominately Chaldean in substance, was actually a blend of the peoples and history of all the nations it had overwhelmed for over 1,000 years.

→ Sort of like Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, or the USA today.

⁵ that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music,

→ And the herald is telling us that the people’s response to his message should be triggered by a cacophony of sound, from all kinds of instruments, that should leave no one in doubt as to what they are to do next.

you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

→ So here it is – what everyone is supposed to do, when they hear all the music blasting, is to fall down before the golden image and worship it.

→ The assumption on my part is that it is a reflection on Nebuchadnezzar himself, so in effect, they are worshipping him.

⁶ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”

→ And just so you know he’s serious, the punishment for disobedience is being dropped alive into a crematorium.

⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

→ As the overriding conviction at the moment was the avoidance of being burnt to death, everyone fell on their faces.

→ We have no idea of the sincerity of their worship, but we do know the sincerity of their desire not to die.

Worship of the Image Refused

⁸ For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. ⁹ They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

→ "Certain Chaldeans" - We need to keep in mind here that the bulk, or at least the core, of the Babylonian culture at this time is Chaldean.

→ Ironically, the same culture that Abraham came from.

→ So even though they became a new country, their roots come from the same place.

→ And these “Chaldeans” take it upon themselves to remind the king of his edicts, before they drop the bombshell.

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

→ When the text says that the “certain Chaldeans” mentioned “certain Jews”, they weren’t exaggerating.

→ They specifically only list 3 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

→ They are like a band – Shadrach is the drummer; Meshach the lead guitar player; Abed-nego on bass and lead vocals.

• They are always mentioned together.

→ Where is Daniel?

• Did he bow??? I doubt it.

• Was he off somewhere else serving the king during this time? Possibly.

• Maybe he had Covid and was in quarantine.

• Not sure where he is, but this text focuses on his 3 buddies.

→ The charge of the Chaldeans – “These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

→ In other words, “These disobedient interlopers have dishonored you by not worshipping your image, thereby not worshipping you!”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?

→ So here we go again.

→ Nebuchadnezzar has already demonstrated his tendency to go from one extreme to the other in chapter 2.

• “Tell me the interpretation AND the dream, or I’ll kill every single one of you!!!!”

• “Oops, my bad. Your God is the boss, and since you’re connected with Him, I’m going to promote you and your buddies.”

→ Now once again Neb has mandated a significantly outrageous demand, and blows his top when he finds out there is some push back.

→ He gives orders to bring the band to him.

→ I can just see him yelling at them at the top of his lungs "Is it true,...", daring them to tell him to his face that they won’t bow down to the image.

¹⁵ Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”

→ Now Nebuchadnezzar gives them one more chance to comply, and tries to intimidate them by making himself out to be more powerful than their God.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 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.

→ The band disqualifies Nebuchadnezzar’s previous comment by stating that in fact, their God "IS ABLE (emphasis mine)" to not only save us from the fire, but will also save us from YOU.

¹⁸ But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

→ They go on and qualify this by saying that "even if He does not save us", we’re still not going to worship any god other than the one true God, who is not an image.

→ These boys are prepared to die in order to be faithful to God.

Daniel's Friends Protected

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

→ Their response has pushed Nebuchadnezzar past the point of self-control.

He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

→ I’m not sure just exactly how you would measure the fire to know when it is “7 times” hotter.

→ By adding more fuel, and optimizing air flow, you could get the fire upwards toward 3,600°F.

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. ²¹ Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

→ So the band members are tied up as they stand, and were thrown into the blazing fire.

²² For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. ²³ But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

→ The fire was so hot, that the warriors that threw them into the fire died in the process.

→ But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ended up in the midst of the fire.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” ²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm,

→ So apparently the opening into the fire was large enough that the men inside the fire could be seen.

→ And then confusion comes over Nebuchadnezzar, as they distinctly threw 3 men into the fire, who were tied up, but now he can "see four men" standing without being bound, and walking around inside the fire.

and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”

→ And the "4^th^" guy looks far more exotic than the others.

→ Who is this 4^th guy?

• Some will say that it was an angel, if for no other reason than Daniel records Nebuchadnezzar as calling the 4^th guy “an angel” in verse 28.

• Most commentators agree with my opinion that this was probably the pre-incarnate Christ with them.

• It’s not really so hard to believe this, as it’s happened several times already.

• I’ve always tried to reconcile the concept of the Trinity in this way…

♦ The Father is everywhere present at all times.

♦ The Son is always localized; He is the visible God.

○ Garden of Eden.

○ 1 of the 3 “men” who came to Abraham just before the destruction of Sodom.

○ God in the burning bush to Moses.

♦ The Spirit is the One who indwells.

○ He convicts us of the existence of God.

○ He convicts us of our sin.

○ He points us to the saving work of Jesus.

○ He gives us hope for the future.

• So in this case, I have absolutely no problem with this being Jesus.

→ I saw an ad on the internet for this t-shirt...

→ “May the fourth be with you” tee shirt references Daniel 3:17, which says “¹⁷If 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.”

→ They apparently also think it was Jesus in the fire with them!

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!”

→ So here we go with another Nebuchadnezzar flip-flop.

→ “You servants of the Most High God…”.

→ Humbled once again, Neb gives credit to God.

Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. ²⁷ The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

→ I like how the text mentions that it’s not just Nebuchadnezzar witnessing this – it’s the entire compliment of his governing officials seeing this at the same time.

→ The men were not injured in any way.

→ Not a hair was singed.

→ Their clothing was not damaged.

→ They didn’t even smell like smoke.

→ It’s like Jesus had them inside of some protective bubble, a controlled environment, totally oblivious to the conflagration going on all around them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego,

→ Nebuchadnezzar, once again verbally honors God, specifically "the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego,...", the God of Israel.

→ Is he a believer? I don’t know for sure.

→ This isn’t the last time he’ll be overly confident of himself and will be humbled by God.

→ This also isn’t the last time that he’ll praise and exalt the LORD God.

→ My hope for him is that he is sincere, truly believing in the ONE God alone, and not just including Him as part of his collection of Gods.

who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him,

→ Nebuchadnezzar references the “angel”, but did he really realize that if this was an angel, it was the “Angel of the Lord”, the preincarnate Jesus.

violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.

→ And while he acknowledges their disobedience to him, it was because they didn’t want to be disobedient to God.

²⁹ Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

→ The positive outcome of all of this would be that, for the most part, that the Jews as a whole would be somewhat protected within the kingdom of Babylon, because the king has commanded it so.

→ We know that during the time of the book of Esther, during the reign of another king, that there will be other attempts to irradicate the Jews, but in like fashion, that will fall apart also.

→ So on the verge of death, the boys come out of the grave, so to speak, to be lavished with prosperity in the land.

So What?

► My hope for us would be that we would never have to deal with having to choose whether to deny God in order to live.

► But if we do ever have to deal with that, I pray that we would have the courage to stand boldly for God regardless of the consequences.

► Sure, we might be unfriended on Facebook, or not invited to gatherings, or just plain ignored by our co-workers, if we acknowledge Christ.

► But in the long run, isn’t it more important that we remain true to the Creator of the universe, than to cower in fear because of the possible negative responses to our faith in God?

► We should carry with us the directive from God given to Joshua…

Joshua 1:8-9 → ⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”