Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak
any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be
cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other
God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted hadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon (Dan 3:29-30).
Nebuchadnezzar is impressed but not converted. He is forced to recognize the true God of the Hebrews, but not ready to abandon his own gods he has served all of his life. He will place God at the head of all the other gods. Isn't that also the American way? To keep God around in case of an emergency but to preserve all our other programs that are the real controlling power in our lives. He was famous for his elaborate palace of hanging gardens and a system for watering the plants. The Tower of Babel was not far away.
He is impressed that the God of the three Hebrews is able to preserve His own in a hot fire and that this God can give him dreams and young men to recall and interpret those dreams. God can write history in advance, before it occurs. But Nebuchadnezzar is going to discover another principle: the one true God does not tolerate false gods. He will tolerate other gods for a while, but not forever.
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. (Isa 45:18)
…the LORD saith,..them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed (1Sa 2:30).
The Built-in prophecy. Contained in this story is an ad′um·bra'tion – To give a sketchy outline of. To overshadow; shadow or obscure. (Amer.Her.Dict.) In short, the figures in the story represent things to come.
The fiery furnace is a picture of the great tribulation that is to come on the earth between the rapture of the true church and the return of Christ to sit upon the Throne of David in Jerusalem. Thus, the fiery furnace portrays the intense suffering during that time.
Nebuchadnezzar is a picture of the beast out of the sea, the Antichrist of Revelation 13:1. The last world ruler. The image of gold represents the abomination of desolation of which the Lord Jesus spoke. The three Hebrew children represent the remnant which will be miraculously preserved during the Great Tribulation period.
Daniel is not mentioned in this chapter at all. He wasn't around. He was out on kingdom business. He is therefore, a picture of the redeemed ones who are to be removed before the Great Tribulation. The fourth man in the fire represents the Lord Jesus who will be with His people in the day of the Great Tribulation" (abbrev. from McGee).
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Joh 16:33)
... I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Mat 28:20).
Dan Carr
Memory Verses for This Week: (If you know your phone number you can memorize Bible verses.)
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Dan 3:17-18)
Quotation for this week: "Often a cold shudder has run through me, and I have asked myself whether I may have not devoted myself to a fantasy." —Charles Darwin, Life and Letters, 1887, Vol. 2, p.229.
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