Good Morning! Dan. 3.29-30 (4th Part).

Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which

speak any thing miss 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

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon (Dan 3:29-30).

There is some repetition written into these four parts dealing with Dan. 3:29-30. It is not out of laziness but out of concern that we review what is being said. Bible types are amazing and important. God is the master-teacher. There is no other book like the Bible. We usually prefer a devotional to be primarily inspirational and to inform us with little or no effort on our part. But if we are willing to be patient and serious about learning, we can advance quickly in our understanding. Studying Bible types is profitable.

Nebuchadnezzar is a type of the anti-Christ. Another type is the image he built in Daniel 3 which is a type of an image that will be set up by the anti-Christ. Today we are awaiting the construction of a Jewish temple on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. The stones for the new Jewish temple have been sawed and crated for at least forty years. The anti-Christ will set up a satanic image inside that new temple. Satan will perform a miracle by giving life to the image and causing it to speak (Rev.13:15). Daniel 3 is related to the beginning of the times of the Gentiles. Revelation 13 marks the end of the times of the Gentiles.

The fiery furnace is a type of the great tribulation that is coming on the earth. Daniel introduces this seven-year period as the seventieth week (Daniel 9:24-27). This "week" of seven years will begin with promises to the Jews, followed by achievement in peace and prosperity. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had prosperity and prominence for a while and then suddenly they were in the fiery furnace. The Jewish people in the land of Israel will experience a great trial of affliction and death, hotter than any trials before in their long history. I suggest that you read all of Daniel chapter 9.

The Hebrew youth are a type of the Israelites who will be preserved during the great tribulation. The anti-Christ will do his best to kill all Jews just like Hitler tried it. He will also try to kill all Christians who have turned to the Lord during those awful days. Revelation 7 tells us that the 144,000 sealed Jews, 12,000 from each tribe, will be preserved and will go about preaching the gospel of the kingdom. "…later they will be seen still standing on the other side of the tribulation (Revelation 15:2), brought through the tribulation victorious over the beast, his image, and his mark (666)" (Strauss).

The workers who threw the Jews into the furnace are a type of the final doom of the anti-Christ who persecuted the Jews and Christians during the great tribulation. And then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders (2Th 2:8-9).

And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city(Jerusalem): and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them (Rev 20:9).

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev 20:10).

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev 19:20)

God said to Abraham: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:2-3).

"Those who have persecuted the chosen people of God will one day meet their own doom in the lake of fire. History is repeating itself and will continue to do so until our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth and sets the world aright. We can well afford to believe God and wait the day of His righteous vindication.

"The Babylon of Daniel 3 is a type of the spirit of Babylon that will make a last effort to unite all the world in one religion (Revelation 17). The city of Babylon was the site of Nimrod's tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). It pictures the system and spirit of Babylon in the world of today. Political and religious Babylonianism will continue to spread its influence and power throughout the earth until the end of the age.

"With the end time coming upon us, the problems become more complex. We do not look for any man's world betterment program to succeed, but we do look for that "blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13) (Abbreviated from notes by Strauss).

It remains to be seen whether ancient Babylon will be completely rebuilt and then destroyed to fulfill prophecy, or whether Babylon resides in its spirit and influence and will be destroyed "in one hour."

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate (Rev 18:19).

Dan Carr

Memory Verse for This Week:

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Gen 8:22).

Quotation for this week: "As by this theory, innumerable transitional forms must have existed. Why do we not find them embedded in the crust of the earth?." —Charles Darwin, Evolution or Creation, p.139.