Dan
3:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which
was
sixty cubits and
its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the
province of Babylon.
Dan
3:2
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.
Dan
3:3
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.
Dan
3:4
Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is
given, O peoples, nations and men
of every
language,
Dan
3:5
that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre,
trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has
set up.
Dan
3:6
"But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately
be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."
Dan
3:7
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.
Nebuchadnezzar
has committed the ungodly sin that is common to this very day, he has
set up a false god of his own invention. A cubit is the distance of
about 18 inches or the distance from the Elbow to the Tip of the
Extended Middle Finger. This make the statue about 9 foot wide and
about 90 foot high by my calculation. Any follower of God will find
their-selves in serious trouble.
The
life application here is to be careful of what and whom you worship.
When I purchased my first new car I did everything I could for that
car. I kept the interior and the exterior clean and polished. I
dressed the tire with Tire Black and replaced them long before they
were worn out. I worshiped my car. It wasn't 90 foot tall and it
wasn't layered with Gold but most of our gods, today, aren't.
Dan
3:8
For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and
brought charges against the Jews.
Dan
3:9
They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: "O king,
live forever!
Dan
3:10
"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.
Dan
3:11
"But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into
the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
Dan
3:12
"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."
Hatred
of the Jewish People and of the true Christian Followers of God has
always prevailed and today the nation known world wide as “The
Christian Nation,” the US and the nation of Israel are scheduled
for extinction. And here, we find the Chaldeans working a plan of
hatred to remove three of the very men, responsible for the very air
in their lungs and still they hated these, awful, Honest Jews. It is
possible, because of their positions in Government, that they helped
write this law and planed this from the beginning.
Now,
this is really easy to apply to our lives but most do not wish to
learn this lesson and are continually amazed when persecuted. This
trouble will even come from folks calling themselves Christian. In
one of my jobs as a driver I had the knife of a Baptist Sunday School
Teacher in my back, over and over, for better than 9 years. I was
not taken to relieve the company of supplies and according to him
caused him to lose a good deal of money when we wou8ld co-drive a
run.
He
stabbed all he could with the lies and I prayed for him every day.
In the end of it he took a stance that backed him into a corner and
he was fired for it. But I'll give some strong advice here, never
pray for God to bless your enemy because if the LORD tires of the
lack of response, the coals of fire God pours over him will break
your heart.
Dan
3:13
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.
Dan
3:14
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?
Dan
3:15
"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?"
This
is the life application where we learn who the sheep and who the
goats in the Church are. Just like these young Jewish men, if we
live until the Rapture, we in the US will experience the same
persecution of Christians found in China, all the Arab nations, India
and many other nations of the world. If you are in the Church to be
safe, forget it. When the Anti-Christ is revealed, just after or
about the same time as the Rapture, we will have run through the
mill, attempting to move us away from the One God and into Satan's
Camp.
Dan
3:16
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this
matter.
Dan
3:17
"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.
Dan
3:18
"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."
There
are many thoughts on why Nebuchadnezzar was so enraged but what I see
is that the King is about to lose, in his thoughts, ¾ of the honest
and wise men in his government. These young believers were fully
aware f their Saviour and they were refusing to worship any other
gods, not even the king's personal invention
Dan
3:19
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression
was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by
giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was
usually heated.
Dan
3:20
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.
Dan
3:21
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.
Dan
3:22
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.
Dan
3:23
But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the
midst of the furnace of blazing fire still
tied up.
Dan
3:24
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."
Dan
3:25
He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and
walking about
in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the
gods!"
Now
you can see why I think that Nebuchadnezzar was more mad at the idea
of killing these men than at their violation of the law he had
proclaimed. He heated the furnace so as to kill them fast and he,
carefully, watched over them. He has lost, at least, three of his
best fighters and now 5 men are walking around in the furnace. I see
the Saviour, Jesus, walking with and rescuing them in and from the
fire. And our life lesson here is to be very careful as we look upon
and rationalize the working of God.
Nebuchadnezzar
was almost correct and yet, as far as Heaven is from Hell, wrong.
During a recent Hurricane two trees were felled at my house by the
storm and yet, the one between my house and the shop, hit neither
building. With about 18 foot between the two and a storage shed
about 25 foot from the tree at the end of the clear space sits a new
storage shed and neither building was struck by the tree, about
seventy foot tall. The wind broke the tree in half and hung the top
of the tree on a branch with the tip top of the tree about two foot
from the ground. A miracle? I believe so!
Dan
3:26
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!"
Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the
fire.
Dan
3:27
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.
Dan
3:28
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered
His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's
command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship
any god except their own God.
Dan
3:29
"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."
Dan
3:30
Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in
the province of Babylon.
Even
Nebuchadnezzar must admit thaqt the God who had given Daniel the
knowledge of his dream had protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
when even the King's most potent and powerful warriors had expired as
they carried these men in to the fire. The most delicate part of
man, his hair, had not been affected by the fire and they were
untouched, except, maybe, for the bindings on their arms and legs.
Life
lesson? There is nothing that can over power our Saviour and that
being true, we must tie the Old Testament, the Bible Jesus taught
from, directly to the New Testament. A few, not many, have had a
problem with my view of the Testaments because as I read the
scriptures I find Jesus, Paul and the others referencing the Old
Testament making the New Testament a Life Application Commentary of
the Bible the first Saints and Jesus taught from.
Once
I had submitted my will to the will of God, as directed by the
indwelling Holy Spirit I began to see this and my entire view of God
began to expand and to grow in leaps and bounds. Not bad for a man
with an Eighth Grade Education and a GED. If you will submit your
life to the will of God you will not be just saved, you will be the
Bride of Christ. (See Matt. 22:1-14) I see no good reason to arrive
in Heaven, just, to be a guest at the wedding feast.
The
reference of the Matthew passage here requires more input, so, here
it is. Jesus is speaking in this passage and teaches us that this
parable is a Word Picture of Heaven. We know that anyone in the
First Rapture is saved but what I see here is that not everyone thaqt
is saved is a member of the Bride of Christ. Be well grounded here
if you ever choose to teach this because you will be seen as stepping
on the toes of many of those in attendance. It is a very common
belief that anyone going to Heaven is a member of the Bride. I find
this to be true because of the lack of Matt. 22:1-14 not being taught
and we must remember the, single, most important rule of
understanding scripture, “No scripture, nor any group of scripture
can ever be fully understood without the light of all
other scripture.
God
Bless.
3:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which
was
sixty cubits and
its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the
province of Babylon.
Dan
3:2
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.
Dan
3:3
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.
Dan
3:4
Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is
given, O peoples, nations and men
of every
language,
Dan
3:5
that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre,
trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has
set up.
Dan
3:6
"But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately
be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."
Dan
3:7
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.
Nebuchadnezzar
has committed the ungodly sin that is common to this very day, he has
set up a false god of his own invention. A cubit is the distance of
about 18 inches or the distance from the Elbow to the Tip of the
Extended Middle Finger. This make the statue about 9 foot wide and
about 90 foot high by my calculation. Any follower of God will find
their-selves in serious trouble.
The
life application here is to be careful of what and whom you worship.
When I purchased my first new car I did everything I could for that
car. I kept the interior and the exterior clean and polished. I
dressed the tire with Tire Black and replaced them long before they
were worn out. I worshiped my car. It wasn't 90 foot tall and it
wasn't layered with Gold but most of our gods, today, aren't.
Dan
3:8
For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and
brought charges against the Jews.
Dan
3:9
They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: "O king,
live forever!
Dan
3:10
"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.
Dan
3:11
"But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into
the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
Dan
3:12
"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."
Hatred
of the Jewish People and of the true Christian Followers of God has
always prevailed and today the nation known world wide as “The
Christian Nation,” the US and the nation of Israel are scheduled
for extinction. And here, we find the Chaldeans working a plan of
hatred to remove three of the very men, responsible for the very air
in their lungs and still they hated these, awful, Honest Jews. It is
possible, because of their positions in Government, that they helped
write this law and planed this from the beginning.
Now,
this is really easy to apply to our lives but most do not wish to
learn this lesson and are continually amazed when persecuted. This
trouble will even come from folks calling themselves Christian. In
one of my jobs as a driver I had the knife of a Baptist Sunday School
Teacher in my back, over and over, for better than 9 years. I was
not taken to relieve the company of supplies and according to him
caused him to lose a good deal of money when we wou8ld co-drive a
run.
He
stabbed all he could with the lies and I prayed for him every day.
In the end of it he took a stance that backed him into a corner and
he was fired for it. But I'll give some strong advice here, never
pray for God to bless your enemy because if the LORD tires of the
lack of response, the coals of fire God pours over him will break
your heart.
Dan
3:13
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.
Dan
3:14
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?
Dan
3:15
"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?"
This
is the life application where we learn who the sheep and who the
goats in the Church are. Just like these young Jewish men, if we
live until the Rapture, we in the US will experience the same
persecution of Christians found in China, all the Arab nations, India
and many other nations of the world. If you are in the Church to be
safe, forget it. When the Anti-Christ is revealed, just after or
about the same time as the Rapture, we will have run through the
mill, attempting to move us away from the One God and into Satan's
Camp.
Dan
3:16
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O
Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this
matter.
Dan
3:17
"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.
Dan
3:18
"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."
There
are many thoughts on why Nebuchadnezzar was so enraged but what I see
is that the King is about to lose, in his thoughts, ¾ of the honest
and wise men in his government. These young believers were fully
aware f their Saviour and they were refusing to worship any other
gods, not even the king's personal invention
Dan
3:19
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression
was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by
giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was
usually heated.
Dan
3:20
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.
Dan
3:21
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.
Dan
3:22
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.
Dan
3:23
But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the
midst of the furnace of blazing fire still
tied up.
Dan
3:24
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."
Dan
3:25
He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and
walking about
in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the
gods!"
Now
you can see why I think that Nebuchadnezzar was more mad at the idea
of killing these men than at their violation of the law he had
proclaimed. He heated the furnace so as to kill them fast and he,
carefully, watched over them. He has lost, at least, three of his
best fighters and now 5 men are walking around in the furnace. I see
the Saviour, Jesus, walking with and rescuing them in and from the
fire. And our life lesson here is to be very careful as we look upon
and rationalize the working of God.
Nebuchadnezzar
was almost correct and yet, as far as Heaven is from Hell, wrong.
During a recent Hurricane two trees were felled at my house by the
storm and yet, the one between my house and the shop, hit neither
building. With about 18 foot between the two and a storage shed
about 25 foot from the tree at the end of the clear space sits a new
storage shed and neither building was struck by the tree, about
seventy foot tall. The wind broke the tree in half and hung the top
of the tree on a branch with the tip top of the tree about two foot
from the ground. A miracle? I believe so!
Dan
3:26
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!"
Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the
fire.
Dan
3:27
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.
Dan
3:28
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered
His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's
command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship
any god except their own God.
Dan
3:29
"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."
Dan
3:30
Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in
the province of Babylon.
Even
Nebuchadnezzar must admit thaqt the God who had given Daniel the
knowledge of his dream had protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
when even the King's most potent and powerful warriors had expired as
they carried these men in to the fire. The most delicate part of
man, his hair, had not been affected by the fire and they were
untouched, except, maybe, for the bindings on their arms and legs.
Life
lesson? There is nothing that can over power our Saviour and that
being true, we must tie the Old Testament, the Bible Jesus taught
from, directly to the New Testament. A few, not many, have had a
problem with my view of the Testaments because as I read the
scriptures I find Jesus, Paul and the others referencing the Old
Testament making the New Testament a Life Application Commentary of
the Bible the first Saints and Jesus taught from.
Once
I had submitted my will to the will of God, as directed by the
indwelling Holy Spirit I began to see this and my entire view of God
began to expand and to grow in leaps and bounds. Not bad for a man
with an Eighth Grade Education and a GED. If you will submit your
life to the will of God you will not be just saved, you will be the
Bride of Christ. (See Matt. 22:1-14) I see no good reason to arrive
in Heaven, just, to be a guest at the wedding feast.
The
reference of the Matthew passage here requires more input, so, here
it is. Jesus is speaking in this passage and teaches us that this
parable is a Word Picture of Heaven. We know that anyone in the
First Rapture is saved but what I see here is that not everyone thaqt
is saved is a member of the Bride of Christ. Be well grounded here
if you ever choose to teach this because you will be seen as stepping
on the toes of many of those in attendance. It is a very common
belief that anyone going to Heaven is a member of the Bride. I find
this to be true because of the lack of Matt. 22:1-14 not being taught
and we must remember the, single, most important rule of
understanding scripture, “No scripture, nor any group of scripture
can ever be fully understood without the light of all
other scripture.
God
Bless.
