Daniel Chapter 3

Summary:

As Nebuchadnezzar, still unconverted and controlled by worldly ambition and self-exaltation, contemplated the implications of the dream of Daniel 2, he determined that the mighty empire of Babylon should never be succeeded by an inferior kingdom. So, in defiance of the decree of God, he commissions a statue to be made of pure gold—the metal from his dream that had symbolized Babylon. Not only does he create this idol, but he legislates that all the important people and officers of the kingdom must come and bow down and worship the image. Further, there was to be a death penalty for any who would not bow. Nebuchadnezzar’s law poses a problem for Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as they will not bow to any other than the God of heaven.  As a result they are thrown into the fiery furnace from which God delivers them before all assembled dignitaries. Nebuchadnezzar then decrees that anyone who speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be cut in pieces and their houses made a dunghill.