Day 255
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had such strong faith. They faced a fiery furnace for not bowing to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. They were caught and accused of worshipping the Lord, obeying only God Himself alone. Nebuchadnezzar openly acknowledged and praised God. He wrote a letter to all the citizens about how great God is. He understood that the Spirit of God was with Daniel when he interpreted his dreams and was with the three men in the fiery furnace. Aren’t we all like Nebuchadnezzar? We praise God, acknowledge His sovereignty, mercies, and grace. Yet we fall again.
How often do we praise God after He delivers us, only to slip back into pride or self-reliance the next time pressure comes?
In many Bibles, the book of Daniel was put in the section of the Major Prophets, although he was never given a prophetic call like the others. Still, God gave him the divine gift to interpret dreams and visions and even saw visions like Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s visions were very surreal: creatures with four faces, wheels covered in eyes, dry bones that come to life, and the detailed measuring of a future temple. Daniel’s visions were also strange, but they were more symbolic.
We backed up to when Jerusalem fell in 605 BC. There were three major campaigns against Judah by Babylon. Daniel began with the first deportation, not the final fall of Jerusalem.
Daniel and three other extremely smart Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were chosen and trained for three years to enter the king’s service. Nebuchadnezzar gave each of the four wise men new names in order to remove their Hebrew identity. Daniel wanted no part of the king’s lavish food and wine. He asked the official to test him and the other three leaders for ten days to see if eating only vegetables would keep them healthy. This was the start of showing Daniel’s faithfulness to God even under the king’s pressure while in exile. The four finished their training, and Nebuchadnezzar found no others with as much wisdom and understanding, and it all came from God. God also gave Daniel the additional gift of understanding visions and dreams.
The king had been having a recurring dream, and all of the Babylonian experts (magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldean astrologers) could not interpret it. The king was absolutely determined to have the dream interpreted, as he said, “I will have you cut into pieces, and your houses turned into piles of rubble” (2:5). In the same regard, the king would offer gifts and honor to whoever could interpret the dream. But not only would they have to interpret it, but they would also have to tell the king what he had dreamt, like a mind reader. Only God could know what he had actually dreamt. Daniel prayed, and God gave him a revelation. Humbly, he told the king what he had dreamt as well as the meaning, not because Ezekiel had wisdom, but because the message and understanding came to him from God.
Daniel interpreted the king’s dream and said the large statue represented the kingdoms of the world. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The lower parts, made of lesser material from the chest to the toes, were later kingdoms. God himself cut out the rock that struck the statue, crushing it and becoming a mountain that filled the earth, causing the kingdoms to be divided. A fifth kingdom would come and be everlasting. Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate at Daniel’s feet. He promoted Daniel and gave him gifts, whichDaniel declined since God was the true provider of wisdom. Daniel did not refuse the honor and asked for his three friends to be promoted along with him.
Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of gold that was 90 feet tall (possibly of himself, but Scripture does not clarify). He declared that everyone must bow to the statue. Anyone who refused would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Of course, Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused. The astrologers told on Daniel’s friends for not bowing to the statue. Immediately, they told Nebuchadnezzar that they would not serve his gods or worship the golden image. They said that even if he did throw them into the furnace, their God was able to deliver them; if not, they still would not bow. Such faith they had. Of course, Nebuchadnezzar was angry that they obeyed God only. He had the furnace heated seven times hotter (a number used to mean as hot as possible) and had the men tied up fully clothed and thrown into the furnace. The furnace was so hot that it killed the men who threw them in. Nebuchadnezzar was shocked when he saw that three men had been put into the fiery furnace, but he saw four walking around unbound. This was a theophany, with the fourth person understood by some scholars as Jesus, the preincarnate One in the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar ordered them out, astonished at how they were alive, and their clothes did not smell like campfire smoke, and only the ropes had burned. This was the second time that Nebuchadnezzar understood God was at work. The first was withDaniel interpreting the dream, and the second came when the three men were divinely saved from the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar made a new decree not to mess with the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and gave the men another promotion. Nebuchadnezzar wrote a letter explaining how great God is. The three men walked through the fire and were not burned, just as God promised in Isaiah 43:2: “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.”
Nebuchadnezzar had a second dream. Unfortunately, he did not go to Daniel first, whether he was trying to test the other men or just failed to remember Daniel and his understanding from God. When the other wise men could not interpret the dream, Daniel was finally called. God gave Daniel the meaning: the great tree in the dream represented Nebuchadnezzar himself. Because of his pride, he would be driven from people and live like an animal until he acknowledged that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. The dream was fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind for a time, ate grass like an ox, and was later restored when he lifted his eyes to heaven and praised God. He then wrote another public letter declaring God’s power and sovereignty.
Today's Discussion question:
How often do we praise God after He delivers us, only to slip back into pride or self-reliance the next time pressure comes?
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