The Boldness of King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and his 3
friends
Read Daniel chapter 2.
1)
King Nebuchadnezzar’s
boldness: A prideful mistake
a)
The Golden Image:
i)
Physical Appearance of the
Image: (Dan. 2:32-35)
(1) The
image was made of various materials representing the kingdoms that would follow
his kingdom.
(a)
Gold-Babylon
(b) Silver – Medo-Persia
(c) Bronze - Greece
(d) Iron - Rome
(e) Iron & Clay – Kingdom yet
to come
(2)
In the
King’s dream, his kingdom was portrayed as a head of gold, followed by several
other kingdoms. It was hard for the King
to accept the fact the there would be other kingdoms after his, since his
kingdom was the greatest kingdom around.
To show to all the people, and especially to show God, he had an image
built of gold. In one sense, King Neb.
Was telling all the people, and God that his kingdom would
last forever, that his kingdom was the most powerful kingdom ever and no other
kingdom would be able to replace his. I
think that was a VERY BOLD attitude to have towards people, but
especially towards the all powerful God!!
(3)
The dimensions of the image were 90
feet tall and 9 feet wide. (Dan. 3:1)
ii)
The Head of Gold: (Dan. 2:38)
(1) King Nebuchadnezzar was ruler over the
Babylonian Empire.
iii) The
King’s Pride: (Dan. 2:37-38)
(1) The Babylonian Empire was
great with riches and power. Not only that,
but when Daniel told the king this news(which wasn’t really news, the king was
probably aware of his own mighty kingdom), king Nebuchadnezzar was overcome
with his own pride and joy over being told how great he was. This happens to all of us and it’s hard to
not become a little proud of yourself when someone else tells us that we did a
good job at this or at that.
iv) The King’s Pride, Displayed: (Dan. 3:1)
(1) This great, massive image
of gold was proudly displayed in the valley of Dura, which would not only be
seen by people in the Babylonian Empire, but Dura was the main city that was
used for trade and market. Who knows who
would see this great image of gold. Even
from far distances, gold sparkles in the sunlight and attracts people to find
out what it is. 90 feet is about the
height of a 9 story building, which was quite tall in Daniel’s day, not to
mention that the city of Dura was mostly in a desert climate where it was
pretty flat and desolate.
(i) Think of the statue of Liberty in NYC.
Although it is more than 3 times the height of King Neb’s statue, it can
be seen from at least 2 different states. Also, there are a lot of high
buildings around and yet Lady Liberty can STILL be seen, and she’s not even
gold. Now imagine if Lady Liberty was gold
plated and just think of the distance from which you could see her glimmer in
the sun.
b)
The Fiery Furnace and the stand
of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego
i)
Now that this great image was proudly set up
in the center so that everybody could admire it, the king wanted people to
recognize his greatness even more, so the king issued a decree or law that
whenever the people heard the music, it was declared that they would fall down
and worship this great image.
ii)
King Neb. thought so highly of himself and
his mighty kingdom that the penalty for not obeying him, the almighty king, was
that he would execute them and on top of that in Daniel 3:15, the king makes a
pretty bold statement after he finds out that Shadrack,
Meshack, and Abednego refuse to bow down before this great image.
iii)
Notice the entirety of the deliverance of these 3 men.
Daniel 3:27 “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors,
being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no
power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed,
nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”
Daniel 3:15 “Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear
the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the
same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands?”
The end of this verse is an
example of what we can say when we get too prideful. Everyone says some things that afterwards they
will have to go back and repent about them or they might be so prideful that
the Lord will have to, and he does, humble them until they turn to him with a
sincere heart and desire to get right with him.
2)
Daniel and his 3 friend’s refuse
to worship:
i)
The Decree to Worship the
image: (Dan. 3:3-6,10-11)
(1) We read what this decree is in verse 5.
“That
at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:”
· Even this decree applies to our
lives. At my work, the radio is turned
up kind of loud so that people can hear the music. Sometimes I hear the radio DJ come on and
announce, maybe, an upcoming concert or some kind of event. There is a catch with these discounted, and
sometimes free passes, if and when you hear a certain song being played between
such and such a time, be the 50th caller and you’ll qualify for
these tickets. Someone that really wants
those tickets, chooses to be a slave to listening to that radio station for so
many hours, not to mention that those tickets are not even a 100% guarantee.
(2)
This decree was, in a way, purposed for
Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. The
King and other officials knew that these 3 men were Godly men so this decree
was devised as a way to back them into a corner.
(3)
Shadrack,
Meshack, and Abednego heard of this decree and still they were bold
to stand up to what they knew was wrong.
In spite of the consequences for not bowing down to this image, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego were not
going to compromise their relationship to the Lord for even a couple of
seconds.
(4)
Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego knew that the
Lord was able to deliver them. (vs. 17)
Daniel 3:17 “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.”
God IS able to deliver us from any danger
because HE created and placed us in those dangers. WE think the things we face are dangerous
trials and we get all nervous and worried, but should we really get nervous and
worried if the Lord created it and knows the outcome? We need to keep in mind that he has a purpose
for these “trials” that we go through, even though we might not be able to see
any good from this circumstance.
3)
Daniel and the Lions Den:
4a) The King’s Decree:
i) Daniel 6:7 “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes,
the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal
statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any
God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den
of lions.”
ii)
We see
in the beginning of chapter 6, the King issues a decree, much like the decree
he issued in chapter 3. There were men,
officials, that didn’t like Daniel and so these officials came up with a plan.
iii)The King issued the decree, but at a further look we see
that this was just issued by the King, he wasn’t the one to think this law up,
he just put it in effect. (Daniel 6:4)
b)
The Consequences for
disobedience:
i)
Reading
on, we see that the King also sets forth a consequence for the disobedience to
the decree. In verse 7, we’re told that
if any one prays to any god or man besides the King for 30 days, he shall be
thrown into the Lion’s den.
(a) This is a good reminder of what
we deserve for our sin and this just humbles me to know that the Lord, full of
grace, loved me so much that he sent
his son so that I don’t have to spend eternity in a lake of fire, but can
experience abundant life through him.
c)
Daniel’s Boldness in
Righteousness:
i)
This is very
intimidating and, quite literally, a life decision. I don’t know what kind of decision that I
would make, but I am so thankful that we have an example in the Bible of
someone who was not afraid to trust God, and be bold, in that faith no
matter the circumstances. We read in
verse 10 that Daniel, obviously needed wisdom in what to do. In spite of all
that Daniel was facing, he still was willing to look to the Lord, even if it
would cost him his life, Not only was
Daniel willing to pray 3 times a day, but he prayed giving thanks to the
Lord. Daniel even continued the
traditions of prayer, which he must’ve known would expose himself. The windows in his house were opened to
Jerusalem so anybody that was walking by could easily see him on his knees praying. He
didn’t even try to hide his prayer traditions, it was like nothing had changed.
ii)
In verse
10, we’re told that Daniel went to his house to pray. Daniel’s windows were open and so the
officials saw that Daniel was praying. These
officials hurried back to tell the King that they found Daniel breaking the law
that he had issued. When the King heard
of this news, we’re told that he was distressed and this tells us that the King
wasn’t really the one that was out to get Daniel, but because of the decree
that the King had issued, he couldn’t make any exceptions. Once the officials brought Daniel back to the
King, he was cast into the lion’s den.
iii)To ensure that no one freed Daniel or that he didn’t
climb out in any way, the King marked the doors shut with his own seal and the
seal of his officials. (verse 15)
d)
Daniel’s Deliverance:
i)
Daniel
must have had a lot of trust in God from the first time he heard this law. The Lord is able to deliver us from
whatever we face. (1 Corinthians
10:13) Just as we saw in the event with
the fiery furnace, the Lord also delivers entirely.
ii)
The King
was up all night concerned about Daniel.
I wonder if the King, deep down in his heart remembered how the Lord
delivered in the past regarding the fiery furnace?
iii) When the King awoke that morning, he ran to
the lion’s den to see what happened. In
verse 20 the King cries out to Daniel and asks if Daniel’s God is able to
deliver him from the lions? In verse 22 is
Daniel’s response.
Daniel 6:22 “My God hath
sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me:
forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O
king, have I done no hurt.”
We looked at 4 different circumstances
in this book, and they all have one thing in common, boldness. There’s always going to be situations that we
face that require us to be bold. We can
choose to be bold FOR righteousness or AGAINST righteousness. Recently, I was going through a struggle and I
remembered this study because I was given the same advice that Daniel gave to
King Neb. in dealing with this struggle.
We all struggle with sin and we need to remember that we have a
choice. Sin is ALWAYS going to come up
in our lives, but the choice we have isn’t how can we STOP sin, but how can we
RESPOND to sin and temptation. In
chapter 4 verse 27, we see that Daniel gives advice to the King.
Dan 4:27 “Wherefore, O king, let my
counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and
thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of
thy tranquillity.”
The Lord really pointed this verse out and I’m sure everyone gets very
frustrated about sin. While doing this
study, circumstances in my every day life came up and I had to make a choice to
be bold either FOR or AGAINST righteousness.
Sometimes the natural reigned and sometimes the spiritual reigned. The times that the spiritual reigned, that
time spent in the Word and in Fellowship with the Lord was far more
appreciated. The times that the natural
reigned, most often time was spent with a feeling missing out on that
fellowship. I had a choice to make, to
be bold either FOR righteousness or AGAINST righteousness.
We’ve seen in the book of Daniel the boldness that was displayed by
Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. In chapter 4, the advice
given by Daniel to “…break off thy sins
by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor …”, is a
good reminder for us all.
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