The Universal Enforced Worship
of the King's Image(Daniel 3:1-7)
God represents Nebuchadnezzar as the "head of gold"
in the metallic image depicting the Gentile world empires (Daniel 2:31-32,37-38) occupying the "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24) and Nebuchadnezzar defiantly responds by portraying himself (the gold)
as the entire image (Daniel 3:1)
In his defiant response, Nebuchadnezzar is a type of the
"willful king" (Daniel 11:36-37) who is also called the "man of sin" and the "son of
perdition" (II Thessalonians 2:3-4)
Absalom is also a type of the Antichrist in self glorification
- he "reared up for himself a pillar" (II Samuel 18:18)
The dimensions of Nebuchadnezzar's image and the number
of musical instruments employed in its worship as well as the name of the Beast form the number 666 (Revelation 13:18 cf. Daniel 3:1,5)
The number of man is 6 - he was created on the 6th day
(Genesis 1:26,31)
ALL civil, military, and judicial dignitaries were to
be present at the dedication of the king's image (Daniel 3:2-3) for the purpose of "heralding" the universal worship of
the king's image (Daniel 3:4-5), which was to be enforced via penalty of death for failure to do so
(Daniel 3:6-7)
This universal enforced worship of Nebuchadnezzar's image
is a type of the same kind of worship characteristic of the Beast's image (Revelation 13:15-17)
The Accusation Against
the Faithful Jewish Remnant(Daniel 3:8-15)
The "certain Chaldeans" who "accused the
Jews" (Daniel 3:8) are a type of the ultimate "accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10),
i.e. "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan" (Revelation 12:9)
The Gentile believers under the "dispensation of
grace" (Ephesians 3:1-2) who have been "justified freely by His grace" thru "faith
in His blood" and "declared" to have "His righteousness" (Romans 3:24-26) have NO ONE (including the Devil) who can bring "any charge against
God's elect" (Romans 8:33) for by God's grace they have been "quickened (made alive) together
(with Christ)" and "raised up together (with Christ)" and "seated together (with Christ) in
heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:5-6) where NOTHING and NO ONE can touch them (Romans 8:38-39)
These "certain Chaldeans" who flattered the
king, "O king, live forever" (Daniel 3:9) were no doubt of those who previously flattered the king in their
attempt to appease him concerning his dream (Daniel 2:2-4) and failed to do so (Daniel 2:10-12)
These "certain Chaldeans" were also most probably
of those who were shown up by their Jewish captives as being "ten times better" in ALL "wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding of science" (Daniel 1:3-4,18-20)
The accusation concerned the king's decree regarding the
worship of the king's image and its associated penalty for disobedience (Daniel 3:10-11 cf. Daniel 3:4-6)
The punishment of the "fiery furnace" is a type
of the day "that shall burn as an oven" associated with the "Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4:1-2)
when the Lord will try His earthly people in "all the land" and "will refine them as silver is refined,
and will try them as gold is tried" (Zechariah 13:8-9) "in the last time", i.e. "at the appearing of Jesus
Christ" (I Peter 1:5-7)
The accusation is now more specifically targeted at "certain
Jews" - those who were "set over the affairs of the province of Babylon" - Daniel's three friends
(Daniel 3:12) who shared both his trial (Daniel 2:17-18) and his reward (Daniel 2:48-49)
The targeted hatred against "certain Jews" would
no doubt have grave consequences for ALL the Jews as can be seen concerning Haman's venom against Mordecai which
affected "ALL the Jews" (Esther 3:5-6)
The accusation works as the king responds in "rage
and fury" to summon Daniel's three friends (Daniel 3:13) to question them about their disobedience (Daniel 3:14)
The king NOT willing to lose face concerning those whom
he appointed over the affairs of his kingdom - offers them the opportunity now ("if ye be ready") to
comply with his decree, but warns them that "if ye worship NOT" they will be immediately ("the same
hour") consigned to a "burning fiery furnace" from which there is NO deliverance (Daniel 3:15)
The king's boast "who is that God Who shall deliver
you out of my hands" (Daniel 3:15) is the SAME boast as that of the "king of Assyria" (II Chronicles 32:10-14)
Israel's first oppressor was "the Assyrian"
(Isaiah 52:4) - the "new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1:8)
Israel's last oppressor will be "the Assyrian"
(Isaiah 14:24-26)
Nimrod, the founder of Babylon, the "land of Shinar"
(Genesis 10:8-10 cf. Daniel 1:1-2) - also founded "Asshur" (Assyria) and built its city of
Nineveh (Genesis 10:11)
Both the "land of Assyria" and the "land
of Nimrod" (Babylon) are associated with "the Assyrian" who shall be destroyed at the Lord's return
for the "remnant of His brethren" - the "children of Israel" - the "remnant of Jacob"
(Micah 5:2-8
The Faithful Testimony
and Fiery Trial of the Jewish Remnant(Daniel 3:16-23)
The faithful testimony of Daniel's three friends (Daniel 3:16-18)
is alluded to as the faith that "quenched the violence of fire" (Hebrews 11:33-34)
The bold testimony of these three Hebrew captives, "our
God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace" (Daniel 3:17) is faith's direct answer to the Babylonian king's proud boast, "who is that God that
shall deliver you out of my hands" (Daniel 3:15)
The forceful contradiction of the three Hebrew captives
against the king's royal decree caused the king to be so "full of fury" that "the form of his visage
was changed" and to command "that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont
to be heated" (Daniel 3:19)
This seven-fold more judgment by the king upon the Lord's
faithful witnesses was returned in the SAME measure ("seven times") by God upon the king (Daniel 4:16,23,25,32)
The king in his wrath commanded that "the most mighty
men in his army" bind these three Hebrew captives and cast them into "the burning fiery furnace"
(Daniel 3:20)
These three Hebrew captives offered NO resistance to being
bound in ALL their clothes and "cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (Daniel 3:21)
In their submission to being bound they are as is Isaac
(Genesis 22:9) - a beautiful type of their Messiah Who "is brought as a lamb to the slaughter"
(Isaiah 53:7)
Due to the urgency of the king's command and with NO time
to take adequate protection against the exceeding heat of the furnace - "the flame of the fire slew those
men" that took up the three Hebrew captives (Daniel 3:22), so that the three Hebrew captives "fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery
furnace" (Daniel 3:23)
These mighty Babylonian warriors who were slain by the
fiery flame are a type of the mighty Gentile warriors who will be slain by the fiery wrath of Israel's Messiah
at His return (Revelation 19:11-18 cf. Isaiah 10:12-20;Isaiah 34:1-8; Isaiah 63:1-6
The Divine Deliverance
of the Faithful Jewish Remnant and the Exaltation of Israel's God(Daniel 3:24-30)
Daniel's three friends were cast "bound" into
the fire (Daniel 3:23), but to the king's amazement he sees four men "loose" walking in the midst of the
fire with "no hurt" (Daniel 3:24-25)
Just as Isaac submitted to being "bound" and
was subsequently "loosed" (Genesis 22:9,12) as a type of Messiah's resurrection (Hebrews 11:17-19), so also Daniel's three friends experienced deliverance from death by the "fourth man"
in the fire with them (Daniel 3:25)
The king likens the "fourth man" to "a
son of God" (Daniel 3:25) - a superhuman Deliverer he calls God's "angel" (Daniel 3:28)
The pre-incarnate Son of God (John 1:1,14,18) in the OT is actually
called the "Angel of the Lord" (Genesis 22:15-16) and appeared in a "burning bush" that was "not consumed"
(Exodus 3:2) and also "ascended
in the flame of the altar" of sacrifice (Judges 13:20)
So complete was the Lord's deliverance of Daniel's three
friends from the fire that not a hair of their head was singed, neither were their clothes changed in appearance
and there was "no smell of fire" on them (Daniel 3:27)
Just as these three faithful witnesses "came forth
of the midst of the fire" (Daniel 3:26), so will a believer's faithful work be revealed by abiding the fire
(I Corinthians 3:13-14)
The king was made to answer his own boastful question
concerning which god could deliver Daniel's three friends out of his hands (Daniel 3:15) by the ONLY God "that can deliver after this sort" (Daniel 3:29)
Now the king makes another royal decree concerning the
NOT saying of anything against "the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego" (Daniel 3:29) - the God of Israel's fathers (Romans 9:4-5) - "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 3:6)
The king honors the God of Daniel's three friends by their
promotion "in the province of Babylon" (Daniel 3:30) - a type of the Lord's millenial reward to the faithful tribulation
saints (Revelation 20:4)
Paul tells believers that "reigning with Him"
is the reward of "suffering with Him", which will be denied to those who do not (II Timothy 2:12)