Daniel 3 Commentary
Please choose a passage:
Daniel 3:1-2
King Nebuchadnezzar builds a golden statue and summons his sub-rulers to come see it.
Daniel 3:3-7
Nebuchadnezzar unveils his statue of gold to his sub-rulers. When music plays, everyone is commanded to bow and worship the statue. Anyone who breaks this law will be burned alive in a furnace.
Daniel 3:8-12
Political rivals of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego inform the king that the three Jewish subjects have not worshipped the golden statue. Nor have these three men ever worshipped any of Nebuchadnezzar’s gods.
Daniel 3:13-15
Nebuchadnezzar is furious that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to worship his golden statue. He gives them one more chance to bow to the image, and if not, they will be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego give a prompt answer to the king: they will never worship his idols. They worship their God alone, who is able to save them from the fire.
Daniel 3:19-20
Nebuchadnezzar is full of rage that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego will not worship his idol. He orders their execution in the fire. In an expression of his rage, he orders the furnace to be extra fiery and for his best soldiers to take the prisoners to their death.
Daniel 3:21-23
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are thrown into the fiery furnace, clothed and bound. The soldiers who escort them are killed by the intense heat of the flames.
Daniel 3:24-27
King Nebuchadnezzar witnesses a miracle. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are not killed by the fire. They are joined by an angel, and walk among the flames unburnt. The king calls the three out of the fire. Everyone gathered there sees the fire has not touched them.
Daniel 3:28-30
Nebuchadnezzar confesses that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego rescued them from his hand. He makes a strict law that forbids offensive speech toward the Most High God.
Additional Resources
King Nebuchadnezzar constructs a 90-foot-tall golden statue. He commands all of the rulers in his kingdom to come and see it, and to worship it when music plays. A furnace of blazing fire has been created to incinerate anyone who does not worship the statue. Daniel’s three Jewish friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refuse to worshi p the golden image. Their political rivals inform on their disobedience to the king. Nebuchadnezzar is enraged that they disobeyed him, but offers them one more chance to worship his golden statue; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego immediately and absolutely refuse. They declare they only worship their God, and their God is able to rescue them from death. Nebuchadnezzar orders their execution in the fiery furnace, killing some of his own soldiers in the process. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are thrown into the furnace, but are not killed. Everyone observing the execution, including the king and his high officials, see that an angel sent by the Most High God has emerged in the furnace, keeping the three men alive and unharmed. The king calls Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego out of the fire, and they present themselves perfectly safe and free from injury. Therefore King Nebuchadnezzar makes sure the three men prosper in Babylon, and decrees a new law that says no one may speak offensively against the God of Israel, for He is able to rescue His servants from death.
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