| Subject: Daniel 3 vss 26-30 Post #16 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:19:38 04/27/09 Mon
Daniel 3:26-30 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
I think it is safe to say that Nebuchadnezzar had undergone an attitude adjustment after witnessing the miraculous deliverance of the three he thought to see burnt to a crisp. At the sight of four men in the fire and no hurt on any of them he hurries to the mouth of the furnace and calls to the three men. Notice after calling them by name he adds "ye servants of the most high God". Nebuchadnezzar has not only changed his attitude toward these three but is more and more impressed with the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He is now calling their God the "most high God". .Nebuchadnezzar's first admission of the greatness of the God of the Hebrews was far short of what it should have been: In Dan. 2:47 Nebuchadnezzar said: "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. ". "A God of gods and a Lord of kings"? Nebuchadnezzar is only admitting to God standing out above the other gods and lords. Nebuchadnezzar is willing to include Him in the pantheon of gods but he is not willing to dis-avow the others. Quite the contrary Nebuchadnezzar had asked the three Hebrews in verse 14 of chapter 3; "do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image"? Nebuchadnezzar had not embraced the God of the Hebrews although he would admit to His great power.
As Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego step forth from the furnace Nebuchadnezzar has another cause of astonishment. He notices that not even the hairs on their heads and beards are singed nor can he smell any smoke on them. It was though they had not even been near the fire. Such was the miraculous deliverance of these faithful servants of God. Nebuchadnezzar is now ready to worship their God. "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego". The words now pour from his mouth but it is still far short of what God wants. God is still not personal to Nebuchadnezzar. He is willing to embrace Him as the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego but what about; Blessed be my God? His admission only allows for God to be personal to these Hebrews. He is not ready to humble himself before God; not yet anyway.
As a result of the miracle from God Nebuchadnezzar makes a new command. "That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. " What's missing? God is still only the God of the Hebrews and from this time forward you can't bad mouth their God anymore because no other god can deliver after this sort. Well, I guess you might say it is a start.
God is either a personal God to you or He is not your God at all. Nebuchadnezzar's progress so far is nothing more than what an animist undergoes from time to time. An animist will look for deity in many natural objects and will readily worship before representations of the deities that supposedly inhabit those objects. He may recognize one deity as having more power than an other but to relegate all those deities to the ash heap and worship only one true and living God is beyond his scope. Nebuchadnezzar is on that road to discovery but he is not there yet.
Finally we see that because of their steadfastness and remaining true to their God Nebuchadnezzar promotes these three presidents to higher office. We are not told what that office is but it is a great indication of the impression these three have had on the king.
The greatest witness anyone can have to point the world toward their God is to walk the walk and talk the talk. These three did and were honored by God and their king.
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