Daniel Lesson 7 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Daniel

Lesson 7

Text: Daniel 3:1-13 “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: 11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.”

Trouble is Lurking at the Door,
1. Acknowledgment Without Acceptance Is Short Live Righteousness,
  1. Backup a little, Ch.2:47&48
    1. Daniel 2:47&48 “The king answered unto Daniel, and 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. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.”
    2. “Come, Thou Fount”
      - “…Let they goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;…”
      - Robert Robinson, Was the author of the song, He was saved while listing to George Whitfield, became a pastor, wrote a couple of hymns, then strayed far away. Later in life, he got onto a stage coach where the lady in it welcomed him by saying “Come thou Fount” He told her that he was the one that wrote that, and he would give anything to feel that way again.
      - It is said, she told him “The Streams of Mercy are still flowing”
    3. But, notice, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God, but He never claimed Him as their own.
      - We see a similar thing in…
      - Daniel 4:8 “But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god,…”
    4. So right on the heal of this event, we get a false idol set up…
  2. The Idol God set Up, Vs.1
    1. this will be a lot easier than the one in the last chapter.
    2. It was threescore cubits high, and six cubits wide.
      - The basic cubit was around 18 inches,
      - an easy way to see it was about 90ft tall, and 9ft wide
        
        There is no reference as to what the image was, but there are many claims. Most of them make it a body, or the figure of a man.
        
        However there is another idea I want to put forward.
    3. An Obelisk,
      - the design of the Washington Monument,
      - in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, there is plenty of evidence of Obelisk in Babylon, and guess what the size of them were? 75-100 ft tall. Right in the range of the one mentioned here.
      - As far as having an image on it, it could have been engraved with any picture they wanted, even several.
      - Do you know what is on the Washington Monument.
        
        “Laus Deo!” – Praise Be to God!
        
        Placed on top facing the east toward the rising sun.
  3. The Pride of Nebuchadnezzar,
    1. After it was erected, king made a decree,
      - this decree is going to be important.
    2. But first he sent…
      - remember this is not Jerusalem, this is the kingdom of Babylon, it covered for all purpose the known world.
        
        This was not a simple easy task.
      - But during this, the kingdom still needed ran, this could be the answer to where Daniel was during this episode. Remember Daniel became a trusted advisory of the king, as well as the ruler of the province of the city Babylon.
    3. This was a big undertaking,
      - it also speaks to the idea, of why the three Hebrews were accused by others, rather than spotted by the King himself.
    4. He must have felt that he was something,
      - being able to order all these people to jump, and they jump.
  4. The Decree,
    1. Vs.5&6 “That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace”
      - when the music plays fall and worship,
        
        It is an amazing thing to be on a Military instillation, and when the flag is raised and lowered for the day, the music would play and you stopped where you are, turned and saluted.
    2. There will be more that are against us, than those that are with us,
      - everyone fell, when they music played, I can almost see the king standing on the base, and looking out over the sea of people bowing.
2. Godly Living Places A Target On Your Life,
  1. Accusation,
    1. It seems this is one of the first options the enemy has with the way they handle Christians.
      - Think about:
    2. Nehemiah 4:1-3 “ But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. ”
      - they mocked and ridiculed
      - they accused
      - they scoffed, (II Pet. 3:3 tells us in the last days Scoffers will come)
      - then they threatened,
    3. So the other of the Wise men and told on the Hebrews,
  2. Elevated One’s Self,
    1. there are two ways you can make yourself appear more righteous standing next to another,
      - first you can elevate your standards,
      - second, you can bring them down.
        
        Decreasing the distance between you and them.
    2. This is what the Chaldean did,
      - they wanted to pull down the moral character of the Hebrews,
    3. Look at their accusation:
      - First they recounted the Decree, (this is what you said)
      - Then they pointed out, this is essentially your fault,
        
        but also, they should be grateful to you for their success.
        
        But, who was it that had the Hebrew’s promoted? It was on Daniels request.
      - After that, Vs.12 “they have not regarded thee…” and “they serve not thy god…”
        
        Think back to when the Chaldean’s tried to interpret the kings dream in Ch.2,
        
        they were disrespectful to him, they told him it was an unusual thing, and that no one would ever ask…
        
        Daniel on the other hand said, I’ll pray and then bring you an answer.
      - So this is them trying to lower the people around them.
    4. By saying they served not the god of Nebuchadnezzar, they were essentially saying, they are weird and different,
    5. so they were accusing the Hebrews of the very thing they felt about Nebuchadnezzar, (not necessary serving the same god, but not having regard for him)
      - Beware when someone is harsh in their description of others.
      - II Samuel 12, David heard of the man who had several lambs, and took of the man who only had one small one. David in his fury said “the man that hath done this thing shall surely die ” (II Sam.12:5)
    6. So the king became furious, next week we will see what action he takes