Chapter 3

“‘Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 34:30

 

I.     Daniel 3:1-7

A. A dream inspires a grand project, 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.

      1. The Sphinx of Egypt is about 65 feet high.

      2. The Colossus of Rhodes was about 11o feet high.

      3. The Statue of Liberty is about 126 feet high.

B. The Plain of Dura was in the Land of Shinar.    Daniel 1:2; Genesis 10:10; 11:2

C. A dedication, a proclamation and an adulation.

II.     Daniel 3:8-12

      A. This accusation sounds like Haman in Esther 100 years later.    Esther 3:8-9

      B.  The King appointed these Jews and now they are not following the rules.

III.    Daniel 3:13-15

A.                                 The wrath of a King is a terrible thing.

B.                              The King discovers for himself if the accusation is true.

C.                               The King gives the men a second chance.

D.                              Perhaps 25 years have lapsed since the King appointed these men.     Daniel 2:49

E.                              “Who is the God?” How could he forget! Some seed is planted in shallow soil!

F.                               Pharaoh asked the same thing of Moses (Exodus 5:2), and Rabshakeh, for King Sennacherib of Assyria (2 Kings 18:35) asked the people of Jerusalem.  They found out soon after and so will Nebuchadnezzar.

IV.    Daniel 3:16-18

A.                                 The great response: They “do not need to give an answer” because God will answer for Himself if He desires.

B.                              Ezekiel had been prophesying deliverance since the fall of Jerusalem.   Ezekiel 34:11-16

V.     Daniel 3:19-23

      A. Two roaring furnaces.

      B. Haste produces mistakes.

VI.    Daniel 3:24-30

      A. Three go in but four are present, “a son of the gods.”    Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7

      B. The raging fire has no effect on God’s people even after killing the king’s people. The very same thing happens in the Lion’s Den in reverse order in chapter 6.