Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Daniel 3

What should I learn from this chapter?

• The height of Nebuchadnezzar’s image
• The courage demonstrated by Daniel’s friends
• Satan’s tactics
• Ninety and Nine
• The Forth Man

The Image of Gold

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits (~ 90 feet) and its width six cubits (~ 9 feet).

►^{What is 90 feet high? 90 Feet = 0.017 Miles. According to MLB Official Baseball Rules, the distance between baseball diamond bases is 90 feet.}

^{►Nebuchadnezzar’s image ratio is one wide to ten high: ninety ft x nine ft}

• ^{Luke 15:7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety–nine just persons who need no repentance. Nebuchadnezzar Repents and Praises God.}

King Neb rises again

• ^{by selley}
• ^{9th May 2013 5:00 AM}

• ^{“A replica of an ancient Babylonian king called Nebuchadnezzar currently graces the Casino rugby grounds in Johnston St, and many locals stopped to watch it being inflated on Tuesday.}

• ^{“This image is the same height as an image erected by King Nebuchadnezzar 600 years before Christ,” Casino Seventh Day Adventist pastor Tim Merritt said.”}

• ^{He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
  Meaning of Dura: “the circle” The place still retains its ancient name. On one of its many mounds the pedestal of what must have been a colossal statue has been found. It has been supposed to be that of the golden image. Easton’s Bible Dictionary}

² And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

³ So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁴ Then a herald cried aloud (Lit. with strength): “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,

⁵ that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up;

⁶ and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

• ^{First Nebuchadnezzar is bowing to Daniel as though Daniel is a god, concerning the dream about a statue, and later, he has Daniel bowing to a statue in his, Nebuchadnezzar’s image.}

• ^{This “golden statue” seems to replicate the dream he had which Daniel interpreted. And yet, something is different. Now the entire image is gold and not just the head.}

• ^{If the gold head, as Daniel said, represented Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, does Nebuchadzezzar now believe he will be ruler over all the kingdoms of the future?}

• ^{As absurd as this sounds: this is the offer Satan made to Jesus in the wilderness. Satan also made this offer to Hitler. Jesus refused and He will be the ruler over all the kingdoms in the future. Hitler accepted and Satan destroyed him.}

• ^{Satan looks for men who will do his will. God is using Nebuchadnezzar for His purposes, but Satan also has plans for this king. I propose Satan made Nebuchadnezzar the same offer he made to Jesus in the wilderness: Worship me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world.}

• ^{“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him (Yeshua) all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” Luke 4:5-7}

• ^{This is the same offer Satan made to Hitler and will someday make to the Antichrist.}

• ^{“Follow Hitler! He will dance, but it is I who have called the tune! I have initiated him into the Secret Doctrine, opened his centres in vision, and given him the means to communicate with the powers. Do not mourn for me: I shall have influenced history more than any other German.” [Satanist, Dietrich Eckart, from his deathbed, December, 1923, quoted by Trevor Ravenscroft, “Spear of Destiny”, p. 91]}

• ^{“Central to the Nazi ideology was the establishment of a thousand year Reich. (Note: the same length of time the Messiah is prophesied to reign on the earth.) This was to be done by perverting history and creating a new religion based on Aryan mythology – the same mythology propagated by the Victorian occult ‘prophets’ and the science fiction novel The Coming Race.}

• ^{To do this, Himmler set up an occult research bureau under the wings of the SS, known as the Ahnenerbe. This was instructed to prove German racial superiority by linking them to the mythical race of ancient Aryans. It also hoped to uncover lost magical artifacts such as the Holy Grail and the Spear of Destiny. This, you will recall, was the spear used to kill Jesus as he hung on the cross.”}

• ^{“The Beast does not look what he is (the beast does not look like what we think he should).  He may even have a comic moustache.” [“The Antichrist”, written by Soloviev, quoted by Trevor Ravenscroft, “Spear of Destiny”, p. 106, published in 1897] (When these words were penned, Adolf was 8 years old)}

• ^{The Thule Society originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum (“Study Group for Germanic Antiquity”), was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend. The Society is notable chiefly as the organization that sponsored the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), which was later reorganized by Adolf Hitler into the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Society}

• ^{“On 5 January 1919 Anton Drexler, who had developed links between the Thule Society and various extreme right workers’ organizations in Munich, together with the Thule Society’s Karl Harrer, established the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), or German Workers’ Party. Adolf Hitler joined this party later in the same year. By the end of February 1920, the DAP had been reconstituted as the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), or National Socialist German Workers’ Party, generally known as the “Nazi Party”.” Goodrick-Clarke 1985, p. 150}

^{THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD REICH
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090113184136AADeLli}

• ^{THE FIRST REICH
  The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the First Reich, was a union of Central European nations which was extant from 962 AD  (some use 800 AD, with Charlemagne)}

• ^{THE SECOND REICH
  “Germany” as a nation did not exist until 1871, when, after unification of the Germanic principalities, it was called the German Empire (Deutsches Reich). This was Moeller-Bruck’s Second Reich and it lasted until 1918.}

• ^{THE THIRD REICH
  The name of the Third Reich was coined by Arthur Moeller van den Bruck in his 1923 book “Das Dritte Reich” (The Third Reich). The author used the term to bridge the Holy Roman Empire and the later German Empire to the revitalized Germany he envisioned (or advocated for) as emerging from the ruins brought on by the Weimar Republic, WWI and the Treaty of Versailles. Moeller van den Bruck was not a Nazi and, in fact, rejected Hitler out of hand when the two met. The Nazis did incorporate some of his nationalist ideals however, and they borrowed the name.}

• ^{Did Satan make this offer to Nebuchadnezzar?}
  • ^{Keep in mind God didn’t tell Nebuchadnezzar he would be king over ALL the kingdoms that were to come. Somehow, Nebuchadnezzar went from being the head of gold only, to being the head of all the kingdoms of the world forever. Add to the mix, he wanted everyone to fall down and worship him.}
  • ^{Somehow, Satan took hold of Nebuchadnezzar after his dream and the interpretation of the dream. Satan took the truth, twisted it, and distorted it, until Daniel’s friends were in danger of being consumed in a fiery furnace.}

• ^{In the Garden of Eden, Satan’s tactics were the same:}
  
  • ^{Did God really say you couldn’t eat from ANY of the trees in the garden? – You will be like gods if you eat from the prohibited tree.}
    
  • ^{Did God really say you were only PART of the statue?  You are like a god! You are the ENTIRE statue! Make your subjects fall down and worship YOU!}

⁷ So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Daniel’s Friends Disobey the King

⁸ Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews.

⁹ They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!

¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image;

¹¹ and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”

• ^{There is always someone who wants to create misery for others, as in this case. These may be the same people who later caused Daniel to be put in the lion’s den. The question becomes, are these people like Haman who resented the Jews and wanted them annihilated?}

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king.

• ^{“When someone rages, they feel they are fighting for their life.” ~ Dr. Phil}

• ^{Kings like Nebuchadnezzar are always fearful of being killed or replaced by people in their own kingdom. Their reaction is to believe that any refusal to obey is tantamount to treason.}

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?

¹⁵ Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! (all is forgotten) But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

¹⁷ If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.

¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Saved in Fiery Trial

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

• ^{What good does it do to have the furnace seven times hotter? Whatever the reason, it literally back-fired.}

²⁰ And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²² Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent (Or harsh), and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors (High officials), “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

• ^{Who was the fourth man? The Son of God.}

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth (Lit. door) of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.

²⁷ And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel (Messenger) and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!

²⁹ Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

• ^{This was the same curse Nebuchadnezzar used concerning the so-called wise men who could not interpret his dream.}

³⁰ Then the king promoted (Lit. caused to prosper) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.

• ^{I wonder what happened to the statue of gold. Was it dismantled or left to stand without worship.}

• ^{If archeologists found this place in the plains of Dura, would they also find traces of gold?}

• ^{Nebuchadnezzar’s image was 10 stories high. The same height as the “giant” built in 2021: Click on link below picture:}
• 
• ^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF2JaU7KMwk}