In the first chapter of Daniel, we have heard of how Daniel and his friends were in Babylon as captives, but how the Lord helped and blessed them and allowed them to become respected advisors of King Nebuchadnezzar. In chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream that no one could describe or interpret except for Daniel. By the gift of God, Daniel told exactly what the dream was and how it revealed the rise and fall of nations and the everlasting kingdom of God coming through a Stone, not...
In the first chapter of Daniel, we have heard of how Daniel and his friends were in Babylon as captives, but how the Lord helped and blessed them and allowed them to become respected advisors of King Nebuchadnezzar. In chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream that no one could describe or interpret except for Daniel. By the gift of God, Daniel told exactly what the dream was and how it revealed the rise and fall of nations and the everlasting kingdom of God coming through a Stone, not carved out by human hands. That mysterious stone was Jesus, the New Testament reveals, who would be the Cornerstone of God’s kingdom as the Savior of the world, but over whom people could also stumble and fall, in unbelief.
As Chapter three begins King Nebuchadnezzar has built a 90 foot tall image of gold, which everyone was to bow down to and worship. The Jewish friends of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (their Babylonian names) refuse to do so. Some other advisors of the king are jealous of them and report them to the king. (The Aramaic of Daniel 3:8, which says they maliciously accused these three, more literally says, “They devoured the pieces of the Judeans” by their vicious words. The New Testament warns that we can do the same by unkind, “biting” words we say to one another, even in the church. See Galatians 5:14-15.)
The king then confronts Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and gives them another chance to bow down and worship the image but they refuse again, directly to his face. They know the First Commandment, that only the One True God is to be worshipped. See Deuteronomy 5:7-9 and 6:4-5, and the golden calf story and how many times the people of Israel had failed to follow the one true God. That is precisely why the Jews were captives in Babylon. Maybe these three men also knew the prophecy of Isaiah 43:2 that “when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” That protection from God literally happened to them here. But even if it would not, they said they would still follow God’s will (Daniel 3:16-18). See the listing of these events in the examples of faith described in Hebrews 11:32-34 – both theirs and Daniel’s rescue from the lions’ den in Daniel 6, still coming.
Remember that we are called in the New Testament to seek to have the same trust in God, by His grace. God’s people might still face a “fiery trial” just because they are Christians, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:12. Jesus also uses the image of “the fiery furnace” as a picture of hell, for those apart from Christ, at the end. See Matthew 13:40-43. Following our Lord alone is the true way. See Jesus in Matthew 4:8-10, when He is being tempted by Satan, and the early Christians in Acts 4:18-20 and Acts 5:27-29.
The king, though, orders the three men to be bound and thrown into a burning, fiery furnace, seven times hotter than it had been. (Note how the number “7” is used here and in other places in Daniel as we go on. It is not always a literal number, but symbolizes something full and complete. The fire was as hot as it could be and the “mighty men” throwing the three into the furnace die as they throw them in. Think, for example, of how Peter asks Jesus in the New Testament if he should forgive people up to seven times - a pretty full number of times, he thought. Jesus said to forgive 70x7 times, which is not an exact number, but over and over again, as the Lord first forgives us. Watch for more symbolic numbers in Daniel, as there are later in Revelations.) The king boastingly says, “Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (3:15) - as if he were a god himself, whose hands controlled things.
The king is amazed, though, when he sees Shadrach and friends unbound, unhurt, and walking around in the fire, with a fourth being, someone looking like “a son of the gods.” (Watch for terms like that and “a son of man” coming later. This was either an angel or maybe the pre-incarnate Son of God, keeping them safe (3:24-27)).
King Nebuchadnezzar has to admit, though, that these three men had great trust in their god, and that there was “no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” He even orders that no one in his Babylonian empire is to speak against this god (Daniel 3:28-30). God is thus helping Daniel and his friends, but also helping the many other Jews in Babylon. They are being punished for their many sins and even unbelief, at times, but He still cares for them and wants them restored as His people. He cares for us, too, even in very troubled times.
In Daniel, Chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar speaks for himself about how he finally had to be humbled by God, because of his pride. See Daniel 4:1-3 and v.37. Nebuchadnezzar was doing very well (4:4). He had a great empire and was very accomplished. He had the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” built - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Life was good. But then Nebuchadnezzar has another disturbing, puzzling dream. He calls his usual advisors in, but they cannot interpret the dream, even when he tells them all about it, until Daniel comes to him (4:5-9).
The dream is of a mighty tree, which grows to touch heaven and the ends of the earth and provides a safe place for so many people and creatures. But then “a watcher, a holy one” comes from heaven and orders the tree to be chopped down, till only a stump is left. Then someone will be wet with dew and live like a beast for “seven times” and will learn that the Most High rules all men (4:9-18). Daniel is very troubled, because he knows that the dream predicts trouble for Nebuchadnezzar himself. He finally speaks diplomatically, as he cares for the king, even with his weaknesses. Daniel explains that the tree is the king. He has prospered, but now he will be chopped down and become like a stump. He will lose his power in his kingdom and lose his own mind and become like a beast for “seven times.” (Note again the symbolic seven. It is not a specific known time, but God’s own time and choice.) Finally, the king would look toward heaven and be restored and carry on in his kingdom (4:19-26).
Daniel then calls upon the king to repent of his sins and follow God’s way of goodness and mercy and maybe he will be spared from some of these troubles (4:27). We see the call to repentance and trust in God throughout the Old and New Testaments, because of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Even repentance is a gift of God, as God’s Spirit works through the Word of God, in people. See passages like Acts 5:30-31 and Acts 11:15-18. One can resist God’s working, though, and sadly, Nebuchadnezzar does that. Some months later, in his great pride in himself, the king is boasting of the Kingdom of Babylon that he has built by his own power. A voice comes from heaven that the dream is fulfilled. The kingdom departs from Nebuchadnezzar and he loses his mind and becomes like a beast for seven times (4:28-33).
There is a rare malady that supposedly still occurs in our own time, called boanthropy. It is a psychological illness where one thinks he or she is a bovine, an ox or a cow, and walks on all fours and eats grass. There is a Babylonian inscription that seems to describe something like this happening to Nebuchadnezzar, too, as hard as it is to imagine. After 7 times, whatever that time is, in God’s wisdom, Nebuchadnezzar looks to heaven and regains his mind and is restored to his kingship. He tells of this and praises the Most High, who works as He wills and can teach people humility (Daniel 4:34-37).
God was certainly working on Him, and Daniel and his friends were witnessing to him; but we do not know if he ever came to genuine faith in the one true God, alone. He may have remained a polytheist, willing to honor one more god, the god of Israel, but not exclusively. That is the pattern still today for many, including most Hindus, who have 30,000 gods to choose from, and can add Jesus in, but only along with all the rest. Much prayer is needed for those people today and those sharing the faith with them.
As Daniel, Chapter Five, begins, we meet a later king of Babylon, Belshazzar. His name is close to that given to Daniel (Belteshazzar), but don’t confuse the two names. Belshazzar was likely a son or possibly a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. This leader is having a great feast, with lots of wine and many guests, and decides to use gold and silver vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem, where they had been used to honor the one true God of Israel. Belshazzar and his friends use them instead to praise their own false gods, their idols (Daniel 5:1-5). Suddenly, a hand appears, with its fingers writing words on the plaster walls of the palace. Belshazzar is terrified and calls his advisors to translate the writing, but they cannot do so (5:5-9). The queen (maybe the queen mother, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, who had lived far longer than her husband) then came into the banquet and says that they should consult Daniel, who was still an advisor to the Babylonians. She would have known of Daniel and his abilities to interpret things, as he had done before (5:10-12).
Daniel comes in and is willing to translate the words on the wall and their meaning. But first, he reminds Belshazzar of what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar and how he learned humility. Belshazzar had not learned this lesson, but has mocked the true God. The first word on the wall is “Mene” (number or numbered) meaning that Belshazzar’s days are numbered and have come to an end. “Tekel” means “weighed” and that Belshazzar his been weighed and found wanting – unworthy. “Peres” means “divided,” and the kingdom will be given to new leaders, Medes and Persians, leaders of the Medo-Persian Empire (5:17-28). That very night, Belshazzar is killed, and Medo-Persian leaders soon take over. (The Babylonian people were very unhappy with these later leaders and it is said that they let the Medo-Persians come in and take over without a battle or resistance at all (Daniel 5:30)). Incidentally, archaeologists have found a place in the ruins of Babylon that they think is this palace, described in Daniel 5. It had plaster walls, just as is said here.
Next week, we will finally hear of Daniel and the lions’ den and then move on to a harder section of Daniel, Chapters 6 and following. In all this, we see that the Lord is ultimately in control of nations and the rise and fall of the Babylonians and others; and we hear the continued call for humility before the Lord. His will is done on earth, as in heaven, and we are called to walk humbly before Him in faith, even if we do not understand all things. See Romans 11:33-36, along with Philippians 2:1-4 and 2:5-11 and 1 Peter 5:1ff. and 5:5-7. The humble work of that Savior, Jesus, promised by Daniel and others, is the pattern for our lives and faith, too. Jesus is much more than an example, of course; He is our “wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” and so we “boast” and trust alone in Him, our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
