Daniel 3:1-30
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=daniel+3&version=NASB
v.1-7 After the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He made an image of gold and set it up in Babylon.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Why do you think he made the whole image of gold. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar was just he head?
What do you think Nebuchadnezzar is doing or saying with the erection of this statue?
The king then sent for satraps, the perfects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image.
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,
5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
6 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thoughts....The above to me sounds so much like Saddam Hussein or possibly the Antichrist. Maybe GOD is telling us that this is what to be on the look out for in latter days an example so to speak. The not so surprising part is people actually worshiped him.
v.8-18 Here we find a great display of faith by Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. When charges were brought on them by the Chaldeans for not adhering to Nebuchadnezzar command there reply was...17 "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I find this a great Lesson for Life. Can you relate to problems in your life when you felt like you are being cast into the blazing furnace? If we can just pass our human nature of pride and turn to GOD first, in bad circumstances we could live as fearless as this.
v.19-30 Nebuchadnezzar is so angry that he has the furnace heated seven times more than it is usually heated. Has Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego tied up and as the warriors were putting them in the fire the flame of the fire slew those men who carried them up.
Nebuchadnezzar "was astounded and stood up" (I like that part) he saw 4 men in the furnace. 25 He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Question: Who do you think the fourth person was in the fire who is "like a son of gods"?
How did the lives of these men impact Nebuchadnezzar' s life?
What can we learn about GOD in this chapter?
ive always thought it-the 4th person, was jesus.
thank you quix, for summing up - in a really great way - NLP etc. though im not in counseling per se, my experiences with it have led me to the same conclusions. awareness of it is useful in the sense of avoiding its influence. the holy spirit is able, and my faith is in the son of god!
i am studying daniel because i think there are clues there as to the nature, identity, and characteristics of end-time events & persons/players. daniel 7's symbols parallel 2's i think, and seem to shed further light on neb's dream in dan. 2.....particularly interesting to note is the creature with 10 horns (dan7; 7). i think the mention of the toes in daniel 2; 41 & 2 (two times!) is the parallel. (10 toes = 10 horns).
i keep thinking of jesus' admonition to pay special attention to SPECIFICALLY this; "(let the reader understand)" .... i hope that by his spirit, we may come to greater "understanding"! thank you for starting this thread. i am working on post-roman history (iron mixed with clay)to try to identify the 10 horns/toes. the better to identify the 3 that "fell" (7;20), with the goal of identifying the main player....the little horn - the abomination. please be patient, and i hope this is not too boring....i have to go to the library to dig thru some history, and will return soon if thats ok. god bless you! LUB
I found some of the traits of the individual's in Daniel interesting to learn about God's control over all things. Also what we might learn to apply to our own personal life.
Character Traits of People in the Book of Daniel
Daniel
followed his Lord and GOD
-was slave to Nebuchadnezzar
-did not defile himself with the kings riches
-GOD granted Daniel favor & compassion in sight of others
-GOD gave Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom.
Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams
-the king found Daniel ten times better than all in his realm.
Nebuchadnezzar The King
-king of Babylon (present day Iraq)
-worshipped idols
-put GOD'S vessels in the treasury of false idols
-overtook the king of Judah
note:Jehoiakin was the king of Judah and did evil in the sight of GOD. GOD handed him over to Nebuchadnezzar
-used the son's of GOD as slaves
- sleep left him
-had troubling dreams
-had a troubled spirit
-made a gold idol to himself
-made a decree that all were to worship him and the gold idol
How did the life of Daniel affect Nebuchadnezzar?
What can we learn from these people that we can apply to our own life?
What can we lean about GOD?