LESSON IV – THE FIERY FURNACE – Daniel 3: 1-30.

1. WHAT did King Nebuchadnezzar make? Verse 1. (See note 1.).daniel 3 fiery furnace

2. Who did he call to the dedication of the image? Verse 2.

3. What command was heralded to the people? Verses 4, 5.

4. What was the penalty for disobeying the king’s command? Verse 6.

5. What was reported to the king concerning certain Jews? Verses 8-12.

6. How did the king regard this disobedience? Verse 13.

7. What did he say to them? Verses 14, 15.

8. What answer did they make? Verses 16-18. (See note 2.)

9. What commands did the king give? Verses 19, 20.

10. What was done with them? Verse 21.

11. What effect did the heat of the furnace have upon the mighty men who cast them in? Verse 22.

12. What scene astonished the king? Verses 24, 25″>? (See note 3.)

13. What did he do? Verse 26.

14. “What did Shadrach, Meshach, and Ahednego then do?

15. “Who were gathered together? Verse 27.

16. What effect did the fire have upon the Hebrew children?

17. What did the king then say? Verse 28.

18. What decree did he issue? Verse 29.

19. What did lie do for the men who proved loyal to God? Verse 30.

NOTES.

1. IT will be remembered that the great image of Daniel 2 was composed of various metals, of which only the head was gold. It was, no doubt, pleasing to Nebuchadnezzar to be told that his kingdom was represented by the head of gold. But to be told that other kingdoms would follow his would not be so pleasing, for his ambition would lead him to desire that his kingdom might continue till the close of human history, and so he made a great image, composed wholly of gold, expressive of this desire.

2. IF these Hebrew children had reasoned as many have reasoned, and as many do still, they could have bowed down to the golden image at the king’s command, and plead in justification that they did not worship the image, and hence did not break the second commandment, because simply bowing down before a thing is not sin, unless we render worship or homage to it. To have done this, however, they would feign, or .try to make others believe, that they were loyal to the king and worshiped his image. In other words, they would have practiced deception, failed to witness for the truth, and dishonored God, just for selfish advantage. So, now, many will receive the mark of the beast by refraining from Sunday labor in obedience to the law of the land, under the plea that they can do this and still obey God in the observance of the Sabbath. But this is false and fallacious. The weekly Sab- bath is a divine institution, and abstinence from secular labor is . the only outward evidence of its observance. When the State commands abstinence from secular labor on some other day of the week, it sets up a rival Sabbath.

Hence, when we obey the State by abstaining from labor on the day it sets apart for rest, we observe that rival Sabbath, and worship the power which makes and enforces it; and thus we prove disloyal to God, and it would all be done for selfish interests.

3. THE common-version of the Bible quotes Nebuchadnezzar as saying that “the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” This would lead to the idea that he thought that this personage was Christ. While we have no doubt that He was Christ, we have no evidence that Nebuchadnezzar knew of any such being. The new version renders this expression, ” the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” This evidently gives the true meaning of the original, as Nebuchadnezzar was at that time a heathen king, who, no doubt, had many idol gods.

Next – The Source of Power

Lesson 1 – Loyalty and Faith Rewarded
Lesson 2 – The Source of Wisdom
Lesson 3 – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
Lesson 4 – The Fiery Furnace
Lesson 5 – The Source of Power
Lesson 6 – The Handwriting on the Wall
Lesson 7 – Daniel in the Lions’ Den
Lesson 8 – The Vision of the Four Beasts
Lesson 9 – The Little Horn and the Judgment
Lesson 10 – Daniel’s Second Vision
Lesson 11 – The Time of the Judgment
Lesson 12 – The Time Explained
Lesson 13 – The Time of the End