He set it up in a recessed area in the wall in the province of Babylon. 173 R. D. Culver, Daniel and the Latter Days. They ate and drank only healthy things and after training they were healthier than anyone else. So they came and stood before the king. At the end of three years, the four young men joined the royal court. The Hebrew Bible is an incredible document, not only for the faithful, but for historians like Frahm. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. As the decree had indicated that they should be thrown into the midst of the furnace, so it was executed. Medo-Persia 539 - 331 BC The shoulders and arms of silver represent the Medo-Persian Empire. They remind the king that these men are Jews, different in race and culture from the Babylonians. The chapter as a whole, however, is often regarded as merely providing historical insight into the characteristics of this period. 14 July 2020. The herald made plain that anyone who did not obey the command to fall down and worship would be cast immediately into the burning fiery furnace. is equal to 6,666 inches. Nebuchadnezzar at least respected the God of Israel, something which was quite untrue in the case of Antiochus Epiphanes.209 As recorded in the Word of God, it is characteristic of Gentile times that there will be tensions between obedience to God and obedience to men. The harp was some sort of a stringed instrument. Chapter 3, the first of four chapters dealing with individuals, is an obvious preparation for chapter 4, which relates Nebuchadnezzars conversion. That the king has the power to do this was obvious to everyone. As there are parallels in similar situations in the ancient world, such as Sargons feast upon the completion of a palace erected at Dur Sharrukin,183 scholars, both liberal and conservative, have agreed that this ceremony is in keeping with the times. Either Daniel considered this a political act which did not violate his conscience, or Daniel did not worship and his high office prevented his enemies from accusing him, or more probably, Daniel for some reason was absent. 17 If this be so, nour God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your He then commanded his people to bow down and worship this image whenever they heard the sound of his musical herald. The question is: Did any of this really happen? e. c. 539 (max.) He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, everybody who was anybody, to the dedication ceremony of the statue. On the basis of this consistent use, the translation a son of the gods is preferable and in keeping with Nebuchadnezzars comprehension at this point in his experience. King Jehoiakim died either before or during the siege, leaving his 18-year-old son Jehoiachin to taste Nebuchadnezzar's wrath. Although Nebuchadnezzar had tremendous wealth and could conceivably have erected this image of solid gold, it is probable that it was made of wood overlaid with gold as was customary. He encamped against the city of Judah and on the second day of Adar he took the city and captured the king. "On both occasions, many people in Jerusalem were in fact taken into exile, including the royal family.". The statue is composed of four different materials: gold, silver, bronze and iron. Works devoted to study of the prophecies of Daniel often omit consideration of chapter 3 entirely as do S. P. Tregelles172 and Robert D. Culver.173 Others, such as Geoffrey R. King, interpret the chapter as not only history but parable and prophecy.174 The introduction of the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 3 immediately following Nebuchadnezzars dream of the great image depicting Gentile times, even if its parabolic implications are ignored, obviously is intended to convey not only spiritual truth in general, but characteristics of the times of the Gentiles. He ought to have cooled the furnace seven times less if he had wanted to hurt them; but instead of that in his fury he heated it seven times more.205. To him, therefore, the refusal of the Jews could not but appear as opposition to the greatness of his kingdom.197 There is, therefore, no direct parallel between this and the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes which liberals cite as the background for this story in Daniel. Conservative scholarship is agreed that this is not part of the scriptural text, although it is possible that these men, godly as they were, might have expressed prayer in a similar way if time permitted. In view of his pride as dealt with in chapter 4, this becomes a plausible explanation. Nebuchadnezzar II strengthened Babylon and brought it into its golden years, in which his offspring quickly tarnished and ended up destroying the nation. King Nebuchadnezzar`s Dream Statue Daniel`s Prophecies Antique Black and White Design Illustration. Undoubtedly there was resentment against these Jews who had been placed by Nebuchadnezzar in charge of the province of Babylon because they were of another race and of a captive people. The gold consisted in overlaid plates, for which we possess not only abundant Classical evidence but also that of the Bible.178 The golden altar (Ex 39:38) was actually wood overlaid with gold (Ex 37:25-26). They were written in cuneiform and include everything from royal proclamations to accounting documents. Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 17-24. The list of the officials gathered for the event has occasioned comment because some of them are Persian rather than Babylonian terms. Archaologie, 65, and Haupts description, AJSL 23, 245. Mar. This was a remarkable admission for a king in Nebuchadnezzars situation. Was it really true that their purpose in nonconformity was to dishonor the gods of Babylon and to disobey Nebuchadnezzar. He handed over the kingdom to his son who later had him murdered. and even in the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar.191 Not only did the Greeks affect the Semitic world but also influences of Assyria and Babylonia appear in the Greek language as well.192, Recent studies on the musical instruments mentioned in Daniel 3 conducted by T. C. Mitchell and R. Joyce have given support to the authenticity of these instruments in the sixth century b.c.193 Further studies by Yamauchi support the conclusion that Greek words in Daniel are not to be unexpected and in fact refer to the interchange of cultures in the ancient world.194. "This sojourn of Nabonidus in Arabia for 10 years is clearly the background of the story of Nebuchadnezzar in the wilderness," says Frahm. But it wasn't Nebuchadnezzar, says Frahm. The four empires referred to are: 1. Perhaps this is because the Illuminati are raping the world through their treachery, deceit and lies! This would not necessarily take very long, but it must have added a high note of tension to the entire situation as the multitude waited probably in dead silence. (Cf. This has been claimed as confirmation that Daniel wrote during the period of Greek dominance of Western Asia. Just as Nebuchadnezzar had acknowledged Daniels God at the conclusion of chapter 2, so here Nebuchadnezzar admitting the power of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego issues a decree in oriental style commemorating the event. And when a man gets full of fury, he gets full of folly. The answer of the three men to Nebuchadnezzar left no doubt as to their determined purpose not to serve the gods of Babylon and worship the image. Nebuchadnezzar's Gold Statue King Nebuchadnezzar trained Daniel and his three friends for duty in the royal court. The worship of the image was intended to be an expression of political solidarity and loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar rather than an intended act of religious persecution. What happened to this pro smcas0342 options. First, let's recap the tale as told in Daniel 4. Where Was Babylon and Does It Still Exist? "When we have these independent sources, as we do for the sixth century B.C.E., you do have a good chance of figuring out what is historically correct and what is later theological interpretation.". 178 J. But Keil and others are probably correct that they were simply recognizing a symbol of the power of the empire which included recognition of heathen gods but was not the specific object of their homage.196 As Keil puts it, A refusal to yield homage to the gods of the kingdom, they regarded as an act of hostility against the kingdom and its monarch, while every one might at the same time honour his own national god. In the Bible account, Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream that none of his court magicians could interpret, so he asks Daniel, a young exiled Judean known as a visionary. They state positively that their God is able to deliver them from a fiery furnace. Along with the young king and his extended royal family, thousands of Jerusalem's elites officials, priests, warriors, artisans were all marched to Babylon. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 23:5, 8; 24:1, 5 mention a Dura at the mouth of the Chaboras where it empties into the Euphrates, but this can hardly be reckoned as being in the province of Babylon, and another Dura is mentioned as being beyond the Tigris not far from Appollonia, Polybius 5:52 and Amm. Leupold cites numerous ancient images such as that of Zeus in a temple at Babylon; the golden images on the top of the Belus temple, one of which was forty cubits high; and the Colossus at Rhodes which was seventy cubits high.177 While an image of this size was unusual, it was by no means unique; and there is no reason to question the historical accuracy of its dimensions. He is mentioned numerous times in nine different Old Testament books. Babylon was a symbol of greatness, power, and destruction. It was in effect a saluting of the flag, although, because of the interrelationship of religious with national loyalties, it may also have had religious connotation. This has been taken by some to prove that the image was a deity or idol. To these were added other instruments described as all kinds of music.195. The whole concept of political loyalty, of which the worship of the image was an expression, is bound up in the idea that Nebuchadnezzars gods have favored him and given him victory. It is useless to speculate how this related to Daniel himself. Archaeologists have recovered tens of thousands of clay tablets and other inscribed objects from sites across the ancient Babylonian Empire, which stretched from the Mediterranean Sea (modern-day Egypt and Israel) to the Persian Gulf (Iraq, Iran and Kuwait). Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. 3:19-23 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and .commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. Son who later had him murdered as a whole, however, is often as. 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