Daniel 3:18

“But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

-Daniel 3:18 NIV-

Let’s look at the context of the verse first and answer a few key questions.

Who wrote it? Daniel

When was it written? Approx. 536 BC

To whom was it written? Captives in Babylon

For what purpose?  To tell the historical account of the faithful Jews who lived in captivity in Babylon and show that God controls Heaven and Earth, directs the forces of nature, the destiny of nations, and the care of his people.

Let’s dive in…

Our text from this week is Daniel 3:18 (NIV), “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

If we read Daniel 1-3, we see an amazing story in the scriptures. After Judah was conquered, Daniel and some hand-selected fellow countrymen were deported to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar’s head of staff. He wanted healthy, handsome, well-educated men who would be good prospects to serve in governmental leadership positions to be brought in to learn the language and lore of magic and fortune-telling. After their training, the king found Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be far superior to all of the others and they were given a place in the king’s service. 

One night Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and he calls in all the Babylonian magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and fortunetellers to interpret his dreams for him. He tells them if they can interpret the dream he will lavish them with gifts and honor, but if they cannot interpret it, they will be ripped to pieces and their homes torn down. 

Daniel 2:10-11 “The astrologers answered the king, ‘There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.’” The king loses his mind and orders all of the Babylonian wise men to be killed, including Daniel and his fellow countrymen.

When Daniel hears of this decree, he goes to the king and asks for some time to interpret the dream. He goes home and shares this news with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and asks them to pray to God for mercy in solving this mystery so they will not be killed. (Dan. 2:15b-18)

That night the answer was given to Daniel and he praised God for the answer. He ends up in front of King Nebuchadnezzar to explain the dream. The king asks if he is sure he can interpret it. Daniel tells him that no human could solve the mystery, but that God in heaven was able to solve it. He tells the king that in his dream he had seen a huge statue made of many different materials (read 2:29-45 for the details of the statue and dream) standing before him. He explains that this dream shows that God is building a kingdom that will never be destroyed or defeated and in the end, it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off. 

The king is so thankful to Daniel that he falls on his face in front of him and orders sacrifices and incense burning in his honor. He promoted Daniel to governor of Babylon and chief in charge of all the Babylonian wise men, with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by his side. 

Later, the king built a 90-foot-high gold statue in the province of Babylon and ordered all important leaders to the dedication ceremony. They are told that when they hear the band strike up, they are to fall to their knees and worship the gold statue. Anyone who did not kneel and worship would be thrown into the furnace. 

When the band started playing they began to worship the statue, some of the Babylonian fortunetellers told on the Jews (Daniel and his friends) who did not follow orders. When the king heard this, he was furious and ordered them to go to their knees and worship or be tossed into the fiery furnace. 

Daniel 3:16-18 says, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve can deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

The king was furious and ordered the furnace to be heated to seven times hotter than usual. The men were tied up and thrown into the furnace. It was so hot that the men who carried them to throw them in were killed by the flames. 

Daniel 3:24-25 says, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, Your Majesty.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

The king goes to the furnace and calls them out. They were unharmed and to his surprise, didn’t even smell of smoke! You can read the new decree the king put out after seeing this miracle in verses 27-30.

This scripture is so amazing to me. Daniel and his friends didn’t even smell of smoke. God had protected them and sent a heavenly visitor to accompany them in the trial. The faith it took for the four of them to stand up for God and say that they would not kneel and worship an idol, even if it meant death was rewarded in this case. God didn’t have to spare their lives, but even if He hadn’t, they were bold for Him and were willing to die declaring that He was their god. 

There have been many times in my life where I have walked through a situation and had to lean on the “even if” in this text. Even if my marriage breaks apart, someone is taken too soon, I lose my job, our car breaks down, etc. God is still good and is still worthy of my praise.

If I truly believe that God is sovereign as it says in Ephesians 1:11 (“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,”) and in Romans 8:28 (“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”) then I know that everything that happens to me is filtered through Him. There is such enormous peace in that. 

We also know that He will provide comfort to us when we face situations that distress us. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we receive from God”.

I want to encourage you today to lean on Him, the one you can trust, and hold your life loosely as He leads and guides your steps. Know that no pain is wasted, my friend. 

Hugs, 

Kara

1 Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.