28 Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and hath said, `Blessed `is' the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent His messenger, and hath delivered His servants who trusted on Him, and the word of the king changed, and gave up their bodies that they might not serve nor do obeisance to any god except to their own God.
and a messenger of the Lord through the night opened the doors of the prison, having also brought them forth, he said,
An imagination supported Thou fortifiest peace -- peace! For in Thee it is confident. Trust ye in Jehovah for ever, For in Jah Jehovah `is' a rock of ages,
And a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred and eighty and five thousand; and `men' rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them `are' dead corpses.
Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, `am' a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third `generation', and on the fourth, of those hating Me,
and Jehovah sendeth a messenger, and cutteth off every mighty one of valour -- both leader and head -- in the camp of the king of Asshur, and he turneth back with shame of face to his land, and entereth the house of his god, and those coming out of his bowels have caused him to fall there by the sword.
In Thee did our fathers trust -- they trusted, And Thou dost deliver them. Unto Thee they cried, and were delivered, In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed.
Trust in Him at all times, O people, Pour forth before Him your heart, God `is' a refuge for us. Selah.
The king hath answered Daniel and said, `Of a truth `it is' that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret.'
He answered and hath said, `Lo, I am seeing four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth `is' like to a son of the gods.'
`And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, mine eyes to the heavens have lifted up, and mine understanding unto me returneth, and the Most High I have blessed, and the Age-during Living One I have praised and honoured, whose dominion `is' a dominion age-during, and His kingdom with generation and generation;
I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice -- living, sanctified, acceptable to God -- your intelligent service;
For none of us to himself doth live, and none to himself doth die; for both, if we may live, to the Lord we live; if also we may die, to the Lord we die; both then if we may live, also if we may die, we are the Lord's;
but we ourselves in ourselves the sentence of the death have had, that we may not be trusting on ourselves, but on God, who is raising the dead, who out of so great a death did deliver us, and doth deliver, in whom we have hoped that even yet He will deliver;
who through him do believe in God, who did raise out of the dead, and glory to him did give, so that your faith and hope may be in God.
are they not all spirits of service -- for ministration being sent forth because of those about to inherit salvation?
according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, and in all freedom, as always, also now Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death,
for our being to the praise of His glory, `even' those who did first hope in the Christ, in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth -- the good news of your salvation -- in whom also having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
For a sun and a shield `is' Jehovah God, Grace and honour doth Jehovah give. He withholdeth not good To those walking in uprightness. Jehovah of Hosts! O the happiness of a man trusting in Thee.
And when the dawn hath ascended, then the messengers press upon Lot, saying, `Rise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are found present, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.' And he lingereth, and the men lay hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, through the mercy of Jehovah unto him, and they bring him out, and cause him to rest without the city.
And they rise early in the morning, and go out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and in their going out Jehoshaphat hath stood and saith, `Hear me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, remain stedfast in Jehovah your God, and be stedfast; remain stedfast in His prophets, and prosper.'
who `is' among you of all His people? His God is with him, and he doth go up to Jerusalem, that `is' in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah, God of Israel -- He `is' God -- that `is' in Jerusalem.
all that `is' by the decree of the God of heaven, let be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven; for why is there wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons? `And to you we are making known, that upon any of the priests and Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, and servants of the house of God, tribute and custom there is no authority to lift up. `And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God, that `is' in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may be judges to all the people who are beyond the river, to all knowing the law of thy God, and he who hath not known ye cause to know; and any who doth not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, speedily is judgment done upon him, whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of riches, and to bonds.' Blessed `is' Jehovah, God of our fathers, who hath given such a thing as this in the heart of the king, to beautify the house of Jehovah that `is' in Jerusalem, and unto me hath stretched out kindness before the king and his counsellors, and before all the mighty heads of the king: and I have strengthened myself as the hand of Jehovah my God `is' upon me, and I gather out of Israel heads to go up with me.
Lo, the eye of Jehovah `is' to those fearing Him, To those waiting for His kindness,
Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants, And none trusting in Him are desolate!
And he saith: `Blessed of Jehovah my God `is' Shem, And Canaan is servant to him.
O the happiness of him Who hath the God of Jacob for his help, His hope `is' on Jehovah his God, Making the heavens and earth, The sea and all that `is' in them, Who is keeping truth to the age,
Blessed `is' the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah. And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.
Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made! -- and lo, ye do no obeisance -- in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?' Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, `We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee. Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver. And lo -- not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.'
my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.' Then was the king very glad for him, and he hath commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel hath been taken up out of the den, and no injury hath been found in him, because he hath believed in his God.
From before me is made a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He `is' the living God, and abiding to the ages, and His kingdom that which `is' not destroyed, and His dominion `is' unto the end.
and Peter and John answering unto them said, `Whether it is righteous before God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge ye;
and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood by, and a light shone in the buildings, and having smitten Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, `Rise in haste,' and his chains fell from off `his' hands. The messenger also said to him, `Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals;' and he did so; and he saith to him, `Put thy garment round and be following me;' and having gone forth, he was following him, and he knew not that it is true that which is done through the messenger, and was thinking he saw a vision, and having passed through a first ward, and a second, they came unto the iron gate that is leading to the city, which of its own accord did open to them, and having gone forth, they went on through one street, and immediately the messenger departed from him. And Peter having come to himself, said, `Now I have known of a truth that the Lord did sent forth His messenger, and did deliver me out of the hand of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews;'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 3
Commentary on Daniel 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left Daniel's companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in honour and power, princes of the provinces, and preferred for their relation to the God of Israel and the interest they had in him. I know not whether I should say. It were well if this honour had all the saints. No, there are many whom it would not be good for; the saints' honour is reserved for another world. But here we have those same three men as much under the king's displeasure as when they were in his favour, and yet more truly, more highly, honoured by their God than there they were honoured by their prince, both by the grace wherewith he enabled them rather to suffer than to sin and by the miraculous and glorious deliverance which he wrought for them out of their sufferings. It is a very memorable story, a glorious instance of the power and goodness of God, and a great encouragement to the constancy of his people in trying times. The apostle refers to it when he mentions, among the believing heroes, those who by faith "quenched the violence of fire,' Heb. 11:34. We have here,
Dan 3:1-7
We have no certainty concerning the date of this story, only that if this image, which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated, had any relation to that which he dreamed of, it is probable that it happened not long after that; some reckon it to be about the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, a year before Jehoiachin's captivity, in which Ezekiel was carried away. Observe,
Dan 3:8-18
It was strange that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would be present at this assembly, when, it is likely, they knew for what intent it was called together. Daniel, we may suppose, was absent, either his business calling him away or having leave from the king to withdraw, unless we suppose that he stood so high in the king's favour that none durst complain of him for his noncompliance. But why did not his companions keep out of the way? Surely because they would obey the king's orders as far as they could, and would be ready to bear a public testimony against this gross idolatry. They did not think it enough not to bow down to the image, but, being in office, thought themselves obliged to stand up against it, though it was the image which the king their master set up, and would be a golden image to those that worshipped it. Now,
Dan 3:19-27
In these verses we have,
Dan 3:28-30
The strict observations that were made, super visum corporis-on inspecting their bodies, by the princes and governors, and all the great men who were present upon this public occasion, and who could not be supposed partial in favour of the confessors, contributed much to the clearing of this miracle and the magnifying of the power and grace of God in it. That indeed a notable miracle has been done is manifest, and we cannot deny it, Acts 4:16. Let us now see what effect it had upon Nebuchadnezzar.