Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews in the history of the deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies from the fiery furnace, charging Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with refusing to serve the king's gods, worship the golden image, and obey the king's decree. The charge followed Nebuchadnezzar's renewed idolatry after acknowledging God's power, when flattered over the dream of the head of gold he set up a costly golden image on the plain of Dura to magnify Babylon and himself and commanded all to bow to it as the established worship. The accusers were jealous of the honors given the youths and were filled with envy and religious bigotry and inspired by Satan, seeking to ensnare them, turn them from allegiance to God, and set the king's law in direct opposition to God's law. Their loyalty brought them into danger of the burning fiery furnace, but Christ Himself was with them in the fire and preserved them, so that the king was convinced their God was the living God of superior power. The same work of accusation and human law to compel obedience against conscience will be done again when wrath is aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and God's people are to hold loyalty to God and keep the seventh day even when it is counted disloyalty and ends in a universal decree denouncing them as deserving death.
Accusation on Dura's Plain
Daniel 3:8 belongs to the history of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies from the fiery furnace. It introduces the Chaldeans' accusation against the Jews and helps bring out important principles regarding the working out of the Lord's purpose for the children of obedience and the children of disobedience. The events it belongs to tested the young Hebrews' integrity and showed an idolatrous nation the power and faithfulness of Israel's God.
The accusation came after Nebuchadnezzar's renewed idolatry, for after acknowledging God's power he later returned to idol worship with greater zeal and bigotry. He had been given light through Daniel's interpretation of his dream foretelling Babylon and other kingdoms, which exalted Jehovah as more powerful than earthly kings, but he perverted that light to suit his idolatrous mind and ambitions. Flattered by his heathen counselors over the dream of the great image in which his kingdom was the head of gold and each later kingdom a baser metal, he set up an exceedingly costly and magnificent golden image in the plain of Dura representing the kingdom of Babylon and the glory of himself and the excellency of his kingdom, magnifying himself. He did this in hope of converting all nations to its worship, made its worship the established religion of the country, and commanded men to bow down before it as an object of worship.
At that time certain Chaldeans came near to Nebuchadnezzar and accused the Jews, specifically Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They charged them with refusing to serve the king's gods, to worship the golden image, and to obey the king's decree and command. Their accusation invoked the decree, appealed to the king's authority, and presented faithfulness to God as disloyalty to the king and defiance of his authority. The king's anger followed despite their record of faithful service and the high positions he had given them.
The accusers were jealous of the honors given to the three youths, and were inspired by Satan and filled with envy and religious bigotry, giving those innocent of wrongdoing over to humiliation and abuse while seeking to exalt the king and stir hostility against the Hebrew captives. The king's advisers invented the scheme and led him to proclaim that every knee should bow in universal homage, in order to ensnare the captives and trap them, to turn them from their allegiance to God and cause them to bow to the idol and be destroyed, pressuring them by human law to abandon conscience. The opposition arose because God's servants, while doing their appointed work as faithful statesmen, would do no work against God and refused to dishonor the God of heaven, and their faithfulness provoked discussion which God in His providence used to bring them into reasoning relation with the king, setting the king's law in direct opposition to God's law.
Their refusal to bow brought the three faithful companions who cherished the knowledge of the true God into danger of the burning fiery furnace for loyalty to the God of heaven. Christ Himself, the Lord Jesus, was with them in the furnace, walked with His three faithful servants, manifested Himself to them, and preserved them from all harm. The king saw the form of the Fourth, and was moved and convinced that the God of the three Hebrews was the living God of superior power, and acknowledged Him and His superior power.
Faithfulness in Final Crisis
The accusation brought on the plain of Dura teaches that God's servants in this day will suffer the same, for the wrath of man will be aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and will end at last in a universal decree denouncing them as deserving of death. The king's advisers invented the scheme and led him to proclaim that every knee should bow to the golden image in order to ensnare the Hebrew captives, to trap them, to turn them from their allegiance to God, and to cause them to bow to the idol and be destroyed. The same work of using accusation and human law to pressure God's people to abandon conscience and to compel obedience against conscience will be done today when men strive by human Sunday laws to turn God's people from their allegiance.
It makes manifest the principle that will actuate the people of God when the law of God is made void by a national act. When Sunday is exalted and sustained by law and the world and the church unite in making void the law, the zeal of those who obey the Lord will be increased and the value of God's law as a rule of conduct will be made manifest. Their duty when truth is overborne by falsehood is to hold loyalty to God and to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath even when it is considered disloyal to the laws of the land.
The same experience in which refusal to bow brings accusation will come in the Southern States, when believers must do as the three worthies did. Their refusal will present decisions for or against the commandments of God. That stand must not be presumptuous and must never be taken with a spirit of defiance and resistance, even if it leads to the chain gang and suffering. The Lord sees and knows all about the sufferings of His people for truth's sake, and believers are to pray for those who treat them evilly and resist not evil, and are not to needlessly close their own way by making prominent the objectionable features of faith before people have a fair chance to know Christ.
Those who sought to destroy the three Hebrews were themselves destroyed, showing that those who make cruel enactments to destroy God's people are destroyed by the recoil of their own actions. Their faithfulness while doing their appointed work as statesmen, in that they would do no work against God, provoked discussion which God in providence used to bring them into reasoning relation with the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had been given light through Daniel's interpretation of his dream foretelling Babylon and other kingdoms, which exalted Jehovah as more powerful than earthly kings, but he perverted that light to suit his idolatrous mind and ambitions and set up a golden image representing the glory of himself and the excellency of his kingdom in hope of converting all nations to its worship. Those who would not bow faced the fiery trial, but Christ Himself walked in the furnace with His three faithful servants, and the miracle moved Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge God and His superior power and instructed that king and subjects alike must not read the Scriptures and God's providences in the light of their own dreams and fancies but must read their dreams in the light of the living oracles.
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews in the history of the deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies from the fiery furnace, charging Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with refusing to serve the king's gods, worship the golden image, and obey the king's decree. The charge followed Nebuchadnezzar's renewed idolatry after acknowledging God's power, when flattered over the dream of the head of gold he set up a costly golden image on the plain of Dura to magnify Babylon and himself and commanded all to bow to it as the established worship. The accusers were jealous of the honors given the youths and were filled with envy and religious bigotry and inspired by Satan, seeking to ensnare them, turn them from allegiance to God, and set the king's law in direct opposition to God's law. Their loyalty brought them into danger of the burning fiery furnace, but Christ Himself was with them in the fire and preserved them, so that the king was convinced their God was the living God of superior power. The same work of accusation and human law to compel obedience against conscience will be done again when wrath is aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and God's people are to hold loyalty to God and keep the seventh day even when it is counted disloyalty and ends in a universal decree denouncing them as deserving death.
Accusation on Dura's Plain
Daniel 3:8 belongs to the history of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies from the fiery furnace. It introduces the Chaldeans' accusation against the Jews and helps bring out important principles regarding the working out of the Lord's purpose for the children of obedience and the children of disobedience. The events it belongs to tested the young Hebrews' integrity and showed an idolatrous nation the power and faithfulness of Israel's God.
The accusation came after Nebuchadnezzar's renewed idolatry, for after acknowledging God's power he later returned to idol worship with greater zeal and bigotry. He had been given light through Daniel's interpretation of his dream foretelling Babylon and other kingdoms, which exalted Jehovah as more powerful than earthly kings, but he perverted that light to suit his idolatrous mind and ambitions. Flattered by his heathen counselors over the dream of the great image in which his kingdom was the head of gold and each later kingdom a baser metal, he set up an exceedingly costly and magnificent golden image in the plain of Dura representing the kingdom of Babylon and the glory of himself and the excellency of his kingdom, magnifying himself. He did this in hope of converting all nations to its worship, made its worship the established religion of the country, and commanded men to bow down before it as an object of worship.
At that time certain Chaldeans came near to Nebuchadnezzar and accused the Jews, specifically Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They charged them with refusing to serve the king's gods, to worship the golden image, and to obey the king's decree and command. Their accusation invoked the decree, appealed to the king's authority, and presented faithfulness to God as disloyalty to the king and defiance of his authority. The king's anger followed despite their record of faithful service and the high positions he had given them.
The accusers were jealous of the honors given to the three youths, and were inspired by Satan and filled with envy and religious bigotry, giving those innocent of wrongdoing over to humiliation and abuse while seeking to exalt the king and stir hostility against the Hebrew captives. The king's advisers invented the scheme and led him to proclaim that every knee should bow in universal homage, in order to ensnare the captives and trap them, to turn them from their allegiance to God and cause them to bow to the idol and be destroyed, pressuring them by human law to abandon conscience. The opposition arose because God's servants, while doing their appointed work as faithful statesmen, would do no work against God and refused to dishonor the God of heaven, and their faithfulness provoked discussion which God in His providence used to bring them into reasoning relation with the king, setting the king's law in direct opposition to God's law.
Their refusal to bow brought the three faithful companions who cherished the knowledge of the true God into danger of the burning fiery furnace for loyalty to the God of heaven. Christ Himself, the Lord Jesus, was with them in the furnace, walked with His three faithful servants, manifested Himself to them, and preserved them from all harm. The king saw the form of the Fourth, and was moved and convinced that the God of the three Hebrews was the living God of superior power, and acknowledged Him and His superior power.
Faithfulness in Final Crisis
The accusation brought on the plain of Dura teaches that God's servants in this day will suffer the same, for the wrath of man will be aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and will end at last in a universal decree denouncing them as deserving of death. The king's advisers invented the scheme and led him to proclaim that every knee should bow to the golden image in order to ensnare the Hebrew captives, to trap them, to turn them from their allegiance to God, and to cause them to bow to the idol and be destroyed. The same work of using accusation and human law to pressure God's people to abandon conscience and to compel obedience against conscience will be done today when men strive by human Sunday laws to turn God's people from their allegiance.
It makes manifest the principle that will actuate the people of God when the law of God is made void by a national act. When Sunday is exalted and sustained by law and the world and the church unite in making void the law, the zeal of those who obey the Lord will be increased and the value of God's law as a rule of conduct will be made manifest. Their duty when truth is overborne by falsehood is to hold loyalty to God and to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath even when it is considered disloyal to the laws of the land.
The same experience in which refusal to bow brings accusation will come in the Southern States, when believers must do as the three worthies did. Their refusal will present decisions for or against the commandments of God. That stand must not be presumptuous and must never be taken with a spirit of defiance and resistance, even if it leads to the chain gang and suffering. The Lord sees and knows all about the sufferings of His people for truth's sake, and believers are to pray for those who treat them evilly and resist not evil, and are not to needlessly close their own way by making prominent the objectionable features of faith before people have a fair chance to know Christ.
Those who sought to destroy the three Hebrews were themselves destroyed, showing that those who make cruel enactments to destroy God's people are destroyed by the recoil of their own actions. Their faithfulness while doing their appointed work as statesmen, in that they would do no work against God, provoked discussion which God in providence used to bring them into reasoning relation with the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had been given light through Daniel's interpretation of his dream foretelling Babylon and other kingdoms, which exalted Jehovah as more powerful than earthly kings, but he perverted that light to suit his idolatrous mind and ambitions and set up a golden image representing the glory of himself and the excellency of his kingdom in hope of converting all nations to its worship. Those who would not bow faced the fiery trial, but Christ Himself walked in the furnace with His three faithful servants, and the miracle moved Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge God and His superior power and instructed that king and subjects alike must not read the Scriptures and God's providences in the light of their own dreams and fancies but must read their dreams in the light of the living oracles.