July 11, 2025 • 29 mins
"Have you ever stood firm in faith when the whole world demands you bow down — that's the powerful message at the heart of this week's deep dive into the Book of Daniel. Today, we journey through chapters 3 and 4, witnessing extraordinary demonstrations of faith and divine power."
Pastor Teddy, a.k.a., Fred Kenney, Jr., continues his exploration of the Book of Daniel, focusing on chapters 3 and 4 which detail the fiery furnace experience and Nebuchadnezzar's humbling transformation.
• Working on creating a historically accurate throne prop for the upcoming 'DAN' play
• The throne will feature the Babylonian lion with wings, made in blue with Babylonian-Persian styling
• Reading of Daniel chapter 3 explores the story of the golden image and the fiery furnace
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to the golden image despite threats
• God protects them in the fire by sending a fourth figure "like a son of the gods"
• Reading of Daniel chapter 4 covers Nebuchadnezzar's dream, madness, and restoration
• Nebuchadnezzar's testimony shows his transformation from pride to acknowledging God's sovereignty
• God doesn't prevent trials but meets us in them – demonstrated when Christ joined the three men in the fire
• The faithful testimony of these young men ultimately influenced the pagan king
• We're called to trust God even in difficult circumstances, as He's worthy of our trust
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. ~ Numbers 6: 24-26
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lord, you know you will now listen to Play for the
Word.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's the best, king Nebuchadnezzar.
Through all peoples, nations,languages that dwell in all the
earth, peace be multiplied toyou.
It has seemed good to me toshow the signs and wonders that
the Most High God has done forme.
How great are his signs, howmighty his wonders.
(00:25):
His kingdom is an everlastingkingdom and his dominion endures
from generation to generation.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion.
Today let's join Pastor Teddy,also known as Fred David Kenny
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
All righty y'all, welcome to Plays on Word Radio.
Every single one of you.
Oh yeah, introduction there.
Last week we got into our Danproduction that we are working
(01:49):
on and I took you behind thescenes a little bit into some of
the preparation and oh, who'scalling me?
Somebody's calling me, let mehelp.
And I did.
I did get feedback and I wasblessed to see that some people
were.
They really appreciated that.
So that's, thank you forgetting back.
(02:12):
And for those of you that didnot check it out, go back and
check out last week's episode,episode 128,.
This is episode 129.
And you will be brought up tospeed.
The book of daniel's really cool.
I'm looking forward to showingyou guys, or bringing you along,
(02:37):
as I work on part of the set.
I wouldn't call it the set, butin each one of our plays and
each one of our productions wehave at least one aspect of the
set.
For example, in our Pete playwe have our boat, and in our
Genesis Joe play we have justthe basket with the staff that
(03:05):
Jacob uses.
We have our clipboard.
Our plays, our pyramids, are usclipboard, and those of you
that have seen the Genesis Joeplay, you know exactly what I'm
talking about.
So in the Dan play we are goingto have a throne I'm working on
and it will be the throne ofNebuchadnezzar and then Darius.
(03:34):
So we're looking forward tothat.
It's going to be really cool.
It's um, it's going to bepretty accurate too.
You know me, I'm diving inhistorically, trying to make
sure we are as correct aspossible.
Our boat is not to scale, butit gives you an idea what's
(03:55):
going on in the peat play.
But this throne is going tohave the excuse me, it's going
to have the Babylonian lion withthe wings on its back.
It's going to have that.
It's going to be blue,babylonian style and there was
(04:19):
crossover to the Persian.
So we're going to keep thataspect the persians.
So we're gonna keep that aspect.
Um, but yeah, and I'm, I'mpraying that you guys are
blessed, or were blessed by lastweek's uh, what is that?
The reading of from daniel.
That's what I?
I don't say that's what I.
That's not the only thing Istudy from, but that is a
(04:42):
reinforcement to justremembering learning scripture.
A lot of people ask me how doyou remember all this stuff?
How do you remember?
Well, one of the ways is byjust washing my brain with the
word and saturating myself withit, and this is one of the ways,
so I'm going to continue.
We heard chapter one and 2 lasttime, so now we're going to
(05:09):
rock chapter 3 and 4.
And I pray that you're blessed.
Check it out, Chapter 3.
King Nebuchadnezzar made animage of gold whose height was
60 cubits and its breadth 6cubits.
He set it up on the plain ofDura in the province of Babylon.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar sentto gather the satraps, the
(05:32):
prefects and the governors, thecounselors, the treasurers, the
justices, the magistrates andall the officials of the
provinces to come to thededication of the image that
King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the satraps, the prefectsand the governors, the
counselors, the treasurers, thejustices, the magistrates and
(05:54):
all the officials of theprovinces gathered for the
dedication of the image thatKing Nebuchadnezzar had set up
and they stood before the imagethat Nebuchadnezzar had set up
and the herald proclaimed aloudyou are commanded, o peoples,
nations and languages, that whenyou hear the sound of the horn,
(06:18):
pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
you are to fall down andworship the golden image that
King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
And whoever does not fall downand worship shall immediately be
cast into a burning fieryfurnace.
Therefore, as soon as all thepeople heard the sound of the
(06:40):
horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
all the peoples, nations andlanguages fell down and
worshipped the golden image thatKing Nebuchadnezzar had set up,
an image that KingNebuchadnezzar had set up.
(07:01):
Therefore, at that time, certainChaldeans came forward and
maliciously accused the Jews.
They declared to KingNebuchadnezzar O King, live
forever.
You, o King, have made a decreethat every man who hears the
sound of the horn, pipe, lyre,trigon, harp, bagpipe and every
kind of music shall fall downand worship the golden image.
(07:21):
And whoever does not fall downand worship shall be cast into a
burning fiery furnace.
There are certain Jews whom youhave appointed over the affairs
of the province of BabylonShadrach, meshach and Abednego.
These men, o king, pay noattention to you.
They do not serve your gods orworship the golden image that
(07:51):
you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar, in furiousrage, commanded that Shadrach,
meshach and Abednego be brought.
So they were brought, these men, before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar answered andsaid to them Is it true,
shadrach, meshach and Abednego,that you do not serve my gods or
worship the golden image that Ihave set up.
(08:12):
Now, if you are ready, when youhear the sound of the horn,
pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
to fall down and worship theimage that I have made, well and
good, but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast
into a burning, fiery furnace.
And who is the God who willdeliver you out of my hands?
(08:35):
Shadrach, meshach and Abed Neboanswered and said to the king O
king Nebuchadnezzar, we have noneed to answer you in this
matter.
If this be so, our God, whom weserve, is able to deliver us
from the burning, fiery furnace,and he will deliver us out of
your hand, o king.
But if not, be it known to you,o king, that we will not serve
(08:59):
your gods or worship the goldenimage that you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filledwith fury and the expression of
his face changed againstShadrach, meshach and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace beheated seven times more than it
was usually heated, and heordered some of the mighty men
(09:22):
of his army to bind Shadrach,meshach and Abednego and cast
them into the burning, fieryfurnace.
Then these men were bound intheir cloaks, their tunics,
their hats and their othergarments and they were thrown
into the burning fiery furnaceBecause the king's order was so
(09:47):
urgent.
The furnace overheated, theflame of the fire killed those
men who took up Shadrach,meshach and Abednego, and these
three men, shadrach, meshach andAbednego, fell bound into the
burning fiery furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar wasastonished and rose up in haste.
(10:08):
He said to his counselors Didwe not cast three men bound into
the fire?
They answered and said to theking True, o king.
He answered and said but I seefour men unbound, walking in the
(10:31):
midst of the fire and they'renot hurt, and the appearance of
the fourth is like a son of thegods.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came nearto the door of the burning fiery
furnace and he declaredShadrach, meshach and Abednego
(10:56):
servants of the Most High God,come out and come here.
Then Shadrach, meshach andAbednego came out from the fire
and the satraps and the prefects, the governors and the king's
counselors gathered together andsaw that the fire had not had
any power over the bodies ofthose men.
The hair of their heads was notsinged, their cloaks were not
(11:21):
harmed and no smell of fire hadcome upon them.
Nebuchadnezzar answered andsaid Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, meshach and Abednegowho has sent his angel and
delivered his servants, whotrusted in him and set aside the
king's command and yielded uptheir bodies rather than serve
(11:45):
and worship any god except theirown.
Therefore, I make a decree Anypeople, nation or language that
speaks anything against the Godof Shadrach, meshach and
Abednego shall be torn limb fromlimb and their homes laid in
ruins, for there is no other Godwho is able to rescue in this
(12:07):
way.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, meshach and Abednego in the
province of Babylon.
Chapter 4 King Nebuchadnezzar,to all peoples, nations,
(12:29):
languages that dwell in all theearth, peace be multiplied to
you that dwell in all the earth.
Peace be multiplied to you.
It has seemed good to me toshow the signs and wonders that
the Most High God has done forme.
How great are His signs, howmighty His wonders.
His kingdom is an everlastingkingdom and His dominion endures
(12:51):
from generation to generation.
I, nebuchadnezzar, was at easein my house and prospering in my
palace.
I saw a dream that made meafraid as I lay in bed, the
images and the visions of myhead alarmed me.
So I made a decree that all thewise men of Babylon should be
(13:15):
brought before me that theymight make known to me the
interpretation of the dream.
Then the magicians and theenchanters, the Chaldeans and
the astrologers came in and Itold them the dream, but they
could not make known to me itsinterpretation.
At last, daniel came in beforeme, he who was named
Belteshazzar, after the name ofmy God, and in whom is the
(13:40):
Spirit of the Holy Gods, and Itold him the dream, saying O
Belteshazzar, chief of themagicians, because I know that
the Spirit of the Holy Gods isin you and that no mystery is
too difficult for you, tell methe visions of my dream that I
saw and their interpretation.
(14:03):
The visions of my head as I layin bed were these I saw, behold
a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.
The tree grew up and becamestrong and its top reached to
heaven and it was visible to theend of the whole earth.
Its leaves were beautiful andits fruit abundant, and in it
(14:26):
was food for all.
The beast of the field foundshade under it and the birds of
the heavens lived in itsbranches and all flesh was fed
from it.
I saw in the visions of my headas I laid in bed and behold a
watcher, a holy one, came downfrom heaven.
He proclaimed aloud and saidThus chop down the tree and lop
(14:53):
off its branches, strip off itsleaves and scatter its fruit.
Let the beasts flee from underit and the birds from its
branches, but leave the stump ofits roots in the earth, bound
with a band of iron and bronze,amid the tender grass of the
(15:13):
field.
Let him be wet with the dew ofheaven, let his portion be with
the beasts in the grass of theearth, let his mind be changed
from a man's and let a beast'smind be given to him, and let
seven periods of time pass overhim.
Periods of time pass over him.
(15:39):
The sentence is by the decreeof the watchers, the decision by
the word of the holy ones, tothe end, that the living may
know that the Most High rulesthe kingdom of men and gives it
to whom he will and sets over itthe lowliest of men whom he
will, and sets over it thelowliest of men.
This dream I, nebuchadnezzar,saw.
And you, o Belteshazzar, tellme the interpretation, because
(16:06):
all the wise men of my kingdomare not able to make known to me
the interpretation.
But you are able, for thespirit of the holy gods is in
you.
Then I Daniel, whose name wasBelteshazzar.
I was dismayed for a while andmy thoughts alarmed me.
Then the king answered and saidBelteshazzar, do not let the
(16:28):
dream or the interpretationalarm you.
So I answered and said my lord,may the dream be for those who
hate you and its interpretationfor your enemies.
The tree you saw, which grew upand became strong so that its
top reached heaven and itsvisible to the end of the whole
(16:48):
earth, whose leaves werebeautiful and its fruit abundant
, and in which was food for all,under which the beasts of the
field found shade, in whosebranches the birds of the
heavens lived.
It is you, o king, who havegrown to become strong.
Your greatness has grown toreach to heaven and your
(17:11):
dominion to the ends of theearth".
And because the king saw awatcher, a holy one, coming down
from heaven and saying Chopdown the tree and destroy it,
but leave its stump of its rootsin the ground, bound with a
band of iron and bronze in thetender grass of the field, and
let him be wet with the dew ofheaven and let his portion be
with the beasts of the fieldtill seven periods of time pass
(17:33):
over him.
This is the interpretation, oking.
It is the decree of the MostHigh which has come upon my lord
, the king, that you shall bedriven from among men and your
dwelling be with the beasts ofthe field.
You shall be made to eat grasslike an ox and you shall be wet
(18:00):
with the dew of heaven.
And seven periods of time shallpass over you till you know
that the Most High rules thekingdoms of men and gives it to
whom he will, and it wascommanded to leave the stump of
the roots of the tree.
Your kingdom shall be confirmedfor you from the time that you
(18:24):
know that heaven rules.
Therefore, o king, let mycounsel be acceptable to you
Break off your sins bypracticing righteousness and
your iniquity by showing mercyto the oppressed, that there may
perhaps be a lengthening ofyour prosperity.
(18:45):
All these things came upon KingNebuchadnezzar At the end of
twelve months.
He was walking on the roof ofthe royal palace of Babylon and
the king answered and said andthe king answered and said Is
(19:06):
not this great Babylon which Ihave built by my mighty power as
a royal residence and for theglory of my majesty?
While the words were still inthe king's mouth, there fell a
voice from heaven O kingNebuchadnezzar.
To you it is spoken, thekingdom has departed from you
and you shall be driven fromamong men and your dwellings
(19:28):
shall be with the beasts of thefield and you shall be made to
eat grass like an ox, and sevenperiods of time shall pass over
you until you know that the MostHigh rules the kingdom of men
and gives it to whom he will.
Immediately, the word wasfulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar
(19:49):
.
He was driven from among menand ate grass like an ox.
His body was wet with the dewof heaven till his hair grew as
long as an eagle's feathers andhis nails were like birds' claws
.
At the end of the days, I,nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes
(20:11):
toward heaven and my reasonreturned to me and I blessed.
The Most High returned to meand I blessed the Most High and
praised and honored Him, wholives forever, for His dominion
is an everlasting dominion andHis kingdom endures from
generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of theearth are accounted as nothing
(20:37):
and he does according to hiswill among the hosts of heaven
and among the inhabitants of theearth, and none can stay his
hand or say to him what have youdone?
At the same time, my reasonreturned to me and for the glory
of my kingdom.
My majesty and splendorreturned to me.
My counselors and my lordssought me out and I was
(21:10):
established in my kingdom.
Amen and honor the King ofheaven, for all his works are
right and all his ways are just,and those who walk in pride he
Is able to humble.
Amen, amen, amen.
(21:30):
Man, I'm feeling that I have afeeling we are going to see and
meet.
I have a feeling we are goingto see and meet this King
Nebuchadnezzar in glory.
I think we're going to meet him.
I'd be surprised if we didn't.
(21:59):
He started out not knowing theGod of Israel.
He started off not knowing yethe was a tool in the hands of
the God of Israel.
But clearly in this documentthat is part of the book of
Daniel is in Aramaic.
So you have part in Hebrew andthen part in Aramaic.
So this part here is absolutelyone of those sections and it's
(22:32):
an official letter, proclamationthing and he's over and over.
He says there's no God likeyour God.
That is a common theme in thisbook of Daniel, and you think
about it.
That is a common theme in thisbook of Daniel and you think
about it.
Just rewind a little bit, daniel.
He's a young guy, young kid.
He ends up in college, inBabylon, college for the wise
dudes, the wise men, and then heends up running everything.
(22:54):
God exalted him because he wasway him and buddies, hannah and
I, michelle and azariah theywere way, way, way, way, way
more intelligent because godgave them intelligence, wisdom
in the hebrew, in the greek it'ssofia and that was granted to
(23:19):
them by God and they wereelevated and ended up running
the whole school, the wise men.
This is no, I mean, you gotta.
It's not something light.
This is amazing.
This is how they got elevated.
This guy though, this paganking Nebuchadnezzar, he saw over
(23:48):
years, but he saw over and overthe God of Israel do amazing
things.
First with the dream, by tellingit to Daniel, giving him the
dream and the interpretation,and he was about to wipe all of
them out.
They were almost all done, theywere almost all finished, and
(24:08):
we saw how he was amazed whenDaniel revealed all the detail.
Can you imagine somebodytelling you exactly a dream that
you dreamt you didn't tell itto anybody and then somebody
like Daniel comes in and tellsyou exactly what you dreamed?
(24:30):
First of all, that's amazing.
But then he tells you theinterpretation gives you.
The interpretation helps youunderstand it.
That only comes from God.
That's what Joseph said to thepeople when Joseph was in prison
, when they were trying tofigure out what the dreams meant
.
And Joseph said doesn't theinterpretation of dreams,
doesn't that belong to God?
Tell me, what did you dream?
(24:50):
So right there, it's showing it, probably blew his mind right
there, but then he here.
You know what we just listenedto.
It was like it was the State ofthe Union type situation we have
(25:10):
here in America, where all thedignitaries, every dignitary is
there, everybody who is anybodyis there.
And then these three young kidsare not complying because of
their god.
And in a sense I, almost I canunderstand Nebuchadnezzar.
(25:32):
It's funny what he says.
His countenance changed, hisface changed towards them when
they were like listen, King,we're not bowing down and you
know our God is able to deliverus.
But even if he doesn't deliverus, it's not happening, man,
we're not doing it, we're notbowing down.
(25:53):
And it says his face changedtowards them.
I think some of that had to dowith the fact that all these
other dignitaries are looking atthese young kids disobeying the
king.
There was a lot at stake hereand God shown himself mighty in
this situation where he was like, wait a minute, he's doing the
(26:15):
math and he's like, didn't wethrow three guys in there?
Why is there four?
And why is that one in themiddle?
Why does that one look like ason of the gods or a son of God?
See, christ met them because oftheir obedience.
Their testimony to that kingwas galvanized because of their
(26:39):
obedience not bowing down.
And God did not prevent themfrom going into a difficult
situation or going into the fire.
No, he didn't stop them.
What was going through theirminds as they were falling in?
And they see the guys, that theCommandos that we had their
arms around them, you know,strong, arming them and about to
throw them into the fire, andsees to see the flames.
(27:00):
They open a door and they gotBum, rushed by flames, push, the
flames came out.
What was going through theirminds when they saw the guys
completely incinerated, burnt up, and then, maybe because of the
momentum or whatever, butthey're still going forward into
the fire.
(27:21):
God did not prevent them fromgoing into the fire.
What he did?
He protected them in the fire.
Not only did he protect them inthe fire, only did he protect
them in the fire.
But he met with them in thefire.
(27:43):
This didn't escape the noticeof the king, and when the king,
he went over to the, they saidcome out, come out.
And they came out three of them, not all four and they didn't
smell like smoke.
Come on, man, they did.
They weren't even singed, theyweren't even nothing.
You can't tell me.
(28:03):
That did not blow everybody'smind, and this king was.
He was impacted, impactedbecause of a faithful few that
were willing to trust the God ofIsrael.
(28:27):
I challenge you trust the God ofIsrael today.
Yes, trust him.
He's worthy of praise, he'sworthy of trust, and he will
meet you in a difficultsituation.
He might meet you in the fire.
He'll meet you wherever you are.
That's all the time we have fortoday, until next week, hey,
we're going to continue.
(28:48):
This book continues.
We're going to continue it.
Please let me know, though, ifyou're being blessed by this.
Until then, the Lord bless youand keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you, hey, and
give you peace.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
This program was made possible by the Plays on Word
family of supporters.
To find out more, check out ourwebsite at playsonwordorg.
Lord, you know you will now listen to Play for the
Word.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's the best, king Nebuchadnezzar.
Through all peoples, nations,languages that dwell in all the
earth, peace be multiplied toyou.
It has seemed good to me toshow the signs and wonders that
the Most High God has done forme.
How great are his signs, howmighty his wonders.
(00:25):
His kingdom is an everlastingkingdom and his dominion endures
from generation to generation.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion.
Today let's join Pastor Teddy,also known as Fred David Kenny
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
All righty y'all, welcome to Plays on Word Radio.
Every single one of you.
Oh yeah, introduction there.
Last week we got into our Danproduction that we are working
(01:49):
on and I took you behind thescenes a little bit into some of
the preparation and oh, who'scalling me?
Somebody's calling me, let mehelp.
And I did.
I did get feedback and I wasblessed to see that some people
were.
They really appreciated that.
So that's, thank you forgetting back.
(02:12):
And for those of you that didnot check it out, go back and
check out last week's episode,episode 128,.
This is episode 129.
And you will be brought up tospeed.
The book of daniel's really cool.
I'm looking forward to showingyou guys, or bringing you along,
(02:37):
as I work on part of the set.
I wouldn't call it the set, butin each one of our plays and
each one of our productions wehave at least one aspect of the
set.
For example, in our Pete playwe have our boat, and in our
Genesis Joe play we have justthe basket with the staff that
(03:05):
Jacob uses.
We have our clipboard.
Our plays, our pyramids, are usclipboard, and those of you
that have seen the Genesis Joeplay, you know exactly what I'm
talking about.
So in the Dan play we are goingto have a throne I'm working on
and it will be the throne ofNebuchadnezzar and then Darius.
(03:34):
So we're looking forward tothat.
It's going to be really cool.
It's um, it's going to bepretty accurate too.
You know me, I'm diving inhistorically, trying to make
sure we are as correct aspossible.
Our boat is not to scale, butit gives you an idea what's
(03:55):
going on in the peat play.
But this throne is going tohave the excuse me, it's going
to have the Babylonian lion withthe wings on its back.
It's going to have that.
It's going to be blue,babylonian style and there was
(04:19):
crossover to the Persian.
So we're going to keep thataspect the persians.
So we're gonna keep that aspect.
Um, but yeah, and I'm, I'mpraying that you guys are
blessed, or were blessed by lastweek's uh, what is that?
The reading of from daniel.
That's what I?
I don't say that's what I.
That's not the only thing Istudy from, but that is a
(04:42):
reinforcement to justremembering learning scripture.
A lot of people ask me how doyou remember all this stuff?
How do you remember?
Well, one of the ways is byjust washing my brain with the
word and saturating myself withit, and this is one of the ways,
so I'm going to continue.
We heard chapter one and 2 lasttime, so now we're going to
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rock chapter 3 and 4.
And I pray that you're blessed.
Check it out, Chapter 3.
King Nebuchadnezzar made animage of gold whose height was
60 cubits and its breadth 6cubits.
He set it up on the plain ofDura in the province of Babylon.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar sentto gather the satraps, the
(05:32):
prefects and the governors, thecounselors, the treasurers, the
justices, the magistrates andall the officials of the
provinces to come to thededication of the image that
King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the satraps, the prefectsand the governors, the
counselors, the treasurers, thejustices, the magistrates and
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all the officials of theprovinces gathered for the
dedication of the image thatKing Nebuchadnezzar had set up
and they stood before the imagethat Nebuchadnezzar had set up
and the herald proclaimed aloudyou are commanded, o peoples,
nations and languages, that whenyou hear the sound of the horn,
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pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
you are to fall down andworship the golden image that
King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
And whoever does not fall downand worship shall immediately be
cast into a burning fieryfurnace.
Therefore, as soon as all thepeople heard the sound of the
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horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
all the peoples, nations andlanguages fell down and
worshipped the golden image thatKing Nebuchadnezzar had set up,
an image that KingNebuchadnezzar had set up.
(07:01):
Therefore, at that time, certainChaldeans came forward and
maliciously accused the Jews.
They declared to KingNebuchadnezzar O King, live
forever.
You, o King, have made a decreethat every man who hears the
sound of the horn, pipe, lyre,trigon, harp, bagpipe and every
kind of music shall fall downand worship the golden image.
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And whoever does not fall downand worship shall be cast into a
burning fiery furnace.
There are certain Jews whom youhave appointed over the affairs
of the province of BabylonShadrach, meshach and Abednego.
These men, o king, pay noattention to you.
They do not serve your gods orworship the golden image that
(07:51):
you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar, in furiousrage, commanded that Shadrach,
meshach and Abednego be brought.
So they were brought, these men, before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar answered andsaid to them Is it true,
shadrach, meshach and Abednego,that you do not serve my gods or
worship the golden image that Ihave set up.
(08:12):
Now, if you are ready, when youhear the sound of the horn,
pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,bagpipe and every kind of music,
to fall down and worship theimage that I have made, well and
good, but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast
into a burning, fiery furnace.
And who is the God who willdeliver you out of my hands?
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Shadrach, meshach and Abed Neboanswered and said to the king O
king Nebuchadnezzar, we have noneed to answer you in this
matter.
If this be so, our God, whom weserve, is able to deliver us
from the burning, fiery furnace,and he will deliver us out of
your hand, o king.
But if not, be it known to you,o king, that we will not serve
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your gods or worship the goldenimage that you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filledwith fury and the expression of
his face changed againstShadrach, meshach and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace beheated seven times more than it
was usually heated, and heordered some of the mighty men
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of his army to bind Shadrach,meshach and Abednego and cast
them into the burning, fieryfurnace.
Then these men were bound intheir cloaks, their tunics,
their hats and their othergarments and they were thrown
into the burning fiery furnaceBecause the king's order was so
(09:47):
urgent.
The furnace overheated, theflame of the fire killed those
men who took up Shadrach,meshach and Abednego, and these
three men, shadrach, meshach andAbednego, fell bound into the
burning fiery furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar wasastonished and rose up in haste.
(10:08):
He said to his counselors Didwe not cast three men bound into
the fire?
They answered and said to theking True, o king.
He answered and said but I seefour men unbound, walking in the
(10:31):
midst of the fire and they'renot hurt, and the appearance of
the fourth is like a son of thegods.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came nearto the door of the burning fiery
furnace and he declaredShadrach, meshach and Abednego
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servants of the Most High God,come out and come here.
Then Shadrach, meshach andAbednego came out from the fire
and the satraps and the prefects, the governors and the king's
counselors gathered together andsaw that the fire had not had
any power over the bodies ofthose men.
The hair of their heads was notsinged, their cloaks were not
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harmed and no smell of fire hadcome upon them.
Nebuchadnezzar answered andsaid Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, meshach and Abednegowho has sent his angel and
delivered his servants, whotrusted in him and set aside the
king's command and yielded uptheir bodies rather than serve
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and worship any god except theirown.
Therefore, I make a decree Anypeople, nation or language that
speaks anything against the Godof Shadrach, meshach and
Abednego shall be torn limb fromlimb and their homes laid in
ruins, for there is no other Godwho is able to rescue in this
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way.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, meshach and Abednego in the
province of Babylon.
Chapter 4 King Nebuchadnezzar,to all peoples, nations,
(12:29):
languages that dwell in all theearth, peace be multiplied to
you that dwell in all the earth.
Peace be multiplied to you.
It has seemed good to me toshow the signs and wonders that
the Most High God has done forme.
How great are His signs, howmighty His wonders.
His kingdom is an everlastingkingdom and His dominion endures
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from generation to generation.
I, nebuchadnezzar, was at easein my house and prospering in my
palace.
I saw a dream that made meafraid as I lay in bed, the
images and the visions of myhead alarmed me.
So I made a decree that all thewise men of Babylon should be
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brought before me that theymight make known to me the
interpretation of the dream.
Then the magicians and theenchanters, the Chaldeans and
the astrologers came in and Itold them the dream, but they
could not make known to me itsinterpretation.
At last, daniel came in beforeme, he who was named
Belteshazzar, after the name ofmy God, and in whom is the
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Spirit of the Holy Gods, and Itold him the dream, saying O
Belteshazzar, chief of themagicians, because I know that
the Spirit of the Holy Gods isin you and that no mystery is
too difficult for you, tell methe visions of my dream that I
saw and their interpretation.
(14:03):
The visions of my head as I layin bed were these I saw, behold
a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.
The tree grew up and becamestrong and its top reached to
heaven and it was visible to theend of the whole earth.
Its leaves were beautiful andits fruit abundant, and in it
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was food for all.
The beast of the field foundshade under it and the birds of
the heavens lived in itsbranches and all flesh was fed
from it.
I saw in the visions of my headas I laid in bed and behold a
watcher, a holy one, came downfrom heaven.
He proclaimed aloud and saidThus chop down the tree and lop
(14:53):
off its branches, strip off itsleaves and scatter its fruit.
Let the beasts flee from underit and the birds from its
branches, but leave the stump ofits roots in the earth, bound
with a band of iron and bronze,amid the tender grass of the
(15:13):
field.
Let him be wet with the dew ofheaven, let his portion be with
the beasts in the grass of theearth, let his mind be changed
from a man's and let a beast'smind be given to him, and let
seven periods of time pass overhim.
Periods of time pass over him.
(15:39):
The sentence is by the decreeof the watchers, the decision by
the word of the holy ones, tothe end, that the living may
know that the Most High rulesthe kingdom of men and gives it
to whom he will and sets over itthe lowliest of men whom he
will, and sets over it thelowliest of men.
This dream I, nebuchadnezzar,saw.
And you, o Belteshazzar, tellme the interpretation, because
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all the wise men of my kingdomare not able to make known to me
the interpretation.
But you are able, for thespirit of the holy gods is in
you.
Then I Daniel, whose name wasBelteshazzar.
I was dismayed for a while andmy thoughts alarmed me.
Then the king answered and saidBelteshazzar, do not let the
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dream or the interpretationalarm you.
So I answered and said my lord,may the dream be for those who
hate you and its interpretationfor your enemies.
The tree you saw, which grew upand became strong so that its
top reached heaven and itsvisible to the end of the whole
(16:48):
earth, whose leaves werebeautiful and its fruit abundant
, and in which was food for all,under which the beasts of the
field found shade, in whosebranches the birds of the
heavens lived.
It is you, o king, who havegrown to become strong.
Your greatness has grown toreach to heaven and your
(17:11):
dominion to the ends of theearth".
And because the king saw awatcher, a holy one, coming down
from heaven and saying Chopdown the tree and destroy it,
but leave its stump of its rootsin the ground, bound with a
band of iron and bronze in thetender grass of the field, and
let him be wet with the dew ofheaven and let his portion be
with the beasts of the fieldtill seven periods of time pass
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over him.
This is the interpretation, oking.
It is the decree of the MostHigh which has come upon my lord
, the king, that you shall bedriven from among men and your
dwelling be with the beasts ofthe field.
You shall be made to eat grasslike an ox and you shall be wet
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with the dew of heaven.
And seven periods of time shallpass over you till you know
that the Most High rules thekingdoms of men and gives it to
whom he will, and it wascommanded to leave the stump of
the roots of the tree.
Your kingdom shall be confirmedfor you from the time that you
(18:24):
know that heaven rules.
Therefore, o king, let mycounsel be acceptable to you
Break off your sins bypracticing righteousness and
your iniquity by showing mercyto the oppressed, that there may
perhaps be a lengthening ofyour prosperity.
(18:45):
All these things came upon KingNebuchadnezzar At the end of
twelve months.
He was walking on the roof ofthe royal palace of Babylon and
the king answered and said andthe king answered and said Is
(19:06):
not this great Babylon which Ihave built by my mighty power as
a royal residence and for theglory of my majesty?
While the words were still inthe king's mouth, there fell a
voice from heaven O kingNebuchadnezzar.
To you it is spoken, thekingdom has departed from you
and you shall be driven fromamong men and your dwellings
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shall be with the beasts of thefield and you shall be made to
eat grass like an ox, and sevenperiods of time shall pass over
you until you know that the MostHigh rules the kingdom of men
and gives it to whom he will.
Immediately, the word wasfulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar
(19:49):
.
He was driven from among menand ate grass like an ox.
His body was wet with the dewof heaven till his hair grew as
long as an eagle's feathers andhis nails were like birds' claws
.
At the end of the days, I,nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes
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toward heaven and my reasonreturned to me and I blessed.
The Most High returned to meand I blessed the Most High and
praised and honored Him, wholives forever, for His dominion
is an everlasting dominion andHis kingdom endures from
generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of theearth are accounted as nothing
(20:37):
and he does according to hiswill among the hosts of heaven
and among the inhabitants of theearth, and none can stay his
hand or say to him what have youdone?
At the same time, my reasonreturned to me and for the glory
of my kingdom.
My majesty and splendorreturned to me.
My counselors and my lordssought me out and I was
(21:10):
established in my kingdom.
Amen and honor the King ofheaven, for all his works are
right and all his ways are just,and those who walk in pride he
Is able to humble.
Amen, amen, amen.
(21:30):
Man, I'm feeling that I have afeeling we are going to see and
meet.
I have a feeling we are goingto see and meet this King
Nebuchadnezzar in glory.
I think we're going to meet him.
I'd be surprised if we didn't.
(21:59):
He started out not knowing theGod of Israel.
He started off not knowing yethe was a tool in the hands of
the God of Israel.
But clearly in this documentthat is part of the book of
Daniel is in Aramaic.
So you have part in Hebrew andthen part in Aramaic.
So this part here is absolutelyone of those sections and it's
(22:32):
an official letter, proclamationthing and he's over and over.
He says there's no God likeyour God.
That is a common theme in thisbook of Daniel, and you think
about it.
That is a common theme in thisbook of Daniel and you think
about it.
Just rewind a little bit, daniel.
He's a young guy, young kid.
He ends up in college, inBabylon, college for the wise
dudes, the wise men, and then heends up running everything.
(22:54):
God exalted him because he wasway him and buddies, hannah and
I, michelle and azariah theywere way, way, way, way, way
more intelligent because godgave them intelligence, wisdom
in the hebrew, in the greek it'ssofia and that was granted to
(23:19):
them by God and they wereelevated and ended up running
the whole school, the wise men.
This is no, I mean, you gotta.
It's not something light.
This is amazing.
This is how they got elevated.
This guy though, this paganking Nebuchadnezzar, he saw over
(23:48):
years, but he saw over and overthe God of Israel do amazing
things.
First with the dream, by tellingit to Daniel, giving him the
dream and the interpretation,and he was about to wipe all of
them out.
They were almost all done, theywere almost all finished, and
(24:08):
we saw how he was amazed whenDaniel revealed all the detail.
Can you imagine somebodytelling you exactly a dream that
you dreamt you didn't tell itto anybody and then somebody
like Daniel comes in and tellsyou exactly what you dreamed?
(24:30):
First of all, that's amazing.
But then he tells you theinterpretation gives you.
The interpretation helps youunderstand it.
That only comes from God.
That's what Joseph said to thepeople when Joseph was in prison
, when they were trying tofigure out what the dreams meant
.
And Joseph said doesn't theinterpretation of dreams,
doesn't that belong to God?
Tell me, what did you dream?
(24:50):
So right there, it's showing it, probably blew his mind right
there, but then he here.
You know what we just listenedto.
It was like it was the State ofthe Union type situation we have
(25:10):
here in America, where all thedignitaries, every dignitary is
there, everybody who is anybodyis there.
And then these three young kidsare not complying because of
their god.
And in a sense I, almost I canunderstand Nebuchadnezzar.
(25:32):
It's funny what he says.
His countenance changed, hisface changed towards them when
they were like listen, King,we're not bowing down and you
know our God is able to deliverus.
But even if he doesn't deliverus, it's not happening, man,
we're not doing it, we're notbowing down.
(25:53):
And it says his face changedtowards them.
I think some of that had to dowith the fact that all these
other dignitaries are looking atthese young kids disobeying the
king.
There was a lot at stake hereand God shown himself mighty in
this situation where he was like, wait a minute, he's doing the
(26:15):
math and he's like, didn't wethrow three guys in there?
Why is there four?
And why is that one in themiddle?
Why does that one look like ason of the gods or a son of God?
See, christ met them because oftheir obedience.
Their testimony to that kingwas galvanized because of their
(26:39):
obedience not bowing down.
And God did not prevent themfrom going into a difficult
situation or going into the fire.
No, he didn't stop them.
What was going through theirminds as they were falling in?
And they see the guys, that theCommandos that we had their
arms around them, you know,strong, arming them and about to
throw them into the fire, andsees to see the flames.
(27:00):
They open a door and they gotBum, rushed by flames, push, the
flames came out.
What was going through theirminds when they saw the guys
completely incinerated, burnt up, and then, maybe because of the
momentum or whatever, butthey're still going forward into
the fire.
(27:21):
God did not prevent them fromgoing into the fire.
What he did?
He protected them in the fire.
Not only did he protect them inthe fire, only did he protect
them in the fire.
But he met with them in thefire.
(27:43):
This didn't escape the noticeof the king, and when the king,
he went over to the, they saidcome out, come out.
And they came out three of them, not all four and they didn't
smell like smoke.
Come on, man, they did.
They weren't even singed, theyweren't even nothing.
You can't tell me.
(28:03):
That did not blow everybody'smind, and this king was.
He was impacted, impactedbecause of a faithful few that
were willing to trust the God ofIsrael.
(28:27):
I challenge you trust the God ofIsrael today.
Yes, trust him.
He's worthy of praise, he'sworthy of trust, and he will
meet you in a difficultsituation.
He might meet you in the fire.
He'll meet you wherever you are.
That's all the time we have fortoday, until next week, hey,
we're going to continue.
(28:48):
This book continues.
We're going to continue it.
Please let me know, though, ifyou're being blessed by this.
Until then, the Lord bless youand keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you, hey, and
give you peace.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
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