150121 The God Who Delivers

• LESSON 3 (January 21) • The God Who Delivers BACKGROUND:  A “cubit” was the distance between one’s elbow and the tip of the middle finger—approximately 18 inches—which means Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold would have been somewhere in the vicinity of ninety feet tall and nine feet wide.  God’s prohibition against idolatry would have been well-known to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. o At the head of the Ten Commandments were “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image… you shall not bow down to them or serve them” (Exo 20:3-6). o The Old Testament Scriptures were filled with declarations that the LORD is the one and only God (Isa 43:10-13; 45:5-6, 18, 21-22). o Idolatry was one of the primary reasons God’s people had been sent into exile in the first place (Isa 30:19-22; Jer 8:19; Ezek 6:1-14).  “The plain of Dura” was an area six miles south of Babylon. QUESTIONS WORTH THINKING ABOUT: 1. Why do you think these “certain Chaldeans” would “maliciously accuse” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by name? (3:8-12) 2. What are some possible ways Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have responded after Daniel 3:15? 3. What can we learn about these men from their response in Daniel 3:16-18? 4. What should we make of Daniel 3:25? 5. Are there any ways that Christians experience any shade of the same sort of pressure today? CLOSING THOUGHT: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)