The Most High God - Daniel 3:28-30

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God chose to deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the fiery furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed, but what did he do after getting the men out of the furnace?

Daniel 3:28-30 (KJV)
²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
²⁹ Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

What was Nebuchadnezzar's reaction (verse 28)? He praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. According to the king, who did God send to deliver the three men from the furnace? God sent his angel (perhaps the Son of God himself). Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledged that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego had trusted in God, went against the king's command to bow down to the image, and yielded their bodies to the consequences of their actions. Why had the men done this, according to the King? They wouldn't serve or worship any other god, except their own.

The king's tone seems to imply that he approved of what the men had done. He went on to make a decree in verse 29. What was it? No one could say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. If someone did, he or she would be cut in pieces and his or her home would be made a dunghill. What did the king admit to? He admitted that no other god could deliver as the three men's God had.

Finally, what did the king do for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (verse 30)? The three men were promoted.

Again, King Nebuchadnezzar seemed to have embraced the right understanding of God. Yet, he really had not left his gods behind, but rather seemed to have believed that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego's God was the most powerful one of all the gods. At the same time, the king had not lost his arrogance and cruelty. While he was willing to accept God's power, he still ordered his subjects to his way or else, and the punishment for disobedience was barbaric. Perhaps the Lord would have more for him to learn!

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