“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.” Daniel 3:28-30
Having given this preamble, Nebuchadnezzar made his decree. He did not deprecate his own gods but acknowledged the power of the God whom Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego worshiped. Nebuchadnezzar also warned everyone in his realm not to speak ill of this God, and made dire threats that everyone knew he had the power to carry out. Although Nebuchadnezzar was greatly impressed, he had not yet been brought to the place where he was willing to put his trust solely in the God of Israel. This is a problem today. Many people believe there is a God but they want to keep Him at a distance. If we are going to walk with God, it must be total surrender.
The contrast of the God of Israel with the idols of Babylon is a reminder that the god of this world, behind Gentile dominion, is doomed to judgment at the hands of the sovereign God. This is illustrated in the fall of Babylon and of the succeeding empires of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The downfall of these nations is a foreshadowing of the end of the times of the Gentiles when the Lion of the tribe of Judah returns to reign. The contrast of the God of Israel with the idols of Babylon is a reminder that the god of this world, behind Gentile dominion, is doomed to judgment at the hands of the sovereign God.