Wonderful. Well, here we are in Daniel. You'll be glad to know that we are finishing chapter three this evening, a very well-known part of the book. I don't want to spend too long doing a recap, even though we did have a week's break last week. But I'm sure you will have read it, studied it, committed it to memory, or something like that. uh you do you do remember that so far we have we've been following uh the flow of daniel we've been going chapter by chapter uh and we've been going through the the structure that i give out we're right at the very beginning chapter one in hebrew And then from chapter two through to chapter seven in Aramaic. And we're in the section where I believe God is speaking to the Gentile nation, the Gentile kings, Babylon. We've been through chapter two where God has given the vision of the successive Kingdoms at the end of chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that Daniel's God was God above all gods It's very interesting Acknowledgement at that point some people believe that Nebuchadnezzar became a Christian or became a believer or follower or whatever terminology you want to use I do not believe so but while he acknowledged God he did not surrender to God and Chapter 3 is very clear on that, that while he acknowledges God, he did not surrender his whole heart to God. And with the passage of time, we see this come to fruition in chapter three. You notice that we said that there was around, this is around year 18 of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. So there's quite a gap between chapter two and chapter three in years. So it's not just a quick follow on. And we've seen how one of the tools of the enemy is to get compliance is peer pressure. We began to see that in the beginning of chapter three, this massive amount of peer pressure. And this is not new. We all suffer peer pressure. We all come under peer pressure. Some deal with it better than others, but we still, we all succumb in some ways to peer pressure. And this is a common tactic. While it does not appear that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to stop the Jews from worshipping God, it looks like he wanted them to keep it private. We have to say this, that nowhere in the Book of Daniel do we ever find that they wanted the Jews to stop worshipping God. But he did want them to comply when it comes to public stuff. Just do what everybody else is doing. You do what you want to do in your own house. You keep it private. But when you come outside, when all the instrument goes and the orchestra goes and the idol is there, just you bow and follow the idol like everybody else. So while it looks like Nebuchadnezzar wasn't against them worshiping God. He wanted them to keep it private. I mean, one of the things that struck me about this, and I didn't mention it last time, but I will now, is this. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah could have knelt down and worshiped the idol and said to one another, we're standing on the inside. It may look like we're buckling, but we're not. We're standing on the inside, even though we're kneeling on the outside. And that would have been very easy to do. That would have been very easy to say, but for them to show that they were standing on the inside, they stood on the outside as well. And so they went against this whole, my faith is private. Faith cannot be private. Private and it will some point come up against What the world says another tool is threat not only peer pressure but threat we see that while it was not Highlight, it's not highlighted as a tool. It is clear from the Scriptures that Nebuchadnezzar said you you comply or else You worship the idol or it's the furnace It's your choice So there was threat involved. And as we addressed in the first 18 verses, we made aware of two acts of defiance and one decree. One act of defiance was by Nebuchadnezzar, the idol. You remember I said, I believe it was an act of defiance because God said that he was the head of gold and yet he made a whole image of gold. Some believe that was him working out an act of defiance, trying to say that my empire will last forever. It won't come to an end. So one act of defiance was there. The decree of Nebuchadnezzar was to worship the image of gold, which he had set up. And the other act of defiance was by Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah, who would not worship their the image no matter what the pressure was no matter what the peer pressure was no matter what the threat was they would not worship his image or his gods as they said there are statements of certainty in in these 18 verses that we looked at that the god whom we serve is able god is able they knew their god what god could do he will deliver us from your hands And I said, it was either by rescue or by death, whatever way they were gonna be rescued from Nebuchadnezzar's hands and they weren't gonna worship any other God. And that went on to, we want you to know that we will not serve your gods or worship your image, which you have set up. So there was this clear act of defiance and clear statements. of belief that came from Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So we're now going to look at the result was not to define the relationship with God. And Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah stood firm in their obedience to the commandments of God. And again, I will state this. We looked at this back in chapter one, how they would not defile themselves because they wanted to remain pure, ceremonially pure because of the commandments of God. And I will reiterate this. Because as we said, chapter one, chapter three, and chapter six are linked, okay? And they're all on a similar theme. And so here, they will not disobey God, but they will stand in obedience to God's commands. So let's read verses 19 through to verse 30. Let's hear what the word of God has to say. 19 through to verse 30. of chapter 3 and then we will unpack it. It says this, then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and the expression of his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. These men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king of the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, true king, look, he answered. I see four loose walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire, and the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose body the fire had no power, the hair of their head was not singed, nor were the garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 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 gods 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 Abednego shall be cut into pieces, other houses shall be made, and I sheep, because there is no other God who can deliver like this. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. There is a recurring theme here, if you've noticed, just like in chapter two. If you can't tell me the dream or the interpretation, I'm gonna cut you into pieces and I'm gonna burn your house. Here, If you speak out against the God of Hananiah, Meshel and Azariah, I'm going to cut you into pieces and I'm going to burn your house. There's a bit of a caring theme here, isn't there really? You just see going against Nebuchadnezzar wasn't good for your health in any shape or form. But it's interesting as we approach this. And I just want to bring out one other thing, because I may not touch on it a bit later, but I think it's important. The Babylonian names all looked at trust in the Babylonian gods. In fact, I can't remember which one it was, but that their Nego, the thing is Abednego, a Nego will save. Okay, there's this trust in the in the Babylonian gods and yet here as we come to the end Nebuchadnezzar declares there's no god no other god who can deliver like this So again, God has magnified himself in this and revealed himself to a Babylonian king. But we'll move swiftly, as swift as we can through these verses. Luther once said, you do not break commandments two through to 10, unless you break the first commandment first, not to have any other gods before me. That's what God said. So Luther was very clear, you cannot break any other commandment unless you break the first commandment first. And it's true in many ways. A lot of the other commandments flow from the fact that God is first, or God should be first in our life, and he should be the focus of our worship. And so Luther points out that here, these men were not gonna value their own lives because they worshiped God above all. They weren't gonna worship any other God, because that breaks the second commandment, and they were to worship the Lord, their God, first. First commandment, not to have any other gods before him. And so they held true to the commandments of God. Again, very similar to chapter one, where they wanted to stay true to the commandments of God. The commandment we all break is the first, you shall have no other gods. Martin Luther once said, the fundamental problem in law breaking is always idolatry. always idolatry. And I think that's an important thing for us to think through. The first commandment is about keeping first things first. I bet you're glad you came tonight to hear that. The first commandment is all about keeping the first things first, keeping God first. If we keep God first, then idolatry has no hold in our hearts. If we keep God first, we don't bow to any other God or any other image. If we keep God first, then the first things are first. We value him above all else. And so this is an important lesson that we see here. In this part of chapter three, we can identify one act of deliverance and a second decree, okay? So one act of deliverance and a second decree that's gonna take place as we read at the end. So verses 19 through to 23, We see in here there are two things that burn, two things that burn, anger and fire. These things highlight what consumes and what burns, is anger and fire. Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. Now, many scholars have said, especially long when it says the expression of his face changed, that no matter how brave Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were, facing the fury of the king was still extremely intimidating. Now, I want you to picture this. They have just stood in front of all their peers and will not worship the image. They're then brought to the king and the fiery furnace is near them. I wouldn't say behind them, but nearly near them somewhere. And they now see if they do not obey the king, that's their fate. They can see their fate. It's not hidden in any way. So it's still a very intimidating thing to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar, who is known for cutting people into pieces and burning their homes, to say, we will not do what you want us to do. But again, remember, they keep the first things first. We will not worship your God or your image. Because Nebuchadnezzar's fury, it is implied, or we could get the feeling that prior to this statement, Nebuchadnezzar spoke very kindly to Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah. And after hearing their bold challenge, the expression of his face changed. Now, remember, in chapter two, some eight, some, I don't know, but probably about 16 years prior, he has just promoted them to almost like the third highest in the land. You get Daniel, who's like the second highest in the land and among all the wise men. And then you got Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah are governors within provinces. They've been elevated. And Nebuchadnezzar will have been very fond of them. They were the ones who told the dream and the interpretation. Even though Daniel spoke it out, he included his friends in that. So you can almost picture Nebuchadnezzar going, listen, guys, I know they're a bit jealous of you, but I like you. I mean, you did me a good turn some 16 years ago. I like you. Can't you just, you know, just play along? Worship, make it look like you worship. I know you're not going to, but make it look like you worship. Just keep everybody happy. Can you picture that nice, almost, he wants what's best for them, but he thinks by worshiping in an image, and he doesn't fully understand, and when Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah go, nice suggestion, but no. No, no, we're gonna worship God. It says his face, his appearance changes, and he begins to burn with anger. He becomes furious with anger. His expression will change. And we are informed that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are bound in their coats and their trousers, their turbans, and other garments. And the furnace is exceedingly hot. I don't know if you or if you're like me and you go why is it talking about turbines and treasures and tunics and all that. I wonder why. I don't know if it's just me. But it is believed that it is stated here that they were going to make sure they burn. And if you've ever thought on I don't know if you've ever thrown a turbine into a fire, but if you've thrown a coat on a fire or if you've seen a coat catch fire, it goes up very, very quickly. And so they wanted to make sure that these three guys burnt and burnt well. So they covered them with every combustible thing possible. And then they set the furnace seven times hotter just to make sure that they burnt. They died in this furnace. That's the picture we're getting here. Everything was done to make sure that the three Hebrew men were quickly and completely burnt. Quickly and completely. To magnify the deliverance in verse 21, verse 21 records that the men were wearing robes, as I said, but this will magnify even more that the only thing that's burnt was the ropes. Interestingly, the thing that bound them was the only thing that was burnt. Everything else wasn't. There's no smell of smoke, no singed hair, no singed fray on their tunics. The only thing that was burnt was the ropes that bound them. So this sets up an even bigger deliverance in verse 21. So we see Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. His attitude changed. His commandment was urgent. Make it seven times hotter, this furnace. Once tied up, Nebuchadnezzar, he commanded his soldiers to throw them into the blazing furnace. They weren't going to try and run, even though their hands were tied. These guys were going to take them and throw them in. Okay? You get a real sense that the king is doing everything possible to make sure they end up in the fire and be burnt. He's doing everything he can. But what is fascinating is this. But the heat of the furnace killed the soldiers. Now, picture this for a minute. I want you to picture this. You know, I've read this many times, and the only time I stopped Ponder on this. They're walking to the furnace, and all of a sudden, I want you, these three guys, they're bound up, and they're walking to the furnace, and all of a sudden, their soldiers get consumed and die by the fire. But they're not even at the furnace yet. They could have ran, but they didn't. Now, scripture says they fell in. I don't know if they were, as the guys died, they pushed them and they fell, or they jumped in, or they walked in, but whatever the case is, they went in of their own volition. They went in while the other guys died before they got there. I just want to point that out because I think this is a wonderful picture that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah weren't frightened of the fire because they kept the first things first, and their God was able. Their God was able. They knew God could do what God could do, and they trusted that God would act. So verses 24 and 27, you get the act of deliverance. And I love this when it says, then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished Can you just picture it? I sort of think in pictures or little film scenes, and it's almost like they're bringing these guys up the furnace. The soldiers drop dead. The three guys go into the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar goes, well, that's it guys. And as he turns to walk away, he sees four people in the fire and he gets astonished. He gets caught unawares. That's not what he had thought. That's not what he had planned. That's not the whole scheme here. And so he gets astonished. And I love this act of deliverance. At this point, Nebuchadnezzar appears to have accompanied them to the furnace. The scripture says from the mouth of the furnace. Now, remember, it's seven times hotter. The soldiers die before they get to the furnace. So Nebuchadnezzar has followed to a point where it's safe, but he can still look in through the entrance of the furnace. So he's as close as he can get at this point. OK, so he's not right at the door. Because I think to be fair to scripture, scripture says that the soldiers died before they got there. So Nebuchadnezzar is as close as he could get to the mouth, to the doorway of the furnace. And he looks in and he sees four guys. He's astonished at it all. The Septuagint says this, and I think this is fascinating. And again, I'm gonna put out some things that scholars have argued over. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, says that in Daniel chapter three, verse 24, that Nebuchadnezzar's attention was caught when he heard the men singing praise in the furnace. I wonder what they sang. I don't think it would be setting the fire. I mean, what did they sing? Were they singing? We don't know, but I'm sure they were willing to praise God. I mean, Paul and Silas worshiped God from a prison. It makes sense that they could worship God. They could be singing a psalm. They could have been quoting a psalm. They could have been worshiping God in different ways. But the Septuagint says that Nebuchadnezzar's attention was caught because they were singing from the midst of the fire. I can't say they were or they weren't. We don't know, but it could have been. Why not? That they worshiped God. It says as well that, let me just see, it says, we can imagine that the king had them cast into the furnace and didn't intend to look twice, but believing they would be immediately consumed. As he walked away, with a satisfied look on his face, he was immediately stopped by the sound of singing coming from inside the furnace. At a safe distance from the heat, he peered inside and saw four men, loose and walking around. Now that's a wonderful picture to have, isn't it? But I want us to think about that still in the fire. It's not outside, it's still in the fire. The three men are still in the fire and Christ is there with them. So we see here as well that Nebuchadnezzar saw four men. These four men are loosed and the only thing that was burned up, as I said, was the ropes. The four men were walking in the fire, walking in the fire. I mean, that just blows my mind. I mean, where are they gonna walk? I mean, I've never been in a furnace, so I don't know how big a furnace is, but I don't think you'd walk very far in it. But it shows the liberty and the freedom that they had. This shows that there was nothing that hindered them or bound them. They were free, and they walked. They were not harmed by the fire, and the fourth was like the Son of God. or as some translations say, the son of the gods. Remember, this is a Babylonian guy speaking, and I still don't believe he has come to a realization of who the God of Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah is yet. So for him, he's speaking as he understands, and there's this God that they worship, he is God in some sense. And so he reckoned this, that this God has come in to the fire, And again, remember back to chapter two, where the wise men said that the mystery belongs to the gods and they don't dwell among men. Think back to that. And yet here, the God of gods is in the fire with them. It's just a wonderful picture of showing the difference that is there. Nebuchadnezzar asked for clarity concerning the number thrown into the furnace. Didn't we throw three men in? You know, you can almost picture him going, can someone check? I think I'm seeing something. Didn't we throw three? Why did I see four? You know, you can just picture the scene. I'm not trying to make it light. I'm trying to give you the idea of what's happening here. This is an awesome scene where three guys, under the threat of death, keep the first things first and put God first, will not worship any other idol. They're not going to keep their faith private. They're going to stand public and proud of worshiping God, no matter what the cost. And when they're in the fire, God is there and they're walking about. Now, People have said that they didn't see Christ, this theophany or this Christophany, this pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Some people have argued, some scholars have argued that Hananah, Mishael, and Azariah didn't see Christ. I don't know how they can put, how they can argue that. I believe they did. I believe they did. But the fact is Nebuchadnezzar sees four. God appears in the fire to deliver his people, but reveal his deity to a Gentile king. So whether or not they seen him is not the point. The point is Nebuchadnezzar saw four and God delivered his people, but I believe they did. Okay, just putting it out there. I believe they walked and they talked and they probably had a sing together if they were singing songs of worship. Who knows? But I believe they saw him. It's very interesting here. In verse 15, it says, but if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? That's the threat. Nebuchadnezzar made. Now he sees the God of the Hebrews dwells among men. The God they serve stands with his people even in the trials and God delivers his people from whatever a king or anyone else can throw at them. This is the God that this Nebuchadnezzar now sees. This is a revelation of God. Big time. The arrogance of a king, who will save you from my hands? God. That's who will save me from your hands. And again, I bring it down to the fact that three young men were prepared to keep the first things first. They would not break the first commandment. They would not worship, have any other idols before God. and they kept him first. So this revelation to not only Nebuchadnezzar, but all the other officials, all the other officials seen him as well. I keep saying Nebuchadnezzar purely because of what's gonna happen in chapter four. And then, especially in chapter four, when we get there after Christmas, how Nebuchadnezzar is gonna be dealing with all of this. But it's not just a revelation to Nebuchadnezzar, but also to the other officials. I love the way Nebuchadnezzar says, servants of the most high God, before they were out of the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar will recognize that these men served the true God, the God who is most high. That's what he recognized. Now, again, I come back to what I said at the beginning, because he will affirm it or he will recognize, it doesn't mean that he would submit to God, but that's for chapter four. The whole account illustrates, perhaps, to serve as a type of the future of Israel. Many people have tried to spiritualize this. I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but a lot of people have tried spiritualize this in line of the end times and how it all works out with Israel. I personally think it's stretching it a bit, personally. I personally just think that this, while there are other things to do with Israel in the end times and everything else, and we'll look at that in the new year, I also believe that this is purely Nebuchadnezzar and the other officials getting their eyes open to who God actually is. And God is the most high God who can save his people from anyone. No one can get in the way. The second decree we have in verses 28 to verse 30 is the decree of Nebuchadnezzar again. You remember he did it before at the end of chapter two. He's doing it again here at the end of chapter three. Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar gave glory to God, but he recognized that this great God is not Notice the wording, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It's not his God, it's their God. That's why I believe, even at this point, in his understanding and getting his eyes opened, he is still not a follower of Christ, a follower of God. But he will recognize that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is the most high God, even though it's not his. He was still God of these three brave men. And he goes on to say, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. Again, Again, I just want to point out very quick, there's a lot of stuff I have here, but I'm very conscious of time, it says this. If we think about that, he sent his angel, even though it is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, so it's what's known as a Christophany. What we have here is him looking at what he sees and he says, he is God of the Hebrews. Okay, and I find it fascinating that he says the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he uses the Babylonian names, but he is the God of the Hebrews. He is the God who sends a savior. He sent a savior. Okay, salvation comes from him. That's what he recognizes. He is the God of great, Power, he delivers his servants. There's not one thing, the anger of man, the furnaces, nothing can get in his way. Even the decrees of a God, of a king will not get in his way. He saves his people with great power. He is the God worthy of trust. He talks about who trusted in him, these guys who trusted in him. He's worthy of trust. Now that must have been a testimony in and of itself. I've never seen anything like that, but I'm sure if I seen someone cast into the fire, they did a bit of a walk around inside and then came out and nothing was burnt. They didn't smell smoke. That must have been testimony. Now, Who's ever been near a bonfire? Who's ever been near a barbecue? Who's been able to be near a bonfire or a barbecue and leave without their clothes smelling of smoke? I didn't think so. None of us. And yet these guys came out of the fire and they didn't even smell the smoke. This shows the complete deliverance, the complete deliverance of God. And this is a testimony that they who trusted in him, God delivered with great power, so much so that they didn't even smell a smoke. That's a massive testimony to Nebuchadnezzar. And then of course he says, he is the God worthy of full surrender. That's what he sees, that's not what he did, but he sees it in the man. He sees it in Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, that they had full surrender to God and God delivered them. And yet he himself does not fully, he will not fully surrender to God. He is the God who demands exclusive allegiance Again, he says that they should serve nor worship any God except their own. He is understanding that their God, such a powerful God, such an immense God, demands complete allegiance. So this is a great picture that is being declared, being revealed to the king. Then we get his decree. He says, therefore, I make a decree. Make a decree. This is the second decree of the whole chapter in here. Now, remember that Nebuchadnezzar knew a lot about God, but he did not yet know him. And as we always say, there's a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God. And this is a prime example. And yet still, even though he doesn't know God personally, he makes this decree that the three Hebrew men did not, to notice that Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah did not ask the king to make the decree. They didn't go, well, king, you know, now you've seen, now you've seen what will happen if you're faithful to God. Why don't you make a decree that? They didn't ask that. They didn't want that. At least we're not told in scripture that they want that. But the king made the decree of his own back because of the testimony that he has seen. There is no other God who can deliver like this. He sees God at work in the life of his people, which is an extremely effective testimony to Nebuchadnezzar. Two things to notice that reveal Nebuchadnezzar's journey. Only God can reveal mysteries, and when they're challenged, Challenge of what God you can serve. From the furnace he sees the God of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah appear in the furnace to deliver his people as the all-powerful God. So, if we can put it this way, in two chapters, in 16 years, Nebuchadnezzar knew God as the all-knowing God, knows everything, even the mysteries, the hidden stuff, and the all-powerful God. There's not one thing you can do to stop him. God can appear anywhere, break into anything, will deliver his people when they remain faithful to him. So leading up to this degree, Nebuchadnezzar declares praise for God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, because of his deliverance, because of their love for God, and because they will not serve anything else. Verse 30, just like chapter two, after God moves and reveals his glory to Nebuchadnezzar, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are promoted again. And I will say it again, that they didn't ask for it. They did not ask for it. They didn't want, I don't know if they wanted to be promoted. I didn't know, they just did, but they didn't ask for it. That's what the scripture says. But here is the thing I want you to see. Every time God's people stood firm and every time God delivered, especially in the book of Daniel, every time God revealed himself to be God, what happened to his people? Promoted. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishel, and Azariah, chapter two, promoted. Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, chapter 3, promoted. Now, there is care to be had here. And I am not saying every time we stand firm, you will get a job promotion. I am not saying that. So don't read into what I'm saying. What I'm saying is God blessed those who stood faithful to him. But stand firm no matter what the cost. God reveals. And even God can move on the non-Christian world to bless God's people. So God will always honor his word. God will be no man's debtor. And if we stand firm for him, he will reveal himself through us and through our situation. So we see yet another step taken in Nebuchadnezzar's journey of faith, but the convictions brought on Nebuchadnezzar by his miracle brought no lasting change to his conduct. Okay, and we'll see this in chapter four. So my challenge is this, and I keep coming back to this little phrase in chapter three, even if, even if, our, but God, Our world will put us under all amount of peer pressure to become like them, to compromise and to succumb to be like them. They'll want us to keep our faith private and not be public with our faith, but we cannot stay quiet as chapter three will declare. And even if they say, but if you do it, then this will happen. Would we dare say, yeah, even if. My God can. My God is able. The God I serve, knowing that he could, not that he would, but he could. Because God, whatever we will face for him will never stop him being in the presence with us. And yet here, the journey of Nebuchadnezzar, as I said, chapter two and chapter three is about a revelation of God to this Gentile king. And yet he knows a lot about God, but he doesn't know him personally. And even though he's making great declarations of no one else is to worship any other God except, or no one's to say anything against the God of Hananiah, Mishael, and Nazariah, he still doesn't know him personally. Yet, without trying to give too much away, in chapter four, he soon will. But we'll get there after Christmas. Amen. Let us go to prayer. Let us give thanks to God for who he is, what he has done in all things.