Daniel 3:4 - "And the herald proclaimed aloud, ‘You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages.’ "

How often have we heard on our radios or television screens that the President’s press secretary has made such and such a statement? Or perhaps you are associated with a company that employs a public relations man to present a picture of the company to the buying public. Well, in its biblical sense, both a press secretary and a public relations man can be considered as heralds.

The herald was an officer of the court - in fact, in most instances he was a very high ranking individual indeed. In reading 2 Kings 18:18, we find that Sennacherib’s envoy, who was himself a high ranking official, was received only by the master of the palace, the secretary and the king’s herald. And there is no indication that he was at all affronted by this reception committee, so it must have been an appropriate and customary one!

From the root meaning of the work in Hebrew, we find that the herald is a man who calls, names, reminds, reports. And that very neatly sums up the herald’s duties. He made state and royal proclamations public, and he carried ceremonial messages between princes and powers. The Greek loan word which is used in our text comes from a word which means "one who proclaims." So, you see, his duties were rather obvious, but extremely important. It just didn’t do for the king to make his own announcements. It wasn’t done that way. It had to be done through a herald, and I suppose they were just as susceptible to making errors as we are today. Although, I should imagine, with somewhat more dire consequences! If the President’s press secretary makes an error in a statement, he can always retract it through the news media. But the ancient herald had no such option. He got it right the first time - or else.

And our modern day press secretaries and P.R. men have one other distinct advantage over their ancient counterparts. Today a man can whisper into a microphone, and his words will still carry over the airwaves. But the herald had to have a very loud voice, and had to virtually shout his proclamation!

We are, perhaps, familiar with the idea of heralds from the Christmas carol HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING, which illustrates perfectly what I have been saying. The herald angels were making a proclamation - an announcement - a message from God to man. They were proclaiming the birth of the new King. The most marvelous announcement the world has ever received!