Nebuchadnezzar Builds the Statue (3:1-12):

Big Idea: God sometimes allows believers to face dark times of crisis in which their faith and faithfulness are challenged, even with the penalty of death.

Understanding the Text

Daniel 3:1–30 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in two ways. First, it advances the narrative of chapters 1–6, in which the first four focus on Nebuchadnezzar (chaps. 1–2 with historical markers and 3–4 without) and the last two show the transition from Belshazzar of Babylon to Darius the Mede (chaps. 5–6). Second, it begins the second of three parallel pairs of chapters (3 and 6) in the book’s concentric Aramaic center section. Comparatively, Daniel 3 and 6 reveal nearly identical patterns: royal decrees combine with malicious accusations against the Jews,…