Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. (Daniel 3:26)

The phrase “elah illai” is used in the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:26). The issue giving rise to this description of God has to do with Nebuchadnezzar’s exaltation of himself—he needed to learn that the God Daniel worshiped was supreme over all, including the king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world at that time. Under his authority the Babylonian armies ransacked Jerusalem and took the Jews away captive (roughly B.C. 605). His policy was to resettle the defeated populaces into other conquered lands, making them easier to control by separating them from their ancestral lands and presumably from their geographically associated gods.

However, in taking the Jews captive the king found himself confronted with an “elah” (God) that was “illai” (Most High). As noted previously, this section of Scripture is written in Aramaic, and “elah” was a term of deity in use by the Babylonian culture. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship the 90-foot-high golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, they were angrily thrown into an incinerator that was excessively stoked in keeping with his extreme anger. But when the king saw they were unhurt, he called out to them, “You servants of the Most High God.” The most powerful man on earth came to recognize that the Jewish God was greater than all Babylonian gods. Yet the king did not humble himself to worship Elah Illai, God of the Jews.

But God was gracious to Nebuchadnezzar, by his own testimony. At the height of arrogance, he said, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Dan 4:30). As a direct result, God instantly struck him with insanity, causing him to act like an animal for seven years (Dan 4:33) until: “At the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Dan 4:34). This is but a foretaste of what Paul wrote: “Every knee will bow…and tongue confess…that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God” (Phil 2:10-11).

Lord, I believe You humble those who exalt themselves, so therefore I confess my exaltation of myself. You are the Most High God, and I lift my eyes to You.