Daniel 3
Welcome! Today we look at a familiar passage of Scripture, Daniel chapter 3. This passage is often summarized in children’s Bible story books, and so some of us have known this story since before we could read. But I think there is plenty here that is interesting, plenty that is “meaty,” and plenty that we can apply to our lives.
Let me first remind you of the background for the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were captured by the Babylonians in one of several raids that ultimately led to the total downfall of the Israelite nation, or more precisely, the split nation consisting of Israel and Judah. This downfall was repeatedly prophesied by the Israelite prophets, who said it was sure to happen unless the Israelite people truly repented and turned from worshiping false gods and performing other detestable practices all while abandoning the Law given to Moses generations earlier.
Daniel and his friends were specifically selected to be trained as advisors to the kingdom, and in so doing they were given much training, much of which was meant to get them to become fully assimilated into the Babylonian culture with regards to both beliefs and practices. Part of the process was to give them new names; Daniel (God is my judge) became known as Belteshazzar (prince of the god Bel, or Bel protect the king!), Hananiah (God is gracious) became known as Shadrach (under command of the moon god),Mishael (Who is like God?) became known as Meshach (who is like the moon god?), and Azariah (God helps him), became known asAbednego (servant of the god Nebo). Things quickly came to a head when they were asked to eat the king’s food and refused, because it violated the Law of Moses. They instead asked for vegetables and water, and God nourished them with these, so that the person overseeing the food happily allowed them to eat this – he probably took advantage of the king’s portion for himself.
Then, a bigger crisis emerged when the king of the vast Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream and asked his advisors and counselors to interpret it without him telling them what the dream was. They of course couldn’t do this, and the king, displaying great anger, demanded that all of his counselors be put to death. Daniel, who had already seen God gift him in the interpretation of dreams, prayed to the Lord to reveal the dream and its meaning to him, and the Lord did this. Daniel then told the king his dream and what it meant, and the king was so impressed that he elevated Daniel and his friends to top positions in the empire, even over those of his older, more experienced counselors. He also spoke highly of Daniel’s God, saying, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings.”
It would be great to say that Nebuchadnezzar was so impacted by these events that he began following the true God, making changes in his kingdom so that many would follow God, and that Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and his three friends all lived happily ever after. But that is not what happened, far from it, as we shall now see. Jumping right into Daniel chapter 4:
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feetwide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. – Daniel 3:1-3
Now, I want you to try to picture this statue. It was a picture of a man, possibly of Nebuchadnezzar himself, although it doesn’t come out and say that, specifically; it may have been a somewhat generic representation of a man; such images were common at that time and were meant to represent one of the Babylonian gods. One theory, and the one I lean to, says that the image was meant to represent both Nebuchadnezzar and his god.
Also, it says the statue was “of gold,” but it may have been a structure of wood or stone covered in gold sheets. This was the way the Egyptians had made many of their monuments, and as Nebuchadnezzar had been to Egypt and helped overthrow them, he may have been inspired by their work. Isaiah also describes this method of covering a (smaller) idol in gold in Isaiah 40:To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. – Isaiah 40:18-19
I want to mention briefly that near the location of Babylon have been found ruins with several small hills, or mounds. At this site there has been recovered an inscription in which the place is called Dura, and one of these mounds is shaped roughly like a square about 6 yards high, looking like what one would expect for an ancient pedestal for a giant statue.
What is important is to understand that this giant statue really was an idol. It was built to be worshiped. And King Nebuchadnezzar summoned all of his people in leadership – they are listed out in quite a list – for this very purpose, to worship the idol he had made. And when the king summons you, you come, so they all came.
Welcome! Today we look at a familiar passage of Scripture, Daniel chapter 3. This passage is often summarized in children’s Bible story books, and so some of us have known this story since before we could read. But I think there is plenty here that is interesting, plenty that is “meaty,” and plenty that we can apply to our lives.
Let me first remind you of the background for the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were captured by the Babylonians in one of several raids that ultimately led to the total downfall of the Israelite nation, or more precisely, the split nation consisting of Israel and Judah. This downfall was repeatedly prophesied by the Israelite prophets, who said it was sure to happen unless the Israelite people truly repented and turned from worshiping false gods and performing other detestable practices all while abandoning the Law given to Moses generations earlier.
Daniel and his friends were specifically selected to be trained as advisors to the kingdom, and in so doing they were given much training, much of which was meant to get them to become fully assimilated into the Babylonian culture with regards to both beliefs and practices. Part of the process was to give them new names; Daniel (God is my judge) became known as Belteshazzar (prince of the god Bel, or Bel protect the king!), Hananiah (God is gracious) became known as Shadrach (under command of the moon god),Mishael (Who is like God?) became known as Meshach (who is like the moon god?), and Azariah (God helps him), became known asAbednego (servant of the god Nebo). Things quickly came to a head when they were asked to eat the king’s food and refused, because it violated the Law of Moses. They instead asked for vegetables and water, and God nourished them with these, so that the person overseeing the food happily allowed them to eat this – he probably took advantage of the king’s portion for himself.
Then, a bigger crisis emerged when the king of the vast Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream and asked his advisors and counselors to interpret it without him telling them what the dream was. They of course couldn’t do this, and the king, displaying great anger, demanded that all of his counselors be put to death. Daniel, who had already seen God gift him in the interpretation of dreams, prayed to the Lord to reveal the dream and its meaning to him, and the Lord did this. Daniel then told the king his dream and what it meant, and the king was so impressed that he elevated Daniel and his friends to top positions in the empire, even over those of his older, more experienced counselors. He also spoke highly of Daniel’s God, saying, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings.”
It would be great to say that Nebuchadnezzar was so impacted by these events that he began following the true God, making changes in his kingdom so that many would follow God, and that Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and his three friends all lived happily ever after. But that is not what happened, far from it, as we shall now see. Jumping right into Daniel chapter 4:
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feetwide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. – Daniel 3:1-3
Now, I want you to try to picture this statue. It was a picture of a man, possibly of Nebuchadnezzar himself, although it doesn’t come out and say that, specifically; it may have been a somewhat generic representation of a man; such images were common at that time and were meant to represent one of the Babylonian gods. One theory, and the one I lean to, says that the image was meant to represent both Nebuchadnezzar and his god.
Also, it says the statue was “of gold,” but it may have been a structure of wood or stone covered in gold sheets. This was the way the Egyptians had made many of their monuments, and as Nebuchadnezzar had been to Egypt and helped overthrow them, he may have been inspired by their work. Isaiah also describes this method of covering a (smaller) idol in gold in Isaiah 40:To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. – Isaiah 40:18-19
I want to mention briefly that near the location of Babylon have been found ruins with several small hills, or mounds. At this site there has been recovered an inscription in which the place is called Dura, and one of these mounds is shaped roughly like a square about 6 yards high, looking like what one would expect for an ancient pedestal for a giant statue.
What is important is to understand that this giant statue really was an idol. It was built to be worshiped. And King Nebuchadnezzar summoned all of his people in leadership – they are listed out in quite a list – for this very purpose, to worship the idol he had made. And when the king summons you, you come, so they all came.
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” – Daniel 3:4-6
Not exactly religious freedom, is it? Now, you may ask, why did Nebuchadnezzar do this? What happened to his profession of faith in Daniel’s “God of gods and Lord of kings”? Well, clearly, his profession didn’t translate into true repentance, a true change of heart and mind; instead, it seems to more have been an emotional response to the sudden shock of the miracle of Daniel’s revelation of the king’s dream.
Unfortunately, this can happen today as well; the Bible describes this kind of thing in Jesus’ parable of the seed that falls on various places. Remember the weed that lands on the rocky places, the seed that is choked out by weeds, and so on?
And Nebuchadnezzar had had time to think about the meaning of the dream, and I tend to think he didn’t like it. As we discussed last week, the king dreamt of another large statue, one whose head was gold, whose chest and arms were silver, whose belly and thighs were bronze, whose legs were iron, and whose feet were iron mixed with baked clay. And Daniel, in interpreting the dream, telling the king the interpretation given him by the Lord, explained that the head of gold represented the Babylonian kingdom. And the head was gold, just as this statue the king had had made was gold. But what happened? The kingdom was replaced by another kingdom, represented by the silver.
And so when you look at what Nebuchadnezzar actually built, a giant statue fully of gold, you don’t need to be a psychoanalyst to see that Nebuchadnezzar’s statue is a refutation of the dream; it is something he has made in defiance to God, because he rejects the idea of his kingdom being replaced. That concept is just not acceptable to him.
And so, he will have everyone bow down to his statue, everyone, regardless of their background, and he, Nebuchadnezzar, is so powerful that the prophecy of his dream will not happen. I don’t know if Nebuchadnezzar was consciously thinking all of this, but you have to think it was at least stirring around in him. The whole action is really a defiance of the message of God.
And Nebuchadnezzar isn’t playing around. Worship is not optional. When the music starts, everyone must worship his idol, or they will pay with their lives. If they will not bow to his god, then they will become an offeringtohim, an offering consumed in the fire.
Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. – Daniel 3:7
Now, did everyone there want to worship at Nebuchadnezzar’s idol? I doubt it. But they all were good little citizens. They all did as they were told, especially given the alternative. Well, as we will see, and as you probably remember, not all of them did this.
At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” – Daniel 3:8-12
If you have children, this passage may remind you of them. Sometimes brothers and sisters, for whatever reason, become angry at each other, and one way to get revenge is to tell the parents about every little thing, no matter how trivial, so as to try to get the other person in trouble. “He looked at me funny!” “He didn’t obey you right away!” “She took the bigger half!” Of course, these types of things never happen in our house.
And again, it doesn’t take a psychoanalyst to figure out that these tattletales are jealous. They specifically point out that these Jews have been set over the affairs of Babylon; to be precise, these Jews have been set over them. Recall from last week, these guys are outsiders, they are young, and they are inexperienced, yet the king has set them over his own advisors, his previous favorites. This was a golden opportunity for them, a chance to get rid of these “thorns in their flesh” once for all.
Now I should put out that except for the Jews, everyone else, even if they had different personal gods that they worshiped, would not find any problem with, out of politeness and decorum, worshiping at Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. They were polytheistic, and even had a bit of what we see in today’s culture, the idea of relative truth, that each person is welcome to find his own truth, whatever gods “work” for them.
And in that culture, as in today’s culture, intolerance, exclusivism, the belief that there is only one truth, is the supreme sin. You can do whatever you want as long as you don’t pass judgment in any way on what I am doing. This type of thinking, so widespread in our culture, is hardly new.
And of course, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship at this statue because the prohibition against worshiping false gods and idols is probably the most repeated command in the entire Old Testament. Even the Ten Commandments start with this:You shall have no other gods beforeMe. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them... – Ex. 20:3-5a
Now, I don’t want to rush over this. Even though they knew the Law of Moses, don’t underestimate the pressure they felt to give in. They heard the part about the furnace. It would be so easy to rationalize a different response. They could have said that idols are nothing but man-made dolls, they aren’t “real,” so what’s the harm of kneeling and mouthing some words? They could have said that everyone else is doing it, so I guess it’s OK. (Most likely, they weren’t the only Jews in captivity at that place.) They could have said (OK, I’m projecting a bit into our modern culture) – they could have said, we’re never going to reach them unless we be a part of them, enter into their culture. They could been pragmatic and said, OK, it’s not too good, but if we’re dead we won’t be able to help God at all. They could have said, after all that has happened, how God has put us in this position of power and influence, surely God cannot mean for us just to die now! He’ll understand; He probably even wants us to do this so that He can further His plan through us. Or if they had become bitter and angry at the Chaldeans who were trying to take back their power and were probably making life miserable for them whenever and wherever they could, they could have said, I don’t care if it isn’t exactly right; I am not going to let them win! Or they could have given into raw fear and said, I don’t want to die, not in a fire; I just can’t do that!
There are times God will ask us to do hard things, times where it will be sorely tempting, for many reasons, to do something other than what God would have us do, when we have to choose between what Fred has called the “royal way” and the broad way, the superhighway. How can you prepare yourself? By keeping your hope fixed on the Lord.
These guys weren’t really being tempted to worship an idol; they were tempted to deny the Lord, to put aside His teachings and commandments. And today, in our modern culture, this is often the temptation for us as well. Not normally in something as dramatic as this, but in dozens of little decisions each day, decisions about whether to really live out our lives in faith, being salt and light, truly loving our neighbor, or hiding our lamp under a bowl, trying to fit in like everyone else. God calls us to so much more! We are ambassadors for Christ! We are angels, messengers of mercy, of the greatest truth that can be told. We have nothing to fear, for God is with us.
So, returning to our passage, our three friends have been tattled on for refusing to bow down to the statue. How did Nebuchadnezzar, the man who in the last chapter was ready to kill every one of his counselors in extreme anger, take it?
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” – Daniel 3:13-15
Again, I encourage you to put yourself into their place. Perhaps you would have joined them in not bowing down to the idol, but you hoped and prayed that nobody would notice. Well, God has chosen to answer that prayer with a “No, sorry,” and now your worst fears have come true. How would you respond?
By the way, where is Daniel? Daniel is not even once mentioned in this chapter. Where is he? Well, we don’t know. The passage doesn’t tell us. Probably he was in a distant part of the kingdom doing something for the king. The empire was so large that it would take months and months to go from one end to the other. But I think it is important to note that Daniel isn’t here; at least, he isn’t a part of the king’s questioning. (Some commentators have suggested that Daniel was at the great assembly, that he too didn’t bow down, but that the jealous astrologers were afraid to accuse Daniel, because he was so high up in the kingdom that accusing him might have backfired.)
We just don’t know why Daniel is not a part of this, but we do know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are on their own, here. We don’t know to what extent they had relied on Daniel as a moral center, but he had been their leader and spokesman in the past. Here, though, Daniel is not there to help them. This is about their faith, their convictions, their trust in God. And for those of you who are younger, who are living at home with your parents, you need to understand that you too need to grow in your own faith, your own love of the Lord, because a day is coming when you will need to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that is, you will be required to make decisions on your own. You should be taking steps to grow in faith, love, and obedience now in preparation for these future days.
Well, let’s see how our three friends did respond.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” – Daniel 3:16-18
Wow! I am pretty sure that a response like this is not what they suggest in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. In that first sentence, they are refusing even to explain themselves, refusing even to discuss it. That may seem harsh, but I like it much better than giving a weaseling answer like “Well, you see, O great king, our God who we worship has some pesky rules about not worshiping idols. It’s not really our preference, you see, we don’t want to offend anyone; indeed, if it were up to us, we would gladly obey you and bow to your amazing statue, frankly one of the greatest wonders of the world, no doubt, but our God is kind of jealous about things like this, and we think He might do something to us even worse to us than what you have said you want to do. Can you understand our predicament, O great king? It’s nothing personal! Perhaps you could find some other punishment for us, like cleaning the royal latrines for a year.”
No, their answer is that they are not going to defend their actions. They are in fact expressing anger to the king. The king has already seen God’s power through Daniel’s miraculous telling of the king’s dream. The king is responsible for what he has seen, as well as for the meaning of the dream itself, which, as we talked about last week, really made it clear that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God. God was the great wind and the rock and the high mountain, not the false gods Nebuchadnezzar had worshipped.
And they don’t know what will happen. They know God’s power, that if He chooses, He can stop any situation, even a fiery furnace. But they have no assurance of this, no supernatural revelation of what will happen. They may in fact perish in the flames. But even so, they will not bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar’s blasphemies.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. – Daniel 3:19-20
So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. – Daniel 3:21-23
Most likely, this furnace was in fact an enclosed space, perhaps by brick, because in an enclosure you can get a much higher temperature than in an open fire. Their clothing was what they were already wearing; that is, they were thrown into the furnace immediately. Their clothing, by the way, was the clothing of Babylonians, not the robes you may picture from children’s illustrated Bibles. According to Herodotus, who wrote about a century – no more than two – after Daniel, the Babylonians wore wide pantaloons, woolen shirts, and outer mantles with girdles around them. So the picture you see may actually be pretty accurate. This picture, by the way, is an ancient picture dated around 300 AD painted on a wall in the catacombs of Rome.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:24-25
Because we know the story, we can miss out on the wonder of it. This is no less amazing than walking on water, or raising someone from the dead. The three Hebrew men are completely unharmed from the fire, probably hot enough to melt glass and metal; in contrast, the soldiers who didn’t go in to the fire but only to the opening have perished from the extreme heat.
Nebuchadnezzar may have seen his thousands of followers bowing together before the statue he had made, and thought this was an awesome display of power. But it was only a bunch of frightened and misguided people being cowed by threats to bow before an empty, dead, meaningless statue. In contrast, here, in the fire, was real power, power to protect God’s faithful followers from certain death.
Who was the Fourth Man, the one who looked like a son of the gods? Was it an angel? Or was it something harder for us to explain, some sort of pre-manifestation of Jesus, the One and Only true Son of God? I think at a minimum it was at least a “foreshadow” of Jesus, a hint of things to come. It is no accident that Nebuchadnezzar calls him like a “son of the gods.” And I think it is no coincidence that what this Fourth Man was doing was exactly what Jesus has done for us, namely, rescued us from a fiery hell. Unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we do not have to experience even the smallest taste of hell, thanks to what Christ has done for us on the cross. And unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we do not have to wonder whether we will be saved or suffer a fiery fate as they had to wonder. But we are as surely saved from as certain a fate as those three young men were rescued on that day more than two thousand years ago.
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. – Daniel 3:26-27
They saw the power of God – total, complete deliverance. Not a hair was singed, not a thread scorched, not even the smell of smoke was on them. And notice the change in Nebuchadnezzar – he calls them servants of the Most High God. At this moment he realizes that that 90 foot-tall trinket is nothing compared to this true God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” – Daniel 3:28-29
Now, I look at the king’s response, and although it is good to see that he now sees that the Hebrew God is powerful, I am underwhelmed by this response. What is missing? How about repentance? There is no sign of it. There is no request for forgiveness, no apology, no asking Shadrach and the others to pray for him, no additional questions about this God of theirs, only more harsh decrees. He will punish anyone who speaks ill of their God. But what about Nebuchadnezzar himself? He threw God’s servants into the fire just a minute ago! It is a very weak response.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” – Daniel 3:16-18
Wow! I am pretty sure that a response like this is not what they suggest in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. In that first sentence, they are refusing even to explain themselves, refusing even to discuss it. That may seem harsh, but I like it much better than giving a weaseling answer like “Well, you see, O great king, our God who we worship has some pesky rules about not worshiping idols. It’s not really our preference, you see, we don’t want to offend anyone; indeed, if it were up to us, we would gladly obey you and bow to your amazing statue, frankly one of the greatest wonders of the world, no doubt, but our God is kind of jealous about things like this, and we think He might do something to us even worse to us than what you have said you want to do. Can you understand our predicament, O great king? It’s nothing personal! Perhaps you could find some other punishment for us, like cleaning the royal latrines for a year.”
No, their answer is that they are not going to defend their actions. They are in fact expressing anger to the king. The king has already seen God’s power through Daniel’s miraculous telling of the king’s dream. The king is responsible for what he has seen, as well as for the meaning of the dream itself, which, as we talked about last week, really made it clear that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God. God was the great wind and the rock and the high mountain, not the false gods Nebuchadnezzar had worshipped.
And they don’t know what will happen. They know God’s power, that if He chooses, He can stop any situation, even a fiery furnace. But they have no assurance of this, no supernatural revelation of what will happen. They may in fact perish in the flames. But even so, they will not bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar’s blasphemies.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. – Daniel 3:19-20
So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. – Daniel 3:21-23
Most likely, this furnace was in fact an enclosed space, perhaps by brick, because in an enclosure you can get a much higher temperature than in an open fire. Their clothing was what they were already wearing; that is, they were thrown into the furnace immediately. Their clothing, by the way, was the clothing of Babylonians, not the robes you may picture from children’s illustrated Bibles. According to Herodotus, who wrote about a century – no more than two – after Daniel, the Babylonians wore wide pantaloons, woolen shirts, and outer mantles with girdles around them. So the picture you see may actually be pretty accurate. This picture, by the way, is an ancient picture dated around 300 AD painted on a wall in the catacombs of Rome.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:24-25
Because we know the story, we can miss out on the wonder of it. This is no less amazing than walking on water, or raising someone from the dead. The three Hebrew men are completely unharmed from the fire, probably hot enough to melt glass and metal; in contrast, the soldiers who didn’t go in to the fire but only to the opening have perished from the extreme heat.
Nebuchadnezzar may have seen his thousands of followers bowing together before the statue he had made, and thought this was an awesome display of power. But it was only a bunch of frightened and misguided people being cowed by threats to bow before an empty, dead, meaningless statue. In contrast, here, in the fire, was real power, power to protect God’s faithful followers from certain death.
Who was the Fourth Man, the one who looked like a son of the gods? Was it an angel? Or was it something harder for us to explain, some sort of pre-manifestation of Jesus, the One and Only true Son of God? I think at a minimum it was at least a “foreshadow” of Jesus, a hint of things to come. It is no accident that Nebuchadnezzar calls him like a “son of the gods.” And I think it is no coincidence that what this Fourth Man was doing was exactly what Jesus has done for us, namely, rescued us from a fiery hell. Unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we do not have to experience even the smallest taste of hell, thanks to what Christ has done for us on the cross. And unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we do not have to wonder whether we will be saved or suffer a fiery fate as they had to wonder. But we are as surely saved from as certain a fate as those three young men were rescued on that day more than two thousand years ago.
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. – Daniel 3:26-27
They saw the power of God – total, complete deliverance. Not a hair was singed, not a thread scorched, not even the smell of smoke was on them. And notice the change in Nebuchadnezzar – he calls them servants of the Most High God. At this moment he realizes that that 90 foot-tall trinket is nothing compared to this true God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” – Daniel 3:28-29
Now, I look at the king’s response, and although it is good to see that he now sees that the Hebrew God is powerful, I am underwhelmed by this response. What is missing? How about repentance? There is no sign of it. There is no request for forgiveness, no apology, no asking Shadrach and the others to pray for him, no additional questions about this God of theirs, only more harsh decrees. He will punish anyone who speaks ill of their God. But what about Nebuchadnezzar himself? He threw God’s servants into the fire just a minute ago! It is a very weak response.
And there is no sign that he took down the giant statue. There is no sign that he or the people began to worship the God of the Hebrews. And as we will see, there is no sign that the king was even remotely humbled.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. – Daniel 3:30
God is working. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have proven their faith in God apart from Daniel. God is continuing to increase their influence in the kingdom. And God is working on Nebuchadnezzar. He isn’t done yet.
My final thought today is just to encourage you to keep on trusting God in the hard things, when you face your furnaces. In this world we do often end up in situations, where like Shadrach and the others, we don’t know what God is going to do; we don’t know if He will deliver us in this world. We don’t know, but we can trust. God is good, and there is a purpose in what happens, whether we can see it on this side of eternity or not. Trusting in His goodness is something for now we must do by faith, but a day is coming when we will know His goodness and love, when we will taste and see and smell and touch it, when it will overwhelm us. It would unmake us except for God’s holding us together. And there is no furnace in this life that we will ever enter alone. He is with us, the Fourth Man, even to the ends of the earth.
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