(19-23) The three men are cast violently into the furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 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 Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
a. Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury: No matter how brave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were, facing the fury of a king was still extremely intimidating. We get the feeling that prior to their statement Nebuchadnezzar spoke kindly, almost in a fatherly manner to these wayward boys. After hearing their bold challenge the expression on his face changed.
i. Despite the intense intimidation, the men stayed courageous in their confession of faith. Spurgeon eloquently described the horror of those who lose their courage at such times: “Remember also that by yielding to the fear of man you are demeaning yourself. There shall come a day when the man that was ashamed of Christ will himself be ashamed: he will wonder where he can hide his guilty head. Look at him! There he is! The traitor who denied his Lord! The Christ was spat upon and nailed to the cross, and this man was afraid to own him. To win the smile of a silly maid, to escape the jest of a coarse fellow, to win a few pieces of silver, to stand respectable among his fellow-men, he turned his back upon his Redeemer and sold his Lord; and now what can be said for him? Who can excuse him? The angels shun him as a man who was ashamed of the Lord of glory. He is clothed with shame and everlasting contempt. Even the lost in hell get away from him, for many of them were more honest than he. Is there such a man as this before me? I summon him in the name of the living God to answer for his cowardice! Let him come forth and own his crime, and humbly seek forgiveness at the hands of the gracious Savior.” (Spurgeon)
b. Bound in their coats… the furnace exceedingly hot: Everything was done to make sure that the three Hebrew men were quickly and completely burned.
2. (24-25) Nebuchadnezzar sees four alive and well in the 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, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men 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.”
a. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished: It is astonishing that anyone survived for a moment inside the furnace when others perished at the door.
i. The Septuagint says in Daniel 3:24 that Nebuchadnezzar’s attention was caught when he heard the men singing praises in the furnace. We can imagine that the king had them cast into the furnace and didn’t intend to look twice, 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 the furnace. At a safe distance from the raging heat, he peered inside – and saw four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire.
ii. If this singing in the furnace is true, it reminds us of Paul and Silas singing in the Philippian jail (Acts 16:25).
b. I see four men loose… and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God: Nebuchadnezzar tells us who the fourth person was – the Son of God. Jesus was literally with them in the worst of their trial.
i. We don’t know if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego knew that the Son of God was with them in their fiery trial. Sometimes we are aware of Jesus’ presence in our trials and sometimes we are not – but He is there nonetheless.
ii. Spurgeon observed that God’s people are often in the furnace, and though there are different kinds of furnaces, they serve similar purposes in our life.
· There is the furnace that man prepares.
· There is the furnace that Satan prepares.
· There is the furnace that God prepares.
iii. God can deliver us from a trial, or He can miraculously sustain and strengthen us in a trial. Trapp quotes an English martyr who said this as he was burnt at the stake: “O ye Papists, behold ye look for miracles; here now you may see a miracle; for in this fire I feel no more pain than as if I were in a bed of down; but it is to me as a bed of roses.”
c. I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire: Nebuchadnezzar also observed that the four men were free in the fire. The fire only burnt the ropes that bound them.
3. (26-27) The Hebrew men leave the furnace unharmed.
Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.”Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego 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 bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
a. Servants of the Most High God: Before they were out of the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar recognized that these men served the true God, the God Most High.
b. These men on whose bodies the fire had no power: The trial had no power over these men because they were thoroughly submitted to the power and will of God. Before the time of Jesus, they knew the truth of Jesus’ promise: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
c. The smell of fire was not on them: This demonstrates how complete their deliverance was.
i. This whole account illustrates – perhaps serving as a type of – the future of Israel during the Great Tribulation.
· Nebuchadnezzar is like the Antichrist, who forces the whole world into one religion of idolatry.
· Nebuchadnezzar’s image is like the image described in Revelation 13, that the whole world will be commanded to worship.
· The fiery furnace is like the Great Tribulation, which will be great affliction for the Jews.
· The three Hebrew men are like Israel, who will be preserved through the tribulation.
· The executioners who perished are like those in league with the Antichrist, who Jesus will slay at His return.
· The mysteriously absent Daniel is like the church, not even present for this time of great tribulation.
D. Aftermath.
1. (28) Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the greatness of the God of the three Hebrews.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, 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 god except their own God!”
a. Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego: Nebuchadnezzar gave glory to God, but he recognized that this great God is not his God. He was still the God of these three brave men.
b. Who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him: In Daniel 3:15 Nebuchadnezzar asked, “who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Now Nebuchadnezzar knew a great deal about this God.
· He is the God of the Hebrews (the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego).
· He is the God who sends a Savior (who sent His Angel).
· He is the God of great power (delivered His servants).
· He is the God worthy of trust (who trusted in Him).
· He is the God worthy of full surrender (frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies).
· He is the God who demands exclusive allegiance (that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God).
i. Nebuchadnezzar knew a lot about God – but he did not yet know Him personally.
c. Yielded their bodies: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego surrendered themselves completely to God – body, soul, and spirit. It was the kind of submission Paul wrote of in Romans 12:1: present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
i. This whole account is a powerful illustration of the principle of Romans 12:1. We see Satan trying to make the believer bow down to his idealized image of what men and women should be. Christians must resist this with everything they have and pursue God’s ideal. In this, we will fulfill Romans 12:2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
2. (29-30) Nebuchadnezzar makes a proclamation that nothing evil should be said against the God of the Hebrews.
“Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
a. Therefore I make a decree: The three Hebrew men did not ask for Nebuchadnezzar to make this decree, and they probably did not want him to. Coerced worship isn’t good, either towards an idol or towards the true God.
b. There is no other God who can deliver like this: Seeing God at work in the life of His people was an extremely effective testimony to Nebuchadnezzar.
i. Paul expressed the same idea in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3: You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.