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Understand the Context

Depending on which version of the Bible you are reading and the formatting, our passage today may be under a heading of “The Fiery Furnace”.

Some versions break up Chapter 3 into two or three parts separating the image, the furnace, and the deliverance.

I like the headings used in the NASB which instead of focusing on the problem in the form of the furnace it points to the men’s refusal and subsequent protection and praise of God.

Last week as we began our study in Daniel, we saw how the 4 young men from Jerusalem where still dedicated to serving their God even at the beginning of their captivity.

As time passed the commitment did not decrease but grew as the youth grew into men.

After Daniel is used by God to reveal and interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Chapter 2, he is promoted in the kingdom, and he appoints his friends as the dominate leaders in the city of Babylon.

Our passage in Chapter 3 takes place around 20 years later.

Although the king may not have remembered how he had at one time praised the God of Israel (Dan 2:47), it appears that the image he saw in his dream had a lasting impression and he begins construction on a similar golden image at the beginning of Chapter 3. Once completed, all the people are to “worship” this sixty-cubit idol, in obedience to the king’s declaration and in part as homage to himself.

Although there may have been more than 3 men to refuse to bow before this statue, the other leaders in the kingdom did not pass up an opportunity to possibly elevate themselves and get rid of Daniel’s friends as authorities over them.

Nebuchadnezzar was of course angry, but apparently respected either them or the work they did and offered them an opportunity to recant their rebellious action.

Explore the Text

The word translated throughout our passage today is not what we typically think of as “worship” today.

Although there was music when it happened it was more a signal for the ancient act of “worship” to begin.

It is a verb meaning to fall down, to bow down, to lie down in worship.

The word occurs four times, only in Isaiah (Isa.

44:15, 17, 19; 46:6).

It refers to bowing or lying flat before a wooden or golden idol to worship, to pray, or to seek deliverance from it (Isa.

44:17).

Isaiah satirized those who lowered themselves in this way before an idol and did not recognize that an idol is only the work of human hands.

[The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament]

The act of bowing down in homage is generally done before a superior or a ruler.

Thus, David “bowed” himself before Saul (1 Sam.

24:8).

Sometimes it is a social or economic superior to whom one bows, as when Ruth “bowed” to the ground before Boaz (Ruth 2:10).

In a dream, Joseph saw the sheaves of his brothers “bowing down” before his sheaf (Gen.

37:5, 9–10).

[Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words]

The king by claiming the statute that he “made” was to be worshipped places himself equal to or above other gods.

We still have “signals” or “calls” to worship today.

Many Islamic areas broadcast the muezzin’s calls over loudspeakers so that all within the city can begin the prayer time.

The church down the road from me still “chimes” on Sunday mornings.

In our passage today the call to worship comes in the form of a live orchestra.

It is difficult to definitely say what these instruments were as most of the words are only in the book of Daniel, in Aramaic describing ancient instruments from various cultures incorporated into Babylonia.

One paraphrased English translation simply says “big band”.

Whatever they were, they were loud enough and distinct enough that all who heard it recognized their meaning.

Refusal to obey the call to worship, like several other edicts of the king, resulted in death.

Here a qualifier is added that the punishment would be immediate or “this very hour.”

The form of punishment is different than any other listed in the book and may be attributed to the placement and construction of the idol itself.

Such a large statue covered in gold would undoubtedly require a large furnace in close proximity.

The descriptive words used are often translated as “burning fiery furnace” or something similarly redundant.

Other than to emphasize the heat or its use, unclear why the redundant adjectives.

It is kind of like saying a “automotive gasoline car.”

This means of execution however would not only be carried out quickly but would also make for a fast death.

Nebuchadnezzar reveals his pride and forgotten acknowledgments of God of chapter 1 and 2 in the last phrase when he claims ultimate power over all those in his kingdom.

He thinks he is above all the gods because of his dominance on the battlefield and the dream of chapter 2. This level of pride is what he is judged for in next chapter.

Other leaders opposing God’s people have verbalized a similar statements and their pride cost them many lives in their armies (Ex 5:2; 2 Kings 18:35).

The exiled Israelites are not intimidated by such a claim.

The Applied Old Testament Commentary (The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace (3:1–30))

The Apostle Paul wrote that we should obey our earthly rulers, since they have been given their authority by God (Romans 13:1–2).

However, we must not obey them if they command us to do something that God forbids—such as worship idols (Exo 20:4-5), or keep silent about Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:19; 5:29)

These men were physically standing before their earthly king, but they were bowing before the Heavenly King with their hearts.

In essence they were proclaiming to all who were present “We will stand righteous before our God for obeying His laws.

His laws overrule yours.”

Or as one commentary put it, these men did not have answer for God Himself was about to.

The building of the statue took time.

During that time, I am sure that Daniel and his friends had many conversations about how they were going to respond when the “dedication day” came.

It appears that they were prepared to respond as God had prompted them much in the way that Jesus encouraged his disciples to do when their persecutions would come when He was gone (Luke 21:13-15).

There would be no way for the other counselors to “withstand or contradict” the witness these men were about to live out before their very eyes.

Some translations start verse 17 with “if He exists” making it sound as if the 3 men doubted God’s existence.

They could not have faced death so boldly with any doubt about the possibility of deliverance.

They know that God is “able” to deliver them.

This word speaks to the capability but not the desire to perform an action.

They were saying that God may deliver them or He may choose not to rescue.

It was His choice.

Their faith was not limited to belief in a miracle but also included trust in God’s sovereignty.

[The Moody Bible Commentary]

Their trust however was totally placed with their God and His choices, not with the king standing before them.

Paul wrote of similar mindset to the Romans - Rom 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?”

In direct rebuttal to the king’s claim of power, the men boldly state they will be taken “out of your hand”.

By stating this last it makes the king’s statement less emphasized as he does not have control over their life as he supposes.

If there was any doubt in the Israelite’s mind it is not in the existence of God, but only in His “willingness” to deliver.

These men would never “assume” to know God’s intentions and thoughts.

They submit to His divine will, even if it means their physical deaths.

Living out both Old and New Testament proclamations of willingness and surrender to God’s sovereign control of our lives.

Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.”

Mat 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Not only were these men not going to obey this particular edict, but like they had committed themselves in chapter 1 to not “defile” themselves with the king’s food, they were not going worship any of the gods in the king’s land.

By saying they would not serve “your gods” they were verbalizing their commitment to Yahweh alone and saying, “we would rather die than blaspheme our God.”

This is a quite the contrast with the “wise men” at the beginning of the chapter who lie and manipulate the king to appease him.

One commentary said that “Though they were employed by Nebuchadnezzar (2:49), they “served” Yahweh.

[The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures.]

For these men, in their hearts and minds they knew it was better to serve the eternal One True Living God and be thrown into a temporary earthly fire than to serve a temporary earthly king and be thrown into the eternal fire.

These statements and bold stances against the earthly king’s authority in front of many witnesses of course did not sit well with Nebuchadnezzar.

In verse 13, he was in a “furious rage” then apparently, he calmed and cordially spoke with them until now when his countenance changed again because of being “filled with fury”.

This implies that the first raging was typical, but this one is “over the top.”

Reminiscent of the mood swings seen in King Saul.

This wording may also be intentional to draw connection with the furnace and how it was made “hotter” than normal later in the same verse.

Even though the furnace heat was greatly increased, it is doubtful that a thermometer was used to quantify the heat levels.

"Seven times more than usual” is much better story telling language than “as hot as it could go”.

The number seven often being used to symbolize “completion” would support this descriptive phrasing instead of literal data.

Once the inferno was prepared, some of the king’s men would need to facilitate the “throwing in” of the condemned.

Not that the 3 faithful men would need to be strong-armed into submission, but it is significant to state that these men were not the bottom of the barrel but the “some of the best” because of what happens to them.

Regular men may not have survived, but the king would expect those that fought with him and won against the “gods” of other nations would be protected from mere flames.

This caliber of the captors also helps emphasize that that there was “no naturalistic explanation for the survival of the three.”

[The Moody Bible Commentary]

The importance and identity of the list of clothing that the men were wearing is debated.

It could point to the immediacy of the timing and that the men did not have time to prepare for their deaths.

May be to make them catch on fire quicker or cause a bigger flame as the skin would not “burst into flames” like the fabrics would.

Could be a bit more good story telling language.