Remaining Holy in a Hostile World: Trial by Fire

Introduction

There they were. Three young men, who had been given authority in Babylon now being pressed to make a decision. Did they misunderstand the instructions or were they mocking the King and the decree he had made? The statue of gold on the plain of Dura had been erected and Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that all bow and worship it once they heard all the music being played. Certain members of the Chaldeans knew that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, also known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, had not bowed to this metallic image. They not the king who was enraged at this accusation insolence and possibly treason. The three men had been called to his court to find if this was true or just a false accusation. If they still would not fall down and worship the image which Nebuchadnezzar have made they shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar asked the question of “who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.””

They did not need a second chance. They did not to think it over. Like Daniel in chapter 1, they had already made their decision. Their heart, their allegiance was to the One true God. They had purposed in their heart not to sin. They knew Exodus 20:1-6 “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

They knew God was able to physically deliver them from the fire ahead, but they also knew that might not be His will. Either way, they were not going to go against their God. They were going to stay firm and steadfast. They were going to remain holy even if it cost them their lives.

Reaction of King Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 3:19 NKJV

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.

Nebuchadnezzar feels mocked by these three Jews. He had promoted them and now they would not bow to his golden image.

He was full of fury. If you think the fiery furnace was hot, so was King Nebuchadnezzar’s anger.

The text says that his face changed/his expression of his face changed. It appears that while he was furious before he still had a shadow of a doubt that the Chaldeans were lying to him about these three men and that is why he gave a second chance, but now he knows that he has been duped. His rage toward them is increased.

He orders/commands that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than it normally is.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 3

An idiomatic Aramaic phrase expressing the king’s desire to have the furnace as hot as possible.

Get it as hot as you can. Similar to in movies when they say “fire everything!”

Fiery Furnace

Throughout the Middle East most furnaces would have been used for pottery (kilns). Yet, in the context of this story the furnace is something larger and hotter than a pottery furnace. Most likely this is a furnace for smelting ore (iron).

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Furnace

Larger furnaces used for smelting ore were seldom employed by the Hebrews, except possibly in the time of King Solomon. The Hebrews, however, knew of this type of furnace, probably from its extensive use in Lebanon. Most OT references to such furnaces are figurative (Dt 4:20; 1 Kgs 8:51; Prv 17:3; 27:21; Is 48:10; Jer 11:4; Ez 22:18, 20, 22). This kind of large, ore-smelting furnace is central in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three Jewish men whom King Nebuchadnezzar threw into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down and worship his golden idol (Dn 3).

More fuel would have been thrown on the already very hot pile as more air was blown across the base to heat it up.

If you have ever built a camp fire? Anyone? To get it hotter you add air. Firefighters will tell you there are three elements to keep a fire going: heat, fuel, and air. They try to get the heat down by drowning it with water which also helps get the fuel down as well. This fire that is being stoked (most likely by slaves) is increasing for the execution of these three men.

Thrown In

Daniel 3:20–23 NKJV

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.

The King has his strongest men of his army. Maybe we might say they were Marines or Navy Seals. They were the best of the best. He tasks them to tie up these three men and then take them to their death.

We are told that they were bound fully clothed. They are tied up in their outer and inner clothes.

A Handbook on the Book of Daniel 3:21

What is important is to use words indicating that the men were fully clothed, and that their dress included inner garments, outer garments, and something worn on the head.

Some translations call them different things, but it is important that they are fully clothed. That this happened very fast.

They were tied up, lead up, and cast into the midst of the fiery furnace.

We learn that because the command happened so fast and that the furnace had gotten so hot. That the heat killed the men, those Marines / Navy Seals! What chance does anyone have in these flames? The three men fell into the middle of the furnace and the writer says that they were still bound. This is going to be key for what happens next.

In the Flames

Daniel 3:24–25 NKJV

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.”

If the guards who throw them in died so fast these three were toast. They would be burned so fast, yet that is not what happened.

Nebuchadnezzar is astonished and he rose up in haste

Amplified Bible Chapter 3

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [saw and] was astounded, and he jumped up

This is not normal. He is shocked.

He speaks to his counselors. Correct me if I am wrong kind of statement (There was three men bound and they went into the fire, right?)

His yes men all say yes, that is right.

Nebuchadnezzar sees four men in there. They are not bound (remember they were bound when they went in). They are walking around in the midst of the fire. They are not hurting. They are not screaming. They are not dying.

The fourth one is like the Son of God or better translation a son of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar would not have thought “Jesus” and the three men would not have known Jesus either, they would have said Angel of the LORD who is God.

Can you image what is going on in Nebuchadnezzar’s head when he sees this?

A Miracle in the Furnace

Daniel 3:26–27 NKJV

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.

The King already on his feet gets close to the opening of the furnace, but not too close and spoke (most likely yells) for them to come out.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!

He acknowledges that their God is more powerful than his god/gods. Then the three come out.

The administrators of Babylon (and most likely the people who accused them) gathered together. They had witnessed this miracle too.

There bodies are fine.

Bodies the fire had no power

The hair on their head was not singed

Their clothes that they had been bound in were not burned

They didn’t even smell like smoke

Working in camp ministry I know about building a camp fire and the smell of smoke clings to you for a long time! For them it did not. God was proving that this was a miracle. No way you could prove this as a fluke. It is 100% a miracle.

Isaiah 43:1–2 NKJV

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

Humbled Again

Daniel 3:28–30 NKJV

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! 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.

King Nebuchadnezzar still likes his old ways of punishment, but he has been humbled again.

Judgment / Refinement

Jeremiah 6:27–30 NKJV

“I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way. They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters; The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off. People will call them rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them.”

1 Corinthians 3:10–17 NKJV

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Hell

Matthew 13:36–43 NKJV

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Conclusion

Reading this story I often wonder if this account was on the minds of many Jews as they approached the Nazi Death Camps like Auschwitz. I know the smoke that I am sure Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego saw was scary to them too. They did not know how it was going to end. For Elie Wiesel (Elee Yizel) in his book Night he writes about his approach to the camp.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke.

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.