The Fiery Furnace

Introduction

Tonight is our first night at here at “Jungle Rescue” and I think we are in for an exciting night. Each night as we come to story time we will discover a different Bible story to help us understand how God demonstrates his faithfulness. Tonight we are going hear the story of three remarkable young men known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Our story takes place in Daniel chapter three.

The story begins with the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar commanding that a golden statue be built for his people to worship. The statue was made from pure gold and stood ninety feet tall and was nine feet wide. King Nebuchadnezzar gave an order that everyone in the kingdom was to bow down and worship the golden statue whenever the horns, flutes, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music played.

Some of the officials under Nebuchadnezzar took this as an opportunity try and trap Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they knew these young men were faithful to the God of Israel. Let’s see what happens to them.

Daniel 3:8–28 CSB

8 Some Chaldeans took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever. 10 You as king have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. 11 Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” 13 Then in a furious rage Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. 17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary, 20 and he commanded some of the best soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Since the king’s command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king. 25 He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God—come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. 27 When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

What is so clue about this story is that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego remained faithful to God despite the danger. Yet in their time of need God sent someone to protect them. No matter what is going on in our lives God is always faithful.

In our story tonight God sent someone into the fiery furnace to protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar stands up shocked because he noticed someone else walking around in the fiery furnaces besides the three men. But there was something different about this fourth person. Even the evil king could tell this person was not a normal person.

God sent a special individual into the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to protect them. As a result of God’s salvation the three men were completely untouched by the fire.