Daniel 3:19-30: The Furnace of Blazing Fire

Daniel’s Furnace of Blazing Fire

Daniel chapter 3 beginning with verse 19, here now the inspired word of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

For this reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste. He said to his high officials, Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They replied to the king, Certainly, O king.

He said, Look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire.

He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw, in regard to these men, that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own god.

Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.

Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. Let's pray. Father, once again as we look into your word and we read this incredible story, we pray that you would open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts, that we would see here and understand what you have to say to us through these events, and that we would be drawn closer and closer to our savior, Jesus Christ.

It's in his name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. I remember a day at the end of January 1952. It was a weekday. My father had already left for work. My mother wasn't feeling well, so she decided to keep her three older children home from school.

We were fine with that since it was a particularly cold day with snow still on the ground from a recent storm. I don't remember what I did to occupy my time, but whatever it was, it was interrupted abruptly by a fire that had started in an enclosed porch on our house.

The porch was heated with an old kerosene heater. It didn't have all the safety attachments that they do these days. The house was an old summer bungalow that my father was renovating and turning into an all-season house.

My older brother and my mother attempted to put the fire out, but kerosene burns extremely hot. We had to vacate the house and call the fire department. That was no easy task since rural Smithtown back in 1952.

Not every home had a telephone, and not everyone had a phone in their house. When you did, it was usually what they called party lines. You had to share the line with somebody else. And for the benefit of you younger ones, no, there was no such thing as cell phones.

A few things stand out in my mind from that day as we stood on the edge of our property and watched our house become fully involved with fire. First, it seemed like an eternity for the fire department to get there because we were several miles from the closest firehouse.

But the first thing that really stands out the most was the heat of the fire. When we were still inside the house before we left, it felt like a furnace. And even standing outside the house in the bitter, cold January weather, you could feel the intense heat.

Second thing was how the smell of smoke permeated the air for blocks away. And for days after, you could smell the smoke just lingering in the air surrounding the house. So when I read this story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I stand in awe of what God did.

I've seen fire up close and personal. And I give my hats off to firemen, firefighters who run into the fire. I'd rather be shot at than run into a fire. Says something about me, doesn't it? We lost our home to that fire.

So when I read that these men were cast into a furnace of blazing fire, and listen to the description, a furnace of blazing fire, I'm amazed at the outcome of this story. Remember where we left off last week?

King Nebuchadnezzar had erected this 90-foot statue of gold in Babylon. He invited the rulers of all the provinces of Babylon to attend the dedication of the statue. And anyone failing to do so would be cast into the furnace of blazing fire.

I like reading that. I just love the sound of that. The furnace of blazing fire. Doesn't that give you a sense of what was there rather than just a furnace? He assembled a group of musicians with varied musical instruments to give the signal when to bow down before the image.

And on cue, the music sounds and everyone bows down except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And of course we know, we read last week, they're reported to the king by a group of Chaldeans. And presumably the same people that had their lives spared by Daniel when he interpreted the dream.

What's that old expression? No good deed goes unpunished. The king's angry, but he actually offers these three a second chance. Which in itself is something. But the king knew these men. They were friends of Daniel who had just interpreted this dream.

So he offers a second chance. But they very quickly reject the second chance. I'm going to read the last three verses before our text for today. Verses 16 to 18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

In short, they are willing to lay down their lives rather than to bow down to an image of gold. I want to read an excerpt from Calvin's commentary on this verse, because I think he says it so well. Quoting John Calvin, he says,.

These then are the two points which prepare the sons of God for martyrdom and remove hesitation as to their offering their life in a sacrifice to God. First, if they are persuaded that God is the protector of their life and will certainly liberate them, should it be expedient.

Secondly, when they live above the world to aspire to the hope of eternal life in heaven while prepared to renounce the world. This magnanimity is to be remarked in their language when they say, Be it known to thee, O king, that we do not worship your gods nor adore the statue which you have set up.

Here they obliquely accuse the king of abrogating too much to himself and of wishing religion to stand or fall by his own will. You had erected the statue by your authority is of no moment to us since we know it to be a fictitious deity whose image you wish us to worship.

The God whom we worship has revealed himself to us. We know him to be the maker of heaven and earth, to have redeemed our fathers from Egypt, to intend our chastisement by driving us into exile. Since, therefore, we have a firm foundation for our faith, hence we reckon thy gods and thy sway valueless.

So ends the quote from John Calvin. That's where we ended last week. I want to point out again that until this point, the dialogue between the king and these three men was rather civilized. Now it's true that the king was angry at the refusal to bow down, but the fact that he gives them a second chance, I think, is also astounding.

However, after their response to that second chance, verse 19, which is our first in the text today, we see that not only was the king enraged and filled with wrath, but his facial expression changed.

And that's the catalyst for them being tossed into the furnace of blazing fire. Verse 19, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The wording of that verse is compelling describing the king.

He was already angry because they didn't bow down, and now we see he's filled with wrath, so much so that his facial expression changed. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever seen anybody get that angry?

Have you ever been that angry yourself? Filled with such rage and anger that the face becomes distorted and contorted. It's these such circumstances where many murders take place. You will hear confessions of murderers.

I was so angry, I just wanted him dead. Or I was so angry, I didn't even realize I had pulled the trigger. Except the king knew exactly what he was doing. He had announced beforehand the punishment for not bowing down, that it would be the furnace of blazing fire.

And then he repeated it after he had given him a second chance. So the king could not plead temporary insanity. So why then did he get angry? And so angry? Well, there's several contributing factors given in the text itself.

First, if you think about it, these men had already been given favor by the king. He had promoted them to administrators over the province of Babylon. So it's not unreasonable to presume that he expected their loyalty.

Of all people, surely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would bow down. I just made them administrators of Babylon. So he was taken somewhat by surprise by their actions, or should I say their lack of actions.

Second, since he had the statue built, and it was referred to as the image Nebuchadnezzar set up, it was personal for him. Remember last week we saw that virtually every time the image is mentioned, it was accompanied by the words, the golden image that I have set up, or the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

It is more than reasonable to presume that the image represented the king and his kingdom, at least in his mind. And third, the king associated bowing to the image with serving the gods of Babylon. It's exactly what he says.

Look at verse 14. Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods, or worship the golden image that I have set up? See, at this point, the king didn't really care if they served their god, as long as they acknowledged his gods.

He already knew that they served the Lord God of Israel. Daniel told him flat out when he interpreted the dream that they served Jehovah, Yahweh. So Daniel had already explained that to him. You know, it's interesting.

Most of these dictators, they don't care if you serve your own god, as long as you serve theirs. We see the same concept in the early New Covenant church, dealing with Rome. Rome didn't care if you said, Jesus is Lord, but you also had to say, Caesar is Lord.

All they had to do was say that, and they would have saved themselves. All kinds of torture. But they couldn't. All they wanted, just put almighty God on the shelf, along with the pantheon of Zeus, or Jupiter, and Athena, and Diana.

Just so long as you say, and serve my gods. They all failed to understand that serving God almighty is exclusive. Deuteronomy 4 .24, we read from Deuteronomy 4, if we go on just a few more verses, we read this, for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

And in Isaiah 42, verse 8, I am the Lord, that is my name, I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images. See, Nebuchadnezzar missed this point, he didn't understand why these men just couldn't bow down to his God.

What's the big deal? He didn't understand the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20, verse 3, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in water under the earth.

You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, and the children, and the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love and kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

So Nebuchadnezzar missed these points completely, and he takes the failure to bow down as a personal snub and a personal insult to him, and so he is enraged, and he follows through on his threat, but with a little twist.

He's so filled with wrath that he orders a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. What kind of furnace was it, and how hot was that? Well, at this time in Babylon, they basically used two kinds of furnaces, a smelting furnace where they would deal with metal, which probably wouldn't be in the location, but they would also use a kiln for glazing bricks for their construction, and since the king said to increase the heat seven times more than usual, it indicates it was not a special furnace that was built.

It was one that they were already in normal use. So it was more than likely a furnace like a kiln. Now here's some interesting facts. I found them anyway. The brick kilns they used at that time period operated normally between 1 ,000 and 1 ,300 degrees Celsius.

That's the heat required to glaze bricks. Seven times hotter is simply crazy. Whether that's partially hyperbole or it's an exact fact, it's irrelevant. It was so hot that it killed the soldiers who cast these men into it.

That's hotter than hot. Nebuchadnezzar was not playing around. His intent was pure and simple. He was to execute these men for not bowing down before the statue, and to do so in a way that sends a message to everyone else.

Can you imagine being so callous as to actually sacrifice some of your most valiant warriors to kill these men for this supposed crime? So intent was he that he had the men bound right in the clothes that they were wearing, no preparation.

Notice the detail they were given, their trousers, their coats, their caps, and whatever other clothing they had on. They were bound and cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. The text makes the point of relating that when they were cast into the midst of the fire, they were still tied up.

Under normal circumstances, it would be at this time that the king would gloat. He's got his revenge. They're in the furnace, and now he can sit around and gloat at the power that he has over life and death.

Could you even imagine Nebuchadnezzar offering some rhetoric about the greatness of Babylon, and of course his own greatness? And let this be a lesson to anyone else who dares to defy the king's decrees.

I could picture that. It would make a good movie. But this was anything but normal. For the king had publicly defied the God of Israel with those chilling words in verse 15, and what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands?

For instead of boasting about his glorious kingdom, look what happens next. Verse 24,. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and stood up in haste. He said to his high officials, Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?

They replied to the king, Certainly, O king. He said, Look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. The king is besides himself.

He's astounded is the word that's used. At some point between the men being cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire and the king gazing into the fire, a fourth man appears in the midst of the fire, and the king can't believe his eyes.

I can just picture him going like this. What? And he actually asked for a confirmation. Is it me, or did we cast only three men in there? Are you sure we only cast three men in the fire? Of course, it was done in front of all, and after all, O king, we can count to three.

He says, Look, I see four men in the furnace of blazing fire, but he adds more detail for us to ponder. First, the three men are loosed from their ropes. Second, they join the fourth man and are walking around in the midst of the fire.

Notice the wording. They're walking around in the midst of the fire. One liberal commentator, sometimes I just read liberal commentators for a little comic relief because it's so ludicrous what they have to say.

One liberal commentator tried to downplay the miracle by saying they found this cool spot in the oven.

Oh, boy.

He was serious.

To even think that an oven heated to several thousand degrees Celsius could have a cool spot, but also it contradicts the words of Nebuchadnezzar who says he saw the four men walking around in the midst of the fire.

The third detail is they were walking around without harm. Let me ask you a question. Let's put this in some sort of terms we can understand. You ever forget your sandals at the beach and you've got to walk over the hot sand in your bare feet and you run a few steps and hopping all the way saying, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.

Then you jump into a shady spot and you go, ah. Then you run some more to another shady spot and if there's no shady spot, your feet are so hot you jump on somebody else's blanket, some stranger. I see you've all been there.

Let me tell you how hot that beach sand is. On a 90 degree day, it reaches about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. That's only about 50 degrees Celsius. These men are walking around in the furnace of a blazing fire without harm, without harm.

Another question is frequently asked, who was this fourth man? Some people hold that it was a Christophany. That means it's a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. There are some reasons to back that up.

Others say it was an angel sent by God to speak to the men and to comfort them and deliver them in the midst of their trouble. Either one fits the text. It doesn't really matter to the meaning of the text.

We know that God has sent angels to help saints throughout history. Remember when the Arameans surrounded the camp of the Israelites threatening them with destruction? Elisha's servant was afraid when he saw the large army.

Elisha encourages him by opening his eyes to see into the spiritual realm. 2 Kings 6 .16, so he answered, do not fear, this is Elisha speaking, do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

I just love that story. You ever get lonely? You ever feel downcast? You ever feel like life is just too much? There's an army of angels around you. You know what? I've been asked a few times, maybe even many times, if I believe in the doctrine of guardian angels.

The doctrine basically says that every believer has a guardian angel assigned to guard him. My answer is always the same, no, I don't believe that. Basically because I can't find any scripture that indicates that.

Here's what I do believe. Better than the doctrine of guardian angels, by the way. What I do believe is that when we face trouble, God will send as many angels as we need to strengthen us and to protect us, whether that be one angel or a thousand angels.

Psalm 91 is a messianic psalm. In other words, the first application is to Jesus, but also by implication and application it can be applied to us. Psalm 91 says this, verse 11. For he will give his angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

They will bear you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent. You will trample down. Psalm 34, verse 4 to 7.

I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. The poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues him. So yes, I believe there are angels ever watching over those who fear him. This room this morning, I have no idea, but it's filled with angels, heavenly watchers watching and rejoicing with us as we worship the Lord God.

And they are ever here. So just as God sent an angel to the furnace of blazing fire, so many years ago he will send angels when we need them. But look what happens next, verse 26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire.

He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of the Most High God and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. I think it's fair to say that the king is still in his state of amazement at what he has just witnessed.

He comes as close as he can without being burned, and he calls the three Hebrews. But look how his words have changed. Come out, servants of the Most High God. How quickly things changed from rage and anger at these impudent Hebrews who refused to bow down.

Remember, they defied the king's command and he was going to make them pay seven times more than usual. Now he beckons them, come out. Now he calls them servants of the Most High God. While the king is still amazed and affected by what he has seen, he wants a closer look at the three.

I think that's a perfectly reasonable request. If I were there, I'd want to put my hand on him and feel him. Is it really you? So they exit the furnace of blazing fire and immediately they draw a small crowd around them.

Verse 27, the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on their bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

This could only happen at the hands of Almighty God. If you talk to any firefighter, they will tell you that fire doesn't discriminate. It consumes whatever stands between the flames and more fuel and air.

It just keeps going until it's extinguished or runs out of something to burn. So for these three men to be walking around in the midst of the fire and not get burned up, it's a genuine miracle. It's a big-time miracle.

I don't think it's a small-time miracle, so maybe that was not the best description. Then add that to the description in verse 27. Not only no effects from the fire on their bodies, but the hair on their head wasn't singed.

It doesn't take much for hair to be burned. It goes up very quickly if touched by a flame. How many guys have lost eyebrows starting the charcoal fire? Their hair wasn't even singed. Not even their clothing was damaged.

Then, on top of all that, there was no smell of the fire on them. When our house burned in 1952, we were not able to salvage very much from the house. Most of it was consumed. Almost everything. But what we were able to take out reeked of fire and smoke.

We were actually able to find some of our picture albums that were closed in a drawer. Months later, when we opened them and opened them up, we could still smell the smoke in the fire. Even though they were closed albums, the edges of all the pictures were singed inside the albums.

The smoke permeated everything. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked around in the furnace heated to a couple thousand degrees Celsius without so much as the smell of fire on them. We serve an awesome God.

But the king is not finished yet. In light of what he has just witnessed, the king blesses God. Look at his words in verse 28. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's command and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own god.

The king is starting to realize there's a power greater than his, greater than anything he has ever seen before. He has witnessed the power of the omnipotent God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He wants to do something, but first he actually recounts the events leading up to the miracle.

He obviously remembers the words of the three when he commanded them to bow down. They put their trust, even if it meant violating the king's command, they put their trust in God. They served up their own bodies instead of worshiping any other god.

The king gives an accurate summary of the events of the day. They have moved him closer to understanding who God is and what part he plays in the plan of God. We'll explore that more when we get to chapter 4.

Remember, King Nebuchadnezzar is the rightful king. God has placed him there and he plays a part in the plan of God, but he doesn't quite get that yet because he has attempted to usurp the authority of almighty God.

He doesn't realize that he is serving under the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He is moved by the deliverance of the three to issue a decree. Verse 29, From executioner to protector in a matter of minutes.

That's quite a change. But again, he's been affected by the miracle and he's doing what he believes is necessary before their god. It's fair to say that there is some self-preservation, some self-interest still going on here.

He rightly concludes that these men have favor with God almighty. He also knows they have enemies seeking to do them harm. He hasn't forgotten that it was the Chaldeans who turned them in in the first place.

So he issues this decree to protect them from any harm from their enemies. And in typical Nebuchadnezzar fashion, he gives the consequences for violating his decree. Torn limb from limb. Houses reduced to rubbish heap.

But that's not all. The text ends with verse 30. Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. We're not told exactly what that means. But they went from being enemies of the state, cast into a furnace to coming out being favored by the king.

And the king causes them to prosper. Most people think of financial prosperity. Yeah, that's one way. But there are more ways to prosper than finances. In fact, I would say that's the least important.

Prosperity can include that, but there are so many other ways. Having a good reputation. Having a family. Accomplishing goals for the kingdom of God. These are all ways to prosper. What an amazing story.

Come out of the midst of the fire and not even the hair on the head was touched. When our house was on fire, as soon as we realized we couldn't do anything, we quickly ran outside. That's the most reasonable and prudent course of action.

I don't have to tell you fire is hot. And being burned is terribly painful. And yet Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were willing to put themselves in a position to be cast into the furnace of blazing fire.

You realize they could have easily rationalized submitting to the king. We're doing a good work here in a pagan land. We're needed here. After all, God's using us in this land. And after all, it's only an idol.

It's only some hunk of metal. We know it's not a real God. When the music sounds, maybe we'll just tip our heads slightly and make it look like we bowed down. But they'd have none of it. James Montgomery Boyce gives three reasons why they were able to stand firm.

He says, one, they knew and understood the sovereignty of God. Two, they knew the scriptures. And three, they were willing to die for their convictions. Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves.

Do we know and understand the sovereignty of God? Do we really know the scriptures? Are we willing to die for our convictions? If you're here today and you've never come to that place, I would urge you to repent of your sin.

Bow the knee to the one, the true, the living God. Come to Jesus Christ. And be saved. Let's pray.