The band played, the furnace roared, the crowds bowed, while three captives and a fourth man walked unharmed among the flames.
In our previous lesson in Daniel chap. 2, god showed Nebuchadnezzar a great image whose parts were made of different metals; namely, gold, silver, bronze, iron, iron mixed with clay. We also saw that a stone cut out without human hands struck the image and broke it in pieces.
Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream made it crystal clear that Babylon will be succeeded by another empire and that other empires will continue to arise until the stone kingdom (kingdom of god) will come and take over all earthly kingdoms and empires.
In Daniel chapter 3, we see king Nebuchadnezzar make a huge image:
60 cubits (90 feet) high and 6 cubits (9 feet) wide, possibly after the shape and size of what he saw in his dream (1 cubit = 18 inches).
The king mounted the image in his capital city .
However, instead of making the various parts of the image with the corresponding metals the king saw in the dream, he made his own image all of pure gold (dan 3:1).
Nebuchadnezzar’s message to everyone is clear: “my empire (Babylon) will not be succeeded by another; not even the stone kingdom.” This is pride in action. The king invited all his governors and administrators from all the provinces in the empire to the dedication of the image (dan3:2-3).
The king made a declaration that at the sound of a heavily orchestrated music, all present at the dedication should bow down and worship the image which he had set up. The drums rolled out. The orchestra played. There was music in the air. The trumpet sounded. All at the dedication bowed down and worshipped the king’s image, except three Hebrew young men: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (dan 3:7, 12).
For the king, bowing down to his image was a sign of loyalty to his government. Therefore, anyone who refused to bow down and worship the image declared disloyalty to the king and deserved death. Upon hearing that his command had been disobeyed by three Jews, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage. The offenders were his three governors: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed nego, whom we met in Daniel 1. Hustled into his presence, they were angrily interrogated.
Would they be thrown into the flames? No! Not yet! They would be given just one more chance!
They could save their lives by simply bowing to the image the next time the music began! It would be as easy as that!
By his statement, “then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”, Nebuchadnezzar expressed his impunity and makes it clear that he was challenging the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed nego.
This is the heart of the story in this chapter.
The three Hebrew young men came head-on with the king on a matter that required them to compromise their faith in the god who made the heavens and the earth. They were fully aware that god has earlier, in the Ten Commandments, prohibited making and bowing down to any image (exod 20:3-6).
The three Hebrews knew and saw that the oven was burning. But they were ready to go into the oven instead of bowing down to worship the king’s image. They won’t even bend down to tie their shoes, as someone said he would have done, were he the one. They know that god is able to deliver them from the burning oven (dan 3:17). But that was not why they were ready to go into the fire.
They were ready to go into the oven, even if god decides not to deliver them (dan 3:18). This is the kind of stubborn faith that people in this generation need in the face of so many calls to worship so many idols of this generation: money; power; wealth; position; status; technology; passion; sex; clothes and jewelry; sports; connections; travels; etc.
In anger, the king commands that the oven already burning be heated up seven times hotter.
The three Hebrew young men were thrown into the burning oven because of their stubborn stand on a matter that required them to compromise their faith in the god who made the heavens and the earth. What did god do in this situation? It is show time for the three Hebrews and god!!!
The worship service was suddenly interrupted as the Hebrew young men were thrown into the burning oven. Everyone, including the king, expected them to be zapped by the fire in a matter of minutes.
But wait, the king could not believe his eyes. He sees four men instead of three walking about in the fire, unharmed.
What a mighty god we serve . . .
You will notice from verses 22 and 23 that the soldiers who threw the three men into the furnace were themselves killed by the searing heat. Yet their victims, who were right in the fire, survived unharmed. What had saved them so miraculously? Was it the presence of the fourth man?
Remember: the king recognised the divine appearance of the fourth man in the oven (dan 3:25)
At the king’s command, the three Hebrews come out of the burning oven (3:26). They were not in a hurry to come out.
They were thrown into the fire. So, they have to be asked to come out of it. The king’s administrators crowded around them to be sure that they were humans. On further inspection, they found out that fire did not burn any part of their bodies, not even a single hair.
More impressively still, they did not smell any trace of smoke around them. This is wonderful. They must have enjoyed a divine ac inside the oven. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the god of the Hebrews (3:28)
He also approved of the willingness of the Hebrew young men to die than worship his image (3:28)
He decreed that no one in his empire should ever say anything against the god of the Hebrews (3:29)
Finally, the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He is able, abundantly able, to deliver and to save...
What would you have done?
Would you have worshiped the king’s image, disobeying god’s commandment or would you have defied the king’s orders to obey god?
What are the situations in life today that call on you to bow down and worship the idols of this world in opposition to god who created you?
Toward the end of earth’s history, in the book of revelation 13:11-18, another power will force people to worship the image it has set up for Satan and his agencies, with death threat and financial sanctions against those who would not comply. What will you do when confronted with the worship of this end-time image?
I hope you have enjoyed studying the “saga of the golden idol.”
Please join me again next session for “A Despot Dethroned” (dan 4).
Emerge!