8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Daniel 3: 8-30
…38to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day. 39Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.… Deuteronomy 4: 38-40
…3For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman. 4They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter. 5Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”… Jeremiah 10: 3-5
14Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” 16The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!… Joshua 24: 14-16
Is our faith so real that there’s no price to make us bow down? Martin Luther in loneliness on his way to face the inevitable hour of excommunication at what is known as “The Diet of Worms,” to appear before King Charles V and the Roman prelate, and all of the princes assembled, said this - and it’s a great word. Martin Luther, “My cause shall be commended to the Lord, for He lives and reigns who preserved the three children in the furnace of the Babylonian king. If He is unwilling to preserve me, my life is a small thing compared with Christ. Expect anything of me except flight or recantation. I will not flee, much less recant, so may the Lord Jesus strengthen me.”
He took his cue from those three Hebrews. He didn’t say, “Deliver me.” He said, “If God wants to take my life, it is a small thing.” So with these great men of God and others, we stand before the presence of the pressure of the world to bow to its idols unflinching and unwavering. And someone has written, “The dearest idol I have known, what e'er that idol be, help me to tear it from its throne and worship only Thee.” No wonder in 1 John 5:21 John closes his marvelous epistle with the words “Keep yourselves from idols.” - J Mac from Uncompromising Faith in the fiery furnace 2
Certain Chaldeans came forward - Always good to have concerned citizens, looking out for the welfare of the kingdom, like the Nazis, Haman in the Medio-Persian empire, and all else who love propaganda, envy their neighbor, wish ill on those who do not agree with them. Notice they are Chaldeans, and Babylon is the land of the Chaldeans. This should afford them special rights in their minds, yet the king has promoted these Hebrews, because he has found them to be men of extraordinary gifts, both spiritually and materially. The others like the system of playing the game, of special treatment and notoriety for their birth, that they are Chaldeans, kiss ups, they bowed to the idol, took a knee with BLM, called the riots peaceful protest, removed the Jews from their businesses and redistributed the wealth. They may like the words honesty and integrity, and even demand to be called men and women of such, yet they don't stand for truth, and are looking for someone to step on, to move up the ladder, a place to stick their knife when no one's looking. They are gossips, slanderers, wicked men.
O King live forever - No sincerity, just more sucking up. This is something that could be sincere from someone that loved you as a fellow creature made in the image of God, but these are men of a more parasitic nature, and he is the host.
You, O king, have made a decree - Not just anyone, but you have spoken. They know he has an ego and they are playing to that. I tell my leads, since they are foremen in the field and spend the most time with my crew, that if it's important to me than it needs to be important to you, because I am concerned with what my boss has delegated to me and I don't want him to look bad in front of his bosses, but the Hebrews don't have a problem with the decree because of who it comes from, but rather for what it is. They are not shirking their civic duty, not blowing off work; they actually care more about doing a good job than any of their accusers.
Pay no attention to you - So, again, it is not who said it, but what he said, so this is blatant slander. These 3 Hebrew men were some of the greatest employees in the kingdom.
…3A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both. 4Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy? 5Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.… Proverbs 27: 3-5
They do not serve your gods - Ah, now they throw some truth in there. These young men do not want to worship idols, their loyalty is to the One true God, just like when people get mad when you say there is only one way to be right with God, and that is through His Son Jesus Christ. They have taken the words of God seriously and they do not wish to compromise, these are again, some of the rarest and greatest men in the kingdom. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have set the bar so high that these men must certainly want it brought back down to the game.
5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7
…2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3You shall have no other gods before Me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.… Exodus 20: 2-4
Or worship the golden image - Noted separately from "your gods", this unifying image, like the state, with the picture of the ruler in everyone's home, to show that you follow, you bow to the whims of this ruler. Like I said last time, the beginning of the time of the gentiles will look very similar to the end. The last antichrist will set up an image and demand worship, but his kingdom won't last very long. The Chaldeans spoke the truth here, these men did not bow, but probably didn't grand stand either, for these cowards had to bring it to the attention of the king.
In furious rage - The ego is a scary thing, that's why Christ says, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. This is a mega ego and it is about to explode at the thought of 3 men, in a kingdom of millions, that will not bow down. I have watched it a hundred times on a smaller scale, and they can't take that one guy who tells them the truth, who refuses to lie on their behalf, or to go along with what God says is wrong. He loses it.
Is it true - It's one thing to stand up or talk big to the guys that can't fire you, but this is a huge test for these youngsters, in a foreign land, before a powder keg of a king. This is when Peter broke and not even before a king, "you are one them, I saw you with Jesus," and he denied Christ 3 times, and probably broke every time he heard a rooster crow after that. I think Neb likes them as well, but pride won't let him go back on this, so the offer to recant, but he probably has some idea of the character of the accusers as well. It is interesting that when they could not tell the king his dream before, that Daniel asked for their lying, deceitful lives to be spared, but they don't reciprocate.
24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.” 25Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”… Daniel 2: 24-25
27But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.… Luke 6: 27-29
As Spurgeon says "We can imagine the enormous pressure on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego to compromise. Everything in front of them - the king, the furnace, the music, their compatriots, their competitors - all of it conspired to convince them to compromise. Yet God was more real to them than any of those things. "Do not judge the situation by the king's threat and by the heat of the burning fiery furnace, but by the everlasting God and the eternal life which awaits you. Let not flute, harp, and sackbut fascinate you, but hearken to the music of the glorified. Men frown at you, but you can see God smiling on you, and so you are not moved. - C. H. Spurgeon
Who is the God Who will deliver you out of my hands - Neb is slowly coming to know the true God, and this is a painful part of the process, ultimately, the idol that we all serve is after our own image, and saying "out of my hands", is placing himself above God. He is wanting preeminence in their minds due to his ability to kill them and for who he thinks he is.
…27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.… Matthew 10: 27-29
We have no need to answer you in this matter - This isn't disrespectful, Neb has laid out the case, here are the expectations and this will be the result. With it, he has also laid out the challenge, "who is the God that will deliver you?" I love these boys, some translations have this as "we are not careful to answer thee in this matter", no spin, challenge accepted, we won't waist your time, no need to play the music.
Our God, Whom we serve, is able to deliver us - That same God is why they serve Neb so well, because it is done as unto God. That God that answered your dream when you couldn't even remember it, and you most certainly couldn't interpret it, nor your wise men, Chaldeans or magicians.
1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. 2A land in rebellion has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.… Proverbs 28: 1-2
But if not - They know that some have been sawn in half like Isaiah, and many martyrs have burned like incense up into the nose of God, but the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord, life was created by Him and belongs to Him.
…36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. 38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.… Hebrews 11: 36-38
…10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.… Matthew 5: 10-12
1Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.… Isaiah 43: 1-3
We will not serve your gods or worship the golden image - Uncompromised, and it is interesting that Daniel is not here, maybe Neb sent him away in advance because he knew Daniel would object to this, but I think it is also important that they were willing to do this without Daniel, they were legit. It's like when Jesus sent His disciples out on their own, what a test, are you willing to stand when you can't see Jesus standing there in front of you, doing the talking for you? We will see Daniel in the sister passage to this tested in the lion's den.
And the expression of his face was changed - Many of us have seen that face, the soft, sweet, fatherly voice preceding, but when our answer doesn't change, when we refuse to bow, then the jaw sets, the eyes get all beady, they breathe through a flaring nose, and they lose it. He probably feels justified too, sadly, he probably feels like he has given them a chance, to kiss the ring and walk away unscathed, but this is their own doing now, because they wouldn't compromise. He may be 50 years old and the undisputed king of Babylon, but it's still a temper tantrum, and all of this is pride, all of it is unnecessary, yet he has justified all of it in his mind.
Seven times more - Theatre, dumb too, that would have been a sigh of relief for me, knowing that this would be over quickly and I would be standing with the King above all these earthly kings. There was probably no gage for this temp, but 7 is the number of perfection so probably as hot as you can get it, or they threw in 7 times the usual fuel. They are all terrified of Neb and will just do what he says, no questions.
The flame of the fire killed those men - So the kings mighty men are burnt to a crisp outside the furnace, so this is a large, real fire, and how costly is pride, it costs you your Secret Service, your highly trained soldiers. I don't think I would want to work for Neb, the benefits stink, who knows when you will be asked to do something steeped in the fancy of his delusional ego? You mean nothing next to his pride.
But I see four men unbound - They threw in 3, and all the fire did was burn off the ropes. But Neb is smart, he is good at math, and realizes there is one more guy in there. Who is that?
Like a son of the gods - He refers to him later as an angel sent from the boy's God. Some say this is a Christophany, where Christ appears in the Old Testament, a preincarnate form, but I can't say for sure. Sons of God is also used to describe angelic beings, and I think there is the sort of Shekinah there, something obviously different, but God is most certainly there in Spirit, by the ordering of His creation, sending His messenger. He causes the fire not to do what fire typically does. He is the creator of the universe, of billions of balls of burning gas, and He has made himself known at this point in history, inside a furnace, interrupting what would naturally and usually take place.
5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” 6So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 7Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.… Hebrews 13: 5-7
Servants of the most high God, come out - Still giving orders, and he had before added God to his polytheism when Daniel conveyed his dream, now the Hebrew God has climbed the rungs to the very top of Neb's list of favorite deities. He is the Most High God, but Neb still has a ways to go, for God is God regardless of what men may say or think, it is a mercy that He breaks us to think aright. He is the only true God as well, everything else is created by Him, so He alone is worthy of worship.
The hair...was not singed - They weren't burned in any way, not a hair, and they didn't even smell like they had been in there, yet the mighty men who took them there were dead. His wise men are observing, pondering this, what God delivers like this?
Blessed be the God - You will see that it takes him a while to come fully around, for he and his nation have gods that they have marched under, and when they won those battles it was attributed to those gods, and a proof to them of their power and superiority. The gods he worships also fit more in line with his pagan moral code, which is greatly lacking before the true God, it would be more like the platform of our Democrat party here in America. If you recall, he took things from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them as gifts to the house of his god.
Who sent His angel - A messenger of God that stood with them, that probably explained to them what was going on, that God was with them and that they would not be harmed.
Who trusted in Him, and set aside the king's command - This was a grand testimony to the king, that they set aside his word to follow their God. They were now commendable for their loyalty to their God.
MacArthur - Our decisions, our attitudes and our behaviors are determined by one of two things: external pressure, or internal principle… the battle is going on all the time in our lives between these two conflicting items. And we're very good at self-justification so a lot of times when we succumb to external pressure we define it as internal principle. But basically we have to come down to that bottom line. Do we do what we do, say what we say and act the way we act because we have convictions about it or because we feel the pressure from the outside? Are our convictions altered by pressures brought to bear upon us? - J Mac
Then the king promoted - It doesn't always end this way, but in the ultimate end it is always even better than this.
There were lots of things that could have come to bear upon them as pressures, but in spite of all of this they were resolute and absolutely uncompromising. It’s amazing the situation they were in to take such a firm stand. Stephen Girard, the unbelieving millionaire of Philadelphia, years past, told his clerks one Saturday that they had to come the next day and unload a shipment which had just arrived. Well, the next day was Sunday. One young man stepped up to the desk and said nervously, “Mr. Girard, I can’t work on Sunday.” “Well, sir,” replied the employer, “if you can’t do as I wish, we can separate.”
“I know that, sir,” said the young man. “And I know, too, that I have a widowed mother to care for, but I cannot work on Sunday.”
“Very well,” said Mr. Girard, “go to the cashier’s desk and he’ll settle with you.”
For three long weeks the biographer says the young man tramped the streets looking for work, and one day a bank president asked Girard to name a suitable person for cashier of a new bank about to be started. After reflecting a moment, Girard named the young man he had just fired.
“But I thought you said you fired him,” said the bank president. “I did,” retorted Gerard, “because he wouldn’t work on Sunday. And I tell you, the man that will lose his job on account of principle is the man with whom you can trust your money.” - J Mac from Uncompromising Faith in the Fire
…15But Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to inspect.” 16So they brought it, and He asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they answered. 17Then Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they marveled at Him.… Mark 12: 15-17
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