Daniel and his three friends have had their faith under pressure before and now it happens again. Their co-workers conspire to get rid of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Mankind is incurably religious and if he will not worship the true God, he will worship other “gods” or creation itself. If mankind invents his own “god” from his own imagination then this “god” can be made to accommodate sin. Man creates “gods” in his own image. To the true God this idolatry is adultery. See Exodus 20:3-5. Idols are hated by God and bring God’s judgment upon mankind. These idols can be other “gods” (made of stone or wood) or love of material possessions.

1 – The ceremony (vs. 1-3)

The Babylonian empire was a great empire and Nebuchadnezzar makes this huge image. See Daniel 2:47. It is amazing that he had done this after recognising the Lord God as King of Kings. He was fickle. He was an ego maniac. He was the gold in the dream and he made himself an image of himself. It was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. It would not have been 100% gold but wood overlaid with heavy gold. The cost would have been incredible.

Nebuchadnezzar was a very intelligent man. He was pulling his nation together in an act of unity. The same thing was done by the Roman Empire in Emperor Worship. He wanted one religion to hold the people together. He also has let his ego go wild. Herod had the same problem. See Acts 12. He brings his main rulers and leaders together and in a lack of personality integrity they allowed themselves to be humiliated. They were all prepared to bow down and not stand up. However, three men will stand up for the integrity of God. Their internal convictions were not altered by external pressures. The world today needs men and women who stand up for their godly internal principles like these three young men.

2 – The command (vs. 4-5)

There is a common way of addressing a crowd of people. Nebuchadnezzar wants complete obedience at one particular moment in time. There is a wind and string instruments in this orchestra that is going to play some sort of music as a cue for everyone to play along and worship this huge image of Nebuchadnezzar.

3 – The consequences (vs. 6-7)

Those in opposition to the command are to be put to death in the fiery furnace. The intimidated, non-thinking people do as they are told. The external pressure means that we bow to the system and compromise, rather than lose their position. It is conspicuous that three men have not bowed down despite the consequences. They are remaining faithful to their internal convictions which is to obey God and not worship idols.

4 – The conspiracy (vs. 8-12)

There are many Chaldeans who were working in the court of the king. The rest of them hit the deck like everyone else. They were envious that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were promoted over them. They now come in a malicious way to destroy these three Jews. They came in a hypocritical way by puffing up the King and then come to tell tales on the three young men – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Envy is as rotting bones in the body. They accuse them of three things:-

• They haven’t give Nebuchadnezzar the honour due to him. This is not true. They had fulfilled their duties to the King so far as it did not violate their higher duties to God. They were good citizens
• They don’t serve your gods. This was true.
• They don’t worship your image. This was also true.

They had character. They did not follow their leader if it was wrong. They did not follow what everyone else was doing. They didn’t worry about the consequences of being betrayed and thrown into the fire.

4 – The coercion (vs. 13-15)

You might think it is no big deal if only three people don’t conform. However, an ego-maniac like Nebuchadnezzar needed everyone to conform. He is incandescent with rage and the men are brought before him. The first accusation they had made is rightly dropped but the other two are raised. Nebuchadnezzar gets out of hand thinking that no one can deliver them out of his hand. He has a short memory. He puts his power against the power of God.

5 – The courage (vs. 16-18)

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego cut straight to the chase. There was no sucking up or lengthy explanations. They keep it simple. They admit their guilt and have no other explanation to give. They know that their God can deliver them if He so pleases but even if He doesn’t they won’t change their position. They will not bow down! Their faith held true in the worst moment. Their internal principle meant they could not compromise it because of external pressure. They would accept God’s will even if it meant death in the fiery furnace. Death is as good as life to them. They are not ashamed of the Lord God. Great men and woman of God are not deterred from completing the work by threats.

6 – The consequences (vs. 19-23)

The rage of Nebuchadnezzar has become insane. He is making faces at them and he gets them to heat it up seven times more. This is crazy. This won’t prolong death but speed it up! They are tied up and thrown into this fiery furnace which was probably a pit in the ground. They were all dressed up on fancy clothes. They were not rebellious. There was no time to change their clothes! God did not save them from the fire. Plan A did not work but plan B did! God rescued them in the fire. The soldiers that threw them in were not so lucky; they died from the heat of the fire.

7 – The companion (vs. 24-25)

Nebuchadnezzar has a ringside seat from above and he sees a number of things that astonish him:-

• He sees four people instead of three
• They are loose and not bound
• They are not lying down (burning up) but are walking around!
• The fourth person looks like a son of God (i.e. an angel)! There was something special about this fourth person with the three young men. They weren’t trying to get out of the fire but rather just pacing around! They were going for a walk in the fiery furnace! They were enjoying each other’s company! This fourth person was either a pre-incarnate Christ or an angel. It is impossible to be sure. What we can be sure about is that this is divine intervention to protect his people.

8 – The commendation (vs. 26-30)

Nebuchadnezzar realises that he has met his match. He calls them out of the fire. He must have been rubbing his eyes in disbelief. When they do an investigation they realise there is no scorch marks, the clothes are not burnt or even smell of smoke. The smell of smoke is not an easy smell to get rid of and they realise it is real. Nebuchadnezzar is not seeing God as the only god – just top of his pile! See Romans 12:1. They yielded their bodies as living sacrifices to God. This is how we can bring people to recognise God. Nebuchadnezzar proclaims throughout the empire that the Lord God is to be honoured and promotes the three men higher still. They were managers over managers! The Chaldeans would not be pleased.

Categories: Daniel