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Turn to Daniel 3. Three Hebrew exiles were arrested for refusing to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s 90-foot image and worship his gods. If they refused, they’d be thrown into a flaming, crackling, fiery furnace located close by the image. These Hebrews knew their Bible. Exodus 20:3-6 says, “You shall have no other gods before Me, worship them or serve them.” They refused to compromise their faith to save their own skin, so now they are going to have to pay the consequences.
Before going any further, the question on many minds is where is Daniel all this time? First, we don’t know where he is. Remember he is a high official under Nebuchadnezzar, so he may be on an official business trip or he may be in his office tending to the affairs of state. Of one thing we are certain, he would not bow and worship the king’s image either. We’ll see his faith in action in chapter six.
The last words we heard from our men in verses 17-18 were, “Our God is able to deliver us, but even if He doesn’t, we’re not worshiping your golden image.” Let’s see what happens next. We’re going to turn each of four parts of the story into a personal application: into the furnace, in the furnace, out of the furnace, and because of the furnace.
INTO THE FURNACE – Don’t be surprised when God lets you go into fiery trials.
Daniel 3:19-20, Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Nebuchnezzar is royally ticked off. He couldn’t be angrier. His face was red and distorted with his rage. He roars, “Make the furnace as hot as possible!” Seven times is a figure of speech for as much as possible. He couldn’t handle that these three men were refusing to obey his orders. This is a snapshot of the world’s hostility to Christianity that refuses to bow to the trending idols and gods of our culture.
He calls on the strongest possible soldiers, “valiant warriors,” perhaps part of his body guard, to tie them up so there’s no possibility of escape, and then to throw these rebels into the furnace which is now blazing with fire. I’m reminded of the efforts to secure the stone of the tomb where Christ’s body was laid with the official seal so nobody could steal the body. So these powerful warriors bind up the three Hebrew men who had all their clothes still on, including their hats. Just like when they crucified Christ, these Jews were the most compliant of subjects, giving no fight or struggle while being bound. The audience waited in tense silence as preparations were quickly made to roast them.
Daniel 3:21-22, 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. 22 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 Abed-nego.
So there go the valiant warriors carrying the three all bound, hands and feet, and then tossing them into the midst of the furnace which is now described as “extremely hot!” It was so blazing hot that these mighty soldiers were struck dead from the sheer heat. They may have turned into human torches as they lay there burning to death outside the furnace.
Now put yourself in the Jewish men’s place as they were bound and then carried closer and closer to the hot furnace. As the soldiers threw them like logs onto the fire they may have thought, “Here we go. Our God is able, but apparently He is not willing to deliver us from the fire. But the pain will be brief.” Like the 16th century English martyr Mr. Ridley said before being taken to the stake in Oxford, “Our breakfast may be sharp but our supper will be sweet.”
God can deliver you and me from every trial. But He doesn’t. James 1:2 says we are to count it all joy when we get thrown into trials. Romans 5:3 says you are to glory when various trials come your way. God is at work and has His purposes. 1 Peter 1:7 says God will try your faith because it is much more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire.
He uses trials to discipline, refine, and purify us and prepare us for the coming of our Lord. When Joni Eareckson Tada sat depressed in her wheel chair after her swimming accident rendered her a quadriplegic, her neighbor came over and said, “Joni, God has put you in that chair.” We know and believe God is always in control working out His purposes in our lives, even using what we consider evil.
You may be in a trial right now because you are willing to take a stand for Christ. You have determined to remain faithful and not compromise God’s truth just to get along with others. And if your trial is really difficult, really hot, don’t turn back. Like Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” God has His purposes for your trials.
IN THE FURNACE – God promises to be with you in the trial.
Daniel 3:23, But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
There they go, as Maclaren described it, “down into the glowing mass like chips of wood into Vesuvius.” Notice, they are still tied up, utterly helpless to save themselves. Is it too late? God is able to deliver us, but even if He doesn’t! But now God works marvelously. His power to deliver is totally magnified. He never forsakes His own. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am with you.” They must have known at once that God is not only able but in fact is delivering them. Like when you face death, a hard, unpleasant trial, but the moment you die you know you are in Christ’s presence!
Or think about entering God’s judgment. How can you stand before a holy and righteous God without being consumed by His fiery judgment? Only by being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!” In Christ you can face the consuming fire just like these three walked around in the fire without being touched! As S. Lewis Johnson put it, “They were protected from the fire by sovereign, distinguishing grace!” The soldiers dropped dead instantly; these three aren’t touched by the fire – purely by the grace of God. We’re reminded of the 144,000 Jews specially sealed and protected from the ravages of the tribulation period, to survive all the way to the coming of Christ.
Daniel 3:24-25, 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.” 25 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!”
Suddenly Nebuchadnezzar flies out of his throne totally aghast. “How many men did we throw in there? I see four men loosed and walking around in the fire as if it was cool in the fire! And there’s a fourth one that looks like a son of a god.” Oh boy! This is amazing. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think and He never sends us into a trial without going with us. Count on it.
Who is this fourth man? Nebuchadnezzar describes him as a son of the gods. That’s all he knew. He knew it was a person of some sort. It could have been an angel, but I’m inclined to believe this was a Christophany – a pre-incarnate appearing of Christ. He appeared to Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Joshua and Gideon and others as the “Angel of the Lord.” But whether it was Christ or an angel, Nebuchadnezzar is seeing a miraculous deliverance of these men before his very eyes!
God not only lets you go into fiery trials, but Christ always goes with you. What comfort this is. God’s power and grace are sufficient for us, regardless of the severity of the trial. Whether through the valley of the shadow of death or through a debilitating disease or a troublesome child or persecution at work for your stand for Christ, He assures you, “I will be with you!”
Neb is astounded, amazed! But being astounded or impressed isn’t salvation. People may be impressed with Christians’ courage and shining lives, or even with Christ in the Bible, all His miracles, His willingness to go to the cross, His suffering. But again, being impressed with Christianity isn’t the same as being saved by the Christ of Christianity. True conversion is when you see that you are a guilty sinner under the judgment of God, that apart from Christ you are hopeless, and you turn from your sin and self-trust and trust in Him alone to save you. Neb is astounded, but not converted, at least not yet.
OUT OF THE FURNACE – God’s trials are momentary; you’ll soon be coming out of you trial.
Daniel 3:26, Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
What a change of tune! Nebuchadnezzar isn’t a true believer, but he sees enough of their God to know He is the Most High God. You’ve got to love what he says, “Come out and come here.” The KJV says, “Come forth and come hither!” Out they came. The fire behind them is still blazing. They were enjoying fellowship with Christ in the flames. You wonder if they had a bit of a grin on their faces, the grin of victorious faith. They’ll never forget this experience. Hebrews 11:34 says by faith they quenched the power of fire.
God assures you that His trials are for your good and are momentary and light compared to the grand weight of coming glory. He will accomplish His purpose and when He is finished, out you come.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
BECAUSE OF THE FURNACE – You will glorify God more because of the trial.
Daniel 3:27, 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 the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them
All these officials gathered round and saw with their own eyes the miraculous power of God. It was clearly a capital “M” miracle: the fire didn’t do four things fire usually does. It didn’t leave any burn marks on their body. It didn’t singe their hair. It didn’t damage their clothes. And there wasn’t even the slightest smell of fire on them. When God’s people go through trials, the world is often amazed when it sees the convictions of God’s people. Grace Life Church and Pastor James Coates had very little publicity until they arrested Pastor Coates, threw him in jail, and put two levels of wire fence around the church. The gospel certainly got more attention because of this trial. Nebuchadnezzar’s officials took an amazing story back home with them of seeing the true God in action.
Daniel 3:28-30, Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, 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. 29 “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego 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.” 30 Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
Now Nebuchadnezzar glorifies God because of their refusal to bow to his gods. He blesses God. He recognizes that miraculous fourth person in the fire who delivered them. They trusted in their God, they refused to bow even when he threatened death, and they yielded up their bodies to worship the one true God. So now, he decrees anyone who belittles or mocks or says anything negative about their God will be torn to pieces and their house reduced to a manure pile. This is how despots work, from one extreme to the other. And remember what he so boastfully said earlier? “What god can deliver you from my hand?” Now what? “There is no other god able to deliver in this way!”
Just as with Joni and her testimony for Christ in her paralysis and Job with his afflictions, God uses our trials to glorify Him.
SO WHAT?
Are you facing a furnace, or in a furnace, or coming out of a furnace? God has ordained it to refine and purify your heart. If you can’t avoid the furnace without compromising your biblical convictions or bruising your conscience before God, enter it with the courage of faith, just like these men did.
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
They dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
The greatest furnace of all was Calvary! And Christ wasn’t spared. He went into the furnace, suffering the flames of God’s wrath for your sins and mine, and then He came out of that tomb rising from the dead! Now His testimony to you and this world is, “I did this for sinners. Come to me. I am the way to the Father.” The only alternative is eternal punishment for sins, the lake of fire. In Matthew 13:42 it’s called the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And there’s no coming out of that fire. There’s no door on that furnace. Just as these three Hebrews took their stand by faith and survived the fire through Christ, it’s time for you to receive Christ now, without delay.