The Fiery Furnace
Daniel 3:16-18 - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
This is a short story written through Daniel’s perspective. Please take the time to read the whole thing in the book of Daniel.
My name is Daniel. I’d like to tell you the story of three of my friends who nearly burned alive for their faith in God. You all may know the story of the fiery furnace, but that’s not where I’d like to begin. I want to start with the Babylonian capture.
The glory of Judah was gone. We had forsaken our God’s law, His covenants, disrespected the Sabbath, and moved away to idolatry. Because of our insolence, God allowed Judah to be captured. First by Egypt and then by Babylon. We were warned by the prophets that we would suffer for our disobedience, but we did not heed it.
When King Josiah, an ally of the Babylonians, was killed in battle, Pharoah Necho II replaced our king with his nominee, King Jehoiakim. He reigned under Egyptian protection for some time paying heavy tributes for safety. This time of manufactured peace only lasted a short while. Babylon was brewing for a takeover. Their king, Nebuchadnezzar II, was a brilliant military tactician. He led his army against Egypt and defeated them. Jehoiakim seized that opportunity to switch allegiances again and allied himself with Babylon. Things were going well for Judah for three years until Jehoiakim decided to revolt against Nebuchadnezzar.
Babylon obliterated us! Jerusalem was conquered and Jehoiakim was captured. Not only that, but Nebuchadnezzar also took the gold and vessels of God’s Temple into the house of the Babylonian gods. He instructed his servants to take the royal children of Judah into captivity as well so that they could be taught the language and culture of the Babylonians. Among all the children taken were Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and I. The king had instructed the eunuchs to provide us with meat, wine, and instruction so that at the end of three years we would be able to stand before the king.
Not only was King Nebuchadnezzar a successful military man, but he was also an effective leader. His mission with our capture and indoctrination was to completely separate us from our Jewish culture and heritage so that we would become good Babylonian citizens contributing to society. So, his first order of business was to change our names. My name went from Daniel, meaning God is my judge, to Belteshazzar. Hananiah’s name, meaning Jehovah has been gracious, was changed to Shadrach. Mishael’s name, meaning who is what God is, was changed to Meshach. And Azariah’s name, meaning Jehovah has helped, was changed to Abednego.
The eunuchs took their role seriously and wanted to feed us the food and wine directly from the king’s table. This was to enrich us so that we would be healthy and fair before the king after our three years of training were complete. We approached the head eunuch regarding the diet we were to partake in. The meat and wine which were brought to the king’s table were not prepared according to God’s commands and were first offered to idols before being served. There was no way that we could participate in the consumption of such a meal without defiling ourselves before God. We requested vegetables to eat and water to drink. The head eunuch was rightfully concerned. He could not go against the will of the king as he would be courting his death. I came up with a solution. We would have a ten-day test. The four of us would have the vegetables and water, while the rest had the meat and wine from the king’s table. The head eunuch would then determine if we still looked healthy and fair compared to the other children. Ten days went by and we were deemed even healthier than those on the king’s diet. From then on, the four of us were only given vegetables and water.
While we were alone and away from our families in a strange land, God protected us. He gave us knowledge and skill in the manner of learning and wisdom. In this way, the four of us continued for three years. Finally, we were to be presented to the king. After spending time with us, Nebuchadnezzar found none like our group of four. When the king had a question or wanted advice, he came to us. He found us to be better than all his magicians and astrologers. God had been merciful to us and gave us positions in Nebuchadnezzar’s court.
Now we come to the heart of the story. Many years had passed and we were all in the king’s service. I was made a ruler over Babylon and the chief governor over the wise men. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the heads of affairs of the Babylonian provinces. During this time, Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten about the prophecy God had revealed to him in his dream and began to think of himself as the ultimate one again. He built a magnificent golden image of himself in the plain of Dura close to the river. The princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and rulers of the provinces were gathered together for the dedication ceremony. At the ceremony, it was announced that all those present, when they heard the music playing, had to bow down and worship the image. My friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were present for the event but deliberately chose not to bow down to the image.
When other Babylonians saw my friends refusing to bow, they informed the king. Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and demanded my friends present themselves before him. He gave them an ultimatum. If they would bow to the image the next time the music played, they would be spared. But, if they refused, they would be tossed into the burning furnace. He even took it a step further and questioned if our God would be able to deliver my friends from his hands. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responded in a manner most fitting of a child of God, by saying:
“If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Those words infuriated Nebuchadnezzar even more. His whole demeanor changed. No longer were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego considered valued servants in his court, but traitors to all that Babylon stood for. These men were given all the advantages and training of the Babylonians in the hopes that they would forsake their Jewish God and customs. But, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood firm in the face of that persecution and were willing to die for their convictions in obedience to God.
The king had his men make the furnace seventeen times hotter than its normal temperature and had his mightiest soldiers bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to throw them in. Because of the intense heat of the fire, the soldiers were instantly consumed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell in the middle of the fire still bound.
When Nebuchadnezzar got up from his throne to witness the event, he saw the figure of four men walking in the furnace, unharmed. He was puzzled and asked his counselors how many men were thrown into the fire. They responded that only three were thrown in - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The king saw that the fourth person was like the Son of God. He called out to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out of the furnace. The king and all his servants were astonished. My friends were not burned at all. The hairs on their heads were not even singed! Their clothes were not burned! Neither was the smell of smoke even present on them! It was like they were never in a fire at all.
The same Nebuchadnezzar who had taunted my friends that their God could not save them spoke up in honor of their God, the one true God. He said:
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.”
What a powerful statement by a pagan king! The nation must have been shocked. This proud Babylonian who had erected a statue of himself in pure gold to be worshipped by all now stood astonished by the power and might of the one true Jehovah God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions than before within the province of Babylon.
What a great example my friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have left for followers of God! Please read the full story in Daniel 1 & 3.
Sources:
Bible, KJV & NKJV
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, December 30). Jehoiakim. Retrieved August 22, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jehoiakim
Saggs, H. (2019, November 05). Nebuchadnezzar II. Retrieved August 22, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nebuchadnezzar-II
The Editors of Ecyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, November 05). Necho II. Retrieved August 22, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Necho-II
