EVEN IN THE FURNACE
Daniel 3: 16- 30
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.
29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, 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.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, in the province of Babylon.
In Babylon’s religious culture, statues were frequently worshiped as gods. Nebuchadnezzar hoped to use this huge image as part of his strategy to centralize worship in order to unite the nation and solidify his power. When he made the statue, he showed that his devotion to Daniel’s God was short-lived.
He ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to deny God, but the 3 chose to be faithful to God no matter what happened. They were confident that God could deliver them, but they were determined to be faithful regardless of the consequences, even if it threatened their personal safety.
- The VALUE of Friendship
- The VALOR of the Faithful
- The VANQUISH of Fire
- The VICTORY of Faith
The fact that we may be doing God’s will should not lead us to expect God will prevent us from facing the consequences imposed by the powers that be. Working as a Christian is not another shortcut to success but instead may bring the constant danger of suffering.
I. THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP
Daniel 3: 16- 18
WE, US and OUR.
These words declare unity, oneness or solidarity. The decision of one is the decision of all. They stand as one in everything. They had important things in common that made them friends.
FRIENDSHIPS make life enjoyable and difficult times bearable. Friendships are tested and strengthened by hardships.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego help us think about the real meaning of friendship. As much as these friends meant to each other, they never allowed their friendship to usurp God’s place in their lives—not even in the face of death.
Together they silently defied King Nebuchadnezzar’s order to fall down and worship his gold statue.
This was the moment of truth. Death was about to end their friendship. But they were wise enough to see that compromise would have poisoned the very conviction that bound them so closely—each had a higher allegiance to God. So they did not hesitate to place their lives in the hands of God.
What lessons can we learn from this friendship:
- There is great strength in real friendship.
Friends will make life more enjoyable when they do life together under shared convictions and common values. There is great strength that comes from real deep, authentic friendships since your friends will remind you to stay firm in your faith and trust that God is there throughout life’s trials.
- It is important to stand with others we share convictions with.
While having common values and shared religious beliefs with your friends is not a requirement, it does help since we may not always perceive when God is in the midst of our trials, especially when you don’t get the outcome you wanted.
- Don’t leave God out of your friendship.
When we leave God out of our most important relationships, we tend to expect those relationships to meet needs in us that only God can meet. Friends are helpful, but they cannot meet our deepest spiritual needs. Leaving God out of our relationships indicates how unimportant he really is in our own lives.
II. THE VALOR OF THE FAITHFUL
Daniel 3: 17- 23
The king offered Daniel’s friends a second chance to worship the idol, but they persistently refused.
V. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
The Aramaic imperfect verb yeseziv “he can rescue or able to deliver” in this context indicates POSSIBILITY and not certainty. Their faith in God did not rest on the belief that he would perform a miracle, but that their sovereign God could be trusted.
At the very outset, their response in the moment of trial confirmed three things:
– their unswerving conviction of the God of the Bible.
– their confidence in the God who is who He says He is, and will do what He says He will do, and
– their faith as revealed by their reliance upon the only One who had the power to deliver them from evil.
Their acknowledgment of God over the world’s most powerful king resulted in God’s supreme power being revealed to unbelievers. Their faith demonstrates that God IS ABLE to deliver us from our own problems and trials.
Application: As believers, we know that God is able to deliver. However, we should also know that He does not always do so. Romans 5 tells us that God may allow trials and difficulties in our lives to build our character, strengthen our faith, or for other reasons unknown to us. We may not always understand the purpose of our trials, but God simply asks that we trust Him—even when it is not easy.
Job, who endured incredible pain, almost insurmountable agony, and suffering, was still able to say, “Though He may slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job 13:15).
We also know that God does not always guarantee that we will never suffer or experience death, but He does promise to be with us always. Our attitude should reflect that of these three young men: “But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18).
Jesus Himself said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
Again Jesus taught that his followers would often find trouble while in this world for their faithfulness. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Only in heaven, before God, will we finally have complete peace and healing.
Application: Remain faithful as these three men did, and cling to the hope that God will walk with you through the fire. Our eternal reward will be the confirmation that any suffering we had to endure in this earthly life was worth it.
III. THE VANQUISH OF THE FIRE
Daniel 3: 24- 27
Nebuchadnezzar was astonished that the fire did not consume Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He was even more amazed when he saw not three, but a fourth person with them: “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”(Daniel 3:25 KJV).
God sent a heavenly visitor to accompany these faithful men during their time of great trial.
The point here is that, when we “walk by faith”, there may be those times of fiery persecution, but we can be assured that He is with us, He will sustain us, He will ultimately deliver us. He will save us … eternally.
“Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire… whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”
These young men had been completely untouched by the fire and heat. They came out of the fire, and there was not even the smell of fire upon them.
One very great effort of the adversary in the fiery furnace is to leave the marks and smell upon us.
Having a smell of burning about us means that the suffering and the trial that we have been through have beclouded the glory. The enemy ever seeks to rob us of our joy and frustrate the desire of the Lord that we should be radiators of His glory.
Application: To come out of the fiery trial of our faith without the smell of burning is a testimony to the comprehensiveness of the Lord’s protection. The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego saved them completely, so that there was not the slightest evidence that they had ever been in danger. The salvation offered by the Lord is so effective and complete that nothing of the lost condition remains.
IV. THE VICTORY OF FAITH
Daniel 3: 28- 30
The officers wouldn’t dare speak up at that time, lest they offend their king. But King Nebuchadnezzar spoke out (v. 28)
He affirmed:
(1) the power of the God of Israel,
(2) the effectiveness of faith in the Lord,
(3) the remarkable dedication of the three Jewish men.
By one act of faith, the three Jewish men became witnesses of the true and living God to the entire Babylonian Empire.
As Christians, we will never be able to bring the world to Christ by becoming like it. If we are put before the fiery furnace, we can reveal the One who can deliver us from it.
Paul said: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
After seeing the men walk out of the furnace unharmed, King Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed that no other god is able to save like this. There is no other god who walks through the fire with his people.
God’s deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was a great victory of faith for the Jews in captivity. God protected them from harm, comforted them in their trial, and showed that he alone is the true God over all.
The 3 Hebrew men are exceptional and worth emulating. Their person and character exemplify that of a real strong believer that we need to be today. They are an example of faithfulness. They teach us how to remain faithful in the midst of real challenges and dangers. They have shown how to face judgment despite their innocence. They modeled how to conquer fear and obtain victory over their situation. They faced the fire and vanquished them. Such characteristics are admirable.
But we have One more admirable than them. The One who remained faithful until death, the One who vanquished death through resurrection and the One who taught us the value of friendship when He gave his life for His friends and enemies. In Daniel 3 he was the faithful friend who did not leave his friends in the furnace, the 4th man – the Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus.
Jesus is the greater Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego because He took on the suffering and death of his people at the cross to rescue them, ultimately, from suffering and death. Not only of his people but also of the world. Jesus is a picture of a friend who will not forsake his friends. He is the friend that loves at all times. He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is the friend that lays his life down for his friends.
CONCLUSION:
Throughout the bible we see great victories of men and women living by faith. Holding on to their faith in God, always produced great results to the person and to the work of God. We see that in the story of the 3 young men from Israel as they went through the furnace experience. Faith during a time of crisis draws God close to you more than ever before.
Jesus met the 3 young men in the furnace. He was with them even before they were thrown into the furnace. But He appeared and showed a stronger presence, when they were thrown in to die.
In times when we are pushed to a point that we may feel there is no hope and the worst is upon us, God comes through mightily. He remains faithful to his promises.
Hebrews 13:5 “…for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Romans 8: 38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord..”
When we love God in response to His love to us and put our trust in him, NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can separate us from him. His presence will be greatly manifested in our furnace.
