King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3So the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, 4the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 8Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. 9They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, 11and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O King. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” 13Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. 17If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” 19Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, 20and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. 24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.” 26Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27And 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 tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. 28Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy 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 deliver in this way.” 30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon (Daniel 3:1-30).
The events recorded in this text occurred in Babylon circa 587 B.C. The Jews were in captivity and King Nebuchadnezzar drafted the best and the brightest young people to add value to his administration; three of these young people, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had received political appointments. However, when these three disobeyed a commandment to worship this earthly king, they were condemned to death.
If we closely examine the details of the text, we see that verses 20, 21, 23 and 24 suggest that they were bound in some manner. However, verse 25 says that after they were put inside the furnace, they were unbound. They were not burned and their clothes were not burned, but they were no long bound. Remarkably, the only thing that was destroyed was that which had them in bondage.
If we see fire as a metaphor for a severe ordeal, then most, if not all of us can say that at some point, we have also experienced a fiery furnace. Whether by choice or by force, we have faced trials that have tested our patience and our faith. There may have been one trial or multiple trials; they may have been sequential or parallel. They may have been surprises or anticipated. The duration may have been short or long. But with few exceptions, all of us are familiar with a fiery furnace.
When going through an ordeal, the first and natural question is ‘Why?’ Why me? Why now? Why here? Why this type of challenge? We start going down our mental checklists and ask:
• Is this for a lie I told?
• Is this for something I took without permission?
• Is this for the lust, envy, greed and jealousy in my heart?
• Is this because I don’t pray as often as I should?
• Is this for someone that I did not forgive?
• Is this because I did not put enough in the offering plate?
Why God – Why? What is your reasoning? My God, my God – why have you forsaken me? What is the purpose of the furnace?
I submit to you that the answer is in the text. God did not take Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the furnace but He disentangled them while in the furnace. The purpose of the furnace was to burn up that which had them in bondage.
If we are honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that there are areas in our lives, in which we are in bondage. We are in bondage to our pride, egos, personal agendas, self-righteousness, family pedigrees, academic achievements, professional accomplishments, material possessions, church traditions, cooking recipes, etc.
Moreover, we are in bondage to our bad memories, failures and fears. We are in bondage to our insecurities, low self-esteem, mistakes and loneliness. We are in bondage to group expectations; we are in bondage to seeking affirmation in the eyes of others.
In short, there internal and external factors that keep us captive and unable to experience the abundant life. And to facilitate our deliverance, God may choose to allow us to experience a fiery trial.
Is God being cruel to allow those whom He loves to suffer? My faith says no. God’s ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts. Hence as an act of faith, I trust that my furnace experience does not mean that God wants to fry me – but rather that He wants to free me.
It is in those moments when everything else that I thought was important is seen differently. For as with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the purpose of the furnace experience may not be to produce a heat that burns but light that helps us to see. It is in those uncomfortable trials that my will is destroyed and I am refocused to see that living for Christ is the only thing that matters. And I am reminded that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to the glory that shall be revealed in us. I cannot trace Him, but I must learn to trust Him, and that His goal is to make me better and not bitter.
We invite you today to establish a trust-relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We invite you into a relationship that will slowly but steadily, strip away those things that have you tied up. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed; that is the purpose of the furnace. It is through the test that we advance two testimonies of the greatness of God: (1) one of our own and (2) one from those who thought we would be destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar was right – ‘there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way’. Amen.
