Fiery Furnace
There was in the land of Judah a wicked king-named Jehoiakim, son of the good Josiah. While Jehoiakim was ruling over the land of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, a great conqueror of the nations, came from Babylon with his army of Chaldean sersoldi. He took the city of Jerusalem and made Jehoiakim promise to submit to him as his master. Moreover, when he returned to his land, he took all the gold and silver he could find in the Temple; he carried away as captives many of the princes and nobles, the best people in the land of Judah.
When these Jews were brought to the land of Chaldea or Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to the prince, who had charge of his palace, to choose among these Jewish captives some young men who were of noble rank, and beautiful in their looks and also quick and bright in their minds; young men who would be able to learn readily. These young men were to be placed under the care of wise men, who should teach them all that they knew and fit them to stand before the King of Babylon so that they might be his helpers to carry out his orders; and the King wished them to be wise so that they might give him advice in ruling his people.
Among the young men thus chosen were four Jews who had been brought from Judah. By order of the King, the names of these men were changed. Daniel was called Belteshazzar; the other three young men were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They were taught all the Chaldean's knowledge; after three years of training, they were taken into the King's palace.
King Nebuchadnezzar was more pleased with them than any others who stood before him. He found them wise and faithful in the work given to them and able to rule over men under them. Furthermore, these four men came to the highest places in the kingdom of the Chaldeans.
At one time, King Nebuchadnezzar caused a great image to be made and covered with gold. This image he set up as an idol to be worshipped, on the plain of Dura, near the city of Babylon. When finished, it stood upon its base or foundation almost a hundred feet high; so it could be seen far from the plain. Then the King sent out a command for all the princes, rulers, and nobles in the land, to come to a great gathering when the image was to be set apart for worship.
The great men of the kingdom came from far and near and stood around the image. Among them, by command of the King, were Daniel's three friends, the young Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. For some reason, Daniel himself was not there. He may have been busy with the kingdom's work elsewhere.
At one moment in the service before the image, all the trumpets sounded, the drums were beaten, and music was made upon musical instruments of all kinds to signal all the people to kneel and worship the great golden image. However, while the people were kneeling, three men stood up and would not bow down. These were the three young Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They knelt before the Lord God only.
Many of the nobles had been jealous of these young men because they had been lifted to high places in the kingdom's rule; these men who hated Daniel and his friends were glad to find that these three men had not obeyed the command of King Nebuchadnezzar. The King had said that if anyone did not worship the golden image, he should be thrown into a furnace of fire. You gave orders that when the music sounded, everyone should bow down and worship the golden image; and that if any man did not worship, he should be thrown into a furnace of fire. These men who hated the Jews came to the King and said: "O King, may you live forever! Some Jews, whom you have made rulers in the land, have not done as you commanded. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up." Their names are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and fury at knowing that anyone should dare to disobey his words. He sent for these three men and said to them: "O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, was it by a purpose that you did not fall and worship the image of gold? The music shall sound once more, and if you worship the image, it will be well. But if you will not, you shall be thrown into the furnace of fire to die."
These three young men were not afraid of the King. They said:
"O King Nebuchadnezzar, we are ready to answer you at once. The God we serve can save us from the fiery furnace, and we know he will save us. However, if it is God's will that we should die, even then you may understand, O King, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image."
This answer made the King more furious than before. He said to his servants: "Make a fire in the furnace hotter than ever it has been before, as hot as fire can be made, and throw these three men into it."
Then the King's army soldiers seized the three young Jews as they stood in their loose robes, with their turbans on their heads. They tied them with ropes, dragged them to the mouth of the furnace, and threw them into the fire. The flames rushed from the opened door with such fury that they burned even to death the soldiers holding these men; the men themselves fell downbound into the middle of the fiery furnace.
But an angel befriended them, and they were unhurt.
King Nebuchadnezzar stood before the furnace and looked into the open door. As he looked, he was filled with wonder at what he saw; and he said to the nobles around him:
"Did we not throw three men bound into the fire? How is it then that I see four men loose walking in the furnace, and the fourth man looks as though he were a son of the gods?"
Moreover, the nobles who stood by could scarcely speak, so great was their surprise.
"It is true, O king," at last, they said to Nebuchadnezzar, "that we cast these men into the flames, expecting them to be burned up, and we cannot understand how it happens that they have not been destroyed."
The King came near to the door of the furnace as the fire became lower, and he called out to the three men within it:
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye who serve the Highest God, come out of the fire, and come to me."
They came out and stood before the King in the sight of all the princes, nobles, and rulers; everyone could see that they were alive.
Their garments had not been scorched, their hair singed, nor was there even the smell of fire upon them.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar said before all his rulers: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel and has saved the lives of these men who trusted in him. I make a law that no man in all my kingdoms shall say a word against their God, for there is no other god who can save those who worship him in this manner. Furthermore, if any man speaks a word against their God, the Highest God, that man shall be cut in pieces, and his house shall be torn down."
After King Nebuchadnezzar died, his kingdom became weak, and the Medes and Persians took the city of Babylon under Cyrus, a great warrior.
Life Application from Fiery Furnace Story
The conclusion is that God was with these three men. In the fiery ordeal that they went through, God was with them, and He went through it with them. The lesson is that through life's fiery trials and ordeals, God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). God not only knows about our suffering in trials, but He also goes with us in, and He goes with us through them. This Scripture says God is "ever-present" or always with us in our troubles. He is ever present in times of trouble; as Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."
A lesson we can apply to our lives is that we sometimes have to do things that the world will be angry over. A company may ask you to "cook the books" to cover up something illegal. We may be asked to lie to a customer to save face for the company. There is a chance that we might be told to do something unethical. We might even be tempted to cheat on our taxes, but our first and foremost obligation is to always obey God rather than men – even at the risk of injury to ourselves or the prospect of losing our jobs. Obedience to God is the higher moral principle. Obedience to employers is commanded by God (Romans 13:1-3) but not when it conflicts with God's laws and principles. We must stand firm in our faith at all times. We must never compromise what is taught in the Bible. We must obey God over men when there are opposing interests (Acts 5:29). When we face the consequences or are cast into fiery figurative furnaces – even if we are bound – we can rest assured that God is with us before, during, and after. He will be faithful and present with us in our going through them. You can believe God. He will be with you, even in the fiery trials of life.
THE STORY OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN
King Darius gave Daniel, who was now a significantly older man, a high place in honor and power. The lands which had been the Babylonian or Chaldean empire now became the empire of Persia; over these, Darius was the King. Daniel stood first among all the rulers over the land, for the King saw that he was wise and able to rule. This made the other princes and rulers very jealous, and they tried to find something evil in Daniel to speak to the King against him.
These men saw that three times every day, Daniel went to his room and opened the window toward the city of Jerusalem, and looking toward Jerusalem, he made his prayer to God. Jerusalem was at that time in ruins, and the Temple was no longer standing; Daniel prayed three times each day with his face toward the place where the house of God had once stood, although it was many hundreds of miles away.
These nobles thought that in Daniel's prayers, they could find a chance to harm him and perhaps cause him to be put to death. They came to King Darius and said to him: "All the rulers have agreed together to have a law made that for thirty days no one shall ask anything of any god or any man, except you, O King; and that if anyone shall pray to any god, or shall ask anything from any man during the thirty days, except you, O King, he shall be thrown into the den where the lions are kept. Now, O King, make the law, and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, for no law among the Medes and the Persians can be altered."
The King was not a wise man; being foolish and vain, he was pleased with this law that would set him even above the gods. So without asking Daniel's advice, he signed the writing; the law was made, and the word was sent out through the kingdom that no one should pray to any god for thirty days.
Daniel knew that the law had been made, but he went to his room thrice daily, opened the window toward Jerusalem, and offered his prayers to the Lord, just as he had prayed in other times. These rulers were watching nearby and saw Daniel kneeling in prayer to God. Then they came to the King and said: "O King Darius, have you not made a law that if anyone in thirty days offers a prayer, he shall be thrown into the den of lions?"
"It is true," said the King. "The law has been made, and it must stand."
They said to the King: "There is one man who does not obey the law you have made. It is Daniel, one of the captive Jews. Every day Daniel prays to his God three times, just as he did before you signed the writing of the law."
Then the King was very sorry for what he had done, for he loved Daniel and knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom. All day, until the sun went down, he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel's life; but when evening came, these men again told him of the law that he had made and said to him that it must be kept. Very unwillingly, the King sent for Daniel and ordered that he should be thrown into the lions' den. He said to Daniel: "Perhaps your God, whom you serve faithfully, will save you from the lions."
They led Daniel to the mouth of the pit where the lions were kept, and they threw him in, and over the mouth, they placed a stone; and the King sealed it with his seal, and with the seals of his nobles; so that no one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den.
Then the King went again to his palace, but that night he was so sad that he could not eat, nor did he listen to music as he was used to listening. He could not sleep, for he was thinking of Daniel through the night. Very early in the morning, he rose from his bed and hurried to the lion's den. He broke the seal and took away the stone, and in a voice full of sorrow, he called out, scarcely hoping to have an answer: "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to save you from the lions?"
Moreover, out of the darkness in the den came the voice of Daniel, saying: "O King, may you live forever! My God has sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths. They have not hurt me because my God saw that I had done no wrong. Moreover, I have done no wrong toward you, O King!"
Then the King was glad. He gave his servants orders to take Daniel out of the den. Daniel was brought out safely and without harm, because he trusted the Lord God fully. Then, by the King's command, they brought those men who had spoken against Daniel, and their wives and children with them, for the King was exceedingly angry with them. They were all thrown into the den, and the hungry lions leaped upon them and tore them into pieces as soon as they fell upon the floor.
After this, King Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the many kingdoms under his rule: "May peace be given to you all abundantly! I make a law that everywhere among my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel; for he is the living God, above all other gods, who only can save men."
And Daniel stood beside King Darius until the end of his reign, and afterward, while Cyrus the Persian was King over all the lands.
Have you ever wondered, as I have, Why Daniel was not thrown in the fiery furnace with his Hebrew friends?
The story of the three young Hebrew men in the fiery furnace is found in Daniel chapter 3. King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon (Daniel 3:1).
Nebuchadnezzar's Command
Nebuchadnezzar commanded that all people be present for the dedication of the image. This attendance was to be a test of loyalty for all. Moreover, "He summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up (Daniel 3:2-3).
Once the crowd of officials was gathered, they were given orders to bow down and worship the image. "As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace…." (Daniel 3:4-7).
Why Was Daniel Not Present in the Fiery Furnace?
Some wonder: if Daniel was so faithful to God, why was he not present with his faithful friends in the fiery furnace? The Bible tells us that Daniel served as the "ruler over the entire province of Babylon and . . . in charge of all its wise men" (Daniel 2:48). Therefore, it is possible to conclude that he was away on a mission or an assignment for the King and was therefore not present at the event described in Daniel 3.
