Daniel 3: What Happens When Three Jewish Boys and Their Faith Are Tested in the Fiery Furnace

In this lesson we explore the timeless story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego and their unwavering faith in the midst of a fiery trial. This study examines the challenges these three young men faced and the incredible display of faith that led to their miraculous deliverance.

Introduction to Daniel Chapter Three

Leave your Bibles open to Daniel chapter three. We're going to be focusing our attention this morning on, one of my favorite stories in the Bible. The Bible is sometimes referred to as the greatest story ever told and that means that it is made up of many of the greatest stories ever told.
And our text this morning is, I think, one of the most amazing and interesting stories in the Bible. There is a danger in our teaching and preaching if we rush in to look at the details and to make application and draw insights from the passage of scripture, that can lead to the possibility of missing and overlooking the appreciation that we should have for just how good and how impactful these stories are.
God actually designed. our brains to be impacted by stories. And that's why so much of His word to us is in story form. So before we look at any details or applications of this text, let's read it together from Daniel chapter three. As we study this lesson, and find out what happens when three Jewish boys and their faith are put through the fire.
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Nebuchanezzar's Golden Idol

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an idol of gold, the height of which was 60 cubits, and it's width six cubits, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to come for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
And the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces. were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and they were standing in front of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, To you it is said, O you peoples, nations, and men of every tongue, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, Flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down in worship shall immediately be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
Therefore, at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the psaltery, the bagpipe, and all kinds of music, then all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
For this reason, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and brought charges against the Jews, and they answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, "O king, live forever. You have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, tragon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image. But whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's Defiance

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed with the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, do not pay attention to you. They do not serve your gods and do not worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you are not serving my gods, and do not worship the golden image that I have set up?
Now, if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trident, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, You will immediately be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire and what God is there who can save you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, We do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will save us out of your hand, O King. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and the image of his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The Fiery Furnace

He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated, and he said to certain mighty men who were in his military host to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace.
of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and were cast into the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king's word was urgent, and the furnace had been heated to an extraordinary degree, the flame of the fire killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the mist of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.

Nebuchadnezzar's Astonishment

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and hurriedly stood up. He answered and said to his high officials, Was it not three men that we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said, Certainly, O king.
He answered and 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 the son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar drew near the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He answered and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out. You servants of the living God and come here.
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw with regard to these men that the fire had no power over 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. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and saved his servants who put their trust in him, violating the king's word, and gave up their bodies so as not to serve and not to worship any god except their own gods.
Therefore I make a decree. That any people, nation, or tongue that says anything offensive against the God of Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap. And as much as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way, then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to succeed in the province of Babylon.

Reflections on Faith and Conformity

Some, initial reflections as we read and think about this story that come to my mind, isn't our God amazing? And don't you love these guys? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, even if their names are hard to say. Their Hebrew names are a little easier, but still pretty tough. And don't you want to be like them when your own faith is put through the fire?
We'll talk a little bit about that in our lesson this morning. Don't you wonder, what circumstances of life, what preparations did they make that allowed them spiritually to be prepared to withstand a test such as this? And I asked myself, could I stand? as they did in similar circumstances. We live in very different circumstances from these individuals Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
We find out their background from Daniel chapter 1 that along with Daniel they had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar when he lay siege to Jerusalem on his kind of first incursion. Into the land of Judah, and they were brought and chosen to serve in the king's palace. But they had been separated, isolated from their home, their family from their religion, from the temple where their people worshipped.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And it was so their faith was very much under pressure. And we see in Daniel chapter one, how they took a stand not to defile themselves with the foods that were being served there. And how God. Delivered them from the consequences of that decision, and they were rewarded for taking that stand.
And so now we're in chapter three, we find some more details about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in particular. How they are placed in a very uncomfortable position.

Modern-Day Pressures and Challenges

And so a very different situation than we're living in our day and time, but there are a lot of similarities as well, because although our world is different than the world of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the world always is attempting to cause us to conform
And we live in a world that is very much putting that pressure on us the things that our world considers to be right and wrong. It tries to make everyone assent and agree and go along with their values of right and wrong. And if those don't match up with the values of the scriptures and the values of Christianity, then we have some difficult challenges to face.
Now in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Nebuchadnezzar just happened to have the power to put some of the highest pressure behind his demands for conformity. In fact Daniel would talk about this to one of Nebuchadnezzar's successors later. Although he said actually all that power came not from Nebuchadnezzar himself, but from God.
So in Daniel chapter 5 verse 18 to 19, Daniel speaking to Belshazzar, he says, O king, the most high God, Granted the kingdom, grandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar, your father. And because of the grandeur which he bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue feared and were in dread before him.
Whomever he wished, he killed, and whomever he wished, he kept alive. Whomever he wished, he raised up, and whomever he wished, he made low. That's an enormous amount of power that Nebuchadnezzar has, and we're seeing in Daniel chapter 3, him exerting all that power and pressure on these Jewish boys and their faith.
But Daniel, there in Daniel chapter 5, was telling Belshazzar, God, the true God, the God of heaven, is the one who gave your father this power, and he could take it away in any moment. And so in the next verse Daniel five verse 20, he says, but when his heart that is Nebuchadnezzar's heart was raised up and his spirit became so strong that he behaved arrogantly.
He was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. And if you want to know more details about that, then be staying tuned for our next lesson in this study of the book of Daniel and Daniel chapter four is where we get details of that.

Historical Parallels and Lessons

We can be grateful that we don't live in the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
But in order to apply this story to our own lives, we should assess the world that we are currently living in and identify the ways that our world is currently pressuring us to conform our values, the values that we receive from God in ways that would compromise our faith. We're living in a culture of political correctness that is being put upon us and the LGBT agenda is a very distinct form of values that do not match biblical values and are oftentimes being pressured for conformity in our society.
We may endure the pressure to engage in dishonest business practices. And I guess the point of listing these examples is there may be some specific ways that you're being pressured to conform that are very unique to you.
And so the idea is if we're not thinking about that we'll be affected by that pressure without responding to it. But by identifying what the pressures are that we are facing, then we can. ready ourselves mentally and spiritually and even call upon our brethren to give us encouragement to face the pressures that we must deal with.
We'll also find just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that there are some who will try to make our refusal to conform as public and painful as possible. Oftentimes when we're trying to just live our own lives without causing too much stir, we may quietly, say,, "I'm not going to participate in that," or choose to act a different way and go against the crowd.
But aren't there some people who will notice and say, "Whoa, Wait a second. Everybody look! What's going on here? This person didn't, follow along in the pattern of vile speech or they're not agreeing to this or that." And that was what the Chaldeans did to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They noticed and it wasn't easy in this situation, if you think about it, to notice out of probably hundreds, if not thousands of people, all of whom were supposed to be focusing their attention on this amazing statue that Nebuchadnezzar had made and all falling down at the same time to worship him.
Who was noticing that there was just three people in the back somewhere who weren't falling down and worshiping him? Was this just happened to be some people close by who said wait a second, there's someone over here or as I think is probably more likely, Nebuchadnezzar probably had some people there who their job was to look and make sure that everyone was bowing down. But you know what you can't do if you're looking to make sure everyone's bowing down? You can't bow down yourself, otherwise you won't be able to watch. I'm wondering if these Chaldeans fell down in worship the way everyone was told to, but we don't know for sure the details of that situation.
But they were determined to make Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego feel the heat, and they bring that charge. These men pay no attention to you, even after you have bless them with the administration of the province of Babylon that we can read about at the end of Daniel chapter one.

Getting Fired for Your Faith

Another common thing that we will experience like these faithful Jewish men is that oftentimes the world will give us another chance to conform, and in their minds they consider this mercy or open mindedness.
And so in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, he actually makes an excuse for them. "If you're ready...", maybe you weren't ready and so you weren't really prepared. The the music surprised you., But now that you know what's expected of you, I'm sure you're going to be willing, when you hear that music to bow down and worship. So he's going to give them another chance. How generous of him. And he's also making sure that they know what the expectations are.
Oftentimes when we're in, situations where there is pressure to conform. Specifically, if it's a matter of someone who is in a position of authority, it may be our boss or a job. Oh, yeah, they'll be a meeting. They'll come in and say, "Is it true that you're not following our standard operating procedures? Why? Because it's based on your convictions? Are you sure that you really want to take this stand? Because if you're willing to comply and go along, then, your previous infractions-- that's just fine! We will pretend that didn't happen! But if you're going to insist on taking a stand, then of course we're going to have to bring, all the consequences. And now that it's been thoroughly explained to you that this is our policy and this is our expectation.... "
Thankfully, the worst thing that can happen to you in that situation is you get fired. Maybe that's the wrong term to use because it was the same for them, except it was real fire when they got fired. They were going to be thrown into the furnace of fire. These are some of the most difficult challenges that we face in our Christian lives. When our jobs are being affected by our conscience and our desire to follow Jesus.
And we have to consider the livelihood of the family or children and our household. And in their case it was a matter of life and death.
That is the case. Not all the time, but sometimes the only choice is to conform or die. And Nebuchadnezzar made it very clear that this was one of those times.
He said, if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. What do you think is going to happen? Although he does say if you think that your God is going to save you, I really don't think that's possible. And that may have actually saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's life because Nebuchadnezzar chose to put it on the basis of religion and their faith.
We don't have time to look at the entire story in detail but we have another similarity with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

We know that God can do anything, but we also know that he's not obligated to do anything in our case.

And that's what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego expressed to the king. They said, "we don't need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire. They knew how powerful God was and the miracles that he had worked of deliverance days of David and Saul and Elijah and the other prophets of God, delivering them from challenging circumstances and from the hands of their enemies over and over again.
But they also knew that not everyone got delivered. God didn't save every one of his children every time they faced a challenge. There were those that suffered in spite of being treated unjustly. And so they had no right, they could ask God to save them, but they had no right to demand or expect God to save them.
And so they tell him, we don't know what God's going to choose to do, but we do know what we must do. And that is not serve or worship the gods that you have made to only worship and serve our god. And so that's what we have to realize when we're in the midst of our trials. We know God could deliver us from any trial that we're in the midst of.
He is powerful enough to do exactly that. And it's right and good for us to ask for deliverance. But we also realize that it's up to Him. And we ask your will be done when we're asking even for the things that we most earnestly desire. Nevertheless, not our will, but your will be done. Because we want God's will to be taking place.

What happens when three Jewish boys in their faith are put through the fire?

What happened was that Nebuchadnezzar found out that he had assembled all those satraps and prefects and governors and high officials, not to unify them in conformity to his rule and idolatry, but actually to witness the true God and his rule in the affairs of mankind.
And verse 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 power over the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor was their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them."
And the king is forced to acknowledge what has taken place. The God, their God has sent his angel. Their God has saved his servants. That word that he had issued, they had flagrantly violated it. And he tried to punish them, but he couldn't because they were delivered by their god who they had put their trust in.
What an amazing admission. And I guess we can say this for Nebuchadnezzar. He knew when he was beat and he said, I'm going to issue a decree that this god, the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego must be honored and no one should speak anything against them. And he actually puts life and death consequences on that.
And so that's an interesting turn of affairs. Going from these men being brought to the before the throne and threatened with death if they were remained true to their god, to the whole Babylonian empire being on notice that no one should say or do anything offensive against the god of three of these three men.
The faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are commemorated in the New Testament and I believe this passage is one of the ones being referred to here in Hebrews 11 verse 32, where he says, What more shall I say for faith will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, and put armies to flight. They could not know for certain that God would deliver them when they took their stand.
But because they acted in faith, they stand as an example. of how God acted powerfully, quenching the power of fire and delivering them in that case.

Not Everyone Escapes the Fire

But it's also the case that, just as they said, if it be so, but if not, there were others who did not escape the fire. And there's really a warning about this even in the book of Daniel, in the prophetic section, describing the time between the testaments when the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes the fourth, defiled the temple in Jerusalem and compelled the Greek idols to be erected and worshiped there.
And he compelled many Jews who refused to eat swine's flesh to conform or die. And let's read that prophecy from Daniel 11, beginning in verse 31. Mighty forces from him will stand, profane the sanctuary fortress. and abolish the regular sacrifice, and they will set up the abomination of desolation. Verse 33, And those who have insight among the people will give an understanding to the many, and that's referring to those who would resist this oppression by the Greek ruler.
Yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. They were taking that stand, refusing to conform, and paying the ultimate price by many different methods. By sword, by flame, captivity, and by blunder. And some of them, those who have the insight, will fall in order to refine, purge, and make them cure until the time of the end, because it is still to come.
at the appointed time. There is a actually historical account of some of these events that happened during the reign of Antiochus there in Jerusalem, and it's found in Second Maccabees. This is not inspired, but is a historical record of that time. And although it is very difficult to read some of these things.
We have an account in Second Maccabees chapter seven about seven Jewish boys who were put through the fire along with their faith. and a description of the results. I'm reading from 2nd Maccabees chapter 7. "It also came to pass that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and shamefully lashed with whips and scourges by the king's orders that they may be forced to taste the abominable swine's flesh.
But one of them spoke up for the others and said, "Why question us? What wouldst thou learn from us? We are prepared to dine sooner than transgress the laws of our fathers."
Then the king, in exasperation, ordered pans and cauldrons to be heated, and when they were heated, immediately ordered the tongue of the speaker to be torn out.
And had him scalped and mutilated before the eyes of his brother and mother, and then had him put on the fire, all maimed and crippled as he was, but still alive and set to fry in the pan.
And as the vapor from the pan spread abroad, they and their mother exhorted one another to die nobly, uttering these words, "The Lord God beholdeth this and truly hath compassion on us, even as Moses declared in his song was testified against them to their face, saying, 'And he shall have compassion on his servants.'"
The account goes on to describe five more of the brothers being tortured to death, and we'll pick up in verse 20 and following.
"The mother, however, was a perfect wonder. She deserves to be held in glorious memory, for thanks to her hope in God, she bravely bore the sight of seven sons dying in a single day, full of noble spirit and nerving her weak woman's heart with the courage of a man.
She exhorted each of them in the language of their fathers, saying, "How you were ever conceived in my womb I cannot tell. 'Twas not I who gave you the breath of life, or fashioned the elements of each. 'Twas the Creator of the world, who fashioneth men, and devises the generating of all things. And He it is, who in mercy will restore to you the breath of life, even as you now count yourself naught for His laws sake."
Now Antiochus felt that he was being humiliated, but overlooking the taunt of her words, he made an appeal to the youngest brother. who still survived and even promised on oath to make him rich and happy and a friend and a trusted official of the state if he would give up his father's laws and as the young man paid no attention to him he summoned his mother and exhorted her to counsel the lad to save himself so after he had exhorted her at length, she agreed to persuade her son.
She lent over to him, and, befooling the cruel tyrant, spoke thus in her father's tongue, "My son, have pity on me. Nine months I carried thee in my womb, three years I suckled thee, I reared thee and brought thee up to this age of thy life. Child, I beseech thee, lift thine eyes to heaven and earth, look at all that is therein, and know, That God did not make them out of the things that existed, so is the race of man created. Fear not this butcher, but show thyself worthy of thy brothers, and accept thy death, that by God's mercy I may receive thee again together with thy brothers.
Ere she had finished, the young man cried, "What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command. I will obey the command of the law given by Moses to our fathers.
But thou, who hast devised all manner of evil against the Hebrews, thou shalt not escape the hands of God. We are suffering for our own sins, and though our living Lord is angry for a little in order to rebuke and chasten us, he will again be reconciled to his own servants. But thou, in pious wretch, vilest of all men, be not vainly puffed up with thy proud uncertain hopes.
Raising thy hand against the heavenly children, thou has not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty who seeth all. These, our brothers, after enduring a brief pain, have now drunk of ever flowing life in terms of God's covenant. But thou shalt receive by God's judgment the just penalty of thine arrogance.
I, like my brothers, give up body and soul for our fathers laws, calling upon God to show favor to our nation soon and to make thee acknowledge in torment and plagues that he alone is God. And to let the Almighty's wrath justly fallen on the whole of our nation end in me and my brothers.
Then the king fell into a passion and had him handled worse than the others. So exasperated was he at being mocked, thus he also died unpolluted, trusting absolutely in the Lord. Finally, after her sons, the Mary, the mother also perished.
I think that this scene is one of the ones that's in view in Hebrews in the last section of Hebrews 11 in the Hall of Fame of Faith. Where 35, it says, "women received back their dead by resurrection" referring to the the woman whose child was restored to her by Elijah, and there was another case in the time of Elisha.
But then it goes on to say, "others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mockings, floggings, yes, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy"
Shadrach and Meshach were delivered by the power of God. This woman and her seven sons, they were not delivered from death at that time, but were they delivered from death because of their faith? Absolutely. And we are following in their same footsteps of faith. Their faith was in. the God of heaven and earth, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in the coming Messiah, who has now come, Jesus Christ, and is he in whom we have faith today.

Conclusion: Living Out Our Faith

So what about us? Will we conform or stand in our faith? And on our faith, if we're forced to choose conformity or death, what will we choose? And regardless of what testing we endure, will we be worthy heirs of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, of the widow and her seven sons, of the many Christians who are faithful until death, and of the greatest example of all, Jesus Christ.
My exhortation to us is to live out our faith without fear, with full confidence, and trust in the God of heaven and earth. He's the Lord of fire. He's the Lord of the strong. He is the Lord of the weak, and he is the Lord of all.