We are in Daniel 3, that amazing story, a true, historical narrative, of how God miraculously preserved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. Having erected a 90 foot statue and required everyone to bow to it, several jealous public officials noticed that out of a sea of bowing people, three men stood tall and erect, possibly even turning their backs to the statue. These jealous officials attributed malicious motives to their civil disobedience. Along with rightly acknowledging that they were not bowing to or serving the Babylonian gods, they mistakenly included that they were being disloyal to Nebuchadnezzar.
However, that was not true, as the last two chapters have demonstrated. It is clear from previous interactions that they had normally paid high regard for the king. In verses 13-18 we see the king’s angry response and the young men’s amazing statement of trust in God and commitment to obey God alone.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Would you and I be able to take such a bold stand for the Lord with the very possibility of our lives being at stake? Who would want to withstand a fiery furnace? I can think of two horrible ways to die—in a fire, or drowning in water. Both of those are unthinkable.
So what was it that kept them faithful to God despite the high stakes?
Today, I want us to notice the reaction of the king. Verse 13 says that Nebuchadnezzar was now “in a furious rage.” How dare they despise him! The personal nature of his reaction suggests that the statue embodies not only a religious and a national commitment but a personal one. His expectation is, “You shall have no other god but me” (Baldwin). You know, the prouder we get, the more important we think we are, the more readily we take any act that doesn’t applaud us or appreciate us or serve us as an act worthy of severest punishment. I’ve known people of furious rage and I’ve experienced it being directed at me. It usually comes from a sense of importance (pride) that, in their eyes, has been attacked. So they attack in return.
Had Nebuchadnezzar not put forth great effort in making sure that this very thing did not happen? Did he not make clear the consequences of disobedience? Any parent would have been equally frustrated when clear instructions along with possible consequences had been given ahead of time, and the children still refuse to obey.
The king’s reaction, therefore, was not surprising: in fury he ordered that “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought.” Given their knowledge of the king’s decree and their refusal to heed it, they surely knew what this summons would involve and how it would end.
That is what makes their statement of resolve so amazing. They were to be given another chance, and yet they stand firm in their resolve not to compromise.
In verse 14, “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, ‘Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?’”
Now, let’s give Nebuchadnezzar some credit here. He doesn’t just accept the rumor-mongering of the Chaldeans at face value. He made sure of it by interviewing the young men. He got the facts of the case. That is so important. After all, Solomon says in Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” In other words, it is always best to listen to both sides of the story.
But, this was also a greater test for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. David Guzik notes: It is one thing to make a stand for God; it is a greater thing to stick to your stand when pointedly asked, “Is it true?” Peter followed Jesus after His arrest, but he wilted and denied Jesus when asked, “Is it true?” Nebuchadnezzar was giving these three young men the opportunity to deny the charge if they wished.
Nebuchadnezzar asked the three men if they had indeed refused to worship the image. It is to be noted that he did not repeat the first accusation of the Chaldeans. He mentioned only nonservice and non-worship of his god. This may be a clue that he now recognizes them as Daniel’s friends and remembered from past experience that they had, indeed, honored him.
He had granted them a standing in his court (1:20) and promoted them over the affairs of the province (2:49), yet despite his favors they now seemed to be defying him. Although the herald had warned, “Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace” (3:6), the king gave the three Jews one more opportunity to worship the image. He offered them a second chance. If they did obey this time, all would be “well and good.” But if they persisted in their initial refusal, they would “immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” Their high position in the province did not exempt them from the king’s decree. They couldn’t expect special privileges.
Calming down for a moment, the king looked at these three young, promising lads whom he had recently promoted to a high place in government (2:49) and smiled. “Boys, surely there must be some misunderstanding, so I will give you a second chance (v. 15). “Just bow down when you hear the music this time, okay?” You can sense his pleading. Maybe this is where the phrase “turn or burn” comes from!
We can imagine the enormous pressure on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego to compromise. Everything in front of them – the king, the furnace, the music, their compatriots, their competitors – all of it conspired to convince them to compromise. Yet God was more real to them than any of those things. They lived “before the face of God,” coram deo. They feared God more than they feared the fire.
Spurgeon says, “Do not judge the situation by the king’s threat and by the heat of the burning fiery furnace, but by the everlasting God and the eternal life which awaits you. Let not flute, harp, and sackbut fascinate you, but hearken to the music of the glorified. Men frown at you, but you can see God smiling on you, and so you are not moved.” Stay true to your God!
Nebuchadnezzar was so confident of his sovereign power that he boldly mocked the possibility of any deliverance: “Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (Dan. 3:15).
This arrogant question sets up the story of the deliverance by focusing the issue on the power of their God. Jerome answers the question: “That same God whose servant thou didst recently worship and whom thou didst assert to be truly God of gods and Lord of kings” back in the previous chapter.
Nebuchadnezzar thought nothing of insulting all gods with this statement. He is more of a secularist or a humanist than a theist. The god he really believes in is himself, not the gods of Babylon. “My hands are the only ones that will make a difference here.”
Nebuchadnezzar, like Pharoah and Sennacherib before him, made the mistake of slighting the power of Israel’s God:
But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)
Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'” (2 Kings 18:35)
Nebuchadnezzar’s series of victories over his enemies had led him to conclude he and his patron gods were unstoppable, he was the prime moving force of the universe. In this, he was like Sennacherib and likely other ancient kings when they claimed:
Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? [implied answer: a resounding “NO!”] Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'” (Isaiah 36:18-20)
In other words, if nobody else’s gods could deliver them, then who are you to believe that your own God is capable of delivering you?
But Nebuchadnezzar would soon discover, as Pharoah and Sennacherib had before him, that the God of the universe was listening to his challenge and would respond with judgment (Daniel 4:30):
this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: “‘She despises you, she scorns you– the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you– the daughter of Jerusalem. “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! (Isa. 37:22-23)
The foundational shift in Nebuchadnezzar’s attitude toward Daniel’s God that he had exhibited at the end of the previous chapter (Dan. 2:47) only seems possible if a significant time period has intervened. There he had seemed almost ready to bow his knee to Daniel’s God, whereas here he flippantly disregards His very existence.
We are led to inquire what has caused this radical change against the God of the Jews. Was Nebuchadnezzar not sincere when he made his confession to Daniel, or had subsequent events caused him to change his mind? We must not forget that the Dream of Nebuchadnezzar had occurred twenty years before, and that in the meantime, he had taken Jerusalem the second time (B. C. 598) and carried captive the majority of its inhabitants, including many of the sacred vessels of the Temple, and furthermore, he had besieged the city the third time (B. C. 587), took and destroyed it, and burned the Temple, and left the Holy Land in desolation. As Oriental Monarchs believed that their victories were a triumph of their “gods” over the “gods” of their vanquished foes, it would be conclusive evidence to Nebuchadnezzar that his victories over the earthly Capital of Jehovah, and the destruction of the Temple, meant that Jehovah was not the supreme Deity, but that his own God “Merodach” was. (Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel).
It would be very natural, given all his conquests over Jerusalem itself, that he had come to regard his god, Marduk, as superior in every way to the Jewish God, Yahweh.
So this is the reaction of king Nebuchadnezzar. He reacted with “furious rage,” but settled down to give them another opportunity to bow down to his god, ending with this challenge which insulted their God.
Do you realize how much pressure these men were under to now bow down to the statue? There was the pressure of authority. This was the command of their king, the most powerful man on earth, who had the power to condemn them to death.
Secondly, everyone around them was bowing down, including possibly some other Jewish brethren. When our children claim, “Everybody’s doing it” we can hardly take that at face value. Maybe a few of their friends are doing it. But that creates enough pressure in their lives to want to do it, and, let’s admit it, in ours as well. But in this case, literally “everybody’s doing it,” making it extremely difficult to not join the crowd.
That pressure mounts here with the intimidating anger of their king. I find this amazingly difficult, to stand against the withering gaze and loud clamor or vicious words of someone in charge, someone we’re supposed to look up to and follow.
Look again at their response:
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Isn’t that an amazing response?
We have here one of the greatest statements of faith in the entire Bible. It reminds me of Martin Luther’s statement at the Diet of Worms in 1521, “I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me.” The big difference is that Martin Luther needed a night to come to this conclusion and bold statement. This was not afforded to the three Hebrews and they make their confession without giving it another thought.
If the king was expecting a submissive response from his “reasonable” explanation of the state of affairs to these young Hebrews, he was in for a rude shock. They refused to budge.
They could have given in at this point. They might have reasoned about how much the Jewish people (and God) needed them to keep their government posts. How could they act as buffers for Israel if they burnt to a crisp (cf. Calvin)? Also, the king was giving them a second chance. Wouldn’t they seem ungrateful not to respond to his kindness with compliance?
These three young men, influenced by the godly character of Daniel, who in chapter 1 dared to be holy, stood before the furious king and the fury of the fire and answered the king with one of the most beautiful expressions of Biblical faith ever heard. Let me just read it again.
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16b-18)
Nobody talks to the king like that! Understandably Nebuchadnezzar was floored and even more furious. His authority was being challenged. His influence was being diminished right before his eyes. His honor was shattered. Were they in for it!
But notice what they had said.
“We have no need to answer you in this matter” indicates that they were not about to change their stance nor did they have anything to say by way of denial. Nothing could dissuade them. To them, the issue was settled, no matter how “guilty” it made them. No matter how many chances the king gave them to change their minds, they were determined not to compromise.
The boldness and ease with which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego respond to Nebuchadnezzar reflects their predetermined resolve to obey God. They had an ongoing relationship with God, wherein they were consistently determined to serve Him alone (v. 17).
Because they lived according to biblical principles, they had no need to deliberate the matter, as would have been necessary if they had practiced situational ethics, as is popular among believers today. They had no need to ask themselves, “What do I do in this situation?” Like Daniel, they had already made up their minds beforehand, they had resolved in their hearts that they would not bow down to any idols but worship Yahweh alone.
“This matter,” however, which requires no answer, is not the indictment but the offer of a reprieve on condition of compliance. The response from these faithful men is that compliance is out of the question.
Their boldness originated in their confidence before God: they were convinced their situation was sure to gain God’s attention (Prov. 28:1). Their ready answer must have been prompted by the Spirit of God (Matt. 10:19-20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15; Acts 4:13). They knew that “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” They were neither anxious, nor afraid. Therefore, they could take a bold stand, even with their lives in jeopardy.
Although there is “no need” to respond, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego do, in fact, give two further statements to explain their position. They hold two theological realities in tension in their lives. First, that God is indeed powerful enough to deliver them. Second, that God is sovereign and it is His prerogative whether or not He actually decides to deliver them.
Grace Still Amazes 