Daniel 3

Daniel 3:1

III. NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S GOLDEN IDOL AND THE FIERY FURNACE (Chap. 3)3:1-7 Nebuchadnezzar . . . made an idolatrous image of gold ninety feet high and set it up in the plain of Dura. He then commanded that when they heard horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, all men were to fall down to worship it. Any who refused would be cast . . . into a fiery furnace. 3:8-12 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, as faithful Jews, refused to worship the idol and were reported by certain Chaldeans to the king. 3:13-21 He gave them a chance to change their minds, but they would not. Their confidence in deliverance was magnificent. But even “if not,” they would still be true to the Lord. So the king ordered the fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than usual, and then commanded that the three Jews be thrown into it fully clothed. 3:22-25 The furnace was so hot that the men who threw them in were killed, but when the astonished Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw four menthe three Jews and a fourth whose form was like the Son of God (NKJV) or a son of the gods (NKJV marg.). We believe that it was indeed the Son of God, no matter how the king viewed Him. The Lord either saves us out of troubles or He is with us in the troubles. 3:26-30 The Jews were unharmed. The fire had burned only the cords that bound them. Afflictions succeed in accomplishing God’s purposes and setting us free from the things that bind us. The king was so impressed that he forbade anyone to speak against the God of the Jews and promoted the three young men in the province of Babylon. All this in spite of the fact that they had frustrated his word!