Transcript

There was a test conducted by a university where 10 students were placed in a room. Three lines of varying length were drawn on a chalkboard. The students were told to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the longest line.

But nine of the students had been instructed beforehand to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the second longest line. One student was the stooge.

The usual reaction when the instructor pointed to the longest line was for the stooge to put his hand up, look around, and realizing he was all alone, to pull it back down. This happened 75% of the time, with students from grade school thru high school.

It’s difficult to stand alone, even when you know something is right or wrong.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew what was right, and with courage and faith they stood for what was right, literally, refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold when everybody else did.

They did so because it was against the clear teaching of the Word of God. And these three men stood boldly knowing the price of their disobedience was the fiery furnace.

And this should cause us to ask ourselves: how could anybody put faith and principle so high that they would stand there while an entire mass of 300,000 people went down, that they would stand there resolute in their convictions, ready to walk into a burning fiery furnace? That’s character. That’s functioning by faith and internal principle.

They could have said to themselves, “You know an idol is fake and nothing anyway. We’ll just kneel down with everybody else just this once. One time won’t hurt anything. And we’ll still worship the living God with the rest of our lives.”

They could have reasoned, “Everybody’s doing it. If we’re going to reach people we’ve got to be part of them.”

They could have thought, “The fiery furnace is fatal, and if we’re dead we won’t be useful to God anymore here. And He has put us in such a strategic place in the Babylonian court that if we get burned up it’s going to mess up the whole plan.”

We all can be pretty good at rationalizing things. There were lots of rationalizations that these 3 young men could have been made in this case, but they didn’t do that at all.

Instead, they were uncompromising, and took a firm stand for God. And learning about their inspiring stand, can inspire us to do the same.

Daniel 3:19-23: “Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

“And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

“Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

“Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

“And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s names were given to them by the Babylonians after these men were carried away captive from Judah to Babylon. Their Hebrew names according to Daniel 1:11 were: “Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.”

When you see “el” or “ah” in names of people in the Bible such as DaniEL or ElijAH, it immediately tells you that ELohim or JehovAH is in the meaning of their name.

HananiAH’s name meaning “Jehovah is gracious,” was changed to “Shadrach,” meaning “Inspired by Rak [or the Sun].”

MishaEL’s name meaning “Who is like God?” was changed to “Meshach” meaning “Belonging to Shak [or Venus, not Shaquille O’Neil the basketball player].”

AzariAH’s name meaning “Jehovah is my Help” was changed to “Abednego,” meaning “Servant of Nego [or the fire-god].”

Their names were all changed from the Hebrew concerning the one, true and living God, to the false gods of Babylon. This was an attempt by the Babylonians to brainwash and assimilate them into their culture and belief system.

But while they changed their names, they could not and did not change these men’s character or their beliefs about the true and the living God.

Brainwashing into people’s belief systems still takes place in the world. It is continuously attempted by the culture we live in and this reminds each of us of the need to be vigilant and that we need to stay close to the truth and safety of the Word of God.

It’s interesting that we know these three men by their Babylonian names isn’t it? But yet we learn so clearly that their names did not reflect the ardent beliefs of their heart. They held true to Jehovah, the God of Israel, the faithful God, the only true God.

After they refused to bow down and worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar, and then refused to bow even when given a second chance when standing before King Nebuchadnezzar, in verse 19 it says the king was “full of fury.”

These three young men confounded and angered the king so greatly that verse 19 says that the “form of his visage was changed.” In other words, you could see it on his face. He wrinkled his face in his rage and turned red in his fury.

Nebuchadnezzar’s anger was visible and hot. As a result, he ordered that the furnace be stoked, to throw in the coal, intensify the heat and make it seven times hotter than it usually was. He wanted it as hot as possible.

The king lost control of himself in his rage. If he really wanted to torture them, he should have turned the heat down to prolong it. To heat it up seven times hotter just meant less trauma, less pain, and a quicker death.

As a lesson to others in his kingdom who might rebel against his authority, Nebuchadnezzar ordered some of the mightiest and bravest soldiers in his army to bind and escort these three men to their immediate execution in the burning fiery furnace.

The furnace was probably a big, pot-bellied thing, that had an opening down below where the fire was stoked and fed, and at the top there was a large open hole. It’s estimated that a furnace like this could reach a temperature of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

And this furnace was probably used to melt the gold ore and bricks for Nebuchadnezzar’s large golden image.

In verse 21, we see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were dressed to kill. We learn how they were wearing outer coats, tunics, stockings, and turbans.

They were dressed in nice clothes befitting their high positions in the Babylonian government. The reason for the mention of their clothes is to show that they were taken away so quickly that no change of the clothes they had on was made.

As the mighty men drew Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego close to cast them in at the top of the furnace, the overheated furnace was so deadly it ended up slaying the men of valor by the terrific heat, burning them to death.

This reinforces the fact that the survival of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was supernatural and all of God.

After these mighty men were slain, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego then fell down bound into the furnace. And we learn who the true mighty men were, these 3 men of faith.

Daniel 3:24-27: “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

“He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

“And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”

Nebuchadnezzar accompanied the party to the furnace to observe the execution. He was seated at a comfortable, safe distance.

The king was able to see into the furnace from the ground-level side opening at the bottom of the furnace where the fire was stoked and fed. Nebuchadnezzar came to satisfy his anger in seeing the deaths of these three young men.

Instead what happened was what Psalm 76:10 says: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.”

Nebuchadnezzar was shaken in his anger when this started, but he was really shaken by what he saw next. As he observed the mighty men being slain by the intense heat of the furnace, and then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego falling into the furnace, he could not believe what he saw next.

He even asked for confirmation of what he saw because it was so incredible. He couldn’t believe his eyes! First, he asks his counsellors if three were cast bound into the fire?

The old joke says, “There are three kinds of people in the world: First, those who can count and second, those who can’t.” Nebuchadnezzar was one who could count. There were four in the furnace instead of three.

His advisors agree with him, saying “True, O king,” as a good advisor of a king would do, so they wouldn’t perish. His advisors affirm that there were three cast in. In his astonishment though, he states that he sees not three men, but four.

Then he says they are not bound, but loose. They’re not lying down, they’re walking around. They’re not burning up, they’re completely unhurt (Ex. 3:2).

And the fourth man didn’t have a normal human form, but had a form like “the Son of God.” Now Nebuchadnezzar would have never known it was the Son of God, but rather by this designation, he was just recognizing that one looked supernatural and had a glorious appearance. He later calls the fourth person an “angel” in v. 28.

But the ironic thing is that he actually was right. It was the Son of God. It was an appearance of Christ before He came and took on flesh, or a pre-incarnate Christophany.

The last thing Nebuchadnezzar notices is that the four in the furnace weren’t looking for an exit, they were just patiently waiting and enjoying each other’s company.

There is a principle in this which teaches us that no matter how hot the fire of the trial we go through, Christ is always there with us, and the fellowship with Him in those times is powerful and draws us closer to Him than at any other time.

God uses the fiery trials to refine our faith in Him. The hymn writer put it so well, “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply: The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design, Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

Next, Nebuchadnezzar came near as he dared to the piping-hot furnace and called out to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Acknowledging the greatness of their God who had delivered them, he calls them “servants of the Most High God.” That’s a high title for each of us to have and live by, to be servants of the Most High.

Nebuchadnezzar then asked them to come out. And so they did, just the three of them. The king actually had to call them to come out and as it’s been said, “They proved they would rather be in the fire with the Lord, than in the palace with the king.”

In verse 27 we learn that there was a crowd of rulers and counselors observing all of this with Nebuchadnezzar, and they with the king observed and noted that there was not a mark or burn on them after they came out. Not a hair on their head was singed, and not even the smell of smoke was on their clothes, which were highly flammable.

You can’t go to a bowling alley without having the smell of smoke on your clothes. These three went into a burning fiery furnace and didn’t smell like smoke at all. These three didn’t bend, bow, or burn!

The account has prophetic significance, as it foreshadows events in the future SEVEN-year tribulation. You see that in the type of the furnace being stoked SEVEN times hotter than usual. Malachi 4:1 says, “Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven.”

In that future day of Jacob’s Trouble, we find that like these three faithful Hebrew men, the faithful remnant in Israel who do not bow the knee in worship to the Anti-Christ, or to his image which he sets up in the temple in Jerusalem, they will be preserved by God in the midst of the fiery furnace of the tribulation, and they will be unhurt, and they will be comforted by Christ’s presence with them through that fire.

Isaiah 43:1-2 prophesies of that day: “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine…when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Daniel 3:28-30: “Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

“Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

“Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.”

Nebuchadnezzar is stunned by the events, stunned by their God who sent His Messenger and delivered them, and stunned at their trust in their God, that they “yielded their bodies,” and were willing to die in devotion to Him.

Yielding their bodies reminds us of a familiar passage, Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT YOUR BODIES a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Presenting and yielding their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God is what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did. They’re an illustration of this verse.

Nebuchadnezzar lauds the three Hebrews for changing “the king’s word.” Their stand and faith and God’s deliverance in consequence to it, had the effect of wholly changing Nebuchadnezzar’s word, command, and purpose in destroying them.

He extols their devotion in being willing to suffer martyrdom rather than to serve or worship any god, except their own God.

In essence, Nebuchadnezzar says, “Blessed be the God who can get that kind of allegiance out of His people.” This account teaches us that we can get the world to sit up and take notice by taking an uncompromising stand of faith in God like this, so that even in their unbelief, the world will even have to say, “Blessed be the God of those folks, who can draw that kind of devotion out His people.”

In verse 29, Nebuchadnezzar decrees that the God of these three young men should be held in honor, and any who dishonored, or spoke disparagingly of their God, would be cut in pieces and their houses made a dung pile, a refuse heap, or a sewage place.

If that decree was still in force, there would be a lot of stinky leveled houses around us.

Then the king proceeds to promote these three again to an even higher position of greater power and honor in his kingdom (v. 30). When you already rule and you get promoted, that’s some promotion.

“There is no other God that can deliver after this sort.” Nebuchadnezzar says. That statement reminds me of the Cross. He has delivered us from all our sins and from the lake of fire. There is no other that can deliver after this sort. We offer Him our praise and thanksgiving for that.

A young college freshman at Morehouse University in Atlanta, Georgia walked in to his first day of class and settled in for the instruction.

The professor of Philosophy passed out a syllabus and explained what would be expected of the students during the course of the semester.

The young student grew more and more excited as he listened to all of the great thinkers they would be studying throughout the upcoming months. Suddenly, the professor changed tone and began to speak about one of the thinkers in a different manner.

He said, “When we come to the section we will cover on the subject of Jesus you must know this; what you may have heard in Sunday school or at your church concerning Jesus is wrong. Jesus was a great teacher.

“He was a wise man. He did many good things. He influenced many people during His day and even unto this day, but He was not the Son of God.”

There was a long pause as the freshmen sat attentively, not daring to challenge the man with Ph.D. following his name, and the atmosphere was very uneasy.

Then, a hand pierced the silence in the back of the room as one young man lifted his hand to speak. The professor called on the young student and he said, “Yes, He is!”

The professor said, “Now I know you’ve probably been told other things back home from your pastor or Sunday school teacher, but you need to know young man that Jesus was not the Son of God, He was merely a great thinker. Class dismissed.”

As the students filed out of class, one of the young man’s friends from back home chastised him on the way out of class.

“Alvin, what are you doing? This man is the professor and you and I are just students. Don’t ruin this class for the rest of us, just be quiet and do your work.”

Alvin said, “This man may know a lot about philosophy, but I can tell already that he doesn’t know anything about Christ.

“I can’t just sit back in class and let him try and convince everyone in class that Christ was something less than He really is. I’m going to speak up.”

The next time the class met, the professor started in on his tirade all over again.

He pointed out that the Bible was written by biased folks who believed in Jesus, that the virgin birth was impossible and Jesus could not have risen from the grave.

Then he said, “Jesus is just a great teacher, He is not God.” Alvin’s hand immediately shot-up into the air once again. The professor tried to ignore him as he went on with his anti-Jesus sermon, but Alvin persisted and kept his hand up.

Finally, the professor realized that he would not go away and so he called on Alvin. The professor said in a demeaning way, “Yes Mr. Jackson, do you have another sermon for us this morning?” Alvin said simply, “Yes, He is!”

The professor turned his attack from Jesus to Alvin, but Alvin continued throughout the entire semester to stand up for his Lord.

Some years later, Alvin Jackson, the pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee was speaking at his church. At the conclusion of Alvin’s sermon some of the people came up to speak to him and thank him for his message.

When the crowd had dispersed there was one man who stood before Alvin, and he was startled to find that it was his old college professor. The man walked up to Alvin, hugged him, then looked him in the eyes, and said, “Yes, He is!”

We can make a great difference for Christ when we take a stand for Him.