Daniel 3 - He Carries Amidst the Flames

¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

 ¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual ²⁰ and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. ²¹ So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. ²² The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, ²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

 ²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

   They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

 ²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

 ²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

   So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, ²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

 ²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.   

  In Daniel chapter 3, we see a beautiful portrayal of a few different things:

First, lets point out verse 18 - "The God we serve is able to deliver us....but even if He does not...we will not serve your gods." These men loved God, with no strings attached. We are to obtain this same kind of love for Christ - not for what He does for us, but for who He is. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn't love God because He would deliver them, but because He could. They merely recognized that God was able to deliver them from the potential harm in which they would likely face, and that alone was enough to sustain their faithfulness to His will, whether it be life or death.

Next, lets look at verses 25 & 27 - the three faithful men were walking in the midst of  scorching flames, therefore, the fact that the flames would completely overtake and destroy them, is a given. But they didn't - and why? Because Jesus was walking with them - in fact, Nebuchadnezzar recognizes in verse 25 that they weren't alone, someone else was present among the three men. Not only did these men survive the fire, they survived it completely unharmed because they had the King of Kings walking right by their side the entire time. This is a parallel to the life we walk with Christ today. Although we are guaranteed to walk through many "fires" in this life, we can do so "unbound" and "unharmed" because we are not alone. More importantly, when people see us go through these "fires" - they themselves will recognize, as Nebuchadnezzar did, that we are not alone; for if we were alone, we would not be capable of maintaining such stability. What a beautiful testimony of the power of Christ in our life; just as Nebuchadnezzar praised God after seeing the deliverance He brought among Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, people will praise God after witnessing the same deliverance that He will bring among us in the fires of life.

  Lastly, lets look at the willingness of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in verse 28. They trusted the divine will of God; although, in the end, they didn't have to go through with sacrificing their lives, we are still able to see that they were willing to do so. God doesn't always ask us to give up the things most precious to us, however, God does ask us to be ready and willing to give up those very things. It's essential that we always be prepared to lift the knife to the things we treasure the most in this life. These three faithful men were willing to sacrifice their life for something greater, someone greater, and the Lord proved faithful to His promise that He will never leave us, nor forsake us.