Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do
not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it
be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace
of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O
king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you,
O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship
the golden image that you have set up.' Then Nebuchadnezzar
was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders
to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego 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 midst of the furnace of blazing fire. For this
reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace
had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men
who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. But these
three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the
midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
To a dedicated child of
God, doing the will of God takes precedence over life itself. Martin
Luther was drummed out of the church for telling the truth. He said,
Here I stand. I can do nothing else. A few years back, in
Iran, a native pastor was taken out and executed. All he had to do,
in order to live, was to agree to stop telling his church to share Christ with
their neighbors. But, for this dear brother, doing the will of God
took precedence over life itself. Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-nego
were cut from this same cloth. You will have noticed that
they displayed another
characteristic of dedicated children of God. And that is that they were bold!
Proverbs 28:1 says,
The
wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are
bold as a lion.
Did you note these young men
contradicted the king? When Nebuchadnezzar
said there was no god who could deliver them out of his hand, they
answered, Our God is able to deliver us out of your hand but, whether
he does so or not, know that we will not worship your gods nor your
image. I love it, don't you? Nebuchadnezzar was furious. He
immediately called for his most valiant warriors to come and bind
Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-nego and to heat his furnace
seven times hotter than normal. Then, he said, Cast them into it! His
lead warriors were men of renown. They were
the Charles Atlas' of their day. Another of Satan's tactics, by the
way, is to attempt to strike fear into the heart of a child of God. But,
don't fall for it. Jesus
said,
Do
not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul;
but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.
Shadrach, Meshack and
Abed-nego were not about to commit the sin
of idolatry, even though everyone else was doing
so. They were willing to give
their lives, if necessary. My, how such
"sold out" young men and women are needed today
down here in the year of our Lord, 2011, aye? May the
God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-nego
multiply their number in our midst! I'm certainly glad that
these three young giants of the faith knew that Nebuchadnezzar and his
goons were no true threat to them. They knew that the
worst that could be done to them was to kill their bodies. The people of God have always had their martyrs and these three
young men were fully prepared to enter their ranks.
Hebrews 11:36-38 puts it this
way,
...and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes,
also 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, ill-treated (men
of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in
deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
The bottom line
is this. Sometimes God delivers from the fire ...
and other times he delivers through the fire ... but
every time, he delivers his own! As you have
it in Hebrews 13:5-6,
Let your conversation be
without covetousness; and be
content with such things as ye
have: for he hath said, I
will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. So that we may
boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what
man shall do unto me.(KJV)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3:24-30
Then
Nebuchadnezzar the
king was astounded
and stood up in
haste; he said to
his high officials,
'Was it not
three men we cast
bound into the midst
of the fire?'
They replied to the
king, 'Certainly, O
king' He 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 a son
of the gods!'
Then Nebuchadnezzar
came near to the
door of the furnace
of blazing fire; he
responded and said,
'Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego, come
out, you servants of
the Most High God,
and come here!'
Then Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego
came out of the
midst of the fire.
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 effect on 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
responded and said,
'Blessed be
the God of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego,
who has sent His
angel and delivered
His servants who put
their trust in Him,
violating the king's
command, and yielded up their
bodies so as not to
serve or worship any
god except their own
God.
Therefore I make a
decree that any
people, nation or
tongue that speaks
anything offensive
against the God of
Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego shall
be torn limb from
limb and their
houses reduced to a
rubbish heap,
inasmuch as there is
no other god who is
able to deliver in
this way.' Then the
king caused
Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego to
prosper in the
province of Babylon.
The story of what
Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego
experienced that day
in Nebuchadnezzar's
furnace, will live on
throughout eternity.
It has become a
permanent part of
the eternal Word of
God for all to read and take
encouragement
from. It was
a huge miracle and an amazing
deliverance. Many
believe that the
fourth man who
appeared in the
furnace with those
three young Hebrews, was
the pre-incarnate,
Son of God himself.
I believe that that was
the case, as well.
The Scripture tells
us that it is Jesus Christ
who is the
Deliverer, you see.
He told his
followers,
In the world you
shall have
tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I
have overcome the
world. John 16:33b
and again,
I am with you
always, even
unto the end of the
world. Matthew
28:20
Jesus will never leave nor
forsake his own.
And, by the way,
when he delivers ...
he does so
completely.
The Scripture here,
says that Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego were
not only saved from
being burned ...
but their
clothes and hairs were
not
even singed
... nor could the smell
of smoke be
found upon
them! Praise be
to our great God, who delivers
his own from every
tribulation and
preserves us through
every circumstance.
Nebuchadnezzar was
astounded.
So much so that subsequently
he made
a decree that if
anyone in his realm
said anything bad
about Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-nego's
God ... they
were to be torn
limb from limb and
their houses reduced
to a rubbish heap.
Then, he promoted the
young men.
His actions,
however, were
anti-climactic ... in
light of the
incredible miracle
that had just taken place
before
his
eyes ... as well as
all the eyes of those who
were present at the
furnace that day.
More
important than the
miracle of the fiery
furnace, however, was
the fact that
Nebuchadnezzar had
now arrived at a new
understanding of the
power and heart of
the God of
Shadrach, Mechach
and Abed-nego.
The
fiery furnace was another
step in the
mysterious way in
which God was working
to reveal himself to that
ancient
king of Babylon.
God's
greatest miracle is the way
that he speaks to
the human
heart and saves
a poor lost sinner.
Someone put
it, The
greatest miracle of
God is the unlocking of
a human heart. Thanks
be to God for his
wondrous grace and
mercy to the
children of men.
Scripture taken from the New
King James Version. Copyright ©
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used
by permission. All rights
reserved.
Proceed to the next chapter
