Daniel 3:14, commentary and pictures

Nebuchadnezzar confronts Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over their refusal to serve his gods and worship the golden image he had set up. His question follows a decree making image worship the established religion under threat of death in the fiery furnace, using state power to force conformity in idolatrous worship. Their refusal is loyalty to God alone as King, choosing His commandments against idolatry and standing firm though it costs their lives. Cast into the burning furnace for that loyalty, they are preserved unharmed as Christ walks with them, revealing the power and faithfulness of Israel's God until even Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges Him supreme. That stand on the plain of Dura foreshadows the end time, when civil power joined to false religion will again enforce idolatrous worship by universal decree, demanding honor for a spurious sabbath against those who hallow God's Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

Confrontation Over False Worship

Nebuchadnezzar directly questioned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego about their refusal to serve his gods and worship the golden image he had set up, confronting them with a choice between worshiping the image and facing death in the furnace. The question was part of his effort to pressure them with threats of the fiery furnace to join the crowd in worship. Their refusal showed they were firmly resolved not to dishonor the God of heaven, for He alone was their King and they would bow to no other. Their loyalty became clear when a ruler commanded worship contrary to God's law.

The king's question came after a decree had made image worship the established religion and threatened dissenters with death, showing how state power was used to demand idolatrous worship. It was an attempt to use the threat of the furnace to force conformity to the crowd.

The confrontation belonged to Nebuchadnezzar's return to idol worship after acknowledging God's power for a time, when he again zealously insisted on worship of his gods and the image, driven by pride and self-exaltation. The golden image had been set up in the plain of Dura, exceedingly costly and magnificent and made all of gold. It represented the kingdom of Babylon and more particularly the king himself, the glory of himself and his kingdom and the excellency of Babylon, and it was set up to take the place of God and be worshiped as God.

The image was made all of gold in defiance of the dream showing that earthly kingdoms would pass away and be followed by the kingdom of the Prince of heaven filling the whole earth. God had revealed Himself to the king by giving him the dream of the great image and sending Daniel to explain that his kingdom was the head of gold, but the king and his counselors were flattered by that honor. He perverted the light given in the interpretation by reading it according to his own idolatrous mind and ambitions, with the hope of converting all nations to the worship of his image. Heathen counselors caused him to place himself before the people as an object of worship, and through the scheme of his advisers to ensnare the Hebrew captives he was led to proclaim universal worship and command men to bow down, while God allowed him to follow his own inventions.

Loyalty and Divine Deliverance

To bow before the image was to worship it, and such worship belongs to God alone. The refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego was a decision for the commandments of God against idolatry. They were firmly resolved not to dishonor the God of heaven, for He alone was their King and they would bow to no other.

Their loyalty did not waver even when the threat of the fiery furnace put their lives at risk, showing that loyalty to God can withstand fear, pain, and pressure to conform. The events tested their integrity and demonstrated before an idolatrous nation the power and faithfulness of the God of Israel. Beholding Christ's presence makes even a cruel death bearable.

The verse belongs to the interesting history of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies. That history teaches important principles regarding the working out of the Lord's purpose for the children of obedience and the children of disobedience.

For their loyalty they were cast into the burning fiery furnace, but God preserved them from all harm. Christ Himself walked in the furnace with His three faithful servants, manifesting Himself to them as He promises to manifest Himself to those who have and keep His commandments. The event brought knowledge of the true God before Babylon's princes and leading men. The wonderful miracle so wrought upon Nebuchadnezzar's heart that he believed in God and acknowledged His superior power over every other kingdom.

Their loyalty became clear when a ruler commanded worship contrary to God's law. Their example shows that God's people must remain loyal when human authority seeks to compel conscience.

End-Time Prophetic Application

The stand taken on the plain of Dura foreshadows what will take place at the end of time. Though innocent of any wrong, God's servants will be handed over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of those inspired by Satan and filled with envy and religious bigotry. The wrath of men will be stirred especially against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, until at last a universal decree denounces them as deserving of death.

The golden image and the demand that all worship it show how civil power can be used to enforce false worship and turn people away from loyalty to God. It was made entirely of gold in defiance of the dream revealing that earthly kingdoms would pass away and be followed by the kingdom of the Prince of heaven filling the whole earth, and it was set up to take the place of God and to be worshiped as God. The universal worship was proclaimed through the scheme of the king's advisers to ensnare the Hebrew captives. The same work is illustrated in the setting up of the Sunday idol by human laws demanding that it be worshiped as sacred and holy where God's holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment should be, with union of church and state enforcing a spurious sabbath and striving to turn God's people from their allegiance. Laws requiring the observance of Sunday as sacred in place of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment are of the same character. Those who frame such cruel enactments are destroyed by the recoil of their own actions, just as the men who sought to destroy the Hebrews were themselves destroyed.

The same kind of decision for or against the commandments of God will come in the Southern States, when believers must stand as the three worthies did and refuse to bow to idolatry. Until that time comes, believers are not to act presumptuously or encourage a spirit of defiance and resistance. Cherishing the thoughts and feelings Nebuchadnezzar cherished brings danger of passing through a trying experience.