Daniel 3:17, commentary and pictures

Faced with a royal decree to worship a golden image on pain of death in a burning furnace, three faithful men refused to yield and declared that the God they served was able to rescue them from both the fire and the king's power. Their trust did not depend on being spared, for they were resolved to remain loyal even if God did not deliver them, valuing obedience to God above life itself. God did deliver them, preserving them unharmed in flames heated seven times hotter than usual while their persecutors perished, and Christ himself was seen walking with them in the fire. Their stand and rescue honored the only true God before an idolatrous nation, revealing His supremacy over earthly kings and leading Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge Him. That same faith must be repeated when human laws again demand false worship, especially in the coming test over the Sabbath, when God's commandment-keeping people will trust Him to rescue them yet remain true even unto death.

Setting and Wording

The declaration stands at the moment when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to obey a decree requiring worship of Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, under threat of the burning fiery furnace and death. It is the answer of Hebrew captives who will not bow the knee to the idolatrous image set up in the plain of Dura, though placed in a most critical and trying position where faithfulness may cost life itself. Their confidence is that the God they serve has power to rescue them from the fiery furnace and from the king's authority and hand, yet that confidence does not depend on being rescued.

The opening words mean if this is your decision, addressed to the king in settled refusal to dispute the matter with him. They are not afraid to answer, for their minds are made up, but they will have no controversy with opposers because dispute would only increase fury. That restraint is itself the language of faith.

The image they refuse stands on the plain of Dura, set up to represent the kingdom of Babylon and more particularly Nebuchadnezzar himself and the glory of himself and his kingdom. It was made all of gold to take the place of God and be worshiped as God after he was told he was the head of gold, and his advisers schemed to ensnare the Hebrew captives by leading the king to proclaim that every knee should bow to it. The three young men had been educated that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to worship and serve God only, so they would not turn from allegiance to Him.

Though innocent of wrongdoing and obedient to the laws of Babylon in all else, they meet the threat with a refusal that is respectful but decided. They will never serve the king's gods nor worship his image, and will not be moved a hair's breadth from duty to their Creator when human law conflicts with God's claims. The king's threats cannot turn them, and they look with calmness on the furnace and the idolatrous throng because they have trusted in God and are certain He will not fail them.

Trust Without Conditions

The declaration is one of trust that the God they serve has power to rescue them from the burning fiery furnace and to deliver them out of the king's hand, authority, control, and power. In beholding Christ and His presence they could endure even a cruel death, and God did in fact rescue them with His presence with them in the fire. Their answer displayed faith in the living God and unwavering rejection of idolatry even at the cost of their lives.

Their confidence and loyalty did not depend on being rescued or spared, for even facing death they remained determined and resolved not to worship the image even if God did not deliver them. They committed themselves to God even if He did not deliver them, choosing faithfulness to Him over obedience to a human command that violated conscience. Guided by duty and conscience, they were resolved not to worship the image even if deliverance did not come.

They refused because they understood that bowing to the image was worship and that worship belongs to God alone, whom they honored and worshiped alone as the only true and living God. They held allegiance to God as the great Ruler of nations because they had learned that disobedience to God is dishonor, disaster, and ruin and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the foundation of all true prosperity. Their willingness to face death rather than worship shows that obedience to God and the life to come mattered more to them than preserving their present lives.

Deliverance and Divine Presence

God did rescue, preserve and vindicate his faithful servants in the fire, which had been heated seven times hotter than usual. They came forth without even the smell of fire upon their garments, showing how complete the deliverance was. The haste and flame killed those who put them in, so that the men who sought to destroy them were themselves destroyed and the accusers were cast into the furnace. Their confidence had not depended on being spared, for they were resolved not to worship the image even if he did not deliver them, yet he honored their faithfulness by preserving them and showing his power over the human king.

Christ himself was with them in the furnace, the form of the Fourth walking with them in the flames. The king saw them unharmed and walking loose with the three, a fourth figure like the Son of God and the Son of Man. He recognized who it was because Daniel and these men had talked to him of God and of Christ. In this he manifested himself as promised to those who have his commandments and keep them.

God does not promise exemption from trials but promises what is far better, his own presence and strength in them. Those called to go through the fiery furnace for Christ have Jesus by their side, even as he was with the faithful three in Babylon, with strength as their days and grace sufficient and made perfect in weakness. Trust in this delivering God does not depend on being rescued, for if he does not save a servant from death the servant may still remain faithful and give his life rather than let the truth and the gospel be dishonored or exposed to insult. Those who love their Redeemer rejoice at every opportunity to share his humiliation and reproach, caring not for self or personal ease and safety but for the truth, and love for him makes suffering for his sake sweet.

Witness to King and Nation

Their trust that God was able to rescue them from the furnace and from the king's hand and control was itself a public testimony to the nation that the God they worshiped was the only true and living God. They honored Him by giving worship to Him alone and by refusing to yield to idolatry even to save their lives. That refusal of even the smallest concession to idolatry, whatever the cost, is how His servants honor Him before idolaters. Their test of integrity before an idolatrous nation displayed His power and faithfulness, since loyalty to God must not be surrendered even to preserve life.

Their faithfulness led Him to preserve them in the flames, and that deliverance demonstrated His power to the nation. The attempt to force idolatry thus brought the knowledge of the true God before Babylon's princes and leaders, spreading it abroad throughout the length and breadth of Babylon. The miracle proved Jehovah more powerful than earthly kings and magnified God, revealing His superior power over every other kingdom. It wrought upon Nebuchadnezzar's heart so that he believed in God and acknowledged His superior power. Time after time such a stand for truth brought the Hebrew exiles face to face with kings and rulers so that those rulers and their peoples might receive the light, leading the greatest monarchs to proclaim the supremacy of the God whom their Hebrew captives worshiped.

The setting discloses His purpose to come into close contact with human minds, even idolaters, and to give light to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel and through providence always at work in human affairs. For that purpose He had permitted them to be carried captive to that heathen land, and by their vindication that purpose was accomplished. King and subjects were thereby taught not to read the Scriptures and His providences in the light of their dreams and fancies but to read their dreams in the light of the living oracles. Their wonderful deliverance brings out important principles regarding the working out of the Lord's purpose for the children of obedience and for the children of disobedience.

End-Time Parallel and Prophecy

The faith shown by the Hebrew youth on the plain of Dura must be repeated in this day. It is purpose to be true to principle let come what may through continual sharp contests before the controversy between good and evil ends. That means not turning aside from allegiance to truth even when threatened with the flaming fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. It means standing firm in the time of trial even to being cast into the furnace, in self-denial and loyalty to God rather than yielding to pressure. With them is the assurance that God does not forsake His faithful servants but is with them in the flames, the form of the Fourth walking with them, and delivers them so completely that they come forth without even the smell of fire upon their garments.

Especially the wrath of man will be aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Opposition will rise to a fiercer height until at last a universal decree denounces them as deserving of death. Though innocent of wrongdoing, many of God's servants will be given over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of those inspired by Satan and filled with envy and religious bigotry. In that final crisis they will be perplexed, thinking they have brought the crisis upon themselves.

The same pattern applies when union of church and state sets up a Sunday idol where God's holy Sabbath should be and human laws demand it be worshiped as sacred, striving to turn God's people from their allegiance. The declaration that the God served is able to deliver from the burning fiery furnace and from the king's hand is the language of faith. It is the pattern for God's commandment-keeping people in the coming test upon the Sabbath question, who will take God's Word for their guide and have no controversy with opposers, refusing to dispute because dispute would only increase fury.

In that crisis conscience and the word of God assure them their course is right. They uphold His whole law rather than divide it into essential and non-essential parts or tamper with His word to gain the favor of the world. They hold that the Lord they serve is able to rescue them, and since Christ has conquered the powers of earth they need not be afraid of a world already conquered. Although trials continue they are strengthened to bear them, with faith and courage rising with the emergency. They continue to proclaim the truth without fear of consequences, trusting God's power to deliver when persecution threatens.

A crisis can require a decision for or against God's commandments, as shown by the three worthies who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's image. Human rulers cannot rightfully claim the authority that belongs to God alone. When authorities try to force the conscience through laws restricting religious liberty, God will interpose for His commandment-keeping people who trust His power to deliver from mortal danger and from rulers who threaten them. Refusal to bow to earthly decrees that stand against the King of heaven marks the loyal and true in the patience of the saints in keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Those who make cruel enactments seeking to destroy God's people will be destroyed by the recoil of their own actions, as the men who sought to destroy the three Hebrews were themselves destroyed.

The trust of the three worthies in God's power to preserve them in the fiery furnace is the same trust Luther placed in God while facing threats of death for defending the truth. The Hebrew exiles in Babylon refused to disregard the Sabbath and to observe heathen festivals even when persecution cost many their lives. Their stand for truth brought them face to face with kings and rulers so that those rulers and their peoples might receive the light. Time after time this witness led the greatest monarchs to proclaim the supremacy of the God whom their Hebrew captives worshiped.

Faithful Obedience in Life

The verse teaches the duty never to sacrifice principle even in the slightest particular, rooted in an earlier determination to be true whatever the consequences and to let God be their judge rather than men. It is better to incur the displeasure of men than to surrender loyalty to God, serving Him with undivided heart under all circumstances. Compliance with human authority and wishes is right only in what does not conflict with service to Christ, letting no one come between the soul and God. This faithfulness holds firm whatever the consequences, even in the very face of death in open disregard of the king's requirements, preferring death to violating conscience.

Such loyalty becomes clear when a ruler commands worship contrary to God's commandments, and the servants of God remain faithful rather than yield. It holds firm convictions of duty such as Sabbath observance and keeps it the best possible in every situation, loving the Lord with all heart and soul without swerving from allegiance whatever the circumstances, even when meeting opposition, trials and temptations never met before. By such steadfast truth to principle an influence for good is gained. God vindicates and honors such faithfulness by deliverance, and through it the knowledge of the true God is spread abroad throughout Babylon, accomplishing His purpose in permitting His people to be carried captive to that heathen land.

Their stand means self-denial and self-sacrifice, standing on the Lord's side and refusing all excuses. It refuses enslavement to any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency, ruling animal passions, appetites and passions so that they are servants and not rulers rather than being held in bondage of habit. It controls circumstances by an inwrought principle learned from the greatest Teacher rather than being controlled by circumstances, surroundings, will or convenience, not waiting until will and circumstances are adjusted. That principle cuts like a plowshare through hereditary and cultivated habits and through all circumstances and surroundings, making every circumstance and habit and surrounding a servant to a God-fearing man.

Trust in God's word enables men utterly helpless in themselves to withstand the power of the whole world, even in the king's court, when it supports evil. They receive strength from heaven to confess allegiance to God and to proclaim the truth without fear of consequences, trusting God's power to save them rather than obeying a human command that dishonors Him. They belong to the world's true nobility, its royal line, in which the youth of today are called to take their places. That same delivering God, able to deliver His servants from the furnace and from the king's hand, can be trusted by a fearless advocate of truth in feeble health when summoned before powerful enemies determined to stop his mouth and crying for his blood.

Trust in this delivering God means not excusing oneself from danger, not seeking personal ease or safety, and caring not for self but for the truth that it not be exposed to insult. It is readiness to die rather than allow enemies of truth to triumph. God does not promise exemption from trials but promises what is far better, His own presence and strength in them, with strength as their days and grace sufficient and made perfect in weakness, as Jesus was by the side of the faithful three in Babylon and is by the side of those called to go through the fiery furnace for Christ. Those who love their Redeemer rejoice at every opportunity to share His humiliation and reproach, and love for Him makes suffering for His sake sweet.