Daniel 3:20, commentary and pictures

Daniel 3:20 records Nebuchadnezzar in enraged wrath ordering his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual after they refused to worship his golden image.
Though bound and cast in, they were not forsaken, for Christ Himself as the Fourth walked with them in the flames, the fire lost its power to consume, and they came forth unharmed without even the smell of fire upon them.
Their refusal in the face of death shows loyalty that openly disregards the king's command, proving that those who trust God's word can withstand the power of the whole world and must never sacrifice principle to incur men's favor.
The deliverance convinced the king that their God had power to save, turned his wrath to praise of the living God, and spread the knowledge of the true God throughout Babylon.
The binding and casting on the plain of Dura foreshadows the last-day enforcement of false worship by church-state power against the Sabbath, while assuring later believers that God does not forget His people in danger but preserves them and is with them in the fiery trial.

Historical Setting and Details

The order to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace was the carrying out of the king's death sentence after they refused to worship the image. For that work he commanded the most mighty men of his army, his strongest soldiers, to seize and throw them into the blazing furnace. Armed military force was thus the final resort of a false religion when persuasion and threats had failed. Their loyalty to God had brought them under that sentence.

The command was given in enraged, uncontrollable and boundless wrath. At the very height of his power and glory the king was defied by representatives of a despised and captive race for worshiping Israel's God. That defiance called forth the order to bind them and cast them into the fire.

The furnace had been heated seven times hotter than usual, and the men were hurried to execution bound in their garments. Such haste was made to get them in that the flames burst out with furious heat. The mighty men who carried and cast them in were burned to death by the extreme heat.

The image they refused was an exceedingly costly and magnificent idolatrous golden image set up in the plain of Dura. It was erected to represent the kingdom of Babylon and to magnify Nebuchadnezzar himself and the glory of his kingdom. He set it up after perverting the light given through the interpretation of his dream about Babylon and the later, baser kingdoms that would follow as nations separated from God. His advisers ensnared the Hebrew captives by leading him to decree that every knee should bow to it.

The binding and casting into the burning fiery furnace occurred in the same year Daniel and his companions entered the service of the king of Babylon. It severely tested the integrity of these youthful Hebrews. Before an idolatrous nation it proved the power and faithfulness of the God of Israel.

Before the command in fury, the three told the king they were not afraid to answer and their minds were made up not to bow to the gold image. After they were cast in, the king had the men who had accused the Hebrews cast into the furnace. He then called to those inside to come forth.

Divine Presence and Deliverance

Though bound and cast into the furnace for refusing to worship the idolatrous golden image set up in the plain of Dura to represent the kingdom of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar himself, the three were not forsaken by God. The form of the Fourth, Christ Himself, the Son of God, was seen walking with them in the flames, and they walked unharmed in the fire while the mighty men who cast them in were consumed by its fury. The furnace had been made seven times hotter than usual, yet God preserved them and their deliverance showed the king that the God they worshiped had power to save them. Christ was with them in the furnace, and Jehovah was thereby exalted as more powerful than any other kingdom, a miracle that moved Nebuchadnezzar to believe in God and His superior power.

The fire lost its power to consume them because Jesus was with them. Being cast into the flaming furnace heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated did not mean they were forsaken, for the form of the Fourth was seen walking with them in the flames. They stood firm in the time of trial and would not turn aside from allegiance to the truth. They came forth delivered without harm, without even the smell of fire upon their garments.

Their deliverance belongs to the history of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the three Hebrew worthies. The binding of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their casting into the burning fiery furnace shows the working out of the Lord's purpose for the children of obedience and the children of disobedience. Their stand was the later fruit of an earlier decision never to compromise principle, and their loyalty to God forced open disregard of the king's command even in the face of death. God vindicated His servants for their steadfastness, was honored by their faithfulness, spread the knowledge of the true God throughout the length and breadth of Babylon, and thereby accomplished His purpose in permitting their captivity in a heathen land. The duty taught is never to sacrifice principle even in the slightest particular, for it is better to incur the displeasure of men than to surrender loyalty to God.

God does not promise His people exemption from such trials, but promises strength equal to their days and grace sufficient in weakness. Anyone called to go through a fiery furnace for Christ's sake will have Jesus by his side in the same way, for Jesus was present with the faithful three in Babylon. Those who love their Redeemer will rejoice at the opportunity to share His humiliation and reproach, and love for Him makes suffering for His sake sweet. God does not abandon those who remain faithful under opposition, for serving God is better than serving people and His strength is sufficient to hold them fast to the truth.

Nebuchadnezzar could name the fourth figure as like the Son of Man, the Son of God, because he had been brought into connection with Daniel and these men and they had talked to him of God and of Christ the representative of God. Jesus manifested Himself to them as He promises to manifest Himself to those who have His commandments and keep them, and being cast into the burning fiery furnace did them no harm because the Lord Jesus was with them and preserved them. Such haste was made to get them in that the fire burst out and burned the mighty men who put them in, while the king and his courtiers watching saw not three but four men. After seeing this he had the men who had accused the Hebrews cast into the furnace and called to those inside to come forth, and God was magnified. The sight convinced the king that their God was the living God and he acknowledged the wonderful miracle wrought, but because he did not continue to walk in the light he lost the holy impression made upon his mind.

Impact on King and Nation

The binding and casting into the furnace came because the three refused to bow to the idolatrous golden image on the plain of Dura and would not violate conscience, an image set up to represent the kingdom of Babylon and the glory of Nebuchadnezzar himself after he perverted the light given through the interpretation of his dream about Babylon and the later kingdoms. The furnace was made seven times hotter, the soldiers sent to execute the order were consumed by the fire, while the three walked unharmed in the flames with a fourth figure like the Son of God, for Christ Himself was with them and God did not forsake them. Their preservation and deliverance showed the king that the God they worshiped had power to save them, exalted Jehovah as more powerful than any other kingdom, and by this wonderful miracle moved Nebuchadnezzar's heart so that he believed in God and acknowledged His superior power.

The sight of the form of the Fourth in the fire convinced the king that their God was the living God, turning his wrath into praise and thanksgiving to Jehovah, and in this God was magnified. He could name the fourth as like the Son of Man, the Son of God, because he had been brought into connection with Daniel and these men and they had talked to him of God and of Christ the representative of God, who manifests Himself to those who have His commandments and keep them. After seeing this he had the men who had accused the Hebrews cast into the furnace and called to those inside to come forth. Yet because he did not continue to walk in the light he lost the holy impression made upon his mind.

The attempt to force idolatry brought knowledge of the true God before Babylon's rulers, for God vindicated His servants for steadfastness, was honored by their faithfulness, and thereby accomplished His purpose in permitting their captivity in a heathen land. That rescue from the flames and vindication of their conduct showed God's wonderful power, made Him known to Babylon, and spread the knowledge of the true God throughout the length and breadth of Babylon. In this way the binding and casting brought God's servants face to face with kings and rulers, that they and their people might receive the light, so that time after time the greatest monarchs were led to proclaim the supremacy of the God whom their Hebrew captives worshiped.

The account shows that royal power joined to evil leads to sin and divine chastisement. Their unjust punishment when cast into the fire with Jesus present so that the flames could not harm them shows that being condemned for obedience to God does not mean God has ceased to reign, for opposition to righteousness can make God's light shine more clearly. The mighty men who sought to destroy the three Hebrews were themselves destroyed by the fire, which means those who make cruel enactments and use cruel laws to destroy God's people are destroyed by the recoil and consequences of their own actions.

Faithful Obedience Under Threat

The three stood under a deadly sentence to be bound and thrown into the burning furnace for refusing to worship the idol, and their loyalty to God compelled open disregard of the king's command even in the face of death. Their refusal shows that firm religious principle can withstand even the fear of death, and that threats of death and worldly loss cannot rightly turn those who love God from obeying and standing for the truth. Though utterly helpless in themselves before the king upon his throne, by trusting the word of God they withstood the power of the whole world. That stand proved the power of God's word against human power and policy in support of evil, and it places them in the world's true nobility and royal line which the youth of today are called to join.

Their stand in the hour of binding and casting was the later fruit of an earlier decision never to compromise principle. It teaches the duty never to sacrifice principle even in the slightest particular, that it is better to incur the displeasure of men than to surrender loyalty to God, and to refuse to violate conscience. Their binding and casting is an example of self-denial and self-sacrifice, showing that all circumstances, all appetites and passions, and all hereditary or cultivated habits and tendencies are to be servants to the God-fearing man, not rulers over him. By an inwrought principle learned of the greatest Teacher the world ever knew they ruled the animal passions instead of being held in bondage of habit, and controlled circumstances instead of being servants of circumstances, and that principle of self-denial and self-sacrifice is to pass like a plowshare through hereditary and cultivated habits and through all circumstances and surroundings.

The verse calls for purpose now, as in Babylon, to be true to principle come what may and not to turn aside from allegiance to the truth. That purpose must hold through continual and sharp contests until the close of the controversy between good and evil, even when the flaming furnace is heated seven times hotter than usual. Being bound and cast in did not mean they were forsaken by God, for the form of the Fourth was seen walking with them in the flames and they came forth delivered without even the smell of fire upon their garments. God does not promise His people exemption from such trials, but promises strength equal to their days and grace sufficient in weakness. Anyone called to go through a fiery furnace for Christ's sake will have Jesus by his side in the same way, and those who love their Redeemer will rejoice at the opportunity to share His humiliation and reproach, for love for Him makes suffering for His sake sweet.

Prophetic Pattern for Last Days

The binding and casting on the plain of Dura gives a lesson for this day, when innocent servants of God are bound and given over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of men inspired by Satan and filled with envy and religious bigotry. The wrath of man will be aroused especially against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, until at last a universal decree denounces them as deserving of death.

The advisers ensnared the Hebrew captives by leading the king to decree that every knee should bow to the idol, and then the most mighty men bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace for refusing. This means that church-state power enforces false worship and seeks to destroy the faithful, exactly as human Sunday laws set up an idol sabbath where God's holy Sabbath should be and strive to turn God's people from their allegiance. The men who sought to destroy the three Hebrews were themselves destroyed, which means those who make cruel enactments to destroy God's people are destroyed by the recoil of their own actions. When human authority opposes loyalty to God, God's people must remain faithful, and their obedience makes the value of God's law clear.

The account serves as a pattern for later religious coercion, when human laws demand worship contrary to God's commandments. The future enforcement of Sunday observance by law is compared to that test of conscience over the golden image. A ruler using state power to force worship had them bound and sent to the furnace for refusing to bow, and this warns that people who use cruel laws to destroy God's faithful people may themselves be destroyed by the consequences of their actions.

That refusal to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's image is an example to be followed in the Southern States when the period comes to do as they did, and then the choice will be for or against the commandments of God. Before that time comes believers must not act presumptuously and must not be encouraged in defiance and resistance.

The fiery trial came because they would not bow the knee to the idolatrous golden image, which was set up to represent the glory of the king and his kingdom after perverting the light given through the interpretation of the dream about Babylon and other kingdoms. The verse teaches that all men, whether king or subjects, must not read the Scriptures and God's providences in the light of their dreams and fancies, but must read their dreams in the light of the living oracles.

Encouragement for Later Believers

The binding and casting into the burning furnace shows that God can preserve His faithful people when they face deadly persecution and violence, though their lives remain in His hands. The same ordeal shows that His people may face deadly danger yet are not forgotten or forsaken by Christ, for God does not forget His people in times of danger and suffering. The Lord preserved the lives of the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace just as He later preserved John in the caldron of boiling oil. Their being bound and cast was persecution of faithful servants answered by keeping them alive, the same divine preservation shown when John was kept alive in the cauldron of boiling oil and a comparison for his preservation from the boiling oil.

Luther trusted in this example when facing enemies who sought to silence him, trusting that the same God who preserved the three in the burning furnace could preserve him amid threats of death, though he was ready to die rather than surrender the truth. The God who preserved the three young men still lives and reigns to preserve His servants when they are summoned before rulers and threatened with violence for the gospel. Trust in Him means answering God's call even when sick and expecting violence, placing the matter in the Lord's hands and refusing flight and recantation. It means holding that if He will not save, life is of little consequence, caring only that the gospel not be exposed to the scorn of the wicked even if blood must be shed for it, and leaving whether life or death will most contribute to salvation to God.

God keeps faithful witnesses alive under sentence of death from powerful enemies, because the flames could not harm Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego because Jesus was with them. That preservation gives later believers facing hostile rulers for the sake of truth ground to trust God with their own lives rather than seek ease or fear death, and teaches trust in God when people suffer for doing right. Their deliverance shows that at the Lord's coming smoke and flame will not harm the righteous who are united with Him, for they will escape unscathed because the Son of God is with them as He was with the three who were not consumed. Their binding and casting was a severe test of faith that shows the kind of courage required to stand by religious conviction despite danger and opposition.