Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive the fiery furnace

Daniel 3:13-27

13 – Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

14 – Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

15 – Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17 – If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18 – But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

19 – Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

 20 – And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

 21 – Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

 22 – Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

 23 – And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

 24 – Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

 25 – He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

 26 – Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

 27 – And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

When King Nebuchadnezzar declared that everyone under the authority of his throne must bow down and worship his false gods or face death in a fiery furnace, his subjects all across the land did as they were commanded. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were determined to worship no other god besides the one true living God, and they were prepared to pay for their disobedience to the mighty king with their very lives should that penalty be required of them.
 
Well, sure enough, Nebuchadnezzar found out about their refusal to worship his gods, so he ordered them thrown into a fiery furnace that was so hot that it ended up killing the men who threw them inside! But these men of such amazing character had faith that God would protect them from the flames and heat of the raging furnace, and indeed He did.
 
When Nebuchadnezzar looked inside the furnace, not only was he astonished to see the men he had condemned to death completely unharmed and walking around in the midst of the fire, but he also saw a fourth man walking around with them. That fourth man was none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - the Son of the Living God!
 
Even today, the Good Shepherd keeps watch over His flock, protecting us as we go about our daily lives. We can’t see Him with our eyes the way King Nebuchadnezzar did, but He loves us, walks with us, and protects us nonetheless.

If you were faced with an ultimatum similar to the one given to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would you be able to withstand the pressure and fear and have the courage to make the right decision?

Even Peter, with his unsurpassed love for Jesus and absolute belief that He was indeed the Son of the living God, denied even knowing Him when faced with his own “fire”, so it’s hard to tell just how the rest of us would react under similar circumstances. But one thing is certain: when we falter and sin against God (as all humans do), He will forgive us if we will just repent and ask for His forgiveness.