Daniel 3
Nebuchadnezzar orders everyone to bow to his golden statue
King Nebuchadnezzar erected a gold statue that was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide in Babylon’s plain of Dura. Then he ordered all the governors, counselors, treasurers, lawyers, and other district rulers to come to the statue’s dedication ceremony. At the ceremony the herald loudly proclaimed,
“Everyone from all nationalities and languages, here are your orders: when the instruments sound, you are to fall down and pay homage to the golden statue King Nebuchadnezzar has erected. If anyone refuses to fall down and worship the statue they’ll be thrown into the blazing furnace.”
So when everyone heard the sound of the horns, flutes, lyres, bagpipes, and other instruments, they all fell down and worshiped Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue.
3 Israelites refuse to bow
But some Chaldeans came forward and accused the Israelites, telling King Nebuchadnezzar,
“Long live the king! You, oh king, gave the orders for everyone to fall down and worship the statue when the instruments sounded. You said that if anyone refused, they’d be thrown into a blazing furnace.
There are a few Israelites who you appointed as Babylon’s administrators, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego who have disrespected you by refusing to serve your gods and worship your golden statue.”
Outraged, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, asking them,
“Is it true that you refuse to serve my gods and pay homage to the golden statue I set up? I’ll play the music again and give you another chance to fall down and worship the statue. If you refuse to worship, you’ll be immediately thrown into the blazing furnace. Is there any god who can save you from my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego replied,
“Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t even need to answer that question. If you throw us in, the God we serve can deliver us from the blazing furnace, and he will. But even if he doesn’t, you should know that we still won’t serve your gods or worship your golden statue.”
Nebuchadnezzar throws them into the furnace
That infuriated Nebuchadnezzar so much that his demeanor towards them visibly changed, and he ordered for the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal. Then he ordered some of his soldiers to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and throw them into the furnace. So they were tied up fully clothed and thrown into the blazing furnace. Because the king harshly ordered for the furnace to be overheated, the fire killed the soldiers who carried them. Even though the soldieres died, the three Israelites still fell right into the fire, all tied up.
God protects the Israelites from burning
King Nebuchadnezzar was alarmed and quickly stood up and asked his officials,
“Didn’t we tie up and throw three men into the furnace?”
They replied,
“That’s correct, my king.”
He said,
“But look! I see four men walking around in the fire untied and unharmed, and the fourth one looks like a descendant of the gods!”
So Nebuchadnezzar approached the furnace door and shouted,
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego! Come out, you servants of the highest God.”
So the three Israelites walked out. All of the king’s governors and high officials gathered around and saw that the fire had no power over these Israelites’ bodies. Their hair wasn’t singed, their clothes weren’t damaged, and they didn’t even smell like fire.
Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges God
At this, Nebuchadnezzar said,
“May Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego’s God be praised! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who put their trust in him. His servants violated the king’s command and risked their own bodies just to avoid worshiping and paying homage to another god. Now I make a decree: if anyone from any country or language says anything disrespectful about the Israelite God, that person will be torn limb from limb and their house will be reduced to a pile of rubble. There is no other god capable of rescuing like this.”
Then the king caused these three Israelites to prosper throughout the Babylonian empire.