Daniel 3:19-28

Proverbs 21:1 states, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” In the text before us, we see the Lord turn the heart of Nebuchadnezzar from fury against God’s faithful to an acceptance of the Lord’s power and will.

Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury because of the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to fall down and worship the great golden idol that he had made. When questioned regarding their refusal, the three proclaimed that the God whom they served was able to deliver them from the burning fiery furnace and from the evil that Nebuchadnezzar intended.

Nebuchadnezzar responded to the challenge of his authority by ordering that the furnace be made seven times hotter than its usual temperature of operation. The scriptures do not reveal the manner in which the furnace was fueled, only that the intensity of the fire could be controlled. One would presume that the blaze was made seven times hotter by burning seven times the normal amount of fuel. We know that those cast into the fiery furnace could be viewed from a distance (v. 25) and that in the middle of the furnace Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego heard Nebuchadnezzar’s command to come hither 
(v. 26).

The men who threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace were described as the most mighty men of the king’s army (v. 20). These mighty men perished in the extreme heat but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked about in the midst of the fire unaffected by the roaring inferno about them (v. 25).

Nebuchadnezzar knew that what he had seen could not be happening but that it, in deed, was happening. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not touched by the heat in any manner. Their clothing was not touched; not a hair on their heads was singed. Nebuchadnezzar was alarmed because he saw a fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — a man whose presence could not be explained. Nebuchadnezzar was not alone in viewing this impossible happening. He was accompanied by princes, governors, captains and counselors.

The form of the fourth man was different from that of Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego. The fourth man is described as both the Son of God and as an angel sent from God (v. 25, 28). Nebuchadnezzar concluded that the fourth man had been sent by the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to protect them.

Today, we live in an age which boasts of increased understanding of the natural world. Our increased understanding, however, fails to explain how this chain of events could be a natural occurrence. We, like Nebuchadnezzar, must conclude that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego delivers those who trust in Him.

Nebuchadnezzar concluded that God (the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) delivered those who trusted in Him because he witnessed their deliverance from the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego possessed faith that God could deliver them (see v. 17).

The deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace demonstrates that God is able to do the impossible. The text before us, however, does more than demonstrate God’s power — it reveals the circumstances under which God chooses to do the impossible. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego declared their faith in the Lord God and stated that they would bow down to no other god. They stated that they would not worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol even if God could not deliver them from the fiery furnace. God responded to their act of faith by doing the impossible.

God’s response to faith is the basis of Christianity. Abraham believed God and He counted it to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3). The wages of sin is death. Nothing that man can do changes the wages of sin. It is impossible for man to change the consequences of sin. God does the impossible for them who believe. God, in His love, gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever should believe on Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

It is by the direction of the Holy Spirit that the form of the fourth man in the fiery furnace is described as “like the Son of God.” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were shielded from death by the pre-incarnate Son. It is God the Son by which all men must come to the Father.

The fourth man does the impossible for all who believe that God can and will deliver them from the impossible. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were delivered because God would have all men repent and believe.

Let us declare the shielding love of the fourth man in the fire.