19 At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual, 20 and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.

21 So they were tied up, wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and they were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.

22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the fiery flames killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.

24 Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and asked his advisers, “Did we not throw three men, firmly bound, into the fire?”

“Certainly, O king,” they replied.

25 “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Alex Chen

This is the moment the enemies of God should be triumphing over God’s faithful people in a foreign place. The blazing fire sounds terrifying, but we don’t learn what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thought after their bold stance of worshipping only the one true God. The faithful are given the death sentence by the earthly ruler and his soldiers. But the enemy does not prevail here. There is divine intervention – one like a son of the gods appears. God protects his people, the faithful few in a foreign land. These are the people through whom he is going to save people throughout the world.

Deciding to stand up and declare allegiance to God here has its consequences, and we see it in full force here. We see here that God is faithful to his people Israel, that human rulers do not mean that God is not in control, or acting, or caring. Even at the lowest point of God’s people – his power and love are seen.

We may not often face the furnace for our faith. We know that Jesus has done that at an even greater scale for us at the cross – and God was faithful in raising him from the dead. We have deep assurance that in our unity with Jesus, we too are kept by God. The last enemy of death has been defeated. But we must also be encouraged that in knowing God’s faithfulness to us already in Jesus – we can stand up and boldly proclaim Jesus’ name, even in hostile environments. Family, friends, work, strangers – we must show that we are known by our God, and so we live differently to what the world chases, what it worships. Security in money, job security, relationships; man’s praise for aligning with them – we must pray for a readiness to stand firm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex is one of our Student Ministers.