Daniel 3:19-25

d. PERFECT DELIVERANCE

TEXT: Daniel 3:19-25

19

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

20

And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21

Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their outer 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 flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

23

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he 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 aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.

QUERIES

a.

Why heat the furnace seven times hotter than before?

b.

What caused the soldiers of the king to fall into the flames?

c.

Who was the fourth person in the furnace?

PARAPHRASE

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and his face was distorted with rage. At once he commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be bound by certain of his most powerful soldiers and thrown into a flaming furnace which he had ordered to be fired up seven times hotter than it was before. The three Hebrew youths were then bound up securely hand and foot with all their fine regalia of boots, leggings, caps and robes on, and cast into the very center of the flaming furnace. Driven by the fury of the king's anger, the soldiers were in such haste they did not take precautions concerning the intensity of the leaping flames and as they shoved the Hebrew lads into the furnace they themselves were burned to death by the flames. After the three Hebrew lads had fallen into the furnace, king Nebuchadnezzar bent over to look into the aperture but he rose to his feet quickly with astonishment on his face. He said to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound hand and foot into that flaming furnace? They answered, Indeed we did, O King. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, Look! I see four men loose, walking around in the middle of that inferno, and none of them are burned. The fourth man in there is like a son of the gods.

COMMENT

Daniel 3:19-21. COMMANDED THAT THEY SHOULD HEAT THE FURNACE SEVEN TIMES MORE THAN IT WAS WONT TO BE HEATED. Their vow of resolution after being offered a second chance angered the king to the extreme. He was hot with anger. His face was distorted with rage. His command to heat it seven times more. is a figure of speech much like our ten times as much or hundred times more. It would be impossible to measure precisely when the heat was exactly seven times greater.

The furnaces resembled our present day lime kilns. They were stone or brick, open at the top and approachable by an elevated path or inclined plane because the kiln was built against a hillside from which the approach was made. At the bottom there must have been an opening that was large enough to enable men to peer into the flames if they stooped or got down on their knees.
The three Hebrew lads had appeared, evidently, at this occasion of state dressed in their finest apparel. Ordinarily, their finery would be stripped off before committing them to the furnace. In this case, however, due to the urgency of the king's command, the victims were taken just as they were, bound hand and foot, and cast into the roaring inferno.
The description of their apparel begins with boots, trousers, caps and ends with robes. They were cast into the flames fully clothed. Clothing would serve as extremely combustible fuel to feed the flames and serve to make the burning-up of the persons faster.

Daniel 3:22-23. BECAUSE THE KING'S COMMANDMENT WAS URGENT, AND THE FURNACE EXCEEDING HOT, THE FLAME OF THE FIRE SLEW THOSE MEN. The king's order given with furious rage written all over his countenance and pouring forth from his mouth spurred his powerful soldiers to careless and fatal haste. They rushed headlong toward the opening of the furnace on the top close enough to hurl their victims in but they went too close and the leaping, licking flames, roared out from that inferno many times hotter than ever before and burned the soldiers to death. They succeeded, however, in casting the Hebrew men into the very center of that furnace. The fact that the soldiers were burned to death instantly when they merely came close to the flames and the fact that the Hebrew men did not even have the smell of smoke upon them makes this miracle most outstanding.

Daniel 3:24-25. DID WE NOT CAST THREE MEN. INTO THE. FIRE?. LO, I SEE FOUR MEN. WALKING IN THE. FIRE. AND THE. FOURTH IS LIKE A SON OF THE GODS. The king took up a position at a safe distance from the furnace, yet at a vantage point where he could stoop down and peer inside through the opening at the bottom of the furnace. His furious rage at being disobeyed by, in his estimation, these ingrateful Hebrews caused him to want to witness their execution. But instead of seeing them writhing in agony as they are roasted alive, he sees a scene which utterly astounds him! It is so astonishing he is incredulous. He asks his counselors for confirmation of the number of men cast into that inferno for he has counted an extra one. He sees, in fact, six amazing things. (1) he sees not three but four; (2) they are not bound but free; (3) they are not lying down or standing still but walking about; (4) they are not being consumed by the fire but are unhurt; (5) the appearance of the fourth was like unto a son of the gods; (6) they were not frantically searching for a way of escape, but were evidently calmly resigned to let their God handle the situation.

The statement of Nebuchadnezzar, ... like a son of the gods. concerning the fourth person he saw in the furnace is to be expected from a pagan king. The KJV translates the king's statement, ... like the Son of God, but that is not grammatically defensible. The literal meaning is . son of deity, and the Aramaic, in reproducing the sense of Nebuchadnezzar's statement does so by the language of paganism. What the king saw was a being with supernatural qualities and appearance. The king was impressed with this being's divine appearance and its superhuman abilities but speaks as a typical heathen when he likens the fourth person to a son of the gods. We believe the fourth person was an angel of the Lord, whether one of the angels of high rank or not is uncertain (cf. Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:21, regarding Michael, the arch-angel). To hold that the fourth person was the pre-incarnate Son of God robs the incarnation, in our estimation, of its uniqueness and seems to contradict plain teaching of scripture that the appearance of the Son of God took place uniquely at His birth by the virgin Mary and His subsequent life (cf. John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-14). In the passage in Hebrews 1:1-14 we are told of God's previous ministry to the fathers through the agency of angels and this is to emphasize the uniqueness of the ministry of the Son in these last days. God did many things through the agency of angels. We will discuss angels in a Special Study in connection with chapter ten.

QUIZ

1.

Why was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury? How angry was he?

2.

How hot was seven times more than it was wont to be heated?

3.

Why were the soldiers burned to death?

4.

Why mention the apparel of the three Hebrew men?

5.

Name six things which caused the king to be astonished?

6.

Who was the fourth person like a son of the gods?