Daniel 3:13–18, 26–28

Bible Studies for Life
Assistant Professor of Religion, Samford University

Stand Courageously

Daniel 3:13–18, 26–28

For Daniel and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah — more commonly known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — life in exile was a decidedly mixed affair. On most days life consisted of learning how to maneuver the minefields of life at court. How should one respond to a king’s troubled dreams and petulant demands for interpretation (Chapter 2)? How should one respond to a king’s mental breakdown (Chapter 4) or outright rejection by God (Chapter 5)? But on other days a more ominous note was struck. On these days, decisions had to be made concerning royal decrees that fell afoul of God’s own decrees. When must one resist the king’s edict? When must one move beyond resistance and into outright defiance? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced just such a dilemma in the third chapter of Daniel.

As Daniel 3 opens, the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar is said to have erected on the plain of Dura an enormous image of gold. This image he intends all his government officials to honor by bowing before it and worshipping it when the musical call is sounded. This, the Hebrew children rightly believed, they simply could not do. To serve the king was one thing, to worship the king and his idol was another thing altogether. And so Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down.

This decision would not be without consequences. Nebuchadnezzar had not only commanded that his officials worship his image he also had spelled out in painstaking detail what would happen to those who did not: “Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace” (v. 6). To draw the line at this point for the three youths could well mean death at the hands of the Babylonian king.

Your commitment to the Lord will often cause clashes with the world. (13–15)

Determined to follow their own consciences, the Jewish youths refused to bow down. Their refusal did not go unnoticed, however. Immediately their actions were reported to the king, who was thrown into a furious rage. Summoning Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before him, the king demanded once again that the youths submit and threated them anew with a terrible death in the fiery furnace. Ominously he warned, “What god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (v. 15).

You must stand against a hostile world with immovable faith. (16–18)

The Babylonian king must surely have been taken aback when the Jewish youths remained unimpressed with his intimidations. Rather than submit the youths defiantly answered back, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it and He will deliver us from your majesty’s hand. But if not, we want you to know, O king, we still will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (vv. 16–18).

Honor God by loving Him more than your own life. (26–28)

The cost was just as Nebuchadnezzar had warned: they were thrown alive into the fiery furnace. As Daniel recounts, the youths were miraculously saved from such a terrible fate. But saved or not, their determination to obey what they believed was God’s decree for them had already won the day.