Have you heard of the famous Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? In case you haven’t, let me introduce you. They made King Nebuchadnezzar furious because they would not serve false gods or worship the golden image that he had set up (Daniel 3:18). Due to their disobedience, the king ordered them to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. And don’t let me forget to mention, they still had all their clothes on before being tied up and thrown in. I mean fire is already hot, was the king trying to make it even hotter? I’m sweating just thinking about it.
“These men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.” – Daniel 3:21
What I’m about to say next is very important in understanding the significance of the miracle that happened in this story. The furnace was so hot, the flames from the fire slew (aka killed) the men who took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the furnace (Daniel 3:22). Yes…you read correctly…they literally died just from taking them to the furnace. So the question is, how did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive?
Once the men had been thrown into the furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar notices a fourth person in the midst of the fire that he compares to a having form like the Son of God (Daniel 3:25) and later calls it an angel (Daniel 3:28). Not only does he notice a fourth person, but he noticed that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego hadn’t been harmed and were no longer bound but were walking around LOOSE.
My favorite part of this story is explained in verse 27, “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” In other words, the same fire that killed the men who took them to the furnace had left them completely untouched. I can’t even leave a bonfire without smelling like smoke and these men were in a WHOLE FURNACE still smelling fresh afterwards.
The fire in the story is comparable to life itself. You’re going to be placed in a situation, place, or circumstance that you fear, hate, or maybe even don’t deserve. But this story is proof that even when you have no control or when you’re in a place that you know others haven’t made it out of…you can still survive with God in your mist, completely unharmed. His presence is the determining factor between life and death in this story as it will also be in yours. Will you let him save you? Will you let him bring you out of this situation untouched? Still smelling like your perfume/cologne instead of the smoke of the furnace…
“Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” – Daniel 3:28
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