The Fourth Man in the Fire - Daniel 3:19-29

[Music] if you would open up your Bibles to Daniel chapter 3 we're going to begin this morning at verse 19 but let me just set the stage because what we're talking about this morning is genuinely a continuation of what we started last week the the great king of Babylon whose name was Nebuchadnezzar he set up an image on the plains of Dura it was 90 feet tall and it was made out of gold at least on the outside and he commanded that all of his government officials and no doubt many of the citizens of his

kingdom gather together there on the plains of dura for an amazing dedication ceremony for the statue and they had all the media support you could imagine they had the spoken word going Lord from The Herald they they had elaborate music it would be something like what we think of for an opening or closing ceremony for an Olympic Games a great production and the command went forth that at this a dedication ceremony for the statue when the music began that everybody was commanded to bow down before the statue and when the music started everybody bowed except

for three men three Jewish exiles named Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they refused to bow well this was called to Nebuchadnezzar's attention by a couple jealous government workers who didn't like how Shadrach and meshach were being promoted and when it was called to Nebuchadnezzar's attention he brought the boys in and in sort of a fatherly manner he spoke to them and he said how boys boys listen I'm afraid you know us and how things run around here I'm Nebuchadnezzar and I'm the King and if I say bow down to a statue you're gonna bow down to

this statue and the Jewish man absolutely refused and Nebuchadnezzar became very angry and he said if you don't bow down I'm gonna cast you into a fiery furnace and where is there a God anywhere who can save you from my hand if I decide to throw you into that fiery furnace and that gave the three Jewish men the opportunity to say something they say well listen we serve the God of Israel and our God is perfectly capable to deliver us from your hands even if he doesn't deliver us we still won't bow down to your

statue because we're gonna do what's right in the sight of God that brings us all the way up to verse 19 where we read that Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and the expression on his face change towards Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated and he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and cast them into the fiery furnace well in my mind's eye when Nebuchadnezzar first spoke with these three Jewish young

men he spoken sort of a fatherly tone now boys let me tell you what's best for you that fatherly tone was gone they were insubordinate to the mighty Nebuchadnezzar's command and he became as it says there in verse 19 full of fury like what it says in verse 19 it says that the expression on his face changed once fatherly now filled with anger and in his fury he commanded heat up that furnace seven times hotter than it was now I always think kind of weird thoughts when I read the Bible I think this I think

why heat it up more that just means our gonna get burned up quicker and it'll be less suffering why not cool down the fire and then they'll roast in there for a while but that that's just the strange way I think I don't even know if Nebuchadnezzar was thinking logically at that point he just had heated up seven times more we're gonna burn these guys to a cinder even quicker and then he commanded verse twenty certain mighty men of valor and his army to bind them again my mind gets a why tie them up I

mean what's the big what are they gonna run around there and the furnace well maybe but tie them up bind them tightly throw them into the fiery furnace and get your Special Forces get SEAL Team six out there to tie them up and to throw them into the firmest these mighty men of from his army verse 21 then these men were bound in their coats their trousers their turbans and their other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace therefore because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot the

flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace tightly tied and fully clothed they were thrown into the furnace and verse 23 says that they fell down bound into the midst of it and the flames of the fire were so hot verse 22 says that it killed the members of SEAL team 6 who threw them into the fire lazy that's a hot fire isn't it when you go to the door of the

fire and the flames are leaping out so hot that it killed the men who threw Shadrach Meshach and Abednego into the fire that is an incredibly hot fire and these guys should have burnt to a crisp immediately but then what happens verse 24 then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke saying to his counselors didn't we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire they answered and said to the king true o King look he answered I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and

they are not hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God verse 24 says the King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and no doubt he was he was astonished because he saw something in the furnace and of course we don't know exactly how this furnace was constructed we don't know how he could look into the furnace exactly but he could and he looked into the furnace and he saw not three figures that alone would have astonished him that he would see anything survived two seconds into that fire would be an astonishment but not

only didn't see three figures walking on he saw a fourth figure walking around the fire and they all seemed just fine look at the phrasing there it says they're walking around and they're not hurt I don't know what they're doing taking a leisurely stroll you know looking at their watches you know rubbing a little suntan lotion on I don't know what they're doing but they seemed just fine now there is an ancient translation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint for our purposes here let's just say that it was written about a hundred years

before the time of Jesus so the Septuagint is an ancient translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek and it's interesting because sometimes it adds or subtracts a couple things they're just of interest to scholars in the Septuagint of Daniel chapter 3 verse 24 it says that Nebuchadnezzar's attention was caught when he heard the men singing praises to God in the furnace now that's the Septuagint it's not our normal text I don't want to act like that's exactly what the Bible says but isn't that a provocative thought I have it in my mind like this and

if I was making a movie of it I'd have I'd have the men throw the three Jewish men into the furnace fall down dead Nebuchadnezzar you know wipes his hand that's done I don't need to give that a second look he turns and begins to walk away when he hears singing coming from the furnace I don't know what song they sang that would be a great one to know here singers singing from the furnace no wonder he was astonished he turns and he looks into the furnace and what does he see at a safe distance

from the raging Heat he peers into the flames and he sees four men loose walking in the midst of the fire I need to address one thing right from the beginning it would be easy to read this and think this is obviously a fairy tale things like this don't happen I mean I imagine somebody just come into the Bible cold you you're not Church if I'd you don't know all the lingo you didn't grow up in Sunday school hearing these stories and you know kind of coming here this morning well I've heard this one about

ten times before let's see what the pastor can do with it now you're not like that you you just read this call and you go come on it sounds like a fairy tale to me what's next they come out of the furnace with magic beans and it makes a stalk and you know they go up to a cloud or something like that well I I get the skepticism I get it because this is utterly out of the ordinary people don't survive being cast into fiery furnaces and they certainly don't walk around and certainly forth people

don't mysteriously appear with them in the midst of it this is totally off the grid it's totally off the radar screen for what normally happens and if you just say well this is impossible things like this don't happen I'm gonna gently but strongly object to you and I'm gonna give you a biblical basis for my objection here's the biblical basis for my objection it's one single verse Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth if you believe that you can believe this if you don't believe that you're probably not gonna believe

anything in the rest of the book but if you believe that there's a god and throned in heaven who's mighty enough to create heaven and earth that everything we see that all the physical properties that we observe everything that the scientist investigates everything at the end of the mightiest telescope and underneath the most powerful microscope that it's all created by God and it's engineered by him then you can understand that the same God who built the Sun and the stars as mighty furnaces in the I that if he chose to suspend those properties for a

moment so that these men could survive and indeed thrive he could do that now if you don't believe that God created that having served well then that is a big problem but I have to say I believe it I hope you do too and if you can settle yourself with that that yes we love and we respect the work of scientists we understand the work that God does in and through creation and we marvel at it but at the same time we realize that there is a God who's above the science and the scientists and

at times and places he suspends the laws of natural order where something that would normally immediately combust and burn up it doesn't why because God is interrupting the natural order for a special time and a special purpose the creator of the universe can do that if it is true that they sang in the furnace you know what it reminds me of it reminds me of Paul and Silas singing in the Philippian jail there they are in Acts chapter 16 verse 25 they're singing praises to God from the prison and these guys are singing praises to

God from the furnace and that's why never knez it was so astonished in verse 25 he declared I see four men loose and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God Nebuchadnezzar himself tells us the identity of the fourth man how many went into the furnace three how many did Nebuchadnezzar see four where did the fourth man come from Nebuchadnezzar says he looks like the son of God to me it's a remarkable thing that Jesus was literally with them in the worst of their experience and in the fire it doesn't surprise us

I mean we understand that Jesus Christ did not begin his existence as a baby in Bethlehem that Jesus Christ is the eternal God who had existence before his incarnation in Bethlehem and at certain times in certain places in the Hebrew Scriptures he pleased him to manifest himself and to appear in some kind of physical form we see this at places in the Old Testament and this is one of them where Jesus was right there with him but I don't want you to think for a moment that Jesus just now appeared in the story ladies and

gentlemen when they stood before that great statue on the plains of Dura and when they were commanded to bow down before the statue don't think you think that Jesus was right there beside them maybe adding a little extra strength into their spine so that they would not bow Jesus was there with him then when they stood before Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar said you would not bow before my statue but I'm gonna make you bend to me right now don't you think that they were there reminding them that he himself is a greater king than even King

Nebuchadnezzar and he was giving them the courage to not bend in that moment they wouldn't bow they wouldn't Bend but neither would they burn and then right there in the midst of the furnace Jesus Christ is there with them in the very experience now when I think about all that I think about a few things one thing I want us to remember is a very important principle God can deliver us from a trial just like he delivered these men they didn't burn up in the fiery furnace but sometimes God's will is not to deliver us

from a trial but to give a strength to endure in the trial there are some people who are persecuted and maybe literally or figuratively they are thrown into a fiery furnace and friends I don't want to sugarcoat this they burn to the glory of Jesus Christ it's interesting because especially through the persecutions that Christians suffered in Britain a few hundred years ago it was very common for them to burn martyrs at the stake most of them burned they didn't survive and are we actually gonna say well if he rescues you from the fiery furnace God

is with you if your bodies burn and you die I guess God isn't with you no never sometimes God's will and power is manifested by delivering us from a fiery furnace sometimes his will is power and will and power is manifested in giving us strength to endure it to the very end in the midst of the fiery furnace but here he was very pleased to be with them and to deliver them I like what the old Puritan commentator said when he quoted in English martyrs words as he was burnt at the stake he said this

you look for miracles here now you may see a miracle for in this fire I feel no more pain than is if I were in a bed of down but to me this is a bed of roses he died he burned but God's miraculous power was there nevertheless but at the end of it all it is fitting that the son of God was there with them walking in the midst of the fire you know I think it was so fitting so beautiful so appropriate because Jesus is totally comfortable in the furnace Jesus is very familiar

with the furnace he knows it well he's no stranger to that place matter of fact you could say that that all throughout his life Jesus experienced what it was like to be in the furnace jesus knew the furnace of temptation do you see him there in the wilderness forty days tempted of the devil he knew the furnace of temptation therefore when you are in the furnace of temptation look around you'll find Jesus right there in the midst of it they're strengthening you jesus knows the furnace of pressure and stress think about the enormous weight upon

his shoulders think about the responsibility that Jesus bore in his 30 years of obscurity before he began as public ministry when he had the responsibility to support his his mother and his family and to take care of them the stress the pressure the responsibility jesus knew that furnace when you feel the heat of all that in your life look around Jesus is near to you in your furnace as well jesus knew the furnace of rejection and unfair treatment he faced a lot of that in his life and in his ministry did he not often rejected

despised his man the only person who ever came to this earth and never sinned against anybody and he was treated terribly because of it when you're rejected when you are treated unfairly look around Jesus in the midst of that furnace jesus knew the furnace of pain and suffering jesus knew the furnace ultimately of death he is entirely comfortable in the furnace and if you look around you'll find him there in the midst of yours as well now one other thing to notice before we move on to verse 26 Nebuchadnezzar said in verse 25 I see

four men but not just for men I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire how did the three Jewish men go into the furnace bound completely tied up by the special forces guys what did the fire burn didn't burn their hair didn't burn their clothing all that burnt up was the ropes that bound them all it burned up was that which restricted and hindered them and that is God's glorious work for a furnace that he may allow you you're in the midst of the first God you sent me here to burn

me up no I sent you here to burn off your bonds draw close to the Son of God in the midst of that furnace and you'll walk out of here with your bonds burned up but nothing else he saw him walking about free in the fire at liberty in the fire seemingly and I won't say it but doesn't don't you get just a little bit of flavor here that they enjoyed it walking about well it's a hot day but pleasant isn't it Miche access to shadrach yes but it's a dry heat it's not as bad

as you think it's just one of those days and Jesus well it's just a wonderful thing verse 26 the Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke saying Shadrach Meshach and Abednego servants of the Most High God come out and come here then Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came from the midst of the fire and the satraps the administrators the governors the Kings Council has gathered together and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected and

the smell of fire was not on them is that beautiful they came out and the only effect of the fire was to burn up that which bound them so when Nebuchadnezzar cautiously came to the mouth of the fires is this thing still hot I don't get this he calls into the fire and what does he say it's right there in verse 26 servants of the Most High God now I love this because earlier we talked about it last week in verse 15 of January after three Nebuchadnezzar win who is so angry with those three Jewish

men he said to them who will deliver you from my hands what God will deliver you from my hands and when Nebuchadnezzar said that he revealed something about himself he revealed that he thought he was higher than any God he didn't say the God of the Hebrews Yahweh cannot deliver you from my hand he said there's no God who can deliver you from it none my Babylonian gods can't rescue you from me I'm mightier than the mall and we kind of figured something out last week didn't we who did Nebuchadnezzar really worship as God Himself

not me but himself himself he worshiped as God that was Nebuchadnezzar worshipped a common deity to most of us King me for you women you might say Queen you but you get it King me that's who we worship King me that's who the real God is in my life that's exactly how I became me tell you something King me was dethroned in Nebuchadnezzar's life because he knows what he says he calls Shadrach Meshach and Abednego servants of the Most High God Most High higher than me if I do anything else here this morning I wanted

to throne King me in your life he's a rotten god listen you're a lovely person I know you do a lot of good in the community you love your family you work hard you do that's great but you know what you're a terrible god of your own life you need a bigger God even the best of us do so King me was now D throned in in Nebuchadnezzar's life and they noticed that the men on whose bodies the fire had no power this power had no trial this trial I should say had no power over

these men because they were thoroughly submitted to the power and the will of God matter of fact verse 27 says very dramatically that the smell of fire was not on them this demonstrates how complete their deliverance was the only thing that the fire did was burn up that which bound them so verse 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him and they have frustrated the Kings word and yielded their bodies that they should not serve a worship any God

except their own God notice this when Nebuchadnezzar says in verse 28 blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he giving glory to God yes but notice he doesn't say blessed be my god he says blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he recognized that their God was the Most High God that Yahweh the God of Israel the Covenant God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob was in fact the God of all creation the Most High God worthy of our praise that's what Nebuchadnezzar understood and he recognized that by saying blessed be the

god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and then he said who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him the king recognized that this God delivered the ones who trusted in him and his statement reveals that Nebuchadnezzar actually knew a lot about God think about it from verse 15 earlier in the chapter he says who is the God who will deliver you from my hands I don't know this God who is he now Nebuchadnezzar knows a lot about this God number one he knows that he's the god of shadrach meshach that he's the

God of Israel he understands that secondly he's to know that he knew that it's the God who sends help because he's the God who sent his angel thirdly he said that he knew that God delivered his servants he knew that God was a God of great power and could deliver people from a mighty fiery furnace next he said that God that he delivered the Jewish men who trusted in him he knew that this God was worthy of trust next he said that God frustrated the Kings word and he knew that this God is worthy of

total surrender because if God can frustrate all your rebellion against him what's the logical conclusion you should surrender to him and then finally he said that people should not serve or worship any God except the God of Israel he knew that God demanded exclusive Allegiance Nebuchadnezzar very quickly went from knowing nothing about this God to knowing a lot about this god but you know what he didn't know he didn't know this God purse this was still the god of shadrach meshach and abednego you may know a lot about God and not know God for yourself

you can learn a lot about God by coming to church hopefully so hopefully you learn about God from the worship songs you learn about God from the prayers you learn about God from the time we spend in the Bible which I believe to be God's word given to us you learn a lot about God in many different ways but you can know a lot about God and still not know him for yourself personally because here's the key to know God personally involves an element of your trust and your surrender for you to truly know God

personally you have to trust him and you have to surrender to him you can learn about him without trust and surrender but you'll never know him personally without trust and surrender I want you to know a little bit later in the service I'm gonna give an invitation for anybody here this morning who needs to surrender their life to Jesus Christ because you need to know God personally you're hearing about him and that's wonderful you may be able to pass a test of truth about God and you get the Bible trivia answers all correct good for

you that's a great thing it's not a bad thing but let me tell you something knowing about God isn't enough to rescue you on the day of judgment Jesus spoke of those people on the day of judgment who had come to him and they would be able to claim many things that they knew and did about God but Jesus would look at them and say depart from me I never knew you there was never a true personal relationship and that personal relationship can never happen unless you truly put your trust in Jesus Christ and you

truly surrender your life to Him and as I said if there's anybody here this morning who's never done that I'll give you the opportunity before we leave but back to our text here verse 29 is the last verse of our chapter and it says therefore I make a decree that any people nation or language which speaks anything amiss against the god of shadrach meshach and abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made an ash heap because there's no other God who can deliver like this then the king promoted Shadrach Meshach and

Abednego in the province of Babylon well I see a couple of things at work here first of all Nebuchadnezzar makes an amazing decree at the beginning of the chapter was whoever doesn't bow down to this image fiery furnace for you now at the end of this chapters anybody who says anything bad about this god it's off with your head and we're gonna burn up your house I'm sure Shadrach Meshach and Abednego we're saying a king you don't really need to do that see we don't need the state to enforce the worship of our God we

don't need the state to punish those who don't worship us because our God is real and because he's real he can do his own enforcement so what Nebuchadnezzar is going a little bit overboard here he's enthusiastic but he understood this there is no other God who can deliver like this I love that phrase from verse 29 when God works so remarkably in the lives of his people other people take notice you know one place I see this principle happen I see it happen when people from our congregation or other congregations for that matter go out

on missions trips you know a mission trip is oftentimes a great step of faith for people they're going to a different place maybe they had to trust God for the money to get there that it trust God for the time off they got to trust God for the ability to do the work that they're supposed to do they have all these different ways that they trust God and they step out and you know what they trusted God in a special way God moved in a special way and they come back and say you wouldn't believe

what God did now God could do very similar things right there in their own community if they'd have the same trust the same investment in his work right there but they're just the principle stands I saw God do amazing things let me tell you what God did and that's what Nebuchadnezzar was receiving right then at that moment you see when we believe God for great things then we can tell other people about the great things that he's done that's exactly how it worked in the life of these three Jewish men at the end of it

all you saw the last phrase there in verse 29 then the king promoted Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do you understand that this whole mess started because some ambitious government officials didn't like the way that these guys were getting promoted and tried to pull them down what happened God took care of their promotion just fine by the way isn't that a huge principle for us honor God in your business and your life and he'll take care of you on the ladder of career success don't you be unethical don't you be stabbing people around in the oven

no no no don't be unethical in that if you trust God he will honor you in the climb sex and that's exactly what he did for these three Jewish young men now are we done with this chapter well wait there was one thing from last week that I threw out as a teaser that I haven't discussed at all where was Daniel in the midst of all this well chapter 3 doesn't mention Daniel one bit so where was Daniel well honestly the best case and if you ask me okay David guzik Bible teacher what do you

say about where Daniel is I say look the best explanation that Daniel was away on state business doesn't it seem inconceivable to you that Daniel was among those who bowed down to the statue I can't imagine it the same Daniel who went to the lion's den later on in the Book of Daniel the same Daniel who wouldn't eat at the Kings cafeteria if you're not gonna eat at the Kings cafeteria you're not gonna bow down before the Kings image I can't imagine that Daniel was among those who bowed down nevertheless there's no mention of in

the chapter I honestly think that the better you know he's off in Persia negotiating a treaty with the Medes and the Persians he do negotiations with the assyrians whatever is he's probably out of town on state business but let me tell you something this adds to a very interesting picture that Daniel chapter 3 gives us follow me on this it's an interesting picture of something that God says will one day papen God says that one day there will arise a mighty world ruler something like Nebuchadnezzar and this mighty world ruler will demand that the whole

world bow down and give him worship matter of fact it'll even be connected with an image that he makes and sets in the holy place this is what the Bible tells us there will come a world ruler who will demand worship of the world the same way Nebuchadnezzar demanded worship of the people of Babylon now when that day comes the most important thing for the people who are there to see that day is to be like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and not bow down to this leader not bow down to his image not to receive

any mark that he may give to identify a person on their head or on their hand to have no participation in his system it's vitally important that they do not bow down to the image or the system of this world leader do we get that but how much better it would be to be like Daniel and not even be around how much better it would be to be Daniel and to be away on the King's business because the Bible also says that God promises that he has a plan for his people to preserve them from

the very hour of testing or trial and those are the people like Daniel in this equation so the best-case scenarios be like Daniel be like those who aren't even around for such a time of testing if God forbid someone found themselves in that than to have that absolute determination that they would not bow before that ruled that world ruler or any image that he would set up but nevertheless God is with his people even in the fire father that's our prayer here this evening this morning I should say Lord we are so grateful for your

presence with us we're grateful Lord that you speak to us across the centuries we're grateful Lord that you haven't stopped working in that part of the world but Lord we're grateful that you haven't stopped working right here in Santa Barbara so Lord right now I pray that you would extend special grace to those in our congregation who are in the midst of the furnace Jesus would you reveal your presence to them in the midst of the furnace Lord we know how comfortable you are in the furnace you've been there so many times before draw near

to your people among us now here who feel themselves in that furnace do it Lord exalt yourself and Jesus give us the courage to never bow or bend before whatever seductions the world the flesh to the devil set before us to give you honor as the Most High God in everything that we do we pray this Lord in Jesus wonderful name amen