A Fourth Man in the Fire

The heat is so fierce that the soldiers who carry the prisoners to the door of the furnace fall down dead. And the three prisoners, tied up in their clothes, drop into the flames.

We are in Babylon, around six hundred years before Jesus. King Nebuchadnezzar has conquered Jerusalem and brought young Jewish men to serve in his court. Three of them, friends of Daniel, have been given Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They have risen to important jobs. Then the king builds an enormous golden image on the plain of Dura and commands that when the music plays, every official in the empire must fall down and worship it. Anyone who refuses will be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. The music plays. Everyone bows. Except three.

Nebuchadnezzar is furious. He gives them one more chance, and they answer him calmly. Our God is able to rescue us. But even if he does not, we will not serve your gods or worship your golden image. Now the king's face changes with rage. He orders the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. He commands the strongest men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, still in their coats, trousers and hats, and throw them in. The flames are so savage that they kill the men who carry them to the opening. And the three friends fall, bound, into the middle of the fire.

The king is watching. And suddenly he jumps to his feet in alarm. He turns to his advisers. “Didn't we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?” “True, O king.” “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Four, not three. Not tied up, but walking. Not burning, but free. Someone has joined them in the flames.

Nebuchadnezzar goes near to the door of the furnace and calls in. “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” And out they walk. The officials crowd round to look. The fire has had no power on their bodies. Not a hair of their heads is singed. Their clothes are not scorched. They do not even smell of smoke. And the king who built the golden statue says, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

There is something unusual about the language of this chapter. Most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew. But from the middle of Daniel chapter two to the end of chapter seven, the book switches to Aramaic, the international language of the Babylonian and Persian empires. The story of the fiery furnace, set in Babylon's royal court, was written in the language of that court.

A fourth man in the fire. You can read it in Daniel chapter three, verses nineteen to twenty-eight. The three friends were not kept out of the fire, but they were not left alone in it. The prophet Isaiah had promised, when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. At Christmas, Christians celebrate a child called Immanuel, God with us, the God who comes into the fire with his people. So here is a question to carry with you. The three friends were not alone in the fire. Where do you need to remember that God is with you?