Episode 211: The fiery furnace

Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar's golden image

3 ¹ Nebuchadnezzar made a gold image sixty cubits high and six cubits wide.

² He told everyone to come to its dedication ceremony.

^3-4 So everyone came, and an official cried out:

⁵ When you hear the music, fall down and worship the golden image.

⁶ Whoever fails to do so, will be cast into a fiery furnace.

⁷ So when the people heard the music, they fell down and worshiped the image.

The fiery furnace

⁸ But some people went to the king and said to him,

¹² Some of the Jews, specifically Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to worship the golden image.

¹³ King Nebuchadnezzar was angry and commanded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought to him.

¹⁴ When they arrived, the king said to them,

Do you refuse to worship the golden image?

¹⁵ If so, I'll cast you into the fiery furnace.

¹⁶ They answered,

¹⁷ Our God will protect us from the fiery furnace.

¹⁸ But even if he doesn't, we won't worship your gods.

^19-20 This made the king even more angry. He commanded that the furnace be made seven times as hot, and that they be thrown into it.

^21-22 So they were cast into the furnace, but because the furnace was so hot, the men who cast them in burned in the flames of the fire.

²⁴ The king said to his men,

Didn't we cast those three men into the fire?

His men answered, "Yes, we did."

²⁵ The king said,

Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire without being burned?

And one of them looks like the Son of God!

²⁶ Then he walked over to the edge of the fiery furnace and said,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come here.

²⁷ So they came out of the furnace. Not a single hair was burned, neither were their coats. They didn't even smell smokey.

Nebuchadnezzar coverts to Judaism (again)

²⁸ The king said,

Blessed be the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent an angel to save them.

²⁹ From now on, whoever says anything bad about the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their house will become a dunghill. Because their god is the best.

³⁰ And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.