THE BEST OF COMPANY THE KING S CONFUSION

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1 THE BEST OF COMPANY Dan. 3:24 Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Stuart Olyott (Dare To Stand Alone, Welwyn Commentary Series) entitles this part of the chapter, Three Immoveable Objects. That s a good title! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were indeed to the Glory of God three immoveable objects. To remind you again here is what had taken place. These three men of Israel had outrightly refused to obey the king s dictate to bow down before the image he had created. You daren t disobey the King but these three did!! And as the king looked at them he was v.19 full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed, - he was in an awful state! He ordered the furnace to be heated as much as it was possible to heat it, and he commanded the mighty men to bind the three still in their clothes and carry them and throw them into the furnace. It was so hot that v.22 the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Anyhow, Nebuchadnezzar succeeded, v.23 these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. They were taken up to the top of this place where the furnace was and unceremoniously dropped into the fire That was it! That was them finished! THE KING S CONFUSION Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? Lo, I see four men loose Every other occasion when Nebuchadnezzar used this form of punishment those condemned to die died! cast into a fiery furnace bound death was absolutely inevitable! There was absolutely no way escape could be considered and what kind of a man could sit on his throne and watch such a thing happen? Nebuchadnezzar could. I m sure he had done it many times. He was waiting to see their clothes catch fire and burn into their skin, He was waiting to hear their cries of absolute agony as the pain of the fire burned through their bodies but the yells and the shouts didn t come

2 D.G. 2 As he watched through the window, - the stoke-hole - in the furnace the surprise was so evident on his face. In the flames he saw not three men but four. It was so much of a shock that he got up off his throne in such a hurry to find out how many people had actually been thrown into the furnace. Three he was told; yes, three, - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego But how is it I can see four men in the fire?! The king s confusion, - and he was right to be confused. But what a difference in the furnace THE MEN S CONDUCT walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt That furnace was hot! and yet, the men were walking in the midst of the fire, and they [had] no hurt. Their bonds had been burned away. The heat had killed those who had thrown them into the furnace but these three men of God were walking in the midst of the fire, and they [had] no hurt. They were alive they were living. This powerful earthly king and all his counsellors and advisers saw it! The old Septuagint describes them as walking about singing praise to God and blessing the Lord and it is likely that s what they were doing (cf. v.28). It is truly tremendous what God can do even in the midst of a world that hates His Name. Babylon hated Him. Babylon was built upon the hatred it had for God. There was nothing good about Babylon, - it was rotten to the core, evil, wicked, immoral, - and yet in the midst of it God had His own people, They were a remnant He saved and kept unto Himself for His own glory. And these three were part of that remnant part of the faithful that no man can number and they were uncompromising for God. You know, this passage teaches us that when the Godly refuse to compromise there are no limits to the anger of the wicked. And those who say they are prepared to follow the Lord through the fire for the Lord s sake must realise how hot the furnace can actually become!

3 D.G. 3 The Christians in the former USSR went through the fire; many believers this very moment in Islamic countries are going through the fire; Rome has never lost its passion for putting true believers through the fire. The spirit of our age is intent on destroying true, Biblical, Reformed Christianity, - the only genuine type there is! The world hates the message of Redeeming Grace: children hate it, teenagers hate it, adults hate it. But it is to be the message of the Church, uncompromisingly so! The king s confusion, the men s conduct, - you see, as believers in the Lord Jesus the Bible tells us how different we are from the world and the world also tells us how different we are but the world can never defeat the true Church. Despite the king s fire Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were walking in the midst of the fire, and they [had] no hurt. God blessed how they honoured His Name and look now to see what Nebuchadnezzar saw THE SAVIOUR S COMPANY the form of the fourth is like the Son of God Notice something simple but important here: Nebuchadnezzar said v.24, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? Yes, we did, came the reply. Well, how is it I see four?! It was only Nebuchadnezzar saw the four. Who was the fourth? It was only to the king that God was manifesting Himself. Correctly, from the language point of view, the Aramaic of this verse (v.25) reads, a son of the gods. Obviously Nebuchadnezzar had no understanding of the Trinity or Christ as the Second Person, but through the flames he could make out the sight of someone who was different from the three men but yet similar. Nebuchadnezzar believed in a plurality of gods and he saw there was something distinctive about this fourth man. And the AV describes I believe Who this fourth man actually was, - it was Jesus; it is what is known as one of His pre-incarnate theophanies (eg. Angel of the Lord, the Angel cf. Gen. 48:16). The Lord Jesus walked in the flames with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! Here was the promise God had given through Isaiah

4 D.G. 4 43:1 Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. These three men wouldn t compromise in the face of the image Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to bow down and worship and the penalty for their disobedience that the king meted out to them was as nothing when they shared the Saviour s company in the fire. Outside of Christ and outside the will of God they would have burned, consumed in the flame but with Christ they walked through the flames! Yes, it was walking in the midst of the fire... They enjoyed the Saviour s Company, - had they been anywhere else they would have missed it! Deliverance in the fire, and not from the fire. It was in the fire the unbelievable happened, - that was where they met the Saviour and enjoyed His company. Often we pray for God to deliver us from the fire but often too that is where most we feel His nearness in the fire! How many times can we testify to how He came close to us during times of great illness or family problems or the like. Deliverance in the fire, and not from the fire. What happened next? v. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 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. 28 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.

5 D.G. 5 CONCLUSION. No more mention of the great image Nebuchadnezzar had spent so much time, energy, riches building. No more anger in his voice. The king s confusion, - it was no longer there. The men s conduct, and how they wouldn t worship any other God but Jehovah, - was testimony to their devotion to Him. God indeed had done a tremendous work in that godless age through His three servants completely unharmed and enjoying the Saviour s company. Everybody noticed, v.27 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. What a witness they had! a witness that only would have been achieved by going through the fire. Stuart Olyott makes this observation between the witness of the three and the witness of the Church today, The morality of [our] nation was closely linked to its sense of God. Our nation is no longer like that and is, in fact, departing further from that position by the minute. The decline started when the church began to compromise. The more it has tried to be trendy and with it, the less influence for God has been made upon the people. When the churches began to water down their message, so that they no longer preached anything that was offensive such as hell and miracles that was the moment when they lost their power. Where would you have rather been? Outside the fire sitting comfortably alongside Nebuchadnezzar or in the fire with Jesus? There is no middle way, - it can be either one or the other. Remember the old hymn, With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm. Such storms, such fires turn out to be the place we know God best and the place that God uses to bless our witness for Him the most in this world. Dan. 3:24 Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.