The fiery furnace DAN 3:25
An image of gold sixty cubits high is set up on the plain of Dura, and at the sound of the orchestra everyone is to fall down and worship it. Three Judean officials do not. Brought before the king they say their God is able to deliver them, and then add the sentence that makes the story: but if not, we still will not serve your gods. The furnace is heated seven times hotter, and a fourth figure is seen walking with them in it.
The passage
DAN 3:25 · Read the passage23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, {and} spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. {counsellors: or, governors}
25He answered and said, 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. {they...: Chaldee, there is no hurt in them}
26Then 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. {mouth: Chaldee, door}
27And 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.
29Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. {I make...: Chaldee, a decree is made by me} {any...: Chaldee, error} {cut...: Chaldee, made pieces}
The place
Babylon was the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and a symbol of human pride and rebellion against God. King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews into exile here for 70 years. Daniel and his friends served in the Babylonian court. The Tower of Babel, where God confused human language, was built in this region. In Revelation, Babylon symbolizes worldly power opposed to God.
Those present
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