Dan 3:14-18 | KingComments | STEP | Nebuchadnezzar sees himself offended in his absolute authority. He let the friends come to him and gave them another chance to submit to him by obeying his order. If they don’t do that, they will unrelentingly and directly enter the burning fires. He adds to it, with contempt, who may be the god who will deliver them from his hands. To him, the God of the three friends is nothing more than an idol. His earlier confession ( ) appears to have been only of a temporary nature. He was impressed for a while, but that impression has faded and disappeared. This is the case when conscience has not been touched and there has been no true conversion.

‏ Daniel 3:14-18

The Ultimatum

Nebuchadnezzar sees himself offended in his absolute authority. He let the friends come to him and gave them another chance to submit to him by obeying his order. If they don’t do that, they will unrelentingly and directly enter the burning fires. He adds to it, with contempt, who may be the god who will deliver them from his hands.

To him, the God of the three friends is nothing more than an idol. His earlier confession (Dan 2:47) appears to have been only of a temporary nature. He was impressed for a while, but that impression has faded and disappeared. This is the case when conscience has not been touched and there has been no true conversion.

Fearless Testimony

The young men are confronted with the choice: bow down for the image or die. It would not be difficult to consult with oneself: “Everyone does it, let us not be an exception.” Or: “Let us do it for the sake of appearances, but not in our hearts, for God sees the heart.” Or: “We can’t do anything about this situation, we are here because of the unfaithfulness of our ancestors, we have to fall down.” However, we do not read anything about such considerations, which easily arise in us in often much less difficult situations.

The friends do not defend themselves, but make a brief, clear statement: “We will not fall down.” Their testimony is impressive. We know the outcome, but they do not know it. They have no doubt that God can deliver them. They only don’t know if He will do that by delivering them before the fire or through the fire. Faith trusts that God is able to forego them entering the fire, but also that He can deliver them out of the fire.

Whatever it may be, it is clear to them that He will deliver them from the hand of the king. They are not in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but in the hand of God. As for them, the outcome is certain. Therefore, they will not bow to the image, not even in form, nor worship it. Their attitude is a wonderful illustration of “the perseverance and faith of the saints” (Rev 13:10b).

There is no rebellion with them against the king. They recognize him in his dignity as king. But they cannot obey his order to worship his gods. In this they must and want to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). They speak in the spirit of the Lord’s disciple, for they are “not … afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do” (Lk 12:4). For the Christian it is not a question of how the king rules, but of what the king asks and how he should behave as a Christian in these matters (Rom 13:1-7).