Dan 3:17-19 | KingComments | STEP | 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” ( ). 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” ( ). 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” ( ). 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 ( ).

‏ Daniel 3:17-19

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).

Cast Into the Midst of the Fire

Their obedience to God did not prevent them from being cast into the oven. On the contrary. Nebuchadnezzar is so furious, that he lets the oven be heated seven times more intense. However, this only makes the miracle of salvation seven times greater.

Their faith “quenched” – not the fire, but – “the power of the fire” (Heb 11:34). The power of the fire is so great, that Nebuchadnezzar orders the strongest men from the army to cast the three friends into the oven. But even though they are still considered so strong, they are losing out to the power of the fire. While the strongest men cast the friends in the oven, these powerhouses are killed by the fire.

The friends do not firstly quench the power of the fire when they are inside the furnace of blazing fire and the fire does not affect them. They have already quenched the power of the fire when they stand before Nebuchadnezzar and he points them to the furnace of blazing fire. He has threatened to cast them in it if they would not kneel before his image. With the fires in mind, the friends have said in faith that they trust in God for the outcome and have remained firm in their refusal to kneel before the image.

In this way, many who died as martyrs at the stake in the fire quenched the power of the fire. They have not revoked their confession of the true God and have remained faithful to Him, despite the fire. The threat of fire has had no hold on them. They have “taken up the shield of faith” and thus extinguished “all the flaming arrows of the evil [one]” (Eph 6:16).