28 TIME-LIFE MIRACLES OF FAITH
K
ing Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Baby-
lonia from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C., is portrayed
in the Book of Daniel as displaying ar-
rogance and lavishness. In fact, the king
even erects an enormous golden statue of
himself and orders all government officials to attend the
dedication. When music sounds in celebration, citizens
across the land are ordered to bow down before the statue.
“Whoever does not fall down and worship, shall immedi-
ately be cast into a furnace of blazing fire,” Nebuchadnez-
zar decrees.
In the days following the ceremony, a group of the
king’s close advisors come forward with a disturbing re-
port: Three Hebrew officials are defying the edict. Instead
of bowing to the statue, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedne-
go are praying to their own Hebrew God.
Nebuchadnezzar is furious. He summons the three
Hebrews and not only warns that their misdeeds will be
punished severely, but that they would be thrown into a
blazing fire.
But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego are unafraid. Their faith in their
religion is deep. “If our God whom
we serve is able to deliver us from the
furnace of blazing fire and out of your
hand, O king, let him deliver us,” re-spond the men. “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that
we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the
golden statue that you have set up,” they say.
Nebuchadnezzar, in a rage, orders the furnace heated
to seven times its usual temperature. Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego are bound with rope and cast into the
flames. The blaze is so hot that the men who toss the three
rebels in are themselves killed by the radiant heat. The
king watches, eager to see his defiant prisoners suffer the
same fate. What unfolds astounds him.
He shouts, “I see four men unbound, walking in the
middle of the fire and they are not hurt; and the fourth
has the appearance of a god.” Nebuchadnezzar calls to
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out. They do
so, unharmed.
None of the men bears any sign of the fire. Their clothes
do not even smell scorched. The king interprets the fourth
man in the furnace as a heavenly messenger, or an angel,
sent to watch over the Hebrews.
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent
his angel and delivered his servants
who trusted in him,” says the king in
awe. From then on, Nebuchadnezzar
vows to protect the threeofficials and
sees that they lead prosperous lives. ▪BLAZING REBELLION
SURVIVING
THE HEAT
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are sentenced to the
furnace, God sends an angel to preserve themOLD TESTAMENTROYAL WRATH
Witnessing the three rebels and
the angel watching over them,
King Nebuchadnezzar’s rage
dissipated to awe. Illustration
by Libico Maraja inThe
Children’s Bible(c. 1965).