Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Daniel 3:19 - 3:30
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Miraculous Preservation of God's Servants
v. 19. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, of extreme and unreasonable anger, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, his expression showing the extremity of the fury which possessed him; therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. He did not realize in the heat of his passion that he was really defeating his own ends; for the hotter the fire. the sooner his victims were liable to be put out of misery.
v. 20. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army, upon whom he could depend for absolute obedience and trustworthiness, to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace, a task which was here connected with considerable danger because it involved a close approach to the intense heat of the furnace.
v. 21. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, rather, "in their undergarments, their tunics, and their mantles," and their other garments, part of which at least were of delicate, easily inflammable material, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace, the repetition of this phrase tending to make the element of danger stand out more prominently.
v. 22. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, because he. spoke in fury, and the furnace exceeding hot, far in excess of its usual degree of heat, the flame of the fire, a blast sweeping out from the opening, slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, after the king's servants had cast them through the opening above.
v. 23. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound, as they had been trussed up by the executioners, into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
v. 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonied, greatly astounded, and rose up in haste, due to his great agitation, and spake and said unto his counselors, the ministers, or governors, who formed his council, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? The king's chair seems to have been placed opposite the side door of the furnace, which was open to permit a strong draught to fan the fire, and it was from here that he witnessed the execution. They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
v. 25. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, no longer bound as they had been cast in, walking in the midst of the fire, not leaving it, but waiting for God's time to leave them out, and they have no hurt, as one might have expected by reason of the rough treatment accorded them; and the form of the fourth, on account of the compelling dignity of his appearance, is like the son of God, rather, "like a son of the gods," one pertaining to a divine family and generation. The fourth man was an angel of God, sent for the protection of His pious servants, so that the flame could not harm them. God protects those who place their trust in Him in the midst of death and destruction, so that not a hair may fall from their heads without His will.
v. 26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, which was now opened at his command, and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, of whose superior greatness he had just received an overpowering impression, and whom he was therefore willing to designate in this manner, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth of the midst of the fire,
v. 27. And the princes, governors, and captains, the representative rulers of his entire empire, and the king's counselors, the members of his own privy council, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, having had not the slightest effect upon them, nor was an hair of their head singed, this being ordinarily the first result of fire, neither were their coats changed, their undergarments touched by fire, nor the smell of fire had passed on them, in other words, one could not even notice that they had been anywhere near fire.
v. 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, whose superiority to his own gods the king thus recognized, who hath sent His angel and delivered His servants, that trusted in Him and have changed the king's word, boldly transgressing his commands, and yielded their bodies, offering them without flinching in the interest of their loyalty to their God, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God.
v. 29. Therefore I make a decree, literally, "And from me is set forth a decree," That every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, Cf. Dan_2:5, because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort. While this confession does not imply faith in the one true God, it decreed toleration to the worshipers of Jehovah throughout the empire of Babylon.
v. 30. Then the king, having once more restored the three men to his full favor, promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon. So the firmness of these men in confessing their God, far from bringing misfortune upon them, resulted in further blessings upon them. Note also that the miracles which the Lord performs in the interest of His Church result in benefits for the state as well, so that men are obliged to acknowledge the hand of God in the affairs of men, even if they do not accept Him as the God of their salvation.