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You can turn in your Bibles to the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 3. We're going to read the entirety of Daniel 3 and look at the entirety of Daniel 3 with primary focus on the last few verses of each of four particular sections in this particular story. true history regarding Judah's time in Babylon. Daniel 3, beginning at verse 1, the Word of God.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then a herald cried aloud, to you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, and symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever.

You, O King, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the gold image." and whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, have not paid due service to you, due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good.

But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?' Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, We have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O King. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.' Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain men, mighty men of valor, who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king, look, He answered, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here.

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. and they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own god.

Therefore I make a decree that any people nation or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made in ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Amen. Well, let us go to God in prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this. Now the reading of the word and for the preaching of your word Be with us in this act of worship. Help us to honor you, to glorify you, to give you praise. We pray that we would see in this the will and the purpose and the glory of our God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, our precious Savior, and his centrality in all of redemptive history. Do be with us in a consideration of this passage that you might receive all honor and that your saints might receive from on high the good that you would have for them. And we pray in Christ's name, amen.

Well, a very famous story, no doubt, the three friends of Daniel, the three Jews here in the midst of the fiery furnace, and one like the Son of God who appears in the flames of the furnace with them. It's good for us, just by way of introduction, to consider the background here, what has led up to this particular episode, what is the pathway to Babylon here, and we would note that the pathway to Babylon is everything that took place before Babylon. But what specifically took place?

Remember that God gives his law to a covenant people. There's a covenant people with a king. Israel, the northern and the southern tribe. Israel answers the commandments given by God their king in the Old Testament. We could note specifically Exodus and Deuteronomy. God warns that there would be curses for treachery against the law and against the command of obedience.

Israel rebels in persistent covenant breaking against their God and then God judges and in this case banishes them to Babylon. In the first instance of the visitation of God's curses for the breaking of the Covenant, for the breaking of the Old Covenant, God visits Israel, the northern tribes, by way of Assyria in 722 BC. This judgment was prophesied in the Holy Scriptures by the prophets and it came to pass by way of the Assyrian armies. Here, the southern tribes, prior to that 576 visitation, or 586 rather, prior to that particular ultimate judgment and destruction upon Jerusalem by Babylon, this occasion in Daniel takes place about ten years prior to that.

And They are here because of their violation of the covenant. This is the result of covenant violation. The triune God had given His law to Judah with blessings for obedience and cursings or curses for disobedience. They had pledged their loyalty to Him. When the covenant was repeatedly despised and broken, God was faithful to His promises and judgment came. This is the road that led to Babylon. Text ultimately asks the question, what does faithfulness look like when you're living inside the consequences of a nation's unfaithfulness?

Turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy for a moment. We continue just with hopefully a brief introduction to set the stage for what's going on in Daniel 3. In Deuteronomy 28, where we see the list of the curses for covenant breaking, we see that it specifically pertains to foreign nations being utilized as punishment in the course of the wholesome severity rendered by God upon Israel. Notice in Deuteronomy 28 at verse 36.

The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, and you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you. Notice as well verse 47.

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything. And he will put a yoke of iron around your neck until he has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand. a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks until they have destroyed you.

So back to Daniel 3, what's going on here then in the context is the visitation of that very covenant curse, those very covenant curses, upon the southern tribes. And if you look at the beginning of this particular book in Daniel 1, Notice that this is contemporaneous commentary on the very judgment that God had brought upon the southern tribes.

In the third year, Daniel 1-1, of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel, and some of the king's descendants, and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave Daniel the name Belshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego.

So back to Daniel 3 then, that is the backdrop, covenantal curses upon the southern tribes. These brought to Babylon in order to serve the king and to serve other gods, and to serve in the administrations of that particular empire. And so Daniel 3 catches us up in this particular story, and in this case, Daniel is absent, and it's those other three that were renamed, the three friends here that we find in this episode. concerning the furnace.

So, four things as we move along in this passage this morning. First, the soundtrack of apostasy in verses one to seven. Secondly, the faithful refusal in verses eight to 18. Thirdly, the divine companion in verses 19 to 25. And lastly, the public vindication in verses 26 to 30. So first then, the soundtrack of apostasy.

Notice here that there's this image, verse 1, to Babylonian gods and Babylonian imperial power that is set up in the plains of Dura. Nebuchadnezzar, verse 1, the king, made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits. This is, to translate the cubits, this is about 90 feet tall, and about nine feet wide. So, very narrow, but very tall. I could ask Doug, if this is about 35 feet tall, we could think that that statue that Nebuchadnezzar sets up is about three times the size of this church in height. So towering above the people, but very narrow.

It would be an imposing dark and ominous looking structure that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And it's an image entirely made of gold, which is very interesting because the dream in Daniel 2 had an image where only the head was made of gold. Some commentators think that this is Nebuchadnezzar trying to defy the dream that Daniel interprets, saying, I'm going to make a statue entirely of gold. If Babylon is represented by the golden head and everything else is a mix of iron and clay and those sorts of things, then I'm going to defy this and construct this statue, this image made entirely of gold. Whatever the case may be, it is an idolatrous image that is set up against the God of heaven and earth and against the interests of the people of God.

We see here as well, he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. This is very strategic for imperially opposed emperor or god worship because it's a place where everyone could see it. It's plains, it's not set up in a hilly terrain, it's not set up in mountains, but it's set up upon plains, upon flat ground, so that all nations could see it and bow down to the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So it's a very strategic construction and a very strategic placement of this particular idol that's set up by Nebuchadnezzar. It could be seen by all.

And this is Contrary to the way God orders his particular religious universe, this is not religious persuasion wrought wholesomely by the people of God, but it is a worship by tyrannical threat sort of situation. It is state-imposed and state-enforced worship and threat upon a particular people over whom that state governs. And what I want us to see here is that it comes directly and immediately contrary to the religion and the liturgy that God has set up for his people in this particular context. Notice verses four to six.

First we see, then a herald cried aloud, to you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages. First off, Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, sets up a false prophet, a false preacher, a rival herald set against gospel proclamation to preach to the nations.

What is the gospel? What does the living and true God do with regards to the gospel? He sends heralds out to proclaim to all peoples, nations, and languages. Remember that a herald pertains to a particular office within kingdoms, an appointed representative of the king who was sent forth by the king to proclaim particular edicts and the good news that the king sends out. You can see a herald is a legitimate title for gospel preachers in God's good universe. Heralds, those appointed by the king to proclaim the message that the king would have for the people.

And so Nebuchadnezzar and idolatrous Babylon sets a rival herald against the proper heralds of the living and true God to cry aloud to the people, to you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages. We also see here that there is a rival musical liturgy set in opposition to temple worship. Verse 5, but that at that time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, and symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Remember that Israel was called first to hear the Shema, a daily congregational summons based upon divine self-revelation. This herald is given to rival that particular worship. And then Israel was also, they were also the recipients of musicians that were set apart for temple service. to call to order those in the context of worship for the offering of oblations, physical and spiritual, to the living and true God. At that time, when you hear these musical instruments, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

And lastly, we also see here verse 6, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. In this case, it's contrary, it's a threat instead of divine blessing. In the three-fold completion of a proper worship, the priestly blessing would come and communicate divine favor upon the congregation of Israel. Here, it's not a blessing but a cursing, a threat given that whoever does not worship will be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

And turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy for a moment, because this comes, as noted, in contrast to Israel's own religious life. In Deuteronomy 5, in the reiteration of the Decalogue to the second generation, Notice what we have in verses 6 and 7. I am, Deuteronomy 5, 6, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

And so we have this obvious commandment given by God to the people of Israel, a commandment that reflects his very nature as God and natural law as communicated by the very heavens and earth themselves, that there is one and only living and true God who is to be honored, who is to be worshiped, who is to be praised.

And then turn with me to the Psalm, Psalm 115. To put this in context with regards to a mockery of any nation that would seek to prop up anything other than a religion that serves the living and true God. Psalm 115, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory. Because of your mercy, because of your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, so where is their God? But our God is in heaven, he does whatever he pleases. And now set in opposition to things like Nebuchadnezzar's propped up deity. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk, nor do they mutter through their throat.

Those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them. So, going back to Daniel, this would be in the back of Judaic minds as this edict is coming forth from the king. The commandment, of course, that there is one and only living and true God, a one God only, the true and living God who is to be worshipped, and that it is absolute folly to worship any other thing. And so this rival liturgy, this rival worship, this rival decree comes from Babylon. It is like a rival liturgy complete with herald, music, posture, and in this case, political favor, designed to undo covenant worship by replacing promise of blessing with threat of burning in a fiery furnace. And it's very interesting here. When God identifies himself as the God who brought you from out of Egypt, you don't have to turn there because we were just there. I'm going to read it for you. It's a very interesting verse that precedes the Deuteronomy 5 verse and the giving of the commandments.

Notice in Deuteronomy 4.20, as I read it, But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people and inheritance as you are this day."

Very interesting that the threat of a heated furnace is given by this idolatrous nation to a nation who was redeemed as if out of an iron furnace to be to the praise of the glory of God. So the soundtrack of apostasy, this rival liturgy, this rival worship given, complete with herald, complete with musical liturgy, complete with blessing, but in this case cursing, to rival the very religion of God's people. Secondly, we see this faithful refusal. The faithful refusal in verses eight, excuse me, to 18.

First off, we see these blabbing Babylonians, who tattle on their fellow countrymen, on their fellow countrymen, on those gathered under and who are in service to their own king. They say, oh, king, live forever, and then acknowledge the decree that the king had given, but then say that there are some Jews whom you have said over the affairs of the province who do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up. So these, who are the recipients of imperial posturing and political favor and threat, tell on their fellows that are in service to the king in the very king's in the king's temple or in the king's castle, if you will, set over the affairs of the province. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.

This we could call, if we say this is faithful refusal, we could also call it righteous disobedience. And there is such a thing. It is not righteous to disobey God, but there are righteous disobediences, in this case, state-informed worship and threat, a state causing a people to deny their God, to defy their God, and to worship those things that are not God. Whenever state, whenever a power, whenever authority compels or enforces worship against that which God has set up, it is righteous to disobey such tyranny and to disobey such madness. We see that, if you think that Babylon here in Daniel 3, this is probably taking place around 597-ish BC, so before the birth of Christ, If you think that we're so far removed from Babylon that this could never happen, we just have to look back upon history and look to our own contemporaneous landscape.

We have state-enforced worship on so many levels. If we do not comply with the wishes and the impositions of the state and their cult of death, and their proliferation of gender ideologies, then we are those who are in opposition and who, to some degree, will be the recipients of the burning fiery furnace. It is for us to obey God rather than men. And we see here that these faithful obey God rather than men. We see these Babylonians informing the king about their righteous disobedience. And then we see this tantrum of the tyrant in verses 13 and 15. Notice what happens when a ruler is defied. When a ruler, dead in trespasses and sins, in the madness and the colossal folly of his own transgression, is opposed by those who are righteous.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, 13, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the king. And Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?"

Notice, in Rage and Fury, this is the Ultimate result when power marked by sin is opposed. It's rage and fury. It's not in a calm disposition. Nebuchadnezzar sat down and stroked his beard and had discourse with these three friends. When sinful power is opposed, it's rage and fury. It's madness. It is not a settled contemplation upon ethics, but it is rage and fury.

And the faith filled friends response is absolutely glorious. Acting consistent with Deuteronomy 5 and the Decalogue, acting consistent with Psalm 115, notice what we have in the specific verses of focus 16 to 18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, I love this, we have no need to answer you in this matter. In other words, we're under no obligation to give you an answer. You're so mad, you're so marked by sinful rage and fury, we're so right, not in some puffed up or elitist sense, but because God is on our side and we're on the side of our creator, we have no need to answer you in this matter. You're mad. You're absolutely mad and the truth of the matter speaks for itself. But they do give this glorious answer, this glorious measure of strong communication to the king and to all those who are there.

If that is the case, in other words, if you are to cast us into this burning fiery furnace, the God, our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O King." This comes in direct response to Nebuchadnezzar's statement, and who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? What What misplaced confidence and trust and courage Nebuchadnezzar had in himself and in his own power? Who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? These three faithful friends answer, it's the one and only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. who can deliver us from your wicked hands. If it is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He will.

And notice this interesting statement in verse 18. But if not, if this God does not deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, but if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

This is the strength of faith. Not some sort of loose well-wishing that what we want will come true, but a whole-souled rest upon the promises and the character of God. They know that their God can deliver them. They know that the only God, their God, can deliver them.

But they are settled upon the fact that there is one, that one, our God in the heavens who does whatever he pleases, and if he does not redeem us from the fire, nevertheless, let it be known to you that we will still serve that God. We will not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image you have set up. What a faithful pattern of faithfulness set before our eyes and our ears. This brings us to a question, hopefully. What is faith, or what is a proper definition of faith?

What can happen in the course of some who profess Christ is, and who profess Christ falsely, not in truth, but in ignorance and in presumption. In other words, they're not Christians. But they can say that they have given up on Christianity, they have fallen from the faith because of something that has occurred in their particular lives. The death of a family member. the illness of a family member, something that occurred, they had this strength of faith that God would most certainly perhaps save their family member or never do anything to someone so precious as myself or someone to whom I hold. for whom I hold a particular preciousness. And so a family member dies, a family member gets sick, some sort of frowning providence happens, and they abandon the faith.

We must say, though, that faith, with this passage in view and others, it is not, faith is not a strong wishing that God will give the outcome that I want. That's not faith. I have faith that God will do this. Faith isn't to rest upon things that you think God will do. Faith rests upon things that God has done and that he says that he will do. That's wherein our faith should be and where our faith will not waver, when we rest upon what God has done in redemptive history and what God has said that he will accomplish. in time and in history. So faith is not a strong wishing that God will give the outcome that I want, but it is a confident trust in God's character and word. Faith is not confidence in my rescue, but confidence in my God. And that's what our confession speaks to with regards to what is the nature of saving faith.

In 14.2, by this faith, that is given by God, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the word for the authority of God himself. So he believes in what the word has said, in what God has said in his word, not in things that he manufactures in his own mind that he would like to see come to pass. and also apprehends an excellency therein above all other writings and all things in the world, as it bears forth the glory of God in his attributes, the excellency of Christ in his nature and offices, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations, and so is enabled to cast his soul, that is the believer, upon the truth thus believed. And he acts differently upon that which each particular passage contains, yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come. And then notice this, and this is in fact where our passage is going, but the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ. accepting, receiving, and resting upon Him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace.

And here back in Daniel 3, these are not saying, God will certainly redeem us from the fire. He will not cause us to perish in this fire. That is a faith that is misplaced. He is able to do it, but if he does not do it, that doesn't demonstrate inefficacy in God or inefficiency in God or powerlessness in God.

It would rather just simply be the purposes of the divine wisdom imposed upon man in man's creatureliness that the divine will always do according to good purpose and the perfection of his own will. If not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

We need to have this sort of faith. Let not your faith waver, because it doesn't rest in things such as your rescue, such as outcomes that you want, but in God's character and word and in the certainties of his promises. We see, thirdly, the divine companion. The divine companion. As we move to this, we should note that righteous disobedience is not defiance, but rather faith expressing allegiance to God over rival authority. Faith speaks in trust in the living and true God and rests in God, rather than bargaining for what he may or may not do. The divine companion, notice what we have in verses 19 to 25, we have exactly that. First off, we see the fire that reveals the folly of human wrath. Notice what we see in verse 19.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury again, and the expression on his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And we'll see how crazy that is and how totally absent of control in power that is. In his rage and in his fury, he commands something completely irresponsible, to put it lightly, that the furnace be heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

And when we think furnace here, we're not to be thinking of, you know, like that little cylindrical thing that's in your boiler room or something like that. You know, when we think furnace in our context, we think of that, you know, that big tubular gray thing that's in our basement somewhere that heats the house.

It has a little pilot light under it. I don't know if the new ones probably don't, but it has a little pilot light, heats the thing. And does the furnace have a pilot light? Anyway. The water heater does. Anyway, a furnace. You can talk to me afterwards. A small thing in the house that heats stuff.

This was a big furnace, a very significantly large industrial oven for, yes, maybe the purification of metals, but more for the cooking, the heating, the making of bricks, the manufacturing of bricks for constructing large idolatrous edifices. So in the construction of a kingdom, whether we're talking, you know, going as far back as Egypt and all of the subsequent empires, they would have these furnaces, these kilns, where they would cook brick and other construction materials for the building of their cities and their fortifications.

So certainly large enough to heat seven times and to place persons in under threatenings. So we see the fire reveals the folly of human wrath. Nebuchadnezzar again was full of fury and he heats this thing seven times. But we notice that the fire becomes an instrument of liberation. The fire becomes an instrument of liberation. It comes completely contrary to what Nebuchadnezzar set it out to be.

He commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. But notice, as we see here in verse 22, therefore because the king's command was urgent, we could say here that it was because it was done in haste and according to his rage and fury and not common sense, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So that's the first instance of this fire being as if an instrument of liberation. It kills, it destroys those who were charged by idolatrous and crazy Nebuchadnezzar to throw these men into the fire.

They burn instead of the three faithful men. And we also see as well that. it burns the very bonds that they had on their hands. Then King Nebuchadnezzar, verse 24, after they fall down, the three fall down into the furnace, was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, true, O king. Look, he answered, I see four men, notice, loose, walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the son of God. So first of all, these opposers are killed. These wicked men throwing them into the oven are destroyed by the fire that their king heated up seven times more powerfully.

But then their bonds are loosed, which is a glorious picture of redemption. glorious picture of redemption. They're untouched by these flames of judgment. Their bonds are loosed. The wicked are destroyed, their bonds are loosed, and notice, and they are not hurt.

It's not the case that, okay, they were saved, but they got three third degree burns, their hair and their eyebrows were singed a bit, but they hobbled out of the fire. No, they were untouched by the fire. They were unhurt by the fire. And in fact, that very fire, which was employed by Nebuchadnezzar as a tool of judgment, was the very instrument of their liberation from this wicked decree.

And the fire brings a revelation of the Son of God. This wonderful language, verse 25, Look, he answered, I see four men, loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God, or in the Babylonish, like the Son of a God, or the Son of the Gods. So we see here a revelation of the Son of God, a revelation of the pre-incarnate Christ in the oven, with these. The fire meant for destruction becomes the furnace of God's purposes, exposing human wrath, freeing his people, this is an instance of liberation, and revealing the sun before, of course, His own incarnation. We see here God refining His people, but not because of and or in virtue of His people, but because of the fourth, who is like the Son of God, who is in the fire with them.

They were not saved because of their faithfulness. There is, of course, the demonstration and the revelation of their faithfulness in their passage, but they are saved because of the presence of the divine in there with them, and specifically the presence of Christ in the furnace with them.

Back up with me for a moment to Daniel 2 because this is a connection. Of course, because Daniel 2 comes before Daniel 3, but thematically as well. Notice in Daniel 2 So what's going on in the context is this dream of the statue representing many nations, many kingdoms. We'll see this a little bit tonight in Daniel 7, our Lord's Supper meditation on the exalted, redeeming King, Jesus Christ in Daniel 7. But we see here that in this dream, there is a stone that destroys and shatters all of these other kingdoms and that grows into a mountain. Notice in Daniel 2 at 34.

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

And then in verse 44, And in those days, and in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this, The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure.

So what do we mean to say that Daniel 3 and the revelation of the Son of God in the fire is connected to that? Well, the stone that is in Daniel 2 is Christ. We see in the Psalms and we see of course in the New Testament Christ concerning Himself that He is the stone that the builders rejected that has become the chief cornerstone and He is the stone upon which all others are dashed to pieces. and with whom or by whom others are themselves cast into a multitude and myriad of pieces. Jesus Christ is the stone of Daniel 2, who is the Son of God in the oven of Daniel 3.

The glorious reality, and if you're a reader of the old boys, they will say that this stone was cut, that is cut without hands, refers to Jesus Christ. Some refer to that as the virgin birth, as God overshadowing the womb of the Virgin Mary. He is made as if cut without hands because not made by the will of a human mother and father. Others picking up on the Christological theme might not see virgin birth, but they will see the conquest of the Messiah as the one who conquers all nations whose kingdom will never fade away and that is forever. All of that to come back to this, the Son of God in the furnace with these three men is Christ, the very stone of Daniel 2, the one who will build the ultimate kingdom and the ultimate empire which will never fade away.

And then we see here this final public vindication. We close with this, the final public vindication, the king who rages now confesses. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, verse 26, servants of the Most High God come out. And then we see Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying, verse 28, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. And they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God." What an amazing turnaround.

The vindication, the public vindication of the living and true God and the highness and exaltedness of His name in the face of a pagan king and in the face of pagan idolaters. God is vindicated. The Gospel pattern is established. God's people preserved through fire by the presence of the Son, and God's name is exalted among the nations. And this is what we see in time and in history.

First, the redemptive victory of the Son who bears the fire of judgment for all those who had been given to Him. Don't mistake or don't abandon the imagery or don't not understand the blessed imagery of fire as judgment and then the son who is in the furnace in the fire bearing the judgment, the three faithful men being unscathed by the fire. That is a picture of our redemption Christians. that we are not burned by the fire of judgment because the Son of God incarnated has borne the judgment for us. He has borne the purging fire. He took upon Himself in His own body our sins upon the tree that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness. The blessed God is exalted upon the heels of the victory of His Son in the flaming furnace.

It's a blessed picture and you can close because this speaks to it and before this particular instance in Psalm 97. If you have a Bible and you're able to, you can turn there for a moment. Because this whole episode of Daniel 3 follows the theme and the script, if you will, of Psalm 97. I preached this sermon in Surrey a number of Sundays ago, and one of the brothers there pointed out something, because I stopped reading Psalm 97 at a particular point here and didn't read the rest, but the entirety of the psalm, as he pointed out to me, brings the entirety of Daniel 3 into view. Notice this psalm, the Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad, Clouds and darkness surround Him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

A fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies round about. His lightnings light the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness and all the people see His glory.

Now notice as well here, let all be put to shame, who serve carved images, who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. Notice the very words of Nebuchadnezzar that would later on be spoken. For you, O Lord, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. Nebuchadnezzar, the one who was marked by rage and fury, is not yet here saved.

He's not a Christian at this point. If he is saved, he's saved in Daniel 4, following that time where he is cast out as a beast to eat the grass and then comes to realize the greatness of God. But here, as a heathen or as an idolatrous Opposer of the living and true God nevertheless vindicates the name of the Lord God. Verse 29, Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made in ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this.

And this is the message to us. There is no other God who can deliver like this. And what is His deliverance? Or who does he deliver by? He delivers by Jesus Christ, the Son of God who appeared in the furnace with these three. If you're here this morning, the answer to your problem of sin is not your own faithfulness. It's not for you to be marked by perfect obedience before God, because that's impossible. All are dead in their trespasses and sins before being made alive by the Spirit of God. The answer is to believe on the Son who appeared in the fire, who bears the fire for all those whom the Father had given to Him.

The blessed command is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that One who bore the furnace of judgment for His people. and being found in Him, you will not be burned. You will be liberated, just as that fire was an instrument of liberation. You will not be bound, but you will be loosed. You will not be hurt, but you will be unscathed. You will be found in the Son, who brings a multitude of sinners to glory by the perfection of His work. Believe in Him, and you will have everlasting life.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in your goodness towards us, giving us not these simple stories, but these true histories where you have shown your mighty right arm in the redemption of your people. We thank you that you put to death, you put to destruction all those who would oppose the living and true God, all those who would seek to pervert the truth, to pervert religion, to pervert the reality of the living and true God and prop up idols and systems in your place. We thank you for your power and vindicating your own name throughout the earth. We pray for this in our own time and era that you would vindicate your name throughout every nation under heaven. We pray, Lord God, that by your power, by your grace, a multitude of sinners would believe in this son who bore the fire for his people. Do go with us, help us to honor you, and because it is possible only with you, cause every tongue to leave this place singing the praises of the son of God incarnated. And we pray in his precious name, amen.