Daniel 3:26 Commentary and Bible Study

Nebuchadnezzar is so shaken, that his dignity deserts him, and he leaves his throne and comes over to the mouth of the furnace. He can feel its fierce heat, and yet he can see the three men standing there in the flames. He calls them by name: ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.’ Could Nebuchadnezzar come and take them out if they would not come? He cannot go to them, but they must come to him. A moment ago he believed they were totally under his power; now he is having to ask them to come out, for he cannot come to them. They have a power that he knows he does not have. Now it is obvious that their submission to his command of Nebuchadnezzar is voluntary; they are his subjects because it is the will of God that they should be subject.The greatest men of the empire – ‘the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors’ – were all there. No one could deny what they saw. The report of this amazing event would be carried back to the most distant parts of the empire. Among them were those who had accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego to Nebuchadnezzar, and how these must have been filled with fear that the God of Israel had acted against them. He had remembered his servants and neutralised the power of the flame so that it became harmless to them. This must have filled them with alarm that they had dared in their pride and envy and bitterness to launch this attack on these three men. It was obvious that the God who they had remained faithful to was the one who had visibly stretched out his hand to deliver them. What might he do to the enemies of his faithful servants? But there is no record that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did anything to take revenge. They were content that God had shown his hand, and he would judge the wicked in due time.‘Upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.’ Christ tells his persecuted church, ‘But there shall not an hair of your head perish’ (Luke 21:18) – those ‘very hairs of your head are all numbered’ (Matthew 10:30).