Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego Cast Into Furnace Of Fire: Daniel 3 v 19 - 23

Daniel 3:19 "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated."

"Visage" means face. This just means that he was so full of fury that his whole face changed. The normal amount of fire would have burned anyone up who was thrown into it, but his anger caused him to say, "make it seven times hotter than usual".

The king’s fury at being defied to his face led him to cry for an intensification of the heat. He was not literally requiring the fire to be 7 times hotter as a gauge would indicate, or requiring seven times as long to heat, or 7 times the amount of the fuel. The king in his anger means “intensely” hot.

He did not want anything left of these he thought had betrayed him. Seven speaks of perfection, so that might have been the idea of the seven times, as well.

Daniel 3:20 "And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace."

The mightiest men in his army bound them, and put them into the fire. Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps, thought they might escape, if he used lesser men for the task. It would, also, take a very brave man to get this close to the fire.

Daniel 3:21 "Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."

This is just saying they were fully clad, even to having on their hats. They were not naked.

Daniel 3:22 "Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego."

The men who put them into the fire were slain by the fire. The flame which burned in the furnace lapped out and caught the mighty men of Nebuchadnezzar on fire, and killed them. They did what they were commanded to do, but it killed them.

In an earlier verse we saw that some ancient kilns were found to have been shaped like a vertical tunnel open only at the top, with a dome supported by columns. In the NASE version of this scripture, this scripture states: “the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego”.

This refers to being taken upward on some kind of a ramp to a spot near enough to the top to be thrown in. The fire was so hot that it incinerated the king’s men. (heat rises)

Daniel 3:23 "And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."

A fire this hot would ordinarily have burned them beyond recognition in a matter of seconds. Notice, they were in the middle of the fire.

I would remind you here that God saved Noah in the flood, and not from the flood. God saved Joseph in Egypt, not from Egypt. God saved Joseph in the famine, not from the famine. God saved Elijah and the widow in the famine, not from the famine. Read about this in 1 Kings chapter 17.

God does not always spare us from our problems He helps us with those problems.