Through the Fire

About 594 BC, a revolt broke out in Babylon.(1) There was hand-to-hand combat in the palace, and Nebuchadnezzar took care of some of the rebels with his own sword. Once things settled down, he was ticked off. Everyone had better be loyal . . . or else.

He set up an image on the plain of Dura (3:2). It was gold, nine feet wide and ninety feet tall. Then he assembled the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image. When they heard music, they were supposed to fall down and worship the golden image (3:5). If they didn’t, they were to be thrown immediately into the middle of a furnace of blazing fire (3:6).

This is an unusual scene, to say the least. Daniel and his friends didn’t have to go through this kind of a ceremony when they came from Judea, or they’d already be dead. In fact, to assemble every administrator of every level was unheard of. But Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t risk a dagger in the middle of the night. He had to weed out anyone who had any sort of disloyal ideas.

Unfortunately, this scene gives us all sorts of problems. Where’s the plain of Dura? It’s not on any map anyone has found. It doesn’t exist in the cuneiform records. Over the years, lots of ideas were suggested, but none made very good sense. Everyone thought the word was Aramaic like the rest of the chapter. When William Shea realized the word was Akkadian, the native language of Babylon, everything fell into place.

In Akkadian, dura means “the wall.” Nebuchadnezzar had been busy enlarging the city (cf. 4:30). First he had to build the protective wall around the new area. In order to make construction easier, bricks were made on site, with brick kilns in the open area, the “plain of the wall,” or the plain of Dura. Once the wall was built, the area could be dedicated, and then the streets and buildings could be built.

As soon as Nebuchadnezzar put down the revolt, he gathered everyone into the plain of the wall. It was an ideal place for a loyalty test. Guards could block the gates so nobody could get out. The brick kilns could toast anyone who wouldn’t swear to be loyal.(2)

The only thing left to sort out is the “image.” Because the same word is translated “statue” in chapter 2, most interpreters suggest that it was a statue of Nebuchadnezzar.(3) The basic idea is that he decided to dis Yahweh by making a statue like the one in his dream. Then he covered it with gold, declaring that his empire would last forever, unlike the sequence of empires Yahweh had revealed. This idea has two serious problems.

First, Nebuchadnezzar would never treat a real god with disrespect. When he conquered Jerusalem, he took some of the sacred vessels from the Temple to show that his Babylonian gods were more powerful than the real but weak Jewish god. Lately this foreign god had proved to have amazing powers none of the Babylonian gods had. And this god had used them to benefit both Nebuchadnezzar and the captive Hebrews. Making a statue like the one in the dream but covered in gold would be a major insult to Yahweh. That’s just not going to happen.

The palace revolt had nothing to do with Yahweh.(4) It was about local political issues. For the king to bring up a dream from ten years before, unrelated to the issue of loyalty, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Next, the normal practices of the ancient near east involved making an obelisk with the accomplishments of the king, the servant of the gods, written on it. An obelisk has an “aspect ratio” of about 10. That is, it’s about ten times as tall as it is wide, just like Nebuchadnezzar’s image. And those are the proportions of the most famous modern obelisk: the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

4:1	4:1	10:1

A statue of a man has an aspect ratio of about four. For a six-footer, the feet will be a little over a foot apart, and the shoulders will be a bit less than two feet wide. Even if we put the feet close together, an aspect ratio of six doesn’t match the picture.

It’s likely that the obelisk had been under construction before the revolt. That sort of memorial was common, and Nebuchadnezzar had a number of military victories he could be proud of. It would be normal for him to have an obelisk made, just like we make statues of generals on horses and so on. He would use it when he dedicated the expansion of Babylon to give credit to the gods of Babylon. Covering it with gold would add to the value of his offering.

When the revolt came, a new use for the obelisk came with it. It would be a loyalty test.(5) It wouldn’t take long to get all the local bosses from around the kingdom in to the city. Daniel’s three friends got caught in this web, just like when they were snared by the failure of the pagan seers to tell the king his dream. But, for some reason the text leaves out, Daniel missed this party.

The music played (3:7), but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego did not fall down and worship the golden image (3:10–12). Loyal Chaldeans went to Nebuchadnezzar accused them (3:8).(6) In rage and anger he gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to him (3:13). Their years of loyal service didn’t matter. They looked like rebels.

The king had second thoughts when they arrived. First he asked, Is it true you don’t serve my gods or worship the image? (3:14). Then he gave them a second chance to fall down and worship the image (3:15). If they did, everything would be OK. If not, he would toast them in a furnace of blazing fire (3:16). To finalize the threat, he asked, What god is there that can deliver you out of my hands?

Without realizing it, Nebuchadnezzar had changed the scene from political loyalty to spiritual loyalty. He was the highest servant of Marduk, the highest Babylonian god. He had added Yahweh to his pantheon of gods when his dream was interpreted ten years before, but he didn’t understand that Yahweh wasn’t just another god. None of the Babylonian gods would be able to deliver the Hebrews from the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar knew it.

For Yahweh to rescue them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego had to stand firm.(7) An obelisk was a “sacred pillar,” and Leviticus 26:1 forbade them to “bow down to a sacred pillar.” They didn’t hesitate. We don’t need to give you an answer. If He wants, our God will deliver us from the furnace and out of your hand. But even if He doesn’t, make no mistake. We will not serve your gods or worship the golden image. (3:16-18).

This isn’t the way to talk to an angry king. Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal (3:19).(8) As an honor, the king selected certain valiant warriors to execute these rebels. They tied up the Hebrews and threw them into the middle of the fire (3:20–21).

The warriors got a different reward than they expected. The furnace was so hot it instantly killed them, but it didn’t touch the Hebrews (1:17–20).(9) The ropes that tied them burned, but the fire had no effect on them, on their hair, or on their clothes (3:27). Even more amazing, as they walked around in the fire, a fourth person, who looked like a son of the gods, walked with them (3:25). And when Nebuchadnezzar called to them to come out of the fire, there wasn’t even a smell of smoke or fire on them (3:27).

Even the king could see that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego was strong enough to resist any Babylonian god, even Marduk. He was truly a most high God (3:26). Nebuchadnezzar knew how to honor a god, so he blessed Yahweh (3:28).

"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." (3:28–29)

The Hebrews put their trust in Yahweh. They held nothing back. If Yahweh chose to deliver them, that was up to Him. They would worship the One True God to the end. They were “faithful unto death” (cf. Rev 2:10). But they didn’t die. God had a greater task for them. They were a living demonstration of His power in the presence of a pagan king and his court.

God didn’t deliver the Hebrews before they went into the fire. He followed His regular procedure and delivered them through the fire (cf. Rev 3:10). His people are refined by fire (Dan 11:35, Zech 13:9). Some will die as witnesses (Matt 23:35). Others will be protected through the trial like Noah. But all will rise in the end to receive rewards that will never perish (Dan 12:13).

When Nebuchadnezzar gave glory to Yahweh, he was one step further on the road to salvation. Let’s follow the sequence.

• In chapter 1, Nebuchadnezzar admitted that the God of the Hebrews was OK. This didn’t mean that he would honor Yahweh. But he would let the Hebrews worship Him. Yahweh’s servants didn’t upset the king’s apple cart, so they could be tolerated. Nebuchadnezzar thought his gods had given him victory over the Jews and their God, so they had to be stronger than Yahweh.
• In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar realized that the God the Hebrews worshiped had serious powers. He had revealed the dream and the interpretation, something the Babylonian gods couldn’t do. This made Yahweh a “God of gods and Lord of kings.” In other words, Yahweh just got promoted. He wasn’t the big kahuna yet, but He was moving up.
• In chapter 3, Yahweh upped the ante by muscling in on Nebuchadnezzar’s action. The king declared his own omnipotence, but God promptly showed him who’s boss. This time Yahweh wasn’t just one of the more powerful gods, He was right up at the top, and no one could ignore him. He was so strong that Nebuchadnezzar gave the Hebrews royal protection to prevent Him from getting angry.

Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t quite ready to admit that Yahweh is the One True God, but he was getting close.