SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
MEMORY VERSE
Psalm 27:1, ESV
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
DAY 1
Daniel 2:48 - Daniel 3:1, NIrV
48 Then the king put Daniel in a position of authority. He gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the city of Babylon and the towns around it. He put him in charge of all its other wise men. 49 The king also did what Daniel asked him to. He appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to help Daniel govern Babylon and the towns around it. Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
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1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue. It was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura near the city of Babylon.
BIBLE STUDY
Daniel, with the help of his God, was the only wise man in Babylon who had been able to explain the meaning of King Nebuchadnezzar's strange dream. As a reward, he became the boss of all of Babylon's wise men, along with his three friends. Nebuchadnezzar's dream was a message from God about the future. God showed him a huge four-part statue. These four parts were pictures of the mighty kingdom of Babylon and three other kingdoms that would rise up after it. But instead of serving God, the king built a 90-foot-tall version of this "dream statue" to make everyone worship him!
+ What were the names of Daniel's three friends? (vs. 2:49)
+ What did Nebuchadnezzar cover his statue with? (vs. 3:1)
DAY 2
Daniel 3:2-7, NIrV
2 Then the king sent for the royal rulers, high officials and governors. He sent for the advisers, treasurers, judges and court officers. And he sent for all the other officials of Babylon. He asked them to come to a special gathering to honor the statue he had set up. 3 So the royal rulers, high officials and governors came together. So did the advisers, treasurers, judges and court officers. All the other officials joined them. They came to honor the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They stood in front of it.
4 Then a messenger called out loudly, “Listen, you people who come from every nation! Pay attention, you who speak other languages! Here is what the king commands you to do. 5 You will soon hear the sound of horns and flutes. You will hear zithers, lyres, harps and pipes. In fact, you will hear all kinds of music. When you do, you must fall down and worship the gold statue. That is the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 If you don’t, you will be thrown into a blazing furnace right away.”
7 All the people heard the sound of the horns and flutes. They heard the zithers, lyres, harps and other musical instruments. As soon as they did, they fell down and worshiped Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. They were people from all nations no matter what language they spoke.
BIBLE STUDY
King Nebuchadnezzar gathered every important person from his kingdom to celebrate the grand opening of his sky-scraping golden masterpiece. That included Daniel's friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now, there's nothing wrong about building a statue, but bowing down and worshiping one? That breaks God's command. But it was exactly what King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to do. If they didn't, the king promised to bake them like bread in a fiery oven! So the music played and everybody bowed. Well, not everybody, but we’ll get to that part later!
+ Read Exodus 20:4-5. What does this command of God tell us about Nebuchadnezzar's command to worship the golden statue?
DAY 3
Daniel 3:8-13, NIrV
8 At this time some people who studied the heavens came forward. They spoke against the Jews. 9 They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, may you live forever! 10 Your Majesty has commanded everyone to fall down and worship the gold statue. You told them to do it when they heard the horns, flutes, zithers, lyres, harps, pipes and other musical instruments. 11 If they didn’t, they would be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But you have appointed some Jews to help Daniel govern Babylon and the towns around it. Their names are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They don’t pay any attention to you, King Nebuchadnezzar. They don’t serve your gods. And they refuse to worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13 Nebuchadnezzar was very angry. He sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So they were brought to him.
BIBLE STUDY
Have you ever had someone tell on you? It doesn't feel great to get caught doing something wrong. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had someone tattletale on them for doing something right! They knew it would be a sin to worship anyone or anything besides the one true God. So when the time came to worship Nebuchadnezzar's gigantic golden statue, the three friends remained on their feet, all by themselves! After the king learned that three of his wise men had ignored his royal command, his anger burned hotter than a fiery furnace!
+ Who told on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? (vs.8)
+ How did Nebuchadnezzar feel about what the three friends did? (vs. 13)
DAY 4
Daniel 3:14-18, NIRV
14 The king said to them, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is what I heard about you true? Don’t you serve my gods? Don’t you worship the gold statue I set up? 15 You will hear the horns, flutes, zithers, lyres, harps, pipes and other musical instruments. When you do, fall down and worship the statue I made. If you will, that’s very good. But if you won’t, you will be thrown at once into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to save you from my power?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him. They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to talk about this anymore. 17 We might be thrown into the blazing furnace. But the God we serve is able to bring us out of it alive. He will save us from your power. 18 But we want you to know this, Your Majesty. Even if we knew that our God wouldn’t save us, we still wouldn’t serve your gods. We wouldn’t worship the gold statue you set up.”
BIBLE STUDY
Nebuchadnezzar was willing to give the three men a second chance to bow before his statue. "But if you don't," he warned, "not even a god could stop my powerful hand from squashing you!" Still, the king's scary speech didn't sway the minds of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Like you, they'd heard all the stories of how their God had rescued his people in the past. The same God who parted the Red Sea and knocked down Jericho's walls could certainly save them, too. But even if he didn't, they'd rather be burnt to a crisp than ever bow down and worship the king’s golden statue.
+ What would happen if the three men worshiped the statue? (vs. 15)
+ Why wouldn't the three men worship the statue and save themselves?
DAY 5
Daniel 3:19-25, NIRV
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was very angry with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The look on his face changed. And he ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 He also gave some of the strongest soldiers in his army a command. He ordered them to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Then he told his men to throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So they were tied up. Then they were thrown into the furnace. They were wearing their robes, pants, turbans and other clothes. 22 The king’s command was carried out quickly. The furnace was so hot that its flames killed the soldiers who threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into it. 23 So the three men were firmly tied up. And they fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet. He was so amazed he asked his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men? Didn’t we throw three men into the fire?”
They replied, “Yes, we did, Your Majesty.”
25 The king said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire. They aren’t tied up. And the fire hasn’t even harmed them. The fourth man looks like a son of the gods.”
BIBLE STUDY
When the three men refused to obey his orders, Nebuchadnezzar wanted the flames of his furnace to burn just as hot as his temper! The heat was so intense, a few men died simply trying to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego inside it! Earlier, the king bragged, "No God will be able to rescue you from my powerful hand." But he couldn’t have been more wrong! Instead of melting like ice cubes on a hot summer's day, the king watched as the men strolled around inside the furnace like they were on a Sunday afternoon walk! Even wilder, they were joined by a mysterious fourth friend!
+ How much hotter was the furnace heated? (vs. 19)
+ What did the king say the fourth person looked like? (vs. 25)
DAY 6
Daniel 3:26-30, NIRV
26 Then the king approached the opening of the blazing furnace. He shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, come out! You who serve the Most High God, come here!”
So they came out of the fire. 27 The royal rulers, high officials, governors and advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire hadn’t harmed their bodies. Not one hair on their heads was burned. Their robes weren’t burned either. And they didn’t even smell like smoke.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “May the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be praised! He has sent his angel and saved his servants. They trusted in him. They refused to obey my command. They were willing to give up their lives. They would rather die than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 No other god can save people this way. So I’m giving an order about the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. No one may say anything against him. That’s true no matter what language they speak. If they say anything against him, they’ll be cut to pieces. And their houses will be turned into piles of trash.”
30 Then the king honored Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He gave them higher positions in the city of Babylon and the towns around it.
BIBLE STUDY
Back in Daniel 2, God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a strange dream about his future. The king saw a humongous statue destroyed by a rock. It’s message? Like the statue in his dream, Nebuchadnezzar’s mighty kingdom (like all the kingdoms of the world) would one day crumble and fall. Only the kingdom of God would last forever!
But Nebuchadnezzar refused to bow and worship the God who had sent him the dream. Instead, he built his own version of the dream statue and made everyone bow and worship it! And if that wasn’t bad enough, the cocky king even bragged to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “What God will be able to save you from my powerful hand?”
By sending someone to rescue Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God showed Nebuchadnezzar that his boastful words were just as full of hot air as his furnace was! There are many different opinions on the identity of the mysterious man who joined the three friends in the flames. Some think it was one of God’s angels. And others believe it was Jesus himself. Whoever it was, the three friends were made completely fireproof, from the hairs on top of their heads to the sandals on the bottom their feet!
The miraculous rescue of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was yet another loud and clear message from God to Nebuchadnezzar. It said, “You may think you’re the boss, but I’m the one in charge around here!” The story of the four friends in the fiery furnace is also a pretty clear message to you and me, too.
In the Bible, God has told us how we should live. There are two main things he asks us to do: love him with all our hearts and love other people like we love ourselves. Sadly, you and I (and everybody else, too) have broken those laws. We’ve told lies. We’ve disobeyed our parents. We’ve taken things that didn’t belong to us. And we’ve loved all sorts of things more than we love God. This is called “sin.”
In the Bible book of Romans, we learn that the consequence we earn for sinning is death. And if that wasn’t bad enough news, Jesus said this death will be very much like a forever fiery furnace, way hotter than Nebuchadnezzar’s!
God sent a mysterious fourth person to rescue Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. And he’s also sent a special someone to save us from the forever flames of death. And the identity of that special someone is no mystery: it was Jesus, God’s Son. By dying on a cross, Jesus took our consequence of forever death. Instead of a forever fiery death, we can have forever life in God’s never-ending kingdom!
+ What order did King Nebuchadnezzar give after the three men were saved? (vs. 29)
+ How is this story a picture of how God saves us from our sins?
© 2023 Andrew Doane. All rights reserved.