Nebuchadnezzar’s fury was furious – it was reckless; it was stupid; it was out of control. Perhaps in the past he had always looked upon these three young men with fondness and smiling eyes. Not so now. Perhaps while he was encouraging them to reconsider their earlier refusal to worship his image, his face showed no emotion at all. However he had looked earlier, it has changed now. Probably his face turned red, then redder and then purple. There were veins in his forehead and neck which began to bulge and pulsate. His smile turned into a snarl, and he began talking through clinched teeth. Perhaps he began to shake. The man could have been on the verge of a stroke or an heart attack. The Lord had told him that his kingdom wouldn’t stand long – it could have come to an end at this moment. And he would have gone out into eternity damned.
In his wrath, he ordered that his crematorium be heated to seven time its usual strength. Again, I’d like to know more about this kind of furnace. They may have had access to natural gas or thermal heat, along with valve systems for controlling them. But it might have only meant that somehow the fires were to be fuel better or higher. Was he asking for something which might have endangered them all? Could it explode?
Think about this – if he had intended to hurt these men more, he should have ordered that the fires be cooled rather than heated. He should have desired to prolong their agony rather than to hasten their deaths. But of course he soon learned that the only people who were going to die on this occasion where the men who tossed the prisoners into this fire. Foolishness Nebuchadnezzar – utter foolishness.
The wrath of no man can not compare to either the wrath – or the grace – of the Almighty God. As I looked for the Bible reference which speaks of the wrath of man, I noticed that all of Psalm 76 could be applied to the foolishness of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. “In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.”
If we stop to analyze Nebuchadnezzar’s anger we see that it may have been expressed toward Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but it was actually against Jehovah – the God whom these men were serving. They were only doing what they knew that God wanted them to do. It is a foolish thing to raise your fist toward the Lord. He cannot be out-loved, and He certainly cannot be out-wrathed.
Nebuchadnezzar ordered that his most mighty men be given the privilege of executing these three criminals. Do you suppose that the king named six specific soldiers, or was it left to some commander? Perhaps who the executioners were was left completely open and there was a quick debate among the guards about who should get the privilege. They were like the soldiers arguing and then gambling about the clothing of the Saviour. What fools they were – forever identified with their greed, unbelief, and condemnation. If there was a debate among the guards who should bind and toss the Jews into the fire, the winners were actually the losers. Is this another example of the first being last and the last being first? Perhaps not.
At most ancient executions, the guilty were striped of the symbols of their offices. In this case, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar wanted the world to know that he didn’t care what the criminal’s office was, he was going to pay the price for his treason. They were tossed in fully dressed so that the clothes would burn or melt, increasing their suffering.
Should we try to imagine the emotions going through our hero’s hearts as they were shoved or bodily thrown into the flames? Since it would be pure speculation, I don’t know that it would be beneficial. But what would have been racing through your heart, if you were in those mens’ hosen and hats? May God give us the grace that we need to face our most severe trial, at the moment when we need it.
In Acts 9 we have the history of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. He was cast to the ground – perhaps from a horse, donkey or camel – or maybe just knocked off his feet. And then he heard – “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” This so impressed him that he repeatedly told people what it was that the Lord had said. “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” But at the time Saul considered it no such thing – he wasn’t persecuting Jehovah, but arresting professed Christians. He was wrong. Obviously, God takes the persecutions of his people personally. There are several examples of this throughout the Word of God.
And here we see quite graphically that the Lord was directly interested in everything about Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He had heard their prayers earlier. He was aware that they reluctantly attended the idol dedication, even though they had no heart for it. The Lord knew about their stand before the king, and in fact He strengthened them in it. And when it came time for them to suffer or to die, the Lord was right beside them once again. I am convinced that there is no reason for any saint of God to think of the Lord as doing anything less for them than he did for these three.
What was it that Nebuchadnezzar saw? What did the Son of God look like in his eyes? It must have been that He was spectacular. But weren’t there a hundred ways to describe the person whom he saw? Why didn’t he just say, “I see another man in there, whose face is more radiant than the fire” ? Was this Son of God, physically more impressive than any man he had ever seen? What was it that made the king use this kind of terminology? Theologically, he called him by a term which was perfect – but was it coached? Could it be that he had been hearing Daniel talk about the Lord, and even though he had laughed at the young Jew a hundred times, he had been listening? And that raises the question – how much Daniel knew about the Trinity and God the Son? This is the first time in the Bible that we have the words “the Son of God.” And it could be argued that Nebuchadnezzar actually said, “I see a son of the gods.” This is an amazing statement, especially if Nebuchadnezzar had some idea of what he was saying.
But the obvious point for you and me is that when we go through our trials, the Lord is there with us. Perhaps we won’t see Him. But if the flames are bright enough, the smoke dark enough and the pain intense enough, perhaps we will actually see our Comforter. If we see Him or not, you can be sure that He will be there.
I’m not going to deal with Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony until next week. Tonight I just want to point out that the three believers were released from the king’s death grip. It might be said from time to time that some man controls life and death, but it isn’t true. The God of Heaven can do anything that he chooses beginning with offsetting the impotence of man. But it extends even to the breaking of His own well-established physical laws. There is no explanation for the delivery of these men, except for the miraculous power of God. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s faith was justified, glorified and magnified.
Why can’t we have faith like that?