Daniel 3 | Three Hebrew Children and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3 records the courage of three men who stood up against the peer pressure of a pluralistic society under threat of execution.

The Concord of Religion and State

A. The Image of Man

60 cubits high = 90 feet
6 cubits wide = 9 feet

B. The Creation of Man –> Image of Gold, unlike ch. 2

C. The Cult of Man

1. The Veneration of Man
2. The Harmony of Man
3. The Punishment of Resistance
4. The Obedience of the Masses

Conscientious Objection to the Worship of Man, Daniel 3

A. The Government Enforcement

1. The Government Spies
2. The Government Second-chance

B. The Conscientious Objectors

1. They Refuse to Revere Man
2. They Refuse to Reconsider
3. They Refuse to Recant

    a. They have no need to defend their performance.
    b. They have no need to dread their punishment.
    c. They have no need to doubt their Providence.

The Cruelty of the Government

A. The Punishment is Savage

B. The Punishment is Swift

C. The Punishment is Social

The Consternation of the Government

A. The Presence of the Son of God

God can deliver us from a trial or He can sustain us in a trial.

In 1532, James Bainham was burned at the stake for not believing in the transubstantiation of the Eucharist. In the midst of the flaming fire which had half consumed his arms and legs, he said: “O ye Papists, behold ye look for miracles; here now you may see a miracle; for in this fire I feel no more pain than as if I were in a bed of down; but it is to me as a bed of roses.”

B. The Proof of the Son of God

1. The fire did not burn their souls.
2. The fire did not blemish their witness.

The Conversion of the State

A. Nebuchadnezzar became a henotheist, Daniel 3.

B. The faithful promoted to great influence.

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