…no matter the consequences

Elements of a Story

• Characters
• Setting
• Plot
• Conflict
• Resolution

The Characters

• Daniel 3:1-12
  • In the order of appearance.
• King Nebuchadnezzar
• Government Officials
• People of the Empire
• Chaldeans (Astrologers)
• Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego

The Setting

• The Dream – (2:31-34)
• The Interpretation
• The King’s Humble Response – (2:46-47)
• The King’s Expanding Ego – (2:37-38; 3:1, 4-6)

The Plot – Conspiracy

Daniel 3:8-12

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king,       live forever!

10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.

11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon:

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
• Why would these ‘Chaldeans’—or astrologers—want to have these young men killed?
• How did Nebuchadnezzar respond?

Daniel 3:13-15

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.

14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?

15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.

• But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

The Conflict – Refusal to Comply

• Resolve of the Hebrew Children
  • Daniel 3:16-18

Daniel 3:16-18

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

• Resolve of the Hebrew Children
  • Daniel 3:16-18
• Rage of King Nebuchadnezzar
  • Daniel 3:19-23
• The Conflict – Refusal to Comply
  • Daniel 3:19-23

Daniel 3:19-23

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

• Resolve of the Hebrew Children
  • Daniel 3:16-18
• Rage of King Nebuchadnezzar
  • Daniel 3:19-23
• Rescue of the Hebrew Children
  • Daniel 3:24-25

Daniel 3:24-25

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

The Resolution – Risk/Reward

Daniel 3:26-30

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.

28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Standing in Solidarity

         …no matter the consequences