Page 104 - Daniel

furnace. The expression “immediately” does not necessarily indicate that
the furnace was already burning. It is likely that Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego were thrown into an updraft brick kiln, similar in function to
the one pictured here. Most building in Babylon was done using brick,

and it’s reasonable to assume that there was an abundant supply of brick
kilns in the area. Sun-dried bricks were placed inside the kiln and heated
to about fifteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature within the
kiln was controlled by opening or closing flue vents. Since the
Babylonians didn’t have an exact method for determining temperature,
it’s possible that Nebuchadnezzar’s order to heat the furnace “seven

times more than it was usually heated” (v. 19) is to be understood in the
sense of heating the furnace to the highest level possible.
In Jeremiah 29:22–23 the prophet described Nebuchadnezzar’s
punishment of two Jewish prophets who predicted his imminent

downfall. As punishment for their seditious behavior, they were “roasted
in the fire.” This seems to be another case where Nebuchadnezzar threw
his enemies into a fiery furnace. Jeremiah announced that the gruesome
fate of these false prophets would be used as a curse among the exiles.
Jeremiah wrote chapter 29 about 597 B.C., just a few years before the

events of Daniel 3.
The threat of being executed by being burned alive was sufficient to
cause the entire group to fall down and worship when the music

sounded. Apparently, the only exceptions were the three Hebrew young
men. The stage was now set for the trial of the three faithful Jews.

SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO ACCUSED BY THE
CHALDEANS (3:8–12)

3:8–12 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and
maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar,
“O king, live forever! 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. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be
cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you
have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach,