26
The Sanctified Life
on pain of death. This statue was about ninety feet in height and nine
[37]
in breadth, and in the eyes of that idolatrous people it presented a most
imposing and majestic appearance. A proclamation was issued calling
upon all the officers of the kingdom to assemble at the dedication of
the image, and at the sound of the musical instruments, to bow down
and worship it. Should any fail to do this, they were immediately to
be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
The appointed day has come, and the vast company is assembled,
when word is brought to the king that the three Hebrews whom he has
set over the province of Babylon have refused to worship the image.
These are Daniel’s three companions, who had been called by the king,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Full of rage, the monarch calls
them before him, and pointing to the angry furnace, tells them the
punishment that will be theirs if they refuse obedience to his will.
In vain were the king’s threats. He could not turn these noble
men from their allegiance to the great Ruler of nations. They had
learned from the history of their fathers that disobedience to God is
dishonor, disaster, and ruin; that the fear of the Lord is not only the
beginning of wisdom but the foundation of all true prosperity. They
look with calmness upon the fiery furnace and the idolatrous throng.
They have trusted in God, and He will not fail them now. Their answer
is respectful, but decided: “Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set
up” (
Daniel 3:18
).
The proud monarch is surrounded by his great men, the officers of
[38]
the government, and the army that has conquered nations; and all unite
in applauding him as having the wisdom and power of the gods. In
the midst of this imposing display stand the three youthful Hebrews,
steadily persisting in their refusal to obey the king’s decree. They had
been obedient to the laws of Babylon so far as these did not conflict
with the claims of God, but they would not be swayed a hair’s breadth
from the duty they owed to their Creator.
The king’s wrath knew no limits. In the very height of his power
and glory, to be thus defied by the representatives of a despised and
captive race was an insult which his proud spirit could not endure. The
fiery furnace had been heated seven times more than it was wont, and
into it were cast the Hebrew exiles. So furious were the flames, that
the men who cast them in were burned to death.