No Smell Of Fire

Recommended Reading:  Daniel 3:1-30 

How willing are we to profess our faith and love in our heavenly Father?  How willing are we to stand out in a crowd and be different?  How much faith do we really have in God to protect and keep us in a serious time of need, if we will but only honor Him? 

In this familiar story from Daniel, when Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego resisted obeying King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to worship the idol he had made and erected, they put all of their faith and trust in God – believing He would protect them from harm.  

When the angry king called them in and confronted and threatened them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.’”  (Verses 17-18 MSG)   

How powerful is that?  In other words, even if their God did not physically save them, they would not change, because His will would be accomplished in the end.

The king then gave them an opportunity to follow his decree to worship the idol he had erected and when they refused he was furious.  He then ordered the furnace heated to seven times its normal temperature and had them tightly bound by some of his strongest soldiers.  The furnace was so hot that the soldiers that were ordered to throw them into the fire were themselves killed as they tossed them in.  

I guess dishing out this kind of punishment was a sport of sorts, because the king was apparently watching the entire event.  Verses 24-25 (MSG) says:  “Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, ‘Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?’  ‘That’s right, O king,’ they said.  ‘But look!’ he said. ‘I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!’”  It would appear that the ropes that bound their hands and feet were no longer binding them and they were in the company of someone very special. 

The king then called them up out of the fire and verses 26b–27 (MSG) say:  “…Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.  All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!”

That is pretty phenomenal when you consider how easily you can burn yourself or have your hair singed or your clothing scorched when near a flame; and, just being downwind from even a small fire leaves a smell in your hair and on your clothing.  

When we walk through trials that test our faithfulness, whether the furnace is heated to normal or up to “seven times hotter than usual” (vs.19), we must learn to keep our eyes trained on Him and know that indeed, the God we serve is totally able!  We can be confident that He and His angels are walking with us.  Resist giving in and you can escape that fiery trial “unbound and unharmed” (vs. 25) with no smell of fire on you!

[All bold emphasis is mine]

Karran Martin – October 2018

Revised August 30, 2025