The Fiery Furnace
~590 BCE (approximate)
When Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden image and commanded all officials to worship it, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—three Jewish exiles in Babylon—refused to bow down. Enraged, the king ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and had the three men bound and thrown in.
Yet when Nebuchadnezzar looked into the flames, he saw four figures walking unharmed—the fourth “like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25). The three emerged without even the smell of smoke on them. Nebuchadnezzar declared: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him” (Daniel 3:28).