Sermon Notes — June 21, 2026
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”
Based on Daniel 3
June 21, 2026
Rev. Dr. Mary Beth Bernheisel
Is it OK with you if we start with a short history lesson? Because I think it’s important for us to understand how Daniel and his friends ended up in Babylon.
Here’s a simple map that I hope will be helpful.
In the year 707 BC the Northern Kingdom of Israel was thoroughly wiped out by the Assyrians, and many of the residents of Israel were taken into captivity. In the year 606 BC the Babylonians laid siege to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which, as you can see, includes the city of Jerusalem, but there were three waves of deportations of the residents to Babylon.
Daniel and his friends who star in today’s story, were part of the first wave of deportations in the year 605.
Now King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians were smart. They didn’t just deport anyone from Judah to Babylon. They chose the smartest, wealthiest, and most powerful residents of Judah and force marched them 900 miles to Babylon. By stripping Judah of its strongest leaders and wealthiest residents, Nebuchadnezzar reduced the threat of rebellion and acquired valuable skilled individuals.
We don’t know too much about Daniel and his friends, except that they must have been considered the best of the best, and that’s why they were chosen for deportation to Babylon. I want to do a quick overview of the first two chapters of Daniel because they have some great stories.
They get to Babylon, and we read that
Nebuchadnezzar instructed his highest official Ashpenaz to choose royal descendants and members of the ruling class from the Israelites—good-looking young men without defects, skilled in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, conversant with learning, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court. Ashpenaz was to teach them the Chaldean language and its literature. (Daniel 1:3-4)
Among the many that Ashpenaz chooses are four young men — Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We know the last three by the “new” names that Ashpenaz gives them — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar has high hopes that after three years of training, these four, among others, will want to serve in his court. Part of the training was eating royal food. Daniel 1:5 tells us that the king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine…but Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine.
But Daniel refuses to eat the King’s food. And Ashpenaz, who was in charge of the training, worries that Daniel will be undernourished because he’s not eating the rich food. Daniel proposes an experiment. For ten days he and his three friends will eat nothing but vegetables and water, and at the end of the ten days Ashpenaz can decide if they look unhealthy, OR if they appear to be fit to continue serving in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace.
Of course we know how that turned out.
For Daniel, following the law of Moses – including the dietary laws – binds him to God. Following the dietary laws is Daniel’s way of saying that Nebuchadnezzar can take Daniel out of his land and out of his temple, but he cannot separate Daniel from God. Daniel still belongs to God – spirit and body.
That’s chapter 1. In the second chapter, Daniel causes even more trouble. King Nebuchadnezzar is having dreams, and these dreams make him anxious. And so he asks the Chaldeans to interpret his dreams for him. Now, the Chaldeans were the wisest men in Babylon. So he calls the Chaldeans to come to him and tells them that they have to both tell him what the dream was AND interpret his dream for him. If they don’t, he says, he will have them torn limb from limb and will turn their houses into trash dumps. So, no pressure.
But, Nebuchadnezzar says, if you do tell me what my dream was and you interpret for me then you will have more honor, glory, and riches than you can imagine.
Listen closely, Nebuchadnezzar is telling them that not only do they have to interpret his dream, but they have to tell him what he dreamed. And they say to him, “No one can do that, King Nebuchadnezzar! That’s impossible!
And so Nebuchadnezzar makes good on his promise. He explodes into a rage and orders that every wise person in all of Babylon be killed, including Daniel and his pals!
When Daniel heard this news, he asked what the King was so mad about. When he found out that the King was mad because no one could tell him his dream and interpret for him, he asked for some time to figure it out. He went home to his friends, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah, and explained the dilemma. They decided that they would pray to the God of heaven for help. They prayed that God would tell them what the dream was and how to interpret it. And that night, while the four of them were sleeping, God came to Daniel in his own dream and gave him the answer.
When Daniel woke up, he went to the king and asked him to spare the lives of all the wise men in Babylon. He told Nebuchadnezzar that he – Daniel – could tell him what the dream was and what the dream meant.
And he did it.
The King was just as pleased as he could be with Daniel and his friends, so Daniel requested to King Nebuchadnezzar that he put his friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago – in charge of Babylon.
And that’s where we find ourselves today.
And you know the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refuse to bow down and worship the gold statue that Nebuchadnezzar had built, which catches the attention of the Chaldeans, the wisest men in Babylon, who snitch on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which gets them thrown into the fiery furnace. And of course they emerge unharmed, not even smelling like smoke.
It’s an awesome Sunday School story, just like the story of Jonah and the story of David and Goliath, because we love a good miracle story – being swallowed by a whale and getting spit up on land three days later, a tiny little boy killing a giant with one stone and a slingshot, walking out of a fiery furnace completely unharmed. Most of us remember the lessons that we learned when we heard the stories – that is there is nothing that our God cannot do. And God is pretty creative.
But very few of us know the first time we hear the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace – or the fifth time, or even the tenth time – few of us know that one day we ourselves are going to experience the miracle of God with us in the middle of the worst moments of our lives. There are some days that that promise – that God is with us – is the only thing that gets us out of bed and makes us put one foot in front of the other.
When we heard this story for the first, fifth, or tenth time as children, the easy lesson was that if we obey God, God will take care of us. What we probably didn’t get into as much as children was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s unwavering commitment to God.
In verse 14, when these three are brought before King Nebuchadnezzar, he gives them a second chance to bow down and worship the gold statue. And he ends his offer of a second chance with a question,
If you don’t worship it, you will be thrown straight into the furnace of flaming fire. Then what god will rescue you from my power?
Hear their answer:
If our God — the one we serve — is able to rescue us from the furnace of flaming fire and from your power, then let him rescue us. But if he doesn’t, know this for certain: we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you’ve set up.
They say If. At no point do they stand in front of Nebuchadnezzar fully confident that God will save them. They say if. If our God rescues us, then let him rescue us. But if he doesn’t, we’d rather go down in flames than worship your gods or your statue.
And there they stand. They have no idea what will happen when that furnace door opens. They don’t know if they will live or die. The only thing they know is that they belong to God and God alone.
This standoff is over before the furnace door is even open. Not because God has already rescued them, but because they have made their choice. They will not turn away from the only one worthy of their worship, not even for the sake of their own lives. It doesn’t matter if God saves them or not. Their clarity about who they are and to whom they belong has already won the battle.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don’t refuse to worship the idol because they think that God will reward their obedience. And God doesn’t save them from the fiery furnace to reward them for their obedience. Because God is not transactional. God does not say to us that if you do this good thing for me and my kingdom then I’ll do something good for you in return. God is transformational.
God takes whatever we have — a little bit of faith, a smidgen of trust, an iota of courage — and transforms it so that it is enough to endure whatever we face. God took their commitment to him and made it enough for them to stand in front of sure and certain death and say If he saves us, great. But even if you tell us right now that God isn’t going to save us, we’re still not going to bow down and worship your God.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego know that they not only belong to God in life but that they belong to God in death, and so they remain loyal to God even in the face of the furnace because only God is worthy of their loyalty. Because only God would stand next to them as they endured hell. Because God took their commitment and made it enough to stand in front of the furnace and say, whatever happens, we belong to God.
So who was in that furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Some say it was an angel, some say it was God. Some even say it was Jesus. We might never know the answer this side of heaven, but what we do know is that God never left them alone.
Friends, more than anything today I want you to hear and believe this good news: No matter what hell you are going through, God is faithful to stand right beside you and endure it with you. And you don’t have to earn God’s faithfulness to you, you don’t have to bargain for it. You don’t even have to believe in it.
God is there. And God takes whatever you have – even if it's barely enough to get you out of bed in the morning – God takes whatever you have and makes it enough.
You belong to God just as much as Daniel belonged to God. Just as much as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego belonged to God. And God will never leave you alone. Give God what little you have – faith, courage, patience – and let God make it enough.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.