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英文原文
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left Daniel's companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in honour and power, princes of the provinces, and preferred for their relation to the God of Israel and the interest they had in him. I know not whether I should say. It were well if this honour had all the saints. No, there are many whom it would not be good for; the saints' honour is reserved for another world. But here we have those same three men as much under the king's displeasure as when they were in his favour, and yet more truly, more highly, honoured by their God than there they were honoured by their prince, both by the grace wherewith he enabled them rather to suffer than to sin and by the miraculous and glorious deliverance which he wrought for them out of their sufferings. It is a very memorable story, a glorious instance of the power and goodness of God, and a great encouragement to the constancy of his people in trying times. The apostle refers to it when he mentions, among the believing heroes, those who by faith "quenched the violence of fire," Heb 11:34. We have here, I. Nebuchadnezzar's erecting and dedicating a golden image, and his requiring all his subjects, of what rank or degree soever, to fall down and worship it, and the general compliance of his people with that command, Da 3:1-7. II. Information given against the Jewish princes for refusing to worship this golden image, Da 3:8-12. III. Their constant persisting in that refusal, notwithstanding his rage and menaces, Da 3:13-18. IV. The casting of them into the fiery furnace for their refusal, Da 3:19-23. V. Their miraculous preservation in the fire by the power of God, and their invitation out of the fire by the favour of the king, who was by this miracle convinced of his error in casting them in, Da 3:24-27. VI. The honour which the king gave to God hereupon, and the favour he showed to those faithful worthies, Da 3:28-30.
1-7
Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image (587 BC)
尼布甲尼撒的金像(公元前587年)
¹ 尼布甲尼撒王造了一个金像,高六十肘,宽六肘,立在巴比伦省杜拉平原。 ² 尼布甲尼撒王差人将总督、钦差、巡抚、臬司、藩司、谋士、法官和各省的官员都召了来,为尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像行开光之礼。 ³ 于是总督、钦差、巡抚、臬司、藩司、谋士、法官和各省的官员都聚集了来,为尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像行开光之礼,就站在尼布甲尼撒所立的金像前。 ⁴ 那时传令的大声呼叫说:各方、各国、各族的人哪,有令传与你们: ⁵ 你们一听见角、笛、琵琶、琴、瑟、笙和各样乐器的声音,就当俯伏敬拜尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像。 ⁶ 凡不俯伏敬拜的,必立时扔在烈火的窑中。 ⁷ 因此各方、各国、各族的人民一听见角、笛、琵琶、琴、瑟和各样乐器的声音,就都俯伏敬拜尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像。
关于这段事迹的年代我们没有确据,只知道尼布甲尼撒所开光的这像若与他所梦见的那个像有何关联,那么这事大概就发生在那梦之后不久;有人认为大约在尼布甲尼撒第七年,即约雅斤被掳的前一年,以西结正是在那一年被掳去的。请观察,
I\. 立起金像供人敬拜。巴比伦本已满了偶像,然而这位专横的君王仍不满足,非要再添一个不可;因为那些离弃了那独一又真又活之神、开始设立多神的人,必发现他们所立的神如此不能令人满足,他们对神明的渴求如此无法餍足,以致他们必无限地加增神明,无止境地追随,永不知足。拜偶像的人喜爱新奇和花样。他们拣选新的神。那有许多神明的,还要盼望有更多。尼布甲尼撒王为要行使他君王的特权——可随己意设立任何神明——便立起这像(但3:1)。请观察,1. 它的贵重;这是一座金像,当然不会全是精金;他虽富甲天下,大概也负担不起,不过是包金的而已。请注意,假神的敬拜者在立像和敬拜之事上向来不惜工本;他们为这目的从袋中倒出金子(赛46:6),这就显出我们在敬拜真神上的吝啬是何等羞愧。2. 它的巨大;它高六十肘,宽六肘。它比寻常人的身量(据算不过四肘,即六英尺)高出十五倍,仿佛它越怪异就越能弥补它没有生命似的。但尼布甲尼撒为何要立这像呢?有人揣测,这是为了洗除自己已转奉犹太教的嫌疑,因他近来极口称赞以色列的神,又擢升了几位敬拜他的人。或许他立这像是作为自己的像,意图使人借它敬拜自己。骄傲的君王喜爱人将属神的尊荣归于他们;亚历山大便如此行,自命为朱庇特·奥林帕斯之子。他曾被告知,在他梦中所见的像里,他是以金头来代表,这金头要被更贱金属的国度所接续;但在此他却要自己作整个像,因为他使全像都是金的。请看,(1.) 当时在他身上所留下的良好印象何等完全、又何等迅速地消失了。他当时承认以色列的神实在是万神之神、万王之主;而如今他却公然违背那位神明文的律法,设立一像供人敬拜,不但持续他先前的偶像崇拜,更策划出新的来。请注意,深刻的知罪往往仍达不到真正的归正。许多人虽曾痛感罪的荒谬和危险,却仍照旧行在其中。(2.) 那梦本身和它的讲解——当时在他身上留下如此良好的印象——如今却产生完全相反的效果。那时它使他俯伏作神谦卑的敬拜者;如今却使他自立为与神抗衡的胆大对手。那时他认为作那像的金头是极大的事,并为此向神感恩;但他的心思既随其境遇而高抬,如今他以为这太微小了,便要违背神本身和他的圣言,自己作万有中之万有。
II. 召集全国大会,前来参加这像的开光典礼(但3:2-3)。使者被派往王国各地去招聚总督、公爵和贵族,王国所有的贵族,以及一切文武官员、军队的将领和统帅、臬司、藩司或总收税官、谋士和法官,以及各省的官员;他们都必须前来参加这像的开光之礼,违者必受相应的处分。他召集众大人物,为要给他偶像极大的尊荣;因此论到基督的荣耀,经上也说列王必将礼物奉给他。他若能叫他们向他的金像致敬,便不疑下等的百姓会自然跟从。众官长和官员遵王之命,离开他们各属地的职务,来到巴比伦参加这金像的开光之礼;其中许多人长途跋涉,耗费不菲,却为了一件极愚妄的事;然而偶像既是无知觉之物,敬拜者也是如此。
III. 颁布命令,吩咐一切在像前的人,一见信号,便当俯伏在地,敬拜这像,其名号乃是尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像。一位传令官在这一大群贵胄及其众多随从仆役,以及许多未被召而来的人(必然不少)之中大声宣告;让所有人都注意:1. 王严严吩咐并命令各方的人俯伏敬拜这金像;无论他们平日敬拜什么别的神明,如今他们必须敬拜这一位。2. 他们都必须在同一时刻行这事,作为他们在这次偶像敬拜中彼此相交的记号;而为达成此事,将以音乐的合奏为号令,这同时也为典礼增添光彩,并能使那些不甘心顺从的人心软化,使他们顺服王的命令。这种敬拜中的欢乐和浮华,极合属肉体属血气之人的口味,这些人对那当献给以灵为神之属灵敬拜原是门外汉。
IV. 全会众对这道命令的普遍顺从(但3:7)。他们听见了乐器的声音——无论是管乐器还是手执乐器,角和笛,并琵琶、瑟、琴和笙——他们以为其旋律令人陶醉(也确足以激发他们当时所要献上的那种敬虔),便立时所有人都如同一人,如同士兵惯于闻鼓声而操练一样,各方、各国、各族的人都俯伏敬拜那金像。这也无怪其然,因为早已宣告:凡不敬拜这金像的,必立时被扔在烈火的窑中,那窑已为这目的预备好了(但3:6)。这里有音乐的迷惑引诱他们顺从,也有烈火之窑的威吓强迫他们顺从。在这样两面夹攻的试探之下,他们都屈服了。请注意,感官所指引的路,大多数人便走;无论何等败坏的事,只要用音乐合奏引诱,或用烈火之窑威吓,这漫不经心的世界没有不肯被引诱或被驱使去行的。虚假的敬拜正是借着这等方法被设立和维持的。
英文原文
Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image (587 BC)
¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
³ Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
⁴ Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
⁵ That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
⁶ And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
We have no certainty concerning the date of this story, only that if this image, which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated, had any relation to that which he dreamed of, it is probable that it happened not long after that; some reckon it to be about the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, a year before Jehoiachin's captivity, in which Ezekiel was carried away. Observe,
I. A golden image set up to be worshipped. Babylon was full of idols already, yet nothing will serve this imperious prince but they must have one more; for those who have forsaken the one only living God, and begin to set up many gods, will find the gods they set up so unsatisfying, and their desire after them so insatiable, that they will multiply them without measure, wander after them endlessly, and never know when they have sufficient. Idolaters are fond of novelty and variety. They choose new gods. Those that have many will wish to have more. Nebuchadnezzar the king, that he might exert the prerogative of his crown, to make what god he thought fit, set up this image, Da 3:1. Observe, 1. The valuableness of it; it was an image of gold, not all gold surely; rich as he was, it is probable that he could not afford that, but overlaid with gold. Note, The worshippers of false gods are not wont to mind charges in setting up images and worshipping them; they lavish gold out of the bag for that purpose (Isa 46:6), which shames our niggardliness in the worship of the true God. 2. The vastness of it; it was threescore cubits high and six cubits broad. It exceeded the ordinary stature of a man fifteen times (for that is reckoned but four cubits, or six feet), as if its being monstrous would make amends for its being lifeless. But why did Nebuchadnezzar set up this image? Some suggest that it was to clear himself from the imputation of having turned a Jew, because he had lately spoken with great honour of the God of Israel and had preferred some of his worshippers. Or perhaps he set it up as an image of himself, and designed to be himself worshipped in it. Proud princes affected to have divine honours paid them; Alexander did so, pretending himself to be the son of Jupiter Olympius. He was told that in the image he had seen in his dream he was represented by the head of gold, which was to be succeeded by kingdoms of baser metal; but here he sets up to be himself the whole image, for he makes it all of gold. See here, (1.) How the good impressions that were then made upon him were quite lost, and quickly. He then acknowledged that the God of Israel is of a truth a God of gods and a Lord of kings; and yet now, in defiance of the express law of that God, he sets up an image to be worshipped, not only continues in his former idolatries, but contrives new ones. Note, Strong convictions often come short of a sound conversion. Many a pang have owned the absurdity and dangerousness of sin, and yet have gone on in it. (2.) How that very dream and the interpretation of it, which then made such good impressions upon him, now had a quite contrary effect. Then it made him fall down as a humble worshipper of God; now it made him set up for a bold competitor with God. Then he thought it a great thing to be the golden head of the image, and owned himself obliged to God for it; but, his mind rising with his condition, now he thinks that too little, and, in contradiction to God himself and his oracle, he will be all in all.
II. A general convention of the states summoned to attend the solemnity of the dedication of this image, Da 3:2,3. Messengers are despatched to all parts of the kingdom to gather together the princes, dukes, and lords, all the peers of the realm, with all officers civil and military, the captains and commanders of the forces, the judges, the treasurers or general receivers, the counsellors, and the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces; they must all come to the dedication of this image upon pain and peril of what shall fall thereon. He summons the great men, for the great honour of his idol; it is therefore mentioned to the glory of Christ that kings shall bring presents unto him. If he can bring them to pay homage to his golden image, he doubts not but the inferior people will follow of course. In obedience to the king's summons all the magistrates and officers of that vast kingdom leave the services of their particular countries, and come to Babylon, to the dedication of this golden image; long journeys many of them took, and expensive ones, upon a very foolish errand; but, as the idols are senseless things, such are the worshippers.
III. A proclamation made, commanding all manner of persons present before the image, upon the signal given, to fall down prostrate, and worship the image, under the style and title of The golden image which Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. A herald proclaims this aloud throughout this vast assembly of grandees, with their numerous train of servants and attendants, and a great crowd of people, no doubt, that were not sent for; let them all take notice, 1. That the king does strictly charge and command all manner of persons to fall down and worship the golden image; whatever other gods they worship at other times, now they must worship this. 2. That they must all do this just at the same time, in token of their communion with each other in this idolatrous service, and that, in order hereunto, notice shall be given by a concert of music, which would likewise serve to adorn the solemnity and to sweeten and soften the minds of those that were loth to yield and bring them to comply with the king's command. This mirth and gaiety in the worship would be very agreeable to carnal sensual minds, that are strangers to that spiritual worship which is due to God who is a spirit.
IV. The general compliance of the assembly with this command, Da 3:7. They heard the sound of the musical instruments, both wind-instruments and hand-instruments, the cornet and flute, with the harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, the melody of which they thought was ravishing (and fit enough it was to excite such a devotion as they were then to pay), and immediately they all, as one man, as soldiers that are wont to be exercised by beat of drum, all the people, nations, and languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image. And no marvel when it was proclaimed, That whosoever would not worship this golden image should be immediately thrown into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, ready prepared for that purpose, Da 3:6. Here were the charms of music to allure them into a compliance and the terrors of the fiery furnace to frighten them into a compliance. Thus beset with temptation, they all yielded. Note, That way that sense directs the most will go; there is nothing so bad which the careless world will not be drawn to by a concert of music, or driven to by a fiery furnace. And by such methods as these false worship has been set up and maintained.
8-18
The Hebrew Princes Accused; Fortitude of the Jewish Princes (587 BC)
希伯来首领被控；犹太首领的刚毅（公元前587年）
⁸ 那时有几个迦勒底人进前来，控告犹大人。
⁹ 他们对尼布甲尼撒王说：愿王万岁。
¹⁰ 王啊，你曾降旨说，凡听见角、笛、琵琶、琴、瑟、笙和各样乐器声音的，都当俯伏敬拜金像。
¹¹ 凡不俯伏敬拜的，必扔在烈火的窑中。
¹² 王所派管理巴比伦省事务的沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌这几个犹大人，王啊，这些人不理你，不事奉你的神，也不敬拜你所立的金像。
¹³ 当时尼布甲尼撒怒气填胸，向沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌变了脸色，吩咐人把窑烧热，比寻常更加七倍。
¹⁴ 尼布甲尼撒问他们说：沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，你们不事奉我的神，也不敬拜我所立的金像，是故意的吗？
¹⁵ 你们再听见角、笛、琵琶、琴、瑟、笙和各样乐器的声音，若俯伏敬拜我所造的像，却还可以；若不敬拜，必立时扔在烈火的窑中。有何神能救你们脱离我手呢？
¹⁶ 沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌对王说：尼布甲尼撒啊，这件事我们不必回答你。
¹⁷ 即便如此，我们所事奉的神，能将我们从烈火的窑中救出来。王啊，他也必救我们脱离你的手。
¹⁸ 即或不然，王啊，你当知道我们决不事奉你的神，也不敬拜你所立的金像。
奇怪的是，沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌竟会出席这次集会，虽然他们大概知道聚集的用意。但以理，我们或可设想，并不在场——或因公务外出，或蒙王允准退朝；除非我们以为他在王眼前如此蒙恩，无人敢因他不顺从而控告他。但他的同伴为何不躲开呢？无疑因为他们要尽可能顺从王的命令，并预备好为这公然的偶像崇拜作公开的见证。他们以为仅仅不向像俯伏还不够，既身居官职，就有责任挺身反对这事，哪怕这是他们的主人王所立的金像，也是敬拜之人的"金像"。如今，
I. 有几个迦勒底人向王控告这三位贵胄没有遵从王的谕旨（但 3:8）。控告他们的这些迦勒底人，也许就是那些特别被称为迦勒底人的术士或星象家（但 2:2）；他们因但以理使他们的同行黯然失色，而对他的同伴怀恨在心——这些同伴也曾使他们失色。这些同伴曾借祷告得着怜悯，救了这些迦勒底人的性命，看哪，他们竟以恶报善！他们以爱相待，却被他们当作仇敌。如此耶利米站在神面前，为那些后来为他性命挖坑的人说好话（耶 18:20）。我们若遇见这样忘恩之人，不要以为奇怪。又或许这些迦勒底人是那些本盼望得到这三位所升任之职的人，嫉妒他们的升迁；谁能敌得住嫉妒呢？他们向王本人提及这谕旨，对王的威严表示应有的敬意，并附上惯用的客套——王啊，愿王万岁（仿佛他们所图的不过是王的荣耀、要事奉他的利益，实际上却正把他推向危及他和他的国灭亡的境地）；他们请求允准，1. 提醒他近日所立的律法：各方、各国、各族的人，毫无例外，都当俯伏敬拜这金像；他们也提醒他对不从者所定的刑罚：当被扔在烈火的窑中（但 3:10-11）。不能否认这确是法律；至于是否公义之律，当另作考量。2. 告诉他这三个人——沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌——并未遵从这道谕旨（但 3:12）。大概尼布甲尼撒立此律法时，并没有特别要陷害他们的企图，否则他自己就会盯着他们，也不需要这番告密；但他们的仇敌寻机攻击他们，便抓住这事，急不可耐地控告他们。为加重其事、更加激怒王，（1）他们提醒他这些罪犯所被提升的高位。他们虽是犹大人，是外族人、是被掳之人，属被轻视的民族和宗教，王却派他们管理巴比伦省的事务。他们既然领受王如此多的恩宠，竟违背王的命令，实在忘恩负义，难以容忍的狂妄。况且他们身居高位，其拒绝就更显恶劣；将成为坏的榜样，对他人有不良影响；因此严厉惩处便属必要。如此，那些本已对无辜之民恼怒不已的君王，身边常常有太多尽力使他们更恼火的人。（2）他们暗示此事是存心为之，是顽抗，是藐视他和他的权柄："他们根本不把你放在眼里；因为他们不事奉你所事奉、又要求他们事奉的神，也不敬拜你所立的金像。"
II. 这三位敬虔的犹大人立刻被带到王面前，照这控告受审问。尼布甲尼撒勃然大怒，怒气填胸，吩咐把他们抓住（但 3:13）。这位大有权势的君王，他管辖这么多国家，却同时不能管辖自己的心——这于他的尊荣何其微小！有这么多人为他的臣民和俘虏，他自己却完全成了自己兽性情欲的奴隶，被其掳去！他不能受理性治理，怎配治理理性之人！听见这三个人此刻不事奉他的神，本不必使他惊奇，因为他明明知道他们从来不曾事奉过，也知道他们向来持守的宗教禁止他们如此行。他也没有理由以为他们有意藐视他的权柄，因为他们在一切事上都向他这位君王表示恭敬尽责。然而此时尤其不合时宜——他正沉浸于敬虔之中，为自己的金像行奉献之礼，竟如此大怒狂暴，如此失态。人的明达，照人想来，至少应延缓这怒气。真实的敬虔使心灵平静、安宁、温柔；而迷信和对假神的敬虔，却挑动人的情欲，灌输狂怒暴怒，把他们变成野兽。王的忿怒如同狮子吼叫；这位王的忿怒正是如此；然而当他如此盛怒之时，这三个人被带到他面前，却显得勇气不屈，坚定不移。
III. 案件简明地摆在他们面前，要他们决定是否顺从。1. 王问他们，当别人敬拜金像之时，他们没有敬拜，是否属实（但 3:14）。有人读作：是故意的吗？"是蓄意慎重而行，还是出于疏忽，以致你们没有事奉我的神？怎么！你们这些我养育长大的人，这些在我的费用下受教得养的人，这些我如此恩待、为他们作了这么多事的人，这些以智慧著称、因此更当明白对君王当尽之本分的人——怎么！你们竟不事奉我的神，也不敬拜我所立的金像？"注意，神仆人对神的忠心，常常是其仇敌和逼迫者的惊奇，他们以为奇怪，不与他们同奔那放荡无度的狂潮。2. 王愿意给他们一次新的机会；若他们先前是故意不行，那么，也许再三思之后，他们会改变心意；因此重新告诉他们如今所处的条件（但 3:15）。（1）王愿意为他们之故再奏一次乐，以软化他们使之顺从；他们若不像聋虺那样掩耳不听，肯听从那奏乐者的声音，肯敬拜金像，那也好；从前的疏漏可以赦免。但（2）王既已定意，他们若仍坚拒，便立刻被扔在烈火的窑中，不得有一小时的缓刑。事情就这样浓缩成一个字眼——要么转，要么烧；又因他知道他们之拒绝是靠对神的信赖而支撑，便傲慢地向他挑战：有何神能救你们脱离我手呢？有，让他来吧。如今他忘了自己曾经承认的：他们的神是万神之神，万王之主（但 2:47）。骄傲之人总是这样说，正如法老：耶和华是谁，使我听他的话呢？又正如尼布甲尼撒：耶和华是谁，使我畏惧他的权能呢？
IV. 他们作出回答，三人意见一致：他们仍旧持守不拜金像的决定（但 3:16-18）。我们在此看见一个刚毅和大无畏之心的实例，几乎无与伦比。我们称这些人为三少年（他们也确实是少年人），但我们更当称他们为三位勇士，神在人间之国中的尊贵者中的前三杰。他们并没有对那些敬拜金像的人爆发任何失控的怒火或激愤，没有侮辱或冒犯他们；他们也没有贸然自投试验，或特意绕道去求殉道；而是当他们被正当传唤到火的试验前时，勇敢地担当，以与为如此美善之事业受苦者相称的举止和勇气自持。王造这偶像时并非如此胆大妄为，他们作见证反对这偶像时也照样胆大行善。他们极好地控制着自己的脾气，没有称王为暴君或拜偶像者（神的事业不需要人的怒气），而是以非凡的冷静和安宁，慎重地作出回答，并决意坚守。请看，
1. 他们对死亡那恩慈而高尚的蔑视，以及他们看待自己所处两难境地时那崇高的坦然：尼布甲尼撒啊，我们不必回答你。他们并非以赌气之态拒绝回答，并非闭口不言；而是告诉他，他们对此事毫无忧虑。无需回答（有人如此读），他们既已定意不顺从，王又定意不顺从则必死；因此事情已定，何必再争？但更好的读法是：我们对你无需再找答案，我们已有所备而来。（1）他们无需时间来考虑如何回答；因为他们毫不动摇地决定不顺从。这事关生死，人以为他们或许可以稍作思考再决定；生命可慕，死亡可畏。但当事中的罪与责任已由第二条诫命的明文立即断定，毫无余地怀疑何为正，事中的生死便不在考虑之列。注意，凡要避免犯罪的，切不可与试探讨价还价。当我们被引诱或被威胁去作的事明明是恶，就当以愤慨和厌恶之心拒绝那提议，而不与之辩驳；不要犹豫踌躇，而当如基督所教导的说：撒但，退我后边去吧。（2）他们无需时间来斟酌措辞。他们既为神作辩护，被召在他的事业中作见证，便不怀疑当在他们站的时刻，必赐给他们当说的话（太 10:19）。他们不是在设想一个闪烁其词的答复，而他们当给人直接的答复；他们也不愿显得在求王不要追究。他们的答复毫无阿谀之态；他们不像控告他们的人那样以王啊，愿王万岁开头，没有巧妙的奉承以ad captandam benevolentiam——讨好他，一切都是朴实直截的：尼布甲尼撒啊，我们不必回答你。注意，那些以尽本分为首要关怀的人，无需为结局忧虑。
2. 他们对神的信靠之心和依赖（但 3:17）。正是这信心使他们能如此轻看死亡——盛装之死、极其可怖之死：他们信靠永活的神，并因这信心宁受苦而不犯罪；所以他们不怕王的忿怒，而能忍耐，因为他们因信看见那不能看见的主（来 11:25、27）：即便如此，我们被带到这窘境，除非我们事奉你的神，便必被扔在烈火的窑中——那么请知道，（1）"我们虽不敬拜你的神，我们却不是无神论者；我们有一位我们可以称之为我们自己的神，我们忠心归属于他。"（2）"我们事奉这位神；我们已将自己献上为要荣耀他；我们从事他的工作，并仰赖他保护我们、供给我们、奖赏我们。"（3）"我们深信这位神能将我们从烈火的窑中救出来；他愿意与否，我们姑且不论，我们确信他能——或阻止我们被扔进窑中，或把我们从窑中救出。"注意，神忠心的仆人必发现他是能在他的事奉中扶持他们的主，并能掌管和驾驭一切与他为敌的权势。主啊，你若肯，你能。（4）"我们有理由盼望他必救我们"——部分因为，在如此浩大的偶像敬拜者云集之中，神若搭救他们，必大彰显他大名的荣耀；部分因为尼布甲尼撒已向他挑衅——有何神能救你们脱离我手？神有时为要使仇敌的亵渎哑口无言，正如为要应允他百姓的祷告，便奇妙地显现（诗 74:18-22；申 32:27）。"然而，他若不救我们脱离烈火的窑，他必救我们脱离你的手。"尼布甲尼撒只能折磨杀灭身体，此后他便不能再作什么；那时他们已脱离他的权下，被救出他的手。注意，对神存着美善的想法，深信我们与他同在时他也与我们同在，这会大大帮助我们忍受苦难；他若帮助我们，我们就不必惧怕人能对我们怎样；任凭他行至极处。神或救我们脱离死亡，或在死亡之中救我们。
3. 他们持守原则的坚定决心，无论后果如何（但 3:18）：即或不然，若神看为不宜从烈火的窑中救我们（这我们知道他能作），他若任凭我们落入你手*，丧于你手，王啊，你当知道，我们决不事奉这些神——虽是你的神，也不敬拜这金像——虽是你自己所立的。他们既不羞耻也不害怕承认他们的信仰，并当面告诉王：他们不惧怕他，不肯向他屈服；倘若他们曾与血气商量，要使他们顺从，可说的理由实在不少，尤其当此外别无免死之法，且是如此惨烈之死*。（1）他们并未被要求放弃自己的神，或否认对他的敬拜，甚至并不被要求以任何口头宣告承认这金像是神，只要俯伏跪拜便可；他们大可在心中暗暗为以色列的神有所保留，内心里厌恶这偶像崇拜，正如乃缦在临门庙中鞠躬。（2）他们并非要陷入一连串的偶像崇拜；所求于他们的不过是一个单独的举动，转瞬之间即可完成，危险也就过去，他们以后还可为此表明懊悔。（3）下令之王拥有绝对权力；他们既在其下，不但是臣民，更是俘虏；他们若如此行，完全是出于强迫和胁迫，这可作为他们的借口。（4）王是他们的恩主，养育了他们、抬举了他们，为感恩之故，他们当尽力而行，哪怕要勉强放宽数分——放宽良心的几分。（5）他们如今被赶往异乡；对于如此被赶逐之人，事实上就是说：去事奉别神吧（撒上 26:19）。人假定他们在性情上会事奉别神，这也是审判的一部分（申 4:28）。潮流如此强劲，他们若随波逐流，也可得宽宥。（6）他们的君王、贵胄、列祖，甚至祭司，岂不在神的殿中也设立偶像，在那里敬拜，不仅向偶像俯伏，更筑坛、焚香、献祭，甚至献上自己的儿女吗？十个支派岂不许多年代以来都在但和伯特利敬拜金神吗？他们岂可列祖更严？Communis error facit jus——众人都行的，必是正的。（7）他们若顺从，便可保命守位，因而能长久为在巴比伦的同胞多作服事；因为他们是少年人，是后起之秀。但神的一句话足以回答和驳斥这一切以及更多类似的属肉体理由：你不可向任何偶像俯伏敬拜。他们知道他们当顺从神过于顺从人；他们当宁受苦而不犯罪；他们不可作恶以成善。因此这些事一点也不能动摇他们；他们定意宁可以正直而死，不以罪孽而活。当他们的同胞仍在自己的故土上甘心敬拜偶像之时，他们在巴比伦虽被勉强，也不肯屈从；他们仿佛是反激而善，在拜偶像之国中格外热心反对偶像崇拜。实在说来，综合考虑一切，救他们脱离这犯罪的顺从，在恩典之国中正如救他们脱离烈火之窑在自然之国中一样，同是奇妙的作为。这些人从前定意不以王的膳玷污自己，如今也同样勇敢地定意不以他的神玷污自己。注意，在较小的事上对神和责任的坚定舍己持守，必使我们在更大的事上有同样的准备和资格。在这事上我们必须坚决，无论以任何借口，绝不敬拜偶像，也不与拜偶像之人说"结盟"。
英文原文
The Hebrew Princes Accused; Fortitude of the Jewish Princes (587 BC)
⁸ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
⁹ They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
¹¹ And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
¹² There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
¹⁵ Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
¹⁷ If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
It was strange that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would be present at this assembly, when, it is likely, they knew for what intent it was called together. Daniel, we may suppose, was absent, either his business calling him away or having leave from the king to withdraw, unless we suppose that he stood so high in the king's favour that none durst complain of him for his noncompliance. But why did not his companions keep out of the way? Surely because they would obey the king's orders as far as they could, and would be ready to bear a public testimony against this gross idolatry. They did not think it enough not to bow down to the image, but, being in office, thought themselves obliged to stand up against it, though it was the image which the king their master set up, and would be a golden image to those that worshipped it. Now,
I. Information is brought to the king by certain Chaldeans against these three gentlemen that they did not obey the king's edict, Da 3:8. Perhaps these Chaldeans that accused them were some of those magicians or astrologers that were particularly called Chaldeans (Da 2:2) who bore a grudge to Daniel's companions for his sake, because he had eclipsed them, and so had these companions. They by their prayers had obtained the mercy which saved the lives of these Chaldeans, and, behold, how they requite them evil for good! for their love they are their adversaries. Thus Jeremiah stood before God, to speak good for those who afterwards dug a pit for his life, Jer 18:20. We must not think it strange if we meet with such ungrateful men. Or perhaps they were such of the Chaldeans as expected the places to which they were advanced, and envied them their preferments; and who can stand before envy ? They appeal to the king himself concerning the edict, with all due respect to his majesty, and the usual compliment, O king! live forever (as if they aimed at nothing but his honour, and to serve his interest, when really they were putting him upon that which would endanger the ruin of him and his kingdom); they beg leave, 1. To put him in mind of the law he had lately made, That all manner of persons, without exception of nation or language, should fall down and worship this golden image; they put him in mind also of the penalty which by the law was to be inflicted upon recusants, that they were to be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace, Da 3:10,11. It cannot be denied but that this was the law; whether a righteous law or no ought to be considered. 2. To inform him that these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, had not conformed to this edict, Da 3:12. It is probable that Nebuchadnezzar had no particular design to ensnare them in making the law, for then he would himself have had his eye upon them, and would not have needed this information; but their enemies, that sought an occasion against them, laid hold on this, and were forward to accuse them. To aggravate the matter, and incense the king the more against them, (1.) They put him in mind of the dignity to which the criminals had been preferred. Though they were Jews, foreigners, captives, men of a despised nation and religion, yet the king had set them over the affairs of the province of Babylon. It was therefore very ungrateful, and an insufferable piece of insolence, for them to disobey the king's command, when they had shared so much of the king's favour. And, besides, the high station they were in would make their refusal the more scandalous; it would be a bad example, and have a bad influence upon others; and therefore it was necessary that it should be severely animadverted upon. Thus princes that are incensed enough against innocent people commonly have but too many about them who do all they can to make them worse. (2.) They suggest that it was done maliciously, contumaciously, and in contempt of him and his authority: "They have set no regard upon thee; for they serve not the gods which thou servest, and which thou requirest them to serve, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
II. These three pious Jews are immediately brought before the king, and arraigned and examined upon this information. Nebuchadnezzar fell into a great passion, and in his rage and fury commanded them to be seized, Da 3:13. How little was it the honour of this mighty prince that he had rule over so many nations when at the same time he had no rule over his own spirit, that there were so many who were subjects and captives to him when he was himself a perfect slave to his own brutish passions and led captive by them! How unfit was he to rule reasonable men who could not himself be ruled by reason! It needed not be a surprise to him to hear that these three men did not now serve his gods, for he knew very well they never had served them, and that their religion, which they had always adhered to, forbade them to do it. Nor had he any reason to think that they designed any contempt of his authority, for they had in all instances shown themselves respectful and dutiful to him as their prince. But it was especially unseasonable at this time, when he was in the midst of his devotions, dedicating his golden image, to be in such a rage and fury, and so much to discompose himself. The discretion of a man, one would think, should at least have deferred this anger. True devotion calms the spirit, quiets and meekens it; but superstition, and a devotion to false gods, inflame men's passions, inspire them with rage, and fury, and turn them into brutes. The wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion; so was the wrath of this king; and yet, when he was in such a heat, these three men were brought before him, and appeared with an undaunted courage, and unshaken constancy.
III. The case is laid before them in short, and it is put to them whether they will comply or no. 1. The king asked them whether it was true that they had not worshipped the golden image when others did, Da 3:14. "Is it of purpose?" so some read it. "Was it designedly and deliberately done, or was it only through inadvertency, that you have not served my gods? What! you that I have nourished and brought up, that have been educated and maintained at my charge, that I have been so kind to and done so much for, you that have been in such reputation for wisdom, and therefore should better have known your duty to your prince; what! do not you serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" Note, The faithfulness of God's servants to him has often been the wonder of their enemies and persecutors, who think it strange that they run not with them to the same excess of riot. 2. He was willing to admit them to a new trial; if they did on purpose not do it before, yet, it may be, upon second thoughts, they will change their minds; it is therefore repeated to them upon what terms they now stand, Da 3:15. (1.) The king is willing that music shall play again, only for their sakes, to soften them into a compliance; and if they will not, like the deaf adder, stop their ears, but will hearken to the voice of the charmers and will worship the golden image, well and good; their former omission shall be pardoned. But, (2.) The king is resolved, if they persist in their refusal, that they shall immediately be cast into the fiery furnace, and shall not have so much as an hour's reprieve. Thus does the matter lie in a little compass—Turn, or burn; and, because he knew they buoyed themselves up in their refusal with a confidence in their God, he insolently set him a defiance: "And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Let him, if he can." Now he forgot what he himself once owned, that their God was a God of gods and a Lord of kings, Da 2:47. Proud men are still ready to say, as Pharaoh, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? or, as Nebuchadnezzar, Who is the Lord, that I should fear his power?
IV. They give in their answer, which they all agree in, that they still adhere to their resolution not to worship the golden image, Da 3:16-18. We have here such an instance of fortitude and magnanimity as is scarcely to be paralleled. We call these the three children (and they were indeed young men), but we should rather call them the three champions, the first three of the worthies of God's kingdom among men. They did not break out into any intemperate heat or passion against those that did worship the golden image, did not insult or affront them; nor did they rashly thrust themselves upon the trial, or go out of their way to court martyrdom; but, when they were duly called to the fiery trial, they acquitted themselves bravely, with a conduct and courage that became sufferers for so good a cause. The king was not so daringly bad in making this idol, but they were as daringly good in witnessing against it. They keep their temper admirably well, do not call the king a tyrant or an idolater (the cause of God needs not the wrath of man), but, with an exemplary calmness and sedateness of mind, they deliberately give in their answer, which they resolve to abide by. Observe,
1. Their gracious and generous contempt of death, and the noble negligence with which they look upon the dilemma that they are put to: O Nebuchadnezzar! we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. They do not in sullenness deny him an answer, nor stand mute; but they tell him that they are in no care about it. There needs not an answer (so some read it); they are resolved not to comply, and the king is resolved they shall die if they do not; the matter therefore is determined, and why should it be disputed? But it is better read, "We want not an answer for thee, nor have it to seek, but come prepared." (1.) They needed no time to deliberate concerning the matter of their answer; for they did not in the least hesitate whether they should comply or no. It was a matter of life and death, and one would think they might have considered awhile before they had resolved; life is desirable, and death is dreadful. But when the sin and duty that were in the case were immediately determined by the letter of the second commandment, and no room was left to question what was right, the life and death that were in the case were not to be considered. Note, Those that would avoid sin must not parley with temptation. When that which we are allured or affrighted to is manifestly evil the motion is rather to be rejected with indignation and abhorrence than reasoned with; stand not to pause about it, but say, as Christ has taught us, Get thee behind me, Satan. (2.) They needed no time to contrive how they should word it. While they were advocates for God, and were called out to witness in his cause, they doubted not but it should be given them in that same hour what they should speak, Mt 10:19. They were not contriving an evasive answer, when a direct answer was expected from them; no, nor would they seem to court the king not to insist upon it. Here is nothing in their answer that looks like compliment; they begin not, as their accusers did, with, O king! live for ever, no artful insinuation, ad captandam benevolentiam—to put him into a good humour, but every thing that is plain and downright: O Nebuchadnezzar! we are not careful to answer thee. Note, Those that make their duty their main care need not be careful concerning the event.
2. Their believing confidence in God and their dependence upon him, Da 3:17. It was this that enabled them to look with so much contempt upon death, death in pomp, death in all its terrors: they trusted in the living God, and by that faith chose rather to suffer than to sin; they therefore feared not the wrath of the king, but endured, because by faith they had an eye to him that is invisible (Heb 11:25,27): "If it be so, if we are brought to this strait, if we must be thrown into the fiery furnace unless we serve thy gods, know then," (1.) "That though we worship not thy gods yet we are not atheists; there is a God whom we can call ours, to whom we faithfully adhere." (2.) "That we serve this God; we have devoted ourselves to his honour; we employ ourselves in his work, and depend upon him to protect us, provide for us, and reward us." (3.) "That we are well assured that this God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; whether he will or no, we are sure that he can either prevent our being cast into the furnace or rescue us out of it." Note, The faithful servants of God will find him a Master able to bear them out in his service, and to control and overrule all the powers that are armed against them. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst. (4.) "That we have reason to hope he will deliver us," partly because, in such a vast appearance of idolaters, it would be very much for the honour of his great name to deliver them, and partly because Nebuchadnezzar had defied him to do it—Who is that God that shall deliver you? God sometimes appears wonderfully for the silencing of the blasphemies of the enemy, as well as for the answering of the prayers of his people, Ps 74:18-22, De 32:27. "But, if he do not deliver us from the fiery furnace, he will deliver us out of thy hand." Nebuchadnezzar can but torment and kill the body, and after that, there is no more that he can do; then they are got out of his reach, delivered out of his hand. Note, Good thoughts of God, and a full assurance that he is with us while we are with him, will help very much to carry us through sufferings; and, if he be for us, we need not fear what man can do unto us; let him do his worst. God will deliver us either from death or in death.
3. Their firm resolution to adhere to their principles, whatever might be the consequence (Da 3:18): "But, if not, though God should not think fit to deliver us from the fiery furnace (which yet we know he can do), if he should suffer us to fall into thy hand, and fall by thy hand, yet be it known unto thee, O king! we will not serve these gods, though they are thy gods, nor worship this golden image, though thou thyself hast set it up." They are neither ashamed nor afraid to own their religion, and tell the king to his face that they do not fear him, they will not yield to him; had they consulted with flesh and blood, much might have been said to bring them to a compliance, especially when there was no other way of avoiding death, so great a death. (1.) They were not required to abjure their own God, or to renounce his worship, no, nor by any verbal profession or declaration to own this golden image to be a god, but only to bow down before it, which they might do with a secret reserve of their hearts for the God of Israel, inwardly detesting this idolatry, as Naaman bowed in the house of Rimmon. (2.) They were not to fall into a course of idolatry; it was but one single act that was required of them, which would be done in a minute, and the danger was over, and they might afterwards declare their sorrow for it. (3.) The king that commanded it had an absolute power; they were under it, not only as subjects, but as captives; and, if they did it, it was purely by coercion and duress, which would serve to excuse them. (4.) He had been their benefactor, had educated and preferred them, and in gratitude to him they ought to go as far as they could, though it were to strain a point, a point of conscience. (5.) They were now driven into a strange country, and to those that were so driven out it was, in effect, said, Go, and serve other gods, 1Sa 26:19. It was taken for granted that in their disposition they would serve other gods, and it was made a part of the judgment, De 4:28. They might be excused if they should go down the stream, when it is so strong. (6.) Did not their kings, and their princes, and their fathers, yea, and their priests too, set up idols even in God's temple, and worship them there, and not only bow down to them, but erect altars, burn incense, and offer sacrifices, even their own children, to them? Did not all the ten tribes, for many ages, worship gods of gold at Dan and Bethel? And shall they be more precise than their fathers? Communis error facit jus—What all do must be right. (7.) If they should comply, they would save their lives and keep their places, and so be in a capacity to do a great deal of service to their brethren in Babylon, and to do it long; for they were young men, and rising men. But there is enough in that one word of God wherewith to answer and silence these and many more such like carnal reasonings: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to any images, nor worship them. They know they must obey God rather than man; they must rather suffer than sin, and must not do evil that good may come. And therefore none of these things move them; they are resolved rather to die in their integrity than live in their iniquity. While their brethren, who yet remained in their own land, were worshipping images by choice, they in Babylon would not be brought to it by constraint, but, as if they were good by antiperistasis, were most zealous against idolatry in an idolatrous country. And truly, all things considered, the saving of them from this sinful compliance was as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace as the saving of them out of the fiery furnace was in the kingdom of nature. These were those who formerly resolved not to defile themselves with the king's meat, and now they as bravely resolve not to defile themselves with his gods. Note, A stedfast self-denying adherence to God and duty in less instances will qualify and prepare us for the like in greater. And in this we must be resolute, never, under any pretence whatsoever, to worship images, or to say "A confederacy" with those that do so.
19-27
The Three Hebrews in the Furnace; Deliverance from the Furnace (587 BC)
希伯来三人在火窑中；从火窑中得救（主前587年）
¹⁹ 那时尼布甲尼撒怒气填胸，向沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌变了脸色，又吩咐人把窑烧热，比寻常加增七倍。 ²⁰ 又吩咐他军中的几个壮士，将沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌捆起来，扔在烈火的窑中。 ²¹ 这三人穿着裤子、内袍、外衣，和别的衣服，被捆起来扔在烈火的窑中。 ²² 因为王命紧急，窑又甚热，那抬沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的人都被火焰烧死。 ²³ 沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌这三个人都被捆着落在烈火的窑中。 ²⁴ 那时尼布甲尼撒王惊奇，急忙起来，对谋士说：我们不是把三个人捆起来扔在火里么？他们回答王说：王阿，是这样。 ²⁵ 王说：看哪，我看见有四个人并没有捆绑，在火中游行，也没有受伤；那第四个的相貌好像神子。 ²⁶ 于是尼布甲尼撒就近烈火窑门，说：至高 神的仆人沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌出来，上这里来。沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌就从火中出来了。 ²⁷ 那些总督、钦差、巡抚，和王的谋士，都聚集来看这三个人，见火无力伤他们身体；头发也没有烧焦，衣裳也没有变色，并没有火燎的气味。
在这些经文里我们看见：
I. 这三位 神忠心的仆人被扔进烈火的窑中。尼布甲尼撒自己既已认识、也承认过真 神，因此人本以为——虽然他的骄傲与虚荣叫他造了金像、立起来叫人敬拜——这几个少年人如今所说的话（他曾发现他们比自己一切哲士更有智慧），必能唤起他先前的良知，至少使他肯宽待他们；谁知事竟不然。1. 他非但没有被他们的话折服，反而被激怒，更加暴怒（但3:19）。这话使他怒气填胸，并向这几个人变了脸色。请注意，兽性的情欲越放纵就越猛烈，甚至改变人的脸色，大大有损于人的智慧与理智。尼布甲尼撒在这一怒之下，把君王坐在宝座上、审判官坐在审判座上那种可敬畏的尊严，换成了网中之野牛那种可怕的狂怒。人在怒中若肯照一照镜子看自己的脸，必因自己的愚妄脸红，转而把一切不悦归到自己身上。2. 他非但没有因他们的身份和所居的尊位而减轻刑罚，反而下令加重，吩咐把窑为这事比寻常加增七倍烧热——就是为别的罪犯所烧的七倍，即要加添七倍的燃料；这虽不能使他们的死更加痛苦，反而使他们速死，却是要表明王看他们的罪比别人重七倍，从而使他们的死更加可耻。然而 神却从这暴君狂怒的愚妄之举中为自己得了荣耀；因为这事虽不能使他们的死更加痛苦，却使他们的拯救更显辉煌。3. 他下令将他们连衣捆绑，扔进烈火的窑中，事就这样成了（但3:20,21）。他们被捆绑，使他们不能挣扎、不能反抗；他们连同衣服一起被绑，或是为着仓促，或是为要使他们更缓慢、更渐渐地被烧灭。然而 神的护理这样安排，乃是为加增这神迹——他们的衣服连烤焦的痕迹都没有。他们穿着外袍或外氅、裤子或下装、并帽子或头巾被捆绑，仿佛他们痛恨其罪，要他们的衣服和他们一同焚烧。这是何等可怕的死——被捆绑扔进烈火窑的当中！（但3:23）。想到这事便叫人肉体战抖，惊恐抓住人心。暴君的心如此刚硬，竟能施行这样的刑罚；认信者的心如此坚强，竟宁可受此苦也不肯得罪 神；这实在令人惊异。然而这比起第二次的死——比起那要把稗子捆成捆扔进去的火窑、那烧着硫磺永烧不灭的火湖——又算什么呢？任凭尼布甲尼撒把窑烧得再热，几分钟之内便要了被扔进去之人的命；地狱的火却折磨人不杀人。被定罪之罪人所受的痛苦更加剧烈，他们受痛苦的烟往上冒，直到永永远远，那些拜兽和兽像的人不得安宁——痛苦无片刻缓解，无一刻止息（启14:10,11）；而因不肯拜这巴比伦之兽和他的像被扔进这窑中的人，他们的痛苦却不久就结束了。4. 这里有一项奇妙的护理：那些壮士——捆绑他们、把他们扔进窑中的那些人——自己反倒被火焰烧灭或窒息而死（但3:22）。王的命令紧急，要他们从速行事，并要确保万无一失；所以他们决意走到窑口，好把他们扔进窑的当中，但他们急于求成，竟不肯花时间穿戴相应的防护装备。《次经》中但以理书的增编说，火焰从窑口上升四十九肘。大概 神这样安排，使风把火直接猛烈地吹在他们身上，将他们熏死。 神就这样亲自为他受屈的仆人伸冤，并趁他们正在行恶时为他们向逼迫者报仇；他不但在他们犯罪的当下刑罚他们，更是藉着犯罪本身刑罚他们。然而这些人不过是残忍的工具；那吩咐他们行这事的人罪更大；但他们执行一道不义的命令也受刑罚，是公义的；而且他们大概行这事时心中喜悦，乐意担此差使，也很可能。至于尼布甲尼撒本人，则被留待日后更重的算账。将有一日，骄傲的暴君不但要为他们自己所行的残暴受刑罚，也要为他们在身边所雇佣行残暴之事、如此使人暴露在 神审判之下的人受刑罚。
II. 这三位 神忠心的仆人从窑中得救。当他们被捆绑扔进那吞灭人的火的当中时，我们大可断定他们已无下文，连他们的骨头也要化为灰烬；然而令我们惊异的是，我们在此看见沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌竟然还活着。
1. 尼布甲尼撒发现他们在火中游行。他惊奇，急忙起来（但3:24）。也许执行他判决的人被烧死，正是叫他惊奇的事——这也很合理，因为他有理由想到下一个轮到的就是他自己；或者是他自己心里有一种无法解释的印象叫他惊奇，使他急忙起来，走到窑前，要看他所扔进去的人如今怎样了。请注意， 神能使那些心向他并他百姓最为刚硬的人惊惶失措。造人灵魂的主，能使他的刀临近最大的暴君的灵魂。他在惊奇中召集谋士，向他们申诉。我们不是把三个人捆起来扔在火里么？ 看来这事不但是王下令，也是议会下令的。他们不敢不与他同心，而这同心是他强加给他们的，为要他们与他同担罪责与恶名？"王阿，是这样！" 他们说："我们确实下令执行这事，事也成了。" "但如今，" 王说，"我一直在看窑里，我看见有四个人并没有捆绑，在火中游行"（但3:25）。(1.) 他们已经从捆绑中得释放。那连衣服都烤不焦的火，竟烧断了捆绑他们的绳子，使他们得自由；这样， 神的百姓藉着仇敌原要用来辖制、困扰他们的同一患难，反而因 神的恩典心得宽广。(2.) 他们毫无损伤，不发怨言，毫不觉得疼痛或不安；火焰没有烤焦他们，烟气没有熏死他们；他们在火焰当中活着，且与先前一样康健。看哪，自然之主 神在喜悦之时能掌控自然之力，使之服事他的旨意。如今那句恩慈的应许便按字面应验了（赛43:2）：你从火中行过，必不被烧，火焰也不着在你身上。 他们因信灭了烈火的猛烈，灭了恶者火箭的猛烈。(3.) 他们在火中游行。窑甚大，使他们有游行的空间；他们未受伤，所以能游行；他们心里安舒，所以乐于游行，如同在乐园或愉快的园中一般。人若在火炭上走，脚岂能不烫呢？（箴6:28）。能；他们游行其中，其乐一如推罗王在火石中——就是他那闪烁如火的宝石中——走来走去（结28:14）。他们既未受伤，便没有挣扎着要出来；他们把自己交托给那在火中保护他们的 神，由他领他们出来，自己在火中安然走来走去。《次经》中有一卷书详记了他们三人之一亚撒利雅在火中所献的祷告（其中为以色列的灾祸与罪孽哀伤，并向 神为他百姓求恩），以及他们三人在火焰当中所唱的赞美之歌；二者都有出色的虔诚格调；然而我们有理由——与 Grotius 同——认为它们是较晚时代的犹太人所撰，并非当时所用，不过是设想当时可能如此用而已；所以我们理当拒绝它们，不视为圣正经卷的一部分。(4.) 在火中有第四位与他们同在，按尼布甲尼撒的判断，他的相貌好像神子；他显为一位属神的人，是从天上来的使者，不是仆人，乃是儿子。好像天使（有人如此解）；而天使也称为神的众子（伯38:7）。在《次经》对这事的记载中说：耶和华的使者下到窑中；尼布甲尼撒在此也说（但3:28）， 神差遣使者救护他们；但以理在狮坑中时，也是使者封了狮子的口（但6:22）。但有人认为这是 神永恒的儿子，是圣约的使者，不是受造的天使。他在道成肉身之前，曾屡次以我们的样式显现；而如今这一次最为合时，也最恰当地表明并预示了他到时候要来到世上所肩负的大使命——为要拯救他的选民脱离火刑，他亲自来在火中与他们同行。请注意，凡为基督受苦的人，基督在他们的苦难中与他们恩惠的同在，就是在火窑中，就是在死荫的幽谷里，也是如此；所以就在那里他们也不怕遭害。基督借此表明：凡向他百姓所作的，他都算为向他作的；凡把他们扔进窑中的，实际上就是把他扔进窑中。我就是你所逼迫的耶稣（赛63:9）。
2. 尼布甲尼撒把他们从窑中叫出来（但3:26）：他就近烈火窑门，吩咐他们出来，上这里来。出来，来（有人如此译）；他满有温柔与关切地说话，并预备好要伸手拉他们出来。他既因他们神奇地保全而确信自己把他们扔进窑中是行了恶；所以他不肯暗暗地赶他们出去；不，他必要亲自来把他们领出来（徒16:37）。请看他给他们的尊重称谓。他在怒火与狂怒的炽热中原可能称他们为叛徒、奸贼，以及他所能想到的一切恶名；但如今他承认他们是至高 神的仆人——这位 神如今显为能救他们脱离他手的 神。请注意， 神迟早要使最骄傲的人确信他是至高的 神，超过他们，并且他们所骄傲僭妄行事的事上他也胜过他们（出18:11）。他也要使人知道谁是他的仆人，知道他承认他们、必站在他们一边。以利亚曾祷告（王上18:36）：使人知道你是 神，又知道我是你的仆人。 尼布甲尼撒如今所拥抱的，正是他先前所抛弃的；他既看出他们是天所宠爱的，对他们便极其殷勤。请注意，逼迫者向 神的仆人所行的事，当 神开了他们的眼睛时，他们必须尽力予以撤销。至于那第四位——其相貌好像神子的——他是怎样退去的，是忽然不见，还是明明地升上去，我们并未被告知；但其余三位我们则被告知：(1.) 他们从火中出来了，正如他们的祖宗亚伯拉罕从迦勒底的吾珥（即火）出来一样；按犹太人的这一传说，亚伯拉罕因不肯拜偶像被扔进火中，却蒙了拯救，正如他的这三个孩子所蒙的拯救一样。他们既得了释放，便不再长久留在里面试探 神，而是如同从火中抽出来的柴一样出来了。(2.) 他们毫未受火的损伤，这一点向一切惊异的观众完全显明出来（但3:27）。众大臣都聚集来观看他们，发现他们连一根头发也没有烤焦。在此我们救主对受苦之仆人所赐的保证——他们必不至受真正的损伤——便按字面应验了（路21:18）：就是你们的一根头发，也必不损坏。 他们的衣服连颜色也没有变，也没有火燎的气味，更不用说他们的身体被烤焦起泡了；不，火无力伤他们。迦勒底人敬拜火，把它视为太阳的一种像；所以如今 神既拘束了火，便不仅把藐视加在他们的王身上，也加在他们的神身上，并显明他的声音不仅能分开洪水，也能分火焰为两半（诗29:7）——当他喜悦为他的百姓在其中开路之时。惟独我们的 神是吞灭的火（来12:29）；别的火，只要他一出言，就不吞灭。
英文原文
The Three Hebrews in the Furnace; Deliverance from the Furnace (587 BC)
¹⁹ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
²⁰ And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
²² Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
²⁵ He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
²⁷ And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
In these verses we have,
I. The casting of these three faithful servants of God into the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar had himself known and owned so much of the true God that, one would have thought, though his pride and vanity induced him to make this golden image, and set it up to be worshipped, yet what these young men now said (whom he had formerly found to be wiser than all his wise men) would revive his convictions, and at least engage him to excuse them; but it proved quite otherwise. 1. Instead of being convinced by what they said, he was exasperated, and made more outrageous, Da 3:19. It made him full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against these men. Note, Brutish passions the more they are indulged the more violent they grow, and even change the countenance, to the great reproach of the wisdom and reason of a man. Nebuchadnezzar, in this heat, exchanged the awful majesty of a prince upon his throne, or a judge upon the bench, for the frightful fury of a wild bull in a net. Would men in a passion but view their faces in a glass, they would blush at their own folly and turn all their displeasure against themselves. 2. Instead of mitigating their punishment, in consideration of their quality and the posts of honour they were in, he ordered it to be heightened, that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated for other malefactors, that is, that they should put seven times more fuel to it, which, though it would not make their death more grievous, but rather dispatch them sooner, was designed to signify that the king looked upon their crime as seven times more heinous than the crimes of others, and so made their death more ignominious. But God brought glory to himself out of this foolish instance of the tyrant's rage; for, though it would not have made their death the more grievous, yet it did make their deliverance much the more illustrious. 3. He ordered them to be bound in their clothes, and cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace, which was done accordingly, Da 3:20,21. They were bound, that they might not struggle, or make any resistance, were bound in their clothes, for haste, or that they might be consumed the more slowly and gradually. But God's providence ordered it for the increase of the miracle, in that their clothes were not so much as singed. They were bound in their coats or mantles, their hosen or breeches, and their hats or turbans, as if, in detestation of their crime, they would have their clothes to be burnt with them. What a terrible death was this—to be cast bound into the midst of a burning fiery furnace! Da 3:23. It makes one's flesh tremble to think of it, and horror to take hold on one. It is amazing that the tyrant was so hard-hearted as to inflict such a punishment, and that the confessors were so stout-hearted as to submit to it rather than sin against God. But what is this to the second death, to that furnace into which the tares shall be cast in bundles, to that lake which burns eternally with fire and brimstone? Let Nebuchadnezzar heat his furnace as hot as he can, a few minutes will finish the torment of those who are cast into it; but hell-fire tortures and does not kill. The pain of damned sinners is more exquisite, and the smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever, and those have no rest, no intermission, no cessation of their pains, who have worshipped the beast and his image (Re 14:10,11), whereas their pain would be soon over that were cast into this furnace for not worshipping this Babylonian beast and his image. 4. It was a remarkable providence that the men, the mighty men, that bound them, and threw them into the furnace, were themselves consumed or suffocated by the flame, Da 3:22. The king's commandment was urgent, that they should dispatch them quickly, and be sure to do it effectually; and therefore they resolved to go to the very mouth of the furnace, that they might throw them into the midst of it, but they were in such haste that they would not take time to arm themselves accordingly. The apocryphal additions to Daniel say that the flame ascended forty-nine cubits above the mouth of the furnace. Probably God ordered it so that the wind blew it directly upon them with such violence that it smothered them. God did thus immediately plead the cause of his injured servants, and take vengeance for them on their persecutors, whom he punished, not only in the very act of their sin, but by it. But these men were only the instruments of cruelty; he that bade them do it had the greater sin; yet they suffered justly for executing an unjust decree, and it is very probable that they did it with pleasure and were glad to be so employed. Nebuchadnezzar himself was reserved for a further reckoning. There is a day coming when proud tyrants will be punished, not only for the cruelties they have been guilty of, but for employing those about them in their cruelties, and so exposing them to the judgments of God.
II. The deliverance of these three faithful servants of God out of the furnace. When they were cast bound into the midst of that devouring fire we might well conclude that we should hear no more of them, that their very bones would be calcined; but, to our amazement, we here find that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are yet alive.
1. Nebuchadnezzar finds them walking in the fire. He was astonished, and rose up in haste, Da 3:24. Perhaps the slaying of the men that executed his sentence was that which astonished him, as well it might, for he had reason to think his own turn would be next; or it was some unaccountable impression upon his own mind that astonished him, and made him rise up in haste, and go to the furnace, to see what had become of those he had cast into it. Note, God can strike those with astonishment whose hearts are most hardened both against him and against his people. He that made the soul can make his sword to approach to it, even to that of the greatest tyrant. In his astonishment he calls his counsellors about him, and appeals to them. Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? It seems, it was done by order, not only of the king, but of the council. They durst not but concur with him, which he forced them to do, that they might share with him in the guilt and odium? "True, O king!" say they; "we did order such an execution to be done and it was done." "But now," says the king, "I have been looking into the furnace, and I see four men, loose, walking in the midst of the fire," Da 3:25. (1.) They were loosed from their bonds. The fire that did not so much as singe their clothes burnt the cords wherewith they were bound, and set them at liberty; thus God's people have their hearts enlarged, through the grace of God, by those very troubles with which their enemies designed to straiten and hamper them. (2.) They had no hurt, made no complaint, felt no pain or uneasiness in the least; the flame did not scorch them; the smoke did not stifle them; they were alive and as well as ever in the midst of the flames. See how God of nature can, when he pleases, control the powers of nature, to make them serve his purposes. Now was fulfilled in the letter gracious promise (Isa 43:2), When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. By faith they quench the violence of the fire, quench the fiery darts of the wicked. (3.) They walked in the midst of the fire. The furnace was large, so that they had room to walk; they were unhurt, so that they were able to walk; their minds were easy, so that they were disposed to walk, as in a paradise or garden of pleasure. Can a man walk upon hot coals and his feet not be burnt? Pr 6:28. Yes, they did it with as much pleasure as the king of Tyrus walked up and down in the midst of his stones of fire, his precious stones that sparkled as fire, Eze 28:14. They were not striving to get out, finding themselves unhurt; but, leaving it to that God who preserved them in the fire to bring them out of it, they walked up and down in the midst of it unconcerned. One of the apocryphal writings relates at large the prayer which Azariah, one of the three, prayed in the fire (wherein he laments the calamities and iniquities of Israel, and entreats God's favour to his people), and the song of praise which they all three sang in the midst of the flames, in both which there are remarkable strains of devotion; but we have reason to think, with Grotius, that they were composed by some Jew of a later age, not as what were used, but only as what might have been used, on this occasion, and therefore we justly reject them as no part of holy writ. (4.) There was a fourth seen with them in the fire, whose form, in Nebuchadnezzar's judgment, was like the Son of God; he appeared as a divine person, a messenger from heaven, not as a servant, but as a son. Like an angel (so some); and angels are called sons of God, Job 38:7. In the apocryphal narrative of this story it is said, The angel of the Lord came down into the furnace; and Nebuchadnezzar here says (Da 3:28), God sent his angel and delivered them; and it was an angel that shut the lions' mouths when Daniel was in the den, Da 6:22. But some think it was the eternal Son of God, the angel of the covenant, and not a created angel. He appeared often in our nature before he assumed it in his incarnation, and never more seasonable, nor to give a more proper indication and presage of his great errand into the world in the fulness of time, than now, when, to deliver his chosen out of the fire, he came and walked with them in the fire. Note, Those that suffer for Christ have his gracious presence with them in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and therefore even there they need fear no evil. Hereby Christ showed that what is done against his people he takes as done against himself; whoever throws them into the furnace does, in effect, throw him in. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest, Isa 63:9.
2. Nebuchadnezzar calls them out of the furnace (Da 3:26): He comes near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and bids them come forth and come hither. Come forth, come (so some read it); he speaks with a great deal of tenderness and concern, and stands ready to lend them his hand and help them out. He is convinced by their miraculous preservation that he did evil in casting them into the furnace; and therefore he does not thrust them out privily; no verily, but he will come himself and fetch them out, Ac 16:37. Observe the respectful title that he gives them. When he was in the heat of his fury and rage against them it is probable that he called them rebels, and traitors, and all the ill names he could invent; but now he owns them for the servants of the most high God, a God who now appears able to deliver them out of his hand. Note, Sooner or later, God will convince the proudest of men that he is the most high God, and above them, and too hard for them, even in those things wherein they deal proudly and presumptuously, Ex 18:11. He will likewise let them know are who his servants, and that he owns them and will stand by them. Elijah prayed (1Ki 18:36), Let it be known that thou art God and that I am thy servant. Nebuchadnezzar now embraces those whom he had abandoned, and is very officious about them, now that he perceives them to be the favourites of Heaven. Note, What persecutors have done against God's servants, when God opens their eyes, they must as far as they can undo again. How the fourth, whose form was like the Son of God, withdrew, and whether he vanished away or visibly ascended, we are not told, but of the other three we are informed, (1.) That they came forth out of the midst of the fire, as Abraham their father out of Ur (that is, the fire) of the Chaldees, into which, says this tradition of the Jews, he was cast, for refusing to worship idols, and out of which he was delivered, as those his three children were. When they had their discharge they did not tempt God by staying in any longer, but came forth as brands out of the burning. (2.) That it was made to appear, to the full satisfaction of all the amazed spectators, that they had not received the least damage by the fire, Da 3:27. All the great men came together to view them, and found that there was not so much as a hair of their head singed. Here that was true in the letter which our Saviour spoke figuratively, for an assurance to his suffering servants that they should sustain no real damage (Lu 21:18), There shall not a hair of your head perish. Their clothes did not so much as change colour, nor smell of fire, much less were their bodies in the least scorched or blistered; no, the fire had no power on them. The Chaldeans worshipped the fire, as a sort of image of the sun, so that, in restraining the fire now, God put contempt, not only upon their king, but upon their god too, and showed that his voice divides the flames of fire as well as the floods of water (Ps 29:7), when he pleases to make a way for his people through the midst of it. It is our God only that is the consuming fire (Heb 12:29); other fire, if he but speak the word, shall not consume.
28-30
Nebuchadnezzar Gives Glory to God; Nebuchadnezzar Honours God (587 BC)
尼布甲尼撒归荣耀给神；尼布甲尼撒尊荣神（公元前587年）
²⁸ 于是尼布甲尼撒说：沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神是应当称颂的！他差遣使者救护倚靠他的仆人，他们不遵王命，舍去己身，在他们神以外不肯事奉敬拜别神。
²⁹ 现在我降旨，无论何方、何国、何族的人，凡谤讟沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌之神的，必被凌迟，他的房屋必成为粪堆，因为没有别神能这样施行拯救。
³⁰ 那时王在巴比伦省高升了沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌。
那些细密的察看——凭肉身查看——由众王子、总督以及在这公开场合出席的一切大人物（他们不能被假定为偏袒认信者）所作的，大大有助于澄清这神迹，并彰显其中神的大能与恩典。他们诚然行了一件明显的神迹，这是显明的，我们不能否认（Ac 4:16）。现在让我们看看这事在尼布甲尼撒身上产生了什么效果。
I. 他归荣耀给以色列的神，认他是能又愿意保护敬拜他者的神（Da 3:28）："*沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神是应当称颂的。*愿他因他的臣民对他所存的忠心以及他赐给他们的有力保护而得荣耀——这两样是任何别的国家与其神祇所不能比拟的。"王自己也承认他、敬拜他，并认为他理当被众人承认和敬拜。沙得拉的神是应当称颂的。注意：神甚至能从那些曾当面咒骂他的人身上，榨出对他当受称颂的承认。1. 他把神的大能之荣耀归给他，承认他能保护敬拜他的人，抵御最强大、最恶毒的仇敌：没有别神能这样施行拯救（Da 3:29）——他所立的金像也不能。因此没有别的神像以色列的神那样要求敬拜者单单依附他、宁死也不拜别神，因为别的神不能像他那样保证扶持他们到底。神既能行别人所不能行的拯救，他便可以要求别人所不能要求的顺服。2. 他把神的良善之荣耀归给他，承认他随时准备这样行（Da 3:28）：他差遣使者救护他的仆人。彼勒（Bel）不能救他的敬拜者免于在火炉口被焚，但以色列的神却救了他的仆人免于被焚——他们被扔进火炉中央，是因为他们拒绝敬拜任何别的神。借此，尼布甲尼撒清楚地被告知：他过去和将来对以色列人所取得的一切大成功（他以此夸口，仿佛在其中胜过了以色列的神），完全归因于他们的罪：如果那国的百姓整体上像这三人一样，忠心持守自己的神、单单敬拜他，他们全都早已脱离他的手了……
II. 他称赞这三个人的信仰坚定，并为表示对他们的尊敬而加以描述（Da 3:28）。虽然他自己没有被说服以他们的神为他的神来敬拜，因为他知道若如此行，就必须单单敬拜他、弃绝一切别的神；他称他为沙得拉的神，而不是我的神；但他仍称赞他们紧紧依附他，不事奉敬拜别的神，只事奉他们自己的神。注意：有许多人自己并不敬虔，却愿意承认那些敬虔并且信仰坚定的人显然是对的。他们虽然自己未被说服接受，却称赞那些已经接受而坚守的人。人若已将自己归于那独一被事奉的神的名下，就让他们持守原则，无论付何代价，都当单单事奉他。在真信仰上这样的坚定，必为人带来称赞——甚至在教外之人中也是如此；而动摇、背叛、两面三刀，则人人都引以为耻。他称赞他们：1. 他们轻看性命，慷慨赴义，将神的喜悦和良心的见证看得比性命更宝贵。他们舍去自己的身体，被扔进烈火的窑中，不愿不仅不离开他们的神，甚至连一次将唯独当归给神的敬拜归给别神、以此来冒犯他也不肯。注意：那些将灵魂看得比身体更要紧、宁肯丧命也不肯离开他们神的人，必得称赞——若不得人的称赞，便得神的称赞。凡以为信仰不值得为之受苦的人，就不知道信仰的价值。2. 他们对君王作了荣耀的对抗：他们不遵王命，即与此相反，并借此轻看了王的命令和威胁，使王后悔，撤销了这两者。注意：就是君王自己也得承认，当他们的命令与……
III. 他颁布王命，严严禁止任何人谤讟以色列的神（Da 3:29）。我们有理由认为，以色列的罪和患难虽未提供正当理由，却给了迦勒底人大有亵渎以色列之神的借口，可能尼布甲尼撒自己也曾助长此事；但如今，他虽不是真归正，也未被感动去敬拜他，却决意再也不说他的坏话，也不允许别人如此："无论何人说错话，任何谬误（有人如此解），或更恰当的，任何辱骂或亵渎，无论何人以轻蔑之口论沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神，他们必被视为最恶劣的罪犯，依此处置——他们必被凌迟，正如亚玛力（Agag）被撒母耳的刀所分割一样；他们的房屋必被拆毁，成为粪堆。"如今这位神以大能保卫他的敬拜者而在巴比伦万民眼前当众所行的神迹，已充分证明此令正当。此令也必大大减轻被掳中犹太人的苦楚，使他们因这律法而得免于辱骂和亵渎之火箭的攻击——否则他们必不断受其骚扰。注意：当教会的仇敌虽未心转，却被塞口绑舌，这对教会是一大怜悯，是一大胜利。异教君王尚且这样约束亵渎者骄傲的嘴唇，基督徒君王更当如此；不，在此事上，人应当作自己的律法；那些对神之爱如此淡薄，以致不肯为他美言的人，却在心中永远找不到——我们确知他们也永远找不到因由——去谤讟他的理由。
IV. 他不仅撤销了这三人被定罪的判决，还恢复了他们在政府中的职位（"使他们亨通"——原文如此），并将他们提拔到比以前更大、更有利的要职：他在巴比伦省高升了他们，这大大尊荣了他们，也安慰了在那里被掳的弟兄。注意：君王的智慧在于提拔和任用信仰坚定的人；因为对神忠心的人最有可能对人忠心；当神所喜悦的人也成了君王所喜悦的人时，国家往往就能安定。
英文原文
Nebuchadnezzar Gives Glory to God; Nebuchadnezzar Honours God (587 BC)
²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
²⁹ Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
The strict observations that were made, super visum corporis—on inspecting their bodies, by the princes and governors, and all the great men who were present upon this public occasion, and who could not be supposed partial in favour of the confessors, contributed much to the clearing of this miracle and the magnifying of the power and grace of God in it. That indeed a notable miracle has been done is manifest, and we cannot deny it, Ac 4:16. Let us now see what effect it had upon Nebuchadnezzar.
I. He gives glory to the God of Israel as a God able and ready to protect his worshippers (Da 3:28): "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Let him have the honour both of the faithful allegiance which his subjects bear to him and the powerful protection he grants to them, neither of which can be paralleled by any other nation and their gods." The king does himself acknowledge and adore him, and thinks it is fit that he should be acknowledged and adored by all. Blessed be thee God of Shadrach. Note, God can extort confessions of his blessedness even from those that have been ready to curse him to his face. 1. He gives him the glory of his power, that he was able to protect his worshippers against the most mighty and malign ant enemies: There is no other God that can deliver after this sort (Da 3:29), no, not this golden image which he had set up. For this reason there was no other god that obliged his worshippers to cleave to him only, and to suffer death rather than worship any other, as the God of Israel did, for they could not engage to bear them out in so doing, as he could. If God can work such deliverance as no other can, he may demand such obedience as no other may. 2. He gives him the glory of his goodness, that he was ready to do it (Da 3:28): He has sent his angel and delivered his servants. Bel could not save his worshippers from being burnt at the mouth of the furnace, but the God of Israel saved his from being burnt when they were cast into the midst of the furnace because they refused to worship any other god. By this Nebuchadnezzar was plainly given to understand that all the great success which he had had, and should yet have, against the people of Israel, which he gloried in, as he had therein overpowered the God of Israel, was owing purely to their sin: if the body of that nation had faithfully adhered to their own God and the worship of him only, as these three men did, they would all have been delivered out of his hand as these three men were. And this was a necessary instruction for him at this time.
II. He applauds the constancy of these three men in their religion, and describes it to their honour, Da 3:28. Though he is not himself persuaded to own their God for his and to worship him, because, if he do so, he knows he must worship him only and renounce all others, and he calls him the God of Shadrach, not my God, yet he commends them for cleaving to him, and not serving nor worshipping any other God but their own. Note, There are many who are not religious themselves, and yet will own that those are clearly in the right that are religious and are stedfast in their religion. Though they are not themselves persuaded to close with it, they will commend those who, having closed with it, cleave to it. If men have given up their names to that God who will alone be served, let them keep to their principles, and serve him only, whatever it cost them. Such a constancy in the true religion will turn to men's praise, even among those that are without, when unsteadiness, treachery, and double dealing, are what all men will cry shame on. He commends them that they did this, 1. With a generous contempt of their lives, which they valued not, in comparison with the favour of God and the testimony of a good conscience. They yielded their own bodies to be cast into the fiery furnace rather than they would not only not forsake their God, but not affront him, by once paying that homage to any other which is due to him alone. Note, Those shall have their praise, if not of men, yet of God, who prefer their souls before their bodies, and will rather lose their lives than forsake their God. Those know not the worth and value of religion who do not think it worth suffering for. 2. They did it with a glorious contradiction to their prince: They changed the king's word, that is, they were contrary to it, and thereby put contempt upon both his precepts and threatenings, and made him repent and revoke both. Note, Even kings themselves must own that, when their commands are contrary to the commands of God, he is to be obeyed and not they. (3.) They did it with a gracious confidence in their God. They trusted in him that he would stand by them in what they did, that he would either bring them out of the fiery furnace back to their place on earth or lead them through the fiery furnace forward to their place in heaven; and in this confidence they became fearless of the king's wrath and regardless of their own lives. Note, A stedfast faith in God will produce a stedfast faithfulness to God. Now this honourable testimony, thus publicly borne by the king himself to these servants of God, we may well think, would have a good influence upon the rest of the Jews that were, or should be, captives in Babylon. Their neighbours could not with any confidence urge them to do that, nor could they for shame do that, which their brethren were so highly applauded by the king himself for not doing. Nay, and what God did for these his servants would help not only to keep the Jews close to their religion while they were in captivity, but to cure them of their inclination to idolatry, for which end they were sent into captivity; and, when it had had that blessed effect upon them, they might be assured that God would deliver them out of that furnace, as now he delivered their brethren out of this.
III. He issues a royal edict, strictly forbidding any to speak evil of the God of Israel, Da 3:29. We have reason to think that both the sins and the troubles of Israel had given great occasion, though no just occasion, to the Chaldeans to blaspheme the God of Israel, and, it is likely, Nebuchadnezzar himself had encouraged it; but now, though he is no true convert, nor is wrought upon to worship him, yet he resolves never to speak ill of him again, nor to suffer others to do so: "Whoever shall speak any thing amiss, any error (so some), or rather any reproach or blasphemy, whoever shall speak with contempt of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they shall be counted the worst of malefactors, and dealt with accordingly, they shall be cut in pieces, as Agag was by the sword of Samuel, and their houses shall be demolished and made a dunghill." The miracle now wrought by the power of this God in defence of his worshippers, publicly in the sight of the thousands of Babylon, was a sufficient justification of this edict. And it would contribute much to the ease of the Jews in their captivity to be by this law screened from the fiery darts of reproach and blasphemy, with which otherwise they would have been continually annoyed. Note, It is a great mercy to the church, and a good point gained, when its enemies though they have not their hearts turned, yet have their mouths stopped and their tongues tied. If a heathen prince laid such a restraint upon the proud lips of blasphemers, much more should Christian princes do it; nay, in this thing, one would think that men should be a law to themselves, and that those who have so little love to God that they care not to speak well of him, yet could never find in their hearts, for we are sure they could never find cause, to speak any thing amiss of him.
IV. He not only reverses the attainder of these three men, but restores them to their places in the government (makes them to prosper, so the word is), and prefers them to greater and more advantageous trusts than they had been in before: He promoted them in the province of Babylon, which was much to their honour and the comfort of their brethren in captivity there. Note, It is the wisdom of princes to prefer and employ men of stedfastness in religion; for those are most likely to be faithful to them who are faithful to God, and it is likely to be well with them when God's favourites are made theirs.
在前章末了,我们看见但以理的同伴沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌在尊荣和权柄之中,作各省的省长,因他们与以色列神的关系,以及在他里面的利益而得高升。我不知是否当说——愿这尊荣为众圣徒所有。不,有许多人并不宜如此;圣徒的尊荣是为另一个世界所保留的。但这里我们看到那同样的三个人,落在了王的不悦之下,如同他们从前在他的恩宠之中一样;然而他们的神在此比他们在那里受其君王所尊荣时,更真实、更高超地尊荣了他们——既借他所赐那使他们宁愿受苦而不犯罪的恩典,也借他为他们从苦难中施行那奇妙而荣耀的拯救。这是一个极其可记念的故事,是神大能良善的荣耀实例,也是在试炼之时坚固他百姓恒心的大鼓励。使徒在论及信心的英雄时,提到那些因信灭烈火的猛势的人(来11:34),正是指着这事。本章内容如下:I. 尼布甲尼撒设立并献一座金像,并命令他一切臣民——无论何等阶级身分——都俯伏敬拜它,以及他的百姓普遍顺从这命令,但3:1-7。II. 有人因犹太的省长们不肯拜这金像而控告他们,但3:8-12。III. 尽管王发怒威吓,他们仍坚定地持续拒绝,但3:13-18。IV. 他们因拒绝被扔入烈火的窑中,但3:19-23。V. 他们借神的大能在火中奇妙地蒙保守,以及王因这神迹看出自己把他们投入火中的错误,而施恩将他们从火中召出,但3:24-27。VI. 王因此向神所给的尊荣,以及他向那些忠信之人所施的恩惠,但3:28-30。