King Nebuchadnezzar was so upset with these three men that he had them thrown in the furnace?
He was upset that they would not follow the law of worshiping the false god. What was the false god? It was some type of a golden statue, but in reality, it was the selfishness of the world. They refused to give into their senses and eat what they were forbidden to eat as Jews. So, they fasted excessively, something we know is hard, because we want to be satisfied in the flesh, in our desires. The fire also represents the culture of death of this world.
The death this world offers comes from desires we give into, but also the pressure of fitting into this world by joining the behavior of those around us. We accept the sins of everyday life that people live, and not standing up to them.
We have watered down the 10 commandments significantly, making excuses for a sin, justifying why it was ok to do the sin, or reinterpreting the commandments to seem like we are following them.
These three men did not enter into anything accepted by the culture or the world, but instead stayed strong in living what God wanted from them. There were only a few Jews living among all these Persians, therefore they were pretty much alone.
Yet they stayed true to God’s ways not the world’s ways. As they were thrown into the fire, they were not harmed, and a spiritual figure appeared and protected them from being burned, consumed and dying.
We are in the fire of this world and the sinful ways of this world. How are we living? Are we getting burnt by participation in the flames, or are we protected from the flames because we are living as God asked no matter how hard?
If we are living like the world we will be burnt by the flames and die in the sins of the world. If we are living God’s ways no matter how hard, we will live through the sins of the world, among them, and not be touched by them. We will also be an inspiration to others to live this way.