He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose
Not bound as the three were, when cast in; but quite at liberty
in their hands and feet, and separate from one another. As this
fiery furnace may be an emblem of the fiery trials and afflictive
dispensations the children of God pass through in this world,
being not joyous, but grievous to the flesh, though useful to
purge and purify; so this and some other circumstances attending
these good men in the furnace are applicable to the saints in
such cases; for though afflictions are sometimes themselves
called cords, with which men are said to be bound, yet by means
of them they are loosed from other things from the power and
prevalence of sin over them; from the world, and the things of
it, they sometimes too much cleave and are glued unto; from a
spirit of bondage, and from doubts and fears; their hearts under
them being comforted and enlarged with the love of God; he
knowing, visiting, and choosing them in the furnace of
affliction; or making known himself to them, his love and choice
of them; whereby their souls are set at liberty, and the graces
of his Spirit are drawn forth into a lively exercise, through his
love being shed abroad in them. Walking in the midst of the
fire;
the furnace being large enough to walk in, and where they took
their walks as in a garden; nor were they concerned to come out
of it; nor uneasy at being in it; the violence of the fire being
quenched, as the apostle says, referring to this instance, (
Hebrews
11:34 ) . Saadiah says, the angel Gabriel, who is over the
hail, came and cooled the fire of the furnace. So afflictions are
a path to walk in, the narrow way to eternal life, through which
all must enter the kingdom of heaven, of which there will be an
end. Walking in it supposes strength, which God gives his people
at such seasons; and when they have his presence they are
unconcerned; none or these things move them, nor can they
separate them from the love of Christ; they walk on with pleasure
and delight, sing the praises of God, as did Paul and Silas in a
prison, and as many martyrs have done in the flames: conversing
with Christ, and with his people, they pass on, and pass through
the more cheerfully, and are not anxious about their deliverance,
but leave it with God to work it in his own time and way; nay,
are ready to say with the disciples, it is good for them to be
here; and indeed it was better for these good men to be with
Christ in the fiery furnace, than to be with Nebuchadnezzar in
his palace without him. And they have no hurt;
either in their bodies, or in their garments, neither of them
being burnt; they suffered no pain in the one, nor loss in the
other. Afflictions do no hurt to the people of God; not to their
persons, which are safe in Christ, and to whom he is a hiding
place and covert, as from the storm and tempest, so from the
force of fire, that it shall not kindle upon them to hurt them;
nor to their graces, which are tried, refined, and brightened
hereby; faith is strengthened, hope is encouraged, and love made
to abound. All the afflictions of the saints are in love, and are
designed for good, and do work together for good to them that
love God; they are sometimes for their temporal, and often for
their spiritual good, and always work for them an exceeding
weight of glory. And the form of the fourth is like the Son
of God;
like one of the angels, who are called the sons of God; so
Jarchi, Saadiah, and Jacchiades; but many of the ancient
Christian writers interpret it of Christ the Son of God, whom
Nebuchadnezzar, though a Heathen prince, might have some
knowledge of from Daniel and other Jews in his court, of whom he
had heard them speak as a glorious Person; and this being such an
one, he might conclude it was he, or one like to him; and it is
highly probable it was he, since it was not unusual for him to
appear in a human form, and to be present with his people, as he
often is with them, and even in the furnace of affliction; see (
Isaiah 43:2 )
( 48:10
) , to sympathize with them; to revive and comfort them; to bear
them up and support them; to teach and instruct them, and at last
to deliver them out of their afflictions.
Daniel 3:25
