3:24-25 As Nebuchadnezzar watched what was happening inside the furnace, he marveled to see that the three Jews did not perish in an instant. Rising from his seat he saw them loosed from their bonds and walking around inside the furnace. What startled him even more was the presence of a fourth person with them. The fourth person had an unusual appearance, like "a son of gods"(lit.). The king probably meant that this fourth person appeared to be super-human or divine from his viewpoint as a pagan polytheist. Evidently the fourth person was either an angel or the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ (cf. Gen. 16:13; et al.). He was with them in their affliction and protected them from harm in it (cf. Exod. 3:12; Ps. 23:4-5; Isa. 7:14; 43:1-3; Matt. 28:20). He did not deliver them fromthe fire but init (cf. Rom. 8:37).
3:26-27 Nebuchadnezzar then drew as close to the large door of the furnace as he could. It stood open to provide a view inside. He called to the three victims to come out of the furnace, and they responded obediently this time. The fourth person disappeared as he had appeared. The king described Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as servants of the Most High God (v. 26).126With this title the king ascribed greater power to their God than to any other. He had obviously delivered them as they said He could (v. 17), and the leaders of the Babylonian Empire had witnessed the miracle. The three Jews had escaped every form of destruction, even the smell of smoke. The ropes that bound them, symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar's power over them, were gone, undoubtedly burned up by the fire.
"Just as the reign of Nebuchadnezzar is symbolic of the entire period of the times of the Gentiles, so the deliverance of Daniel's three companions is typical of the deliverance of Israel during the period of Gentile domination. Particularly at the end of the Gentile period Israel will be in fiery affliction, but as Isaiah prophesied, But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee' (Is 43:1-2)."127
The three Hebrew young men quenched the fury of flames with their faith in their faithful God (Heb. 11:34; cf. 1 Macc. 2:59).
