About

I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar II erected a statue of himself (or possibly of the Babylonian god of wisdom, Nabu[4]) and made a decree which commanded all to fall and worship the monument when the instruments played. The consequence for not worshiping during the music was death by burning in the city furnace. During the dedication festival as the music played certain officials noticed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bowing down to the idol and alerted Nebuchadnezzar.
Enraged, the king questioned the three. He provided one more chance for them to bow to the image and they refused. They cited their reason to refuse as,
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." [5] Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than average and had the three tossed into it. According to verse 22, it was so hot that it killed the soldiers who threw the three into the furnace. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counselors, 'Didn’t we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' They answered the king, 'True, O king.' 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. .'"[6] Nebuchadnezzar then ordered the three men to come out of the furnace, addressing them as 'servants of the Most High God.' [7] When they came out the next verses say that "the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them".[8]