God’s Word for You

Daniel 3:21 Wearing their robes

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, September 27, 2025

21 Then these men, wearing their robes, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, were bound and thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

I admit that one of two things is happening here, and I’m not positive which one it is.

First, the soldiers might have acted in haste. For fear of his fury, the men just threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire. Remember that the king had specially chosen these men as the mightiest of his mighty men, so they were probably not at all used to this kind of work, nor did they have any experience or training in this sort of execution. The usual detachment would have waited until the flames were at their hottest, but these men just up and tossed the young Jews into the fire, clothes and all, without waiting. Here we see one of many problems when tyrants fly into a rage. What the king wanted was for these men to be bound and probably stripped, and for there to have been time for the furnace to have reached the greater heat which he had commanded.

Second, it’s equally possible that the soldiers acted out of malice. In this case, the men threw Shadrach and his companions into the fire fully clothed because there would have been more material to burn, and the fire would have hurt them more before they succumbed to the heat and flames in death.

The clothing is all described with Persian words, and they are not all certain for the translator. Some have suggested “pants” for the second item which I have given as “tunics,” but this seems to be a confusion with a similar word. The general impression is that they were still fully dressed “from head to toe.”

Either way, in haste or in malice, we have this image of the righteous being thrown or pushed to their punishing deaths while still wearing their robes.

The natural impulse here could be to draw a comparison between their physical garments and our spiritual one, that is, the robe of Christ’s righteousness that we wear on account of his grace and mercy. But this is not a Psalm, nor a vision or dream, nor is it a parable, and so comparisons like that are not the intention of the Holy Spirit. This is a true historical event.

Therefore we must fall back on my two possible reasons for the way that the soldiers threw them to their punishment, and apply this to our own lives using law and gospel, to see the truth.

Whether in haste or out of malice, these soldiers were carrying out orders to destroy these men of God. They did so out of ignorance, not personally knowing anything about the gospel or the God that these men believed in, but carrying out the orders of their king. Therefore we can pray with our Savior, “Father forgive them,” when we are persecuted by those who might only be following orders, or even by those who have flown into a rage and to act with malice and hatred of Christ. For it is not our role to judge them. Jesus teaches us: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). To suffer for the sake of Jesus is simply to be the fulfillment of his promise: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

So if we are persecuted in some troubling way, perhaps less severe than being bound and thrown into a flaming fiery furnace, we know that God’s love and forgiveness is with us. Even if such a persecution means the end of our physical lives on earth, it also means the beginning of our eternal lives in heaven. Therefore rejoice, and ask God for strength in bearing up to the pain, perhaps the fear, or even to put to rest any doubts we might have. For we know that Jesus is our Savior, and we have a place with him forever in heaven.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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