I have a question that you might answer, about Daniel in the furnace. The Bible says that the furnace was very hot and killed the guards that took the guys up there to the furnace. Yet when King Nebuch went up to see the guys walking around in the furnace he seemed to be OK. How come? Why didn't he get fried? -- Andrew
Before answering the question--and I do not mean to be petty--Daniel was not the one in the fiery furnace. Daniel 3 shows his three friends were the ones thrown into the fire. (In a similar ordeal, with equally infinitesimal chances of escape, Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but that wasn't until chapter 6.)
The simple answer is that this was a miracle. If you look at Daniel 3, verse 25, you will see that an angel, or some other divine being, was actually in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, apparently assisting them. So if you're asking for a "scientific" explanation, none is required. The Bible clearly presents this rescue as divine and miraculous. As the scripture says, their clothes were not even scorched, and "there was no smell of fire on them" (v.27).
For God, preventing the King from dying would have been a minor matter. But do we need to struggle with this question in the first place? If you are wondering how King Nebuchadnezzar was able to stand close enough to the furnace to see the men walking around inside it without himself being burned to a crisp, the Bible never says he was that close to the fire. He observed the whole scene, apparently sitting on a regal throne or chair, then leapt to his feet (3:24) once he noticed, from his sitting position, the presence of the fourth being in the flames. So at no time was Nebuchadnezzar close enough to the furnace to suffer personal bodily harm himself.
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