Many, many years later, Israel was defeated by Babylon. Many Israelites were taken captive and marched off to Babylon.
The king of Babylon's workers had built a giant golden statue. And the king made a law commanding everyone to bow down and worship the statue whenever they heard the king's special music.
But Shadrack, Meshech, and Abednego were Israelites. They refused to worship the statue. They would only worship the one true God.
So the king ordered that these young men be thrown into a huge fiery furnace. But first he said, "Make the fire seven times hotter than usual!"
The king watched as they were thrown into the furnace. "Weren't only three men thrown into the fire?" asked the king. His servants agreed. "But I see four men," he said, "and one of them looks like a god!" The king approached the furnace. "Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego!" he yelled, "servants of the Most High God, come out!"
And so the three came out. Nothing on them was burnt, and they didn't even smell of smoke.
"Your God is great!" cried the king. "He sent His angel to rescue you. From now on, no one will be allowed to say anything bad about your God."
