Daniel 3: The Image of Gold
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar had confessed faith in Yahweh. But then, at an indefinite time afterwards, he made an image of gold and commanded that it be worshipped. Some “think that Nebuchadnezzar erected his own statue, and intended to be adored under this form. But throughout the whole chapter, Nebuchadnezzar, in speaking to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, no where complains of injury done to his person, or statue; but only that the companions of Daniel do not worship his gods, nor the statue erected by his orders.” (Coke's Commentary)
According to the official Babylonian records, the king had averted several mutinies by those who knew of his new found humility and favoritism towards the Jewish religion. The participants included some of the wise men of Babylon. Perhaps, in order to counter his enemies, the king made an image entirely of gold. It is not explicit, but it appears to be the image of a man: "The 'height,' sixty cubits, is so out of proportion with the 'breadth,' exceeding it ten times, that it seems best to suppose the thickness from breast to back to be intended, which is exactly the right proportion of a well-formed man." [Augustine, The City of God]. But rather than representing himself, it might be a statement to his enemies about his kingdom. "The head of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream was also gold. ‘Daniel had told him that he was the head of gold (Daniel 2:38) but that he would be followed by 'another kingdom inferior to you' (Daniel 2:39) made of silver (Daniel 2:32). Rejecting now the idea that any kingdom could follow his own, he may have determined to show the permanence of his golden kingdom by having the entire image covered with gold.’ [Whitcomb]” (Constable's Notes)
If this analysis is correct, it exhibited in the king a lack of trust and acceptance of the boundaries that Yahweh's prophet had revealed. And perhaps, though Nebuchadnezzar had confessed Yahweh as "God of gods, the Lord of kings" (Daniel 2:47), he only regarded Him as the chiefest of the gods, at this point. If this is the case, in the context of mutinies, he might have desired not to appear to be "inclined to the Jews, or their religion, whereof the Chaldeans might be jealous, seeing he had owned their God to be greatest, and had preferred Daniel and his friends to great honours. Nebuchadnezzar assured his wise men and nobles that he would still maintain the old established religion, without innovation or mixture: so Mald, Menochius, Geierus…” (Poole)
So he needed to learn that faith is not a private matter. And the implications are that faith in Yahweh does not prevent us from being worshippers of idols, besides. In fact: "Ancient idolaters thought that each nation had its own gods, and that, in addition to these, foreign gods might be worshipped. The Jewish religion was the only exclusive one that claimed all homage for Jehovah as the only true God.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) If we are truly followers of Him, we are loving and patient, but we must not allow that all paths lead to the same place. Jesus— the Messiah of Israel— stands alone, as the only God and Redeemer of fallen humanity.
2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; 6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”
Thus, “…the heads of all that vast empire were summoned, of several nations and languages, to testify their conformity to the emperor’s will, and thereby give assurance of obliging the people under them to the same obedience, i.e. to the same idolatrous worship.
It was the manner of the heathen to consecrate their idol before they worshipped it, and herein, as in many other, Satan imitated the Jews, and their temple dedication, John 10:22: they held a feast. The popish church do the like, when they dedicate material temples to particular saints, with solemnity and jollity, from whence come the feasts of wakes and revels to this day.” (Poole's English Annotations) There is a coming time in end-time events when such homage will be demanded of us to an image setup by antichrist.
7 So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
“Pride and bigotry cause men to require their subjects to follow their religion, whether right or wrong, and when worldly interest allures, and punishment overawes, few refuse. This is easy to the careless, the sensual, and the infidel, who are the greatest number; and most will go their ways. There is nothing so bad which the careless world will not be drawn to by a concert of music, or driven to by a fiery furnace. By such methods, false worship has been set up and maintained.” (Matthew Henry) Let us be content with our old worship message of the atoning blood of Christ and the old hymns of the faith. Large crowds are not a sign of correctness.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. 9 They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Certain Chaldeans came forward, as planned, at the appointed time… “Many of the ‘old guard’ in Babylon hated those foreign newcomers who had been so signally honored by the king; and, moved by jealousy, they no doubt believed that they had achieved their purpose of getting rid of them by these accusations, which, of course, were true. ‘Jealousy is a despicable vice with envy and selfishness for its roots. Under pretense of loyalty to the king, they were chiefly anxious to rid themselves of formidable rivals.’ [Kennedy]” (Coffman Commentary)
And accused these faithful Jews. “That is, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. The other Jews were left unnoticed; and probably at this time Daniel was too high to be touched; but we may rest assured that he was not found among the idolaters...” (Clarke) “It seems that they named not Daniel, because he was greatly in the king's favour, thinking if these three had been destroyed, they might have had better occasion to accuse Daniel. And this declares that this policy of erecting this image was invented by the malicious flatterers who sought nothing but the destruction of the Jews, whom they accused of rebellion and ingratitude.” (Geneva Study Bible)
O king… They do not serve YOUR gods…. These were not religious men who approached the king. “Kings’ decrees are much urged by such as are resolved to be of King Harry’s religion, whether he stand for the old mumpsimus or the new sumpsimus. (Trapp Commentary)
“A mumpsimus is an action by a person who adheres to a routine, idea, custom, set of beliefs, or a certain use of language that has been shown to be unreasonable or incorrect. “ “A sumpsimus is a strictly correct expression or usage substituted for an old popular error.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
“Let us study the martyr-spirit as here revealed. (1) These men had attained to the condition in which conviction had passed beyond the reach of perturbation or question. The everlasting hills [of the earth] were not so firmly rooted as the belief in the God of heaven, and the essential blessedness of serving Him was rooted in these young hearts. They had so grasped the truth of the glorious power and steadfastness of the God of heaven, that it lifted them to a kindred firmness. (2) They were themselves of that temper, and had come to that strength and unity of character, that they could declare, ‘There are things which we cannot say; there are things which we cannot do, whatever be the cost; it is blankly impossible; here stand we; we can do no other; God help us.’ (3) There must abide in all martyr-spirits an unwavering faith in the omnipotent hand of God. ‘Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. His power to rule is clear to us as sunlight. He may choose to help us now, and signally deliver. He may choose to let us suffer [yea, die], but nothing can shake our belief in His power to save.” (J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon) Even if we die, Yahweh will save us from the second death.
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
"His furnace was hot, but he himself got hotter! And when a man gets full of fury, he gets full of folly. There is no fool on earth like a man who has lost his temper. And Nebuchadnezzar did a stupid thing. He ought to have cooled the furnace seven times less if he had wanted to hurt them; but instead of that in his fury he heated it seven times more." ( G. R. King)
“So the tyrant that martyred Laurence stamped and stared, ramped and fared as out of his wits, swelling like a toad, looking like a devil, &c. See on Daniel 3:17.” (Trapp’s Commentary) Rather Christians should remain calm with the quite assurance that the Lord will be glorified through them. We should reason with the precepts of the faith and thus support religious tolerance with these precepts as the rules: “1. Every man should be at liberty to worship God according to his own conscience and lights. 2. The law should protect every man in the enjoyment of this liberty, providing always that he does not interfere with the enjoyment of the same rights and liberties by others. My freedom of action is to be limited by the rights and liberties of others. The king had a perfect right to set up his image. But when he sought to compel others to do as he did he interfered with their liberties, which should have been the measure of his own. The law should protect us all alike in our religion, if we do not interfere with the rights of our neighbours. 3. No man should suffer civil disability because of his religious belief. 4. No man should have preference in civil matters because of his religious profession.” (C. Leach, D.D.)
20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
“To bind - What did he think these three men would have refused? Or that their God would defend them from his power, or that if he had, his mighty men could have prevailed? None of all this was the case; for God purposed to shew his power when the king did his worst, and in the thing wherein he dealt proudly, to be above him.” (Wesley Notes)
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
“Observe: 1. The completeness of this deliverance: ‘Nor was an hair of their head singed’ (v. 27). So God always saves--it is complete, or not at all. 2. They were thrown into the furnace ‘bound,’ but soon they walked through the flames ‘loose’ (v. 24, 25). O how Satan has tried to bind us in our afflictions, but in the greatest sorrow--when the furnace has been heated ‘seven times,’ we have had both freedom and joy. ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed’ (John 8:36).” (Alfred W. Moment) Yes, the fourth Man “was so bright and glorious that even the heathen eyes of Nebuchadnezzar could discern a supernatural lustre about Him. ‘The fourth,’ he said, ‘is like the Son of God,’ What appearance Christ had put on I cannot tell, which was recognisable by that heathen monarch; but I suppose that He appeared in a degree of that glory in which He showed Himself to His servant John in the Apocalypse. You must go into the furnace if you would have the nearest and dearest dealings with Christ Jesus. Whenever the Lord appears, it is to His people when they are in a militant posture. The richest thought that a Christian perhaps can live upon is this, that Christ is in the furnace with him. I know that to the worldling this seems a very poor comfort, but then if you have never drank this wine you cannot judge its flavor.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
“When Ridley was asked if he believed the pope was heir to the authority of Peter as the foundation of the Church, he replied that the church was not built on any man but on the truth Peter confessed -- that Christ was the Son of God. Ridley said he could not honor the pope in Rome since the papacy was seeking its own glory, not the glory of God. Neither Ridley nor Latimer could accept the Roman Catholic mass as a sacrifice of Christ. Latimer told the commissioners, ‘Christ made one oblation and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and that a perfect sacrifice; neither needeth there to be, nor can there be, any other propitiatory sacrifice.’ These opinions were deeply offensive to Roman Catholic theologians. Both Ridley and Latimer were burned at the stake in Oxford on this day, October 16, 1555. As he was being tied to the stake, Ridley prayed, ‘Oh, heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of England, and deliver it from all her enemies.’” http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/bishops-ridley-and-latimer-burned-11629990.html
This text “declares that the more that tyrants rage, and the more crafty they show themselves in inventing strange and cruel punishments, the more is God glorified by his servants, to whom he gives patience and constancy to abide the cruelty of their punishment. For either he delvers them from death, or else for this life gives them better.” (Geneva Study Bible)
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego… “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, QUENCHED THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34)
Who hath sent His angel and delivered his servants… “This proves that the king regarded this mysterious fourth personage as an angel, and that he used the phrase Daniel 3:25 ‘is like the son of God’…That an angel should be employed on an embassage of this kind, we have seen, is in accordance with the current statements of the Scriptures…. See also Luke 1:11-20, Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:20-21; Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:19-20; Matthew 4:11; Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:7-15; Genesis 32:1-2; 2 Kings 6:17; Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20; Exodus 33:2; Numbers 20:16; Joshua 5:13; Isaiah 63:9; Daniel 10:5-13, Daniel 10:20-21; Daniel 12:1.” (Barnes' Notes)
And yielded their bodies that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God… “They had not hesitated to surrender their whole existence into God’s hands, rather than worship any god but their own. (Pett’s Commentary) “Their conduct, and the Divine protection in consequence of their conduct, had had the effect wholly to change his purpose toward them. He had resolved to destroy them; he now resolved to honor them. This is referred to by the monarch himself as a remarkable result, as indeed it was…” (Barnes Notes)
29 “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar “was resolved to hold fast to the religion established, his own idols; nay, the great golden idol, which had been slurred and slighted by these three worthies, he would not take down and relinquish: this was the best quarter the true God could get among them, not to be spoken amiss of under great penalty; though he confessed no god else could deliver after that strange sort. Bel could not preserve his men out of the furnace, God preserves his servants in the furnace. All was one for that, Bel should be his god still.” (Poole) And still he practiced religious intolerance, threatening to cut to pieces anyone who is heard speaking a word against the Hebrew God. Religious freedom should be allowed as long as it does not encroach on the rights of others. If not, the gallows prepared for others will one day be used on us (cf. Esther 7:10). “And here we see that miracles are not sufficient to convert men to God, but that doctrine most chiefly be joined with them, without which there can be no faith.” (Geneva Study Bible)