Great Image of the King
Nebuchadnezzar implemented his dream by “setting up” a great golden image to glorify his majesty and sovereignty - Daniel 3:1-30.
The story the sequel to the dream and
interpretation recorded in chapter 2, which is borne out by the verbal and
conceptual links between the two stories, and by the omission of any
chronological reference at the start of chapter 3:
- (Daniel 3:1-2) – “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height thereof sixty cubits, the breadth thereof six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the nobles and the pashas, the chief judges, the treasurers, the judges, the lawyers, and all the rulers of the province, to come to the dedication of the image, which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.”
The image with the “head of gold” from
the king’s earlier dream set the stage for what follows, the king’s attempt to
implement the image in his way. This he did by setting up
an enormous image covered entirely with gold to symbolize his glorious realm.
The king “set up” the image in
the “plain of Dura.” Its location remains
uncertain. “Dura” means
“wall” or “rampart,” which suggests a site within one of the series of great outer
walls that surrounded the city.
“Plain” points to a broad and level
area able to accommodate large numbers of people. That is how the translators
of the Greek Septuagint understood
the clause when they translated it as the “plain of the wall” - (en
pediō tou peribolou). The “plain” echoes the story of
the Tower of Babel when humanity settled in
Mesopotamia and all men spoke “one tongue.” Men and women journeyed east
to find a “plain in
the land of Shinar and dwelt there” - (Genesis
11:1-9, Daniel 1:2).
There is a deliberate contrast with the
preceding story. In chapter 3, the king “set up”
his image. However, in chapter 2, Daniel declared that Yahweh “sets up kings and
removes kings.”
Nebuchadnezzar became famous for
restoring the temples of Babylon dedicated to her many gods. The addition
of an image inside a temple would not have been unusual; however, the placement
of an idol in an open space for all men and women to see and venerate was
unique.
In the previous interpretation of the king’s dream,
the “stone” that destroyed the four kingdoms represented by the “great
image with the head of gold” was “cut without hands.”
In contrast, Nebuchadnezzar “set
up” his image, a rendering of the Aramaic verb qum.
The verb is repeated nine times in chapter 3 to stress the
point: Nebuchadnezzar “set up”
his image - (Daniel 3:1, 3:2, 3:3 [twice], 3:5, 3:7, 3:12, 3:14, 3:18).
In contrast, the God of Heaven “sets
up” (qum) kings. He “set up” the image
with the golden head in the king’s dream, and He “set up” the
everlasting kingdom that would destroy all opposing realms - (Daniel
2:21-31, 2:44).
The king commanded all the “satraps,
nobles, pashas, chief judges, treasurers, judges, lawyers and governors to
assemble to the dedication of his image.” All peoples, nations, and tongues
were commanded to render homage to it. Anyone who refused was summarily
executed. The officials summoned by Nebuchadnezzar represented all the “peoples,
races, and tongues” of his realm. By proxy, therefore, all nations rendered
homage to the image - (Daniel
3:2-6).
The great golden image represented the absolute
power and majesty of the king. He did not demand worship for himself, but
instead, required homage to his image, a show of total allegiance to his sovereignty.
Wittingly or not, by this act he defied the sovereignty of the “God of
Heaven” - (Daniel 2:20-22).
In chapter 2, the “Chaldeans,” the
wise men, the astrologers, and the soothsayers of the Babylonian court had been
demoted following their failure to reveal the king’s dream. In chapter 3, they
exploited an opportunity to inflict vengeance on the companions of Daniel for
their earlier loss of face. Although loyal to the king, the three Jewish men
could not render homage to his image - (Daniel 2:4-13, 2:48-49).
The “Chaldeans” informed
Nebuchadnezzar that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had
refused to pay homage to his image, so he gave them a stark choice - “Fall
down and worship the image…or be cast into the fiery furnace.” His rage
directed previously at the “Chaldeans” was redirected against the Jewish
exiles - (Daniel 3:13-18).
The king ranted, “Who is the god able to
deliver you out of my hand?” This was a challenge to the
God of Israel, who earlier “gave the king of Judah and the vessels of the
Temple into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.” But the
Babylonian monarch would soon discover his inability to do anything to thwart
the purposes of God - (Daniel 1:1-2).
The Judean exiles were cast into the
super-heated furnace, where Nebuchadnezzar saw them walking while accompanied
by a fourth figure he described “like a son of the gods,” possibly an
angel - (Daniel 3:20-25, 8:15-17, 9:20-23, 10:13, 10:21).
With trepidation, the king summoned the three
men to exit the furnace. He addressed them respectfully as “servants
of the Most-High God.” He had witnessed how the fire did not harm them, and
therefore, Nebuchadnezzar “blessed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.”
Yahweh had “changed the king’s word” by delivering His servants “out
of his hand.” In his fury, Nebuchadnezzar had raged, “Who is able
to deliver out of my hand?” God has answered his challenge.
Next, Nebuchadnezzar issued a decree to “all
peoples, nations, and tongues.” Anyone who disparaged the God of the Judean
exiles would be “cut in pieces and his house turned into a dunghill.”
This is a verbal link to the preceding chapter. Nebuchadnezzar had warned the Chaldean
“wise men” that if they failed to make known his dream, that he would “cut
you in pieces and turn your houses into a dunghill.”
Once again, the highest praise for Yahweh is
heard on the lips of the mighty pagan king. The presumptive ruler over the World-Power
had acknowledged the supremacy of the “God of Heaven.” The machinations,
purposes, and even the rage of the most powerful king on the earth were no
impediment to the plans of God.
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| Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash |
In Revelation. Language and imagery from Daniel 3:1-7 is employed in the portrait of the “beast from the earth,” the “false prophet” who caused all the “inhabitants of the earth” to render homage to the image of the “beast from the sea.” All who refused were killed, whether “the small and the great, the rich and the poor, or the free and the bond.” All segments of society received its “number” or “name.” -(Revelation 13:1-18).
The “number of the Beast,” ‘666’
(hexakosioi hexékonta hex), parallels the dimensions of Nebuchadnezzar’s
image - sixty cubits by six cubits (hexékonta
hex). Revelation adds six hundred to the number to produce the fuller
“number of the beast.” The
passages in Daniel and Revelation concern the pressure placed on men
to participate in the idolatrous worship of the World-Power.
In Revelation, the burning fiery
furnace” becomes the model for the “lake of fire burning with
brimstone.” The followers of the “Lamb” are preserved from the “second
death, the Lake of Fire,” but the “beast and the False Prophet” that
attempted to destroy the “saints” are themselves “cast into the Lake
of Fire” - (Revelation 13:7-10, 19:17-21, 20:11-15).
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