"King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, ‘Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: 5 as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.’
7 Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the nations and peoples of every language fell down and worshipped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up."
The start of chapter 3 of Daniel emphasises the need for us to read chapters together not as discreet units. If we had stopped at the end of chapter 2 we might have concluded that Nebuchadnezzar had come to faith, but chapter 3 makes it clear that he hadn't, awe did not lead to faith.
The central issue in this chapter is worship. Nebuchadnezzar builds an image made of gold. It is an impressive image using 800 talents of gold (22 tons) and standing some 90 feet high and 9 feet across. What is immediately striking is the link with chapter 2v32 and v37-39 where Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the head of gold though the dream tells of its end. The dream warns that Nebuchadnezzar and his dynasty and kingdom will not last or leave a lasting legacy. Yet at the outset of this third chapter his idol seems to be an attempt to do just that.
As chapter 2 closed in verse 47 Nebuchadnezzar declares that the Hebrew God is “God of gods” but by 3v15 he is opposing God as he declares “what god will be able to rescue you.” What causes such a shift, it is worship. Everyone worships something, and worship was central to the Babylonian assimilation of other nations. But as chapter 3 is written it pokes fun at the object of their enforced state worship. Notice the ironic way the image is referred to: “the image of gold that you have set up”, (1,2,3,5,7,12,18). This isn't something that deserves worship in and of itself, it is not something you would see and instinctively bow down and worship it. Why worship something man made, that has been set up by a man.
For the people of God those words should trigger memory of Exodus 20: “You shall not make for yourself…” and that is certainly the case for Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego as we shall see. This is mankind setting up idol. The idiocy of idolatry is further underlined by how worship is gained. In contrast to God who deserves worship here it is given on pain of death (6, 11, 15), with music and all sorts of other devices to trigger worship. And the worship of image is intrinsically linked to Neb.
Verse 7 summarises “all peoples, nations and men of every language feel down and worshipped…” As worship starts what will the 4 young men we met in chapter 1 do? What happens next? It's worth pausing so that we feel the tension in the text, this is a very real question; bow or burn. Helpfully these verses show us the idiocy of idolatry, something that requires human setting up, that requires a religious rigmarole to inspire worship, and the threat of death for non-compliance is simply not worth worshipping. It does pose the question what are the similar idols our society sets up? How does it seek to make us worship them? What are the consequences of non-compliance? What will we do in the face of it?
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