Daniel 3:1-7
New King James Version (NKJV)
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. 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.”
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.
My Thoughts:
Ok let’s start with why the king felt the need to build this status of himself. The bible does not tell why he built it but there are a few ideas I have read the 1st one was that the king was not happy with the fact that He was only the head of the statues in his dream. 2nd was that after the rebellion in is ranks around 594 he wanted to test he remaining armies and leaders. 3rd Still jealous of Daniel and his friends the wise men used their influence to convince the king that the statue was needed.
The height was 60 x 6 cubic the measurement given was from the sexagesimal system; this would make it about 100 feet tall. The king built it entirely of gold and would make the image taller than the statues of Egypt. If we compare this situation to Revelation 13 we see that it well get only worse. During the end times authorities will everyone to worship their images or die.
And as for the location of the plain of Dura, according to tradition the location would be in the middle of the Iraqian oil fields.
Ellen White Statements:
“The words, “Thou art this head of gold,” had made a deep impression upon the ruler’s mind. Verse 38. The wise men of his realm, taking advantage of this and of his return to idolatry, proposed that he make an image similar to the one seen in his dream, and set it up where all might behold the head of gold, which had been interpreted as representing his kingdom.
Pleased with the flattering suggestion, he determined to carry it out, and to go even farther. Instead of reproducing the image as he had seen it, he would excel the original. His image should not deteriorate in value from the head to the feet, but should be entirely of gold—symbolic throughout of Babylon as an eternal, indestructible, all-powerful kingdom, which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand forever.
The thought of establishing the empire and a dynasty that should endure forever, appealed very strongly to the mighty ruler before whose arms the nations of earth had been unable to stand. With an enthusiasm born of boundless ambition and selfish pride, he entered into counsel with his wise men as to how to bring this about. Forgetting the remarkable providences connected with the dream of the great image; forgetting also that the God of Israel through His servant Daniel had made plain the significance of the image, and that in connection with this interpretation the great men of the realm had been saved an ignominious death; forgetting all except their desire to establish their own power and supremacy, the king and his counselors of state determined that by every means possible they would endeavor to exalt Babylon as supreme, and worthy of universal allegiance.
The symbolic representation by which God had revealed to king and people His purpose for the nations of earth, was now to be made to serve for the glorification of human power. Daniel’s interpretation was to be rejected and forgotten; truth was to be misinterpreted and misapplied. The symbol designed of Heaven to unfold to the minds of men important events of the future, was to be used to hinder the spread of the knowledge that God desired the world to receive. Thus through the devisings of ambitious men, Satan was seeking to thwart the divine purpose for the human race. The enemy of mankind knew that truth unmixed with error is a power mighty to save; but that when used to exalt self and to further the projects of men, it becomes a power for evil. ” {PK 504-505}
Last thoughts:
The last thought most people have is; where is Daniel? Again there are many different thoughts on this 1) the king was very fond of Daniel and he knew that Daniel would not bow so leave him at home. 2) Daniel was on a trip. Who knows, they only thing we do know is that Daniel would have been tossed in the furnace with his friends.
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It is interesting the way the king came up with the number 60 (for 60 cubits). The wise men of Babylon assigned mystical religious numbers to their many deities. The leading god of their classical trio was Anu.His assigned number was 60. It also seems that Nebuchadnezzar had had a revolt just prior to all this. He had even had to capture and kill some of his own soldiers so he was definately trying to prove his own self worth.
I find it amazing how sincere King Neb. was in regard to God and how soon after he returned to idololatry. It may have actually been years after (maybe even 10-30 years later) yet always to soon. It’s almost like Adam and Eve’s fall, it almost seems like the very next day they ate of the fruit, but it could of been hundreds of years for all we know. And how soon the “wise” men forgot the mercies of Daniel.
Satan is so tricky how he decieves and twist things to trip us up again. He must of been working on King Neb’s pride. It’s true, pride comes before the fall.
It also goes to show God’s sovernity vrs our will. He might of twisted the dream up be some sort of warning dream. He was determined to establish his kingdom in the mind of his officers and government workers and even those around. Some people teach and believe that if you want something enough, visualize it and work hard enough for it, it would succeed; but the truth is it’s all in God’s hands. His will will get done, we choose truth or lie, life or death. King Neb. obviously chose lies and we’ll see where that led him. We could see today it didn’t change the course God laid.