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Daniel 3
He previously had a dream recorded in the previous chapter which only Daniel by the spirit of God could interpret. In the dream he (Nebuchadnezzar) was the head of gold on the image that was in his dream. He started out with rewards for Daniel and his friends because Daniel gave him the interpretation of the dream but what he does afterward shows that he was a person full of pride. This statue was 9 feet wide and 90 feet high. Made of gold. Looks like Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel's vision that he was the head of gold, the wrong way. Perhaps this was his way of trying to keep the rest of the vision from coming to pass seeing as how the whole image he set up was gold and not divided into parts like the dream he had. Perhaps it was a hollow image because to be solid gold all through it would take a considerable amount of gold and a long time to be able to set up in the days where they had no modern equipment to work with. This chapter is a good one to study for it shows how we can start out with the truth and good intentions but get sidetracked and even into apostasy. For some reason the king got sidetracked and instead of staying humble and learning from Daniel the ways of God. He seem to have been lifted up in pride and even had to have a dedication. Those invited to attend were the rulers under him. Princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counsellors and sheriffs. He set up the image of gold probably representing himself and used it as an object of worship. Pride surely goes before a fall as the scriptures tell us. Pride overpowered everything that happened in chapter 2. Mankind has always had the temptation to substitute an image made by man to represent God or an object of worship to represent a replacement for God. I emphasize many times in my writings that the church needs to avoid this temptation and stay clear of images even those intended to represent a likeness to Jesus, Mary and the apostles. People have a tendency to want to worship something they can see and it is forbidden in the Holy Scriptures to make idols and then bow down to them in worship even if in our minds we think we are worshipping the true God. Flee from idolatry the apostle John says. There are demonic influences behind the idols and statues used for worship, so that we get a religious feeling and it fools us into thinking it is God we are feeling. It is not God no matter what kind of feeling we have. We have to be careful not to substitute another spirit for God's Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not going to lead us into idol worship or voluntary humility or the worship of angels. Voluntary humility is not true humility. It is a self humility that substitutes the worship of God with a worship of a false deity, image and such. It is all fake and pretense. We need to worship God in spirit and in truth with a real humility from deep within our inner person. God knows our hearts.
Princes were closest to the king, governors were the lieutenants, viceroys, and nobles of various provinces in his kingdom. Captians were deputy rulers of outlying provinces. Judges were lawmakers and treasurers were in charge of the house where treasures were stored. Counselors were lawyers and more judges. Sheriffs were the supreme masters and civil magistrates. Others included were state and civil officers plus wise men. We kind of see where we got our own set of law and order people set in place today. However in the days of kings they had no authority to defy the king.
In verse 4 we see heralds that had the job of announcing the decrees to the common people to obey. Notice this was to extend to other nations in the Babylonian empire. John the Baptist was sort of a herald to announce the coming of Jesus. Mark chapter 1. This was foretold in Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Heralds were a type of our news media today. In verse 5 we see forced mandatory worship of
this image. The horn was a deep sounding shrill and sharp tone. A
flute was a wind instrument with a shrill sound. A harp - a stringed
instrument as also was the sackbut - another type of the harp. The
psaltery was a stringed instrument. The dulcimer was similar to a
tamborine or a drum of some kind. I love music myself but it can be
used for good or for evil. Any false religion that man sets up will in most cases be forced upon all. There is no religious toleration in false religious systems. This is always the case. Demons are behind all false religion and they do not want people to worship the true God so they will influence their false prophets to forbid by the threat of death anyone from worshipping different than the majority in power. We see the death penalty threatened in verse 6. Music can be used to stir up feelings. It can be a way to worship our true God but it is also used to inspire the worship of false gods. In the United States there are many false religions but our laws of freedom of religion keeps them from being able to force this on everyone but if it wasn't for our laws, they would attempt to do so. We hear all the time of some cult that has tried to use force in secret but the minute they become known, the law will stop it. In other countries where there is no freedom of religion, the use of force exists. Unfortunately having freedom also allows freedom to do evil and our only way to combat this is to teach and preach the truth of God's word with all our hearts so that the innocent are not deceived. This is why we should never be tempted to move away from the sound biblical teaching of the bible in order to have unity. Yes, the bible may cause division but that is preferable to a one world religion that persecutes and destroys those that do not agree with them. They soon substitute the traditions of men to replace the word of God when they get too big. It has happened before and it will happen again. Power corrupts. Human nature also does not like anyone to disagree with them. It makes them feel threatened.
The majority usually complies. How far society had fallen since the time when they left the ark. This doesn't mean it is wrong to use instruments in worship but we must use it with caution. We must make sure we worship God in spirit and in truth and we are not merely being worked up with loud music. Music was used in this case to stir up passion and worked up people to a feverish state and caused them to willingly worship this image of gold. This is why I do not trust in a lot of entertainment, hype and attempts to work up crowds when we gather for worship. What happens when people leave and the music stops, can they still live godly lives and influence others to believe in the gospel. A few praying people going into the service before it starts and inviting the presence of God and the will of God in their midst is a better way. We must not lose our dependency upon God at any time. In warning of this though, worshiping with musical instruments and singing is very biblical. We just need to make sure we are worshiping in spirit and in truth.
Be very careful of people false accusing when their motive is not because they are concerned about truth and holiness but their motive is jealousy or hatred for one who represents God in reality. The Chaldeans came near to accuse the Jews. They were Babylonians from South Babylonia but were a class of those into higher learning. There were a great many of them it seems as they were able to take captive, kill and were called a nation also. In modern terms, I would say they had an agenda to accomplish and saw that the three Hebrews did not comply. The tendency to persecute those that disagree with the mainstream is still with us today.
People in power who are on an ego trip usually will act in this way if someone opposes them or disobeys their direct orders. Notice the term, "Live forever". That is a term common in that day to show respect and reverence for kings or those in authority. They reminded the king that these three were the ones he set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. They were able to use their words in a manner that made them seem as if the Hebrews were doing their best to insult the king by their actions.
Here old Nebuchadnezzar challenges their God. He should have known better. Had he forgotten Daniel already? Perhaps Daniel was out of the country on an errand at this time and was not present.
We see these faithful Jewish men were like Daniel in spirit. They knew God could
deliver them but just in case God chose not to, they would not worship this
image even if it meant their deaths.
We see here clearly a type of personality that cannot tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. These are the tyrants of society and they are some like this in the history of the world and in the past some in the history of the church. They do more harm to the gospel then anyone else. The first thing we need to learn is not to lord over people and also not to feel threatened if someone disagrees with us. Martin Luther had a problem in this area if what is written about him is true. He started out having compassion on the Jewish people but when they rejected his message he turned on them with fury. This resulted in much evil against the Jews in later years. It actually justified the holocaust in the minds of some. Again though we are at the mercy of historians. Whether or not the reports are accurate.
This shows that we do not get away with evil. If any soldier would have found something else to do during this time, they would have been fortunate. However in that day, they would have been punished by the king for disobedience.
This could have been an angel. Whoever it was, Nebuchadnezzar thought it was like some kind of god. I like to think it was the Son of God, Himself whom we now know as Jesus. Different translations of the bible tend to make it seem like it means a son of God or an angelic being. Angels are called sons of God in other places in the bible. The strongest men were chosen to bind the Hebrews in thier coats, hats and other garments and cast them into the furnace. The fire was so hot that it killed the ones putting them into the furnace. This reminds me of many throughout the years of men who serve in the military that have been killed because the heads of governments that make the decisions to go to war are the ones that decide they have to go to fight for their country. Many die just by following orders.
Now we see the old king acknowledging that the God of these Hebrews was in fact the real God. He later gets exalted in himself again and robs God of glory which we is in the chapters after this one. Nebuchadnezzar is a good example of people who get "religion" but are not really born again by God's spirit. They do not really humble themselves before God and repent of sin, they only get an emotional religious experience that is temporary, sort of like the parable of the seed falling on thorny or stony ground. It doesn't last when the trials come. It could also be a head knowledge religion and not a change of heart and life that comes when we come face to face with the real God.
Here we see religion rare up its ugly head. It was good that he recognized that there was a real God but he had to try to make up for his past mistake by making this decree. His heart was not changed. This reminds me of the supposed conversion of Constantine who was good in that he stopped persecution of Christians but he was bad in that he used Christianity to unite his kingdom and began to use force to convert the pagans to Christianity. In doing so we had the church full of people who had not become true born again believers but only changed religions. However, there are different accounts of Constantine so we are again at the mercy of historians whether or not the accounts are true. The bible has proven itself over the years to be true so I'm thankful to God that His written word can be trusted.
We see the king wanting to cut off all opposition to his decrees but we can remember that Daniel was the true believer who desired to save the lives of all even the heathen wise men of chapter 2. We must remember the words of Jesus to His true followers:
There is a time coming when God's judgment will come but it must be done by God and God alone, the church must not harm but preach the gospel. DC
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