Daniel’s Friends: "But If Not—“

Daniel’s friends: “But if not—“

Introduction: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon during Daniel’s youth, certainly did not lack a sense of ego or self-importance. In chapter 2, he made an impossible demand on Babylon’s wise men, instructing them to repeat the king’s dream and what it meant or else face the death penalty! Now in chapter 3, he’s made an image of gold and demanded every one of his various deputies (rulers, judges, etc.) bow down and worship that image. Daniel’s three friends were in that crowd, heard the command, and refused to bow down. To borrow a phrase from Sir Winston Churchill, this was their finest hour, because they honored the True and the Living God more than anything else.

1 The requirement: bow down and worship the image!

Text: Daniel 3:1-7, KJV: 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

After the events of chapter 2, when Daniel reviewed and explained Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the king decided to do something special, one might say. He had acknowledged the God of Daniel as a God of gods and a Lord of kings (Dan. 2:47), he still appeared to worship the various “gods” of Babylon. There is no other record in Scripture where the king ever spoke to Daniel about Daniel’s God before this chapter.

And something special, the king absolutely did: he built an image or statue of gold, 60 “cubits” high and 6 cubits wide or across (3:1). Allowing for the cubit to be 18 inches, or one-half yard, the statue was 30 yards or 90 feet in height and 9 feet in breadth! Where the king got all that gold, and who he employed to make that statue, then erect it and keep it standing, is another of history’s mysteries, yet unsolved.

Then, on an appointed day, the king called for all his overseers (see verses 2-3), and Daniel’s three friends were included in this gathering. The king had promoted these men to positions of authority already in the province of Babylon (2:49), and were obedient to the king’s command to assemble. No problem so far.

But a problem did arise when a herald began to give the king’s commands. Implied in verse 4 is that there were people of various languages and people groups, so it may have taken some time to translate the herald’s instructions into other languages. As a contrast, Babel was the last place where every person spoke the same language—and God scrambled the languages, so that the plans of the leaders would never be completed. Now Nebuchadnezzar seems to be using the reverse of that process, using one man (the herald) and representatives (unknown and unlisted) to convert the commands in the Babylonian language into the dialect or “heart language”, perhaps, of each people group represented.

This was bad enough, being called to an area outside of Babylon (the plain of Dura is not known with certainty) and forced to worship a giant golden idol. These leaders must have really pondered just what they should do. How many of them worshiped the God of Israel is not known, and Daniel’s three friends may have been the only ones. Some may have been genuine believers, or God-fearers, but they decided to “go through the motions” in order to please the king (regardless of what the LORD would have said about this in Exodus 20, e.g.). Admittedly the concept of being burned to death while still alive is sobering.