The Lord said to me…”I will
test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
The Plumbline is a blog to
encourage the Body of Christ.
# 8 Daniel –
Nebuchadnezzar Rewards Daniel
Daniel 2:46-47 (NLT) 46 Then King
Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he
commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. 47
The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the LORD
over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this
secret.”
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| Clayt Sheridan - Teacher |
The king was so moved at
Daniel’s interpretation that he prostrated himself
before Daniel and ordered that an offering be made to Daniel, an honor that
would normally have been given only to the gods of Babylon. Such was
Nebuchadnezzar recognition of Daniel’s divine authority. Through Daniel’s
revelation and interpretation of the dream, Nebuchadnezzars was led to confess
that Daniel’s God is superior to all the gods of Babylon and that He is Lord
over the earth’s kings. Daniel’s God was exalted in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar
because He through Daniel revealed the course of forthcoming history. God is,
the king said, a Revealer of mysteries, as Daniel had said (cf. v. 28).
Nebuchadnezzar apparently accepted the fact of his own appointment to power by
Daniel’s God (cf. vv. 37-38) and recognized His authority.
Nebuchadnezzar appointed
Daniel to a position of responsibility in the government and
rewarded him materially with royal gifts. Babylon was divided into many
provinces, each one under the leadership of a satrap (3:2). Daniel was
evidently made a satrap over the province in which the royal court was located
the province of the city of Babylon. Daniel did not forget his friends but
asked that they be promoted too. So the king made Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego administrators to serve under Daniel in the same province. Daniel was
able to remain in the royal court, perhaps as an adviser to Nebuchadnezzar.
In a remarkable way God elevated Daniel to a
position in the royal court so that he could serve as a mediator between the
king and the exiles from Judah who would shortly (in 597 and 586) be brought to
Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar Made A Gold
Statue Ninety feet Tall and Nine Feet Wide.
Daniel 3:1-5 (NLT) 1 King Nebuchadnezzar
made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the
plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then he sent messages to the high
officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and
all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set
up. 3 So all these officials came and stood before the statue King
Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races
and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! 5 When you hear the
sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical
instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue.
Nebuchadnezzar summoned
eight classes of officials to the dedication of the image.
The satraps were chief representatives of the king, the prefects were military
commanders, and the governors were civil administrators. The advisers were
counselors to those in governmental authority. The treasurers administered the
funds of the kingdom, the judges were administrators of the law, and the
magistrates passed judgment in keeping with the law. The other provincial
officials were probably subordinates of the satraps. This list of officers
probably included all who served in any official capacity under Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was
demanding a public display of recognition and submission to his absolute
authority in the kingdom. The fact that the officials were
commanded not only to fall down before the image, but also to worship it,
indicates that the image had religious as well as political significance.
Nebuchadnezzar purposed to establish a unified government and also a unified
religion. The king constituted himself as both head of state and head of
religion. All who served under him were to recognize both his political and
religious authority.
The officials summoned by
Nebuchadnezzar to assemble in the plains of Dura it was
then the king’s herald announced that the officials were to recognize
Nebuchadnezzar’s political and religious power. So the officials’ act of
obedience signified submission not only by the officials themselves, but also
by those peoples they ruled.
Elaborate preparations in
the construction of the image of gold made the occasion
aesthetically appealing. To this was added musical accompaniment to make the
occasion emotionally moving. The orchestra included wind instruments, a reed
instrument, and stringed instruments. Failure to comply to the command to worship
the image was penalized by sudden death, being thrown into a blazing furnace.
The severity of the penalty indicates that submission on the part of every
official was obligatory.
Overwhelmed by the king’s command, the awesomeness
of the image, and the sound of the music, the assembled officials fell down and
worshiped the image of gold. In this way the officials and the peoples they
represented recognized the political and religious authority of Nebuchadnezzar.[1]
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