Daniel: Far From Homeنموونە

In chapter 2 we read how Daniel, an exile in a strange land, brought the gospel of God’s coming kingdom to the king of Babylon. What Daniel did is what we are called to do as we live as exiles in this world (see Matt. 28:19,20).

The king’s response seemed promising (2:47). However, chapter 3 opens with Nebuchadnezzar refusing to live in proper response to the dream he has just had. Instead of worshipping the God of heaven, he establishes an idol that he commands all to bow down to. The repetition of language makes it clear. This is Nebuchadnezzar thinking he is in charge! Four times in these seven verses we are told that this was a statue Nebuchadnezzar had ‘set up’.

We are meant to see the irony of this chapter following the dream of chapter 2. In the dream, only the head of the statue was gold. Nebuchadnezzar sets up a statue that is all gold. It is an act in defiant rejection of the dream.

Further, this statue is set up on the ‘plain’ of Dura. There are similarities to the tower of Babel (see Gen. 11). This is a statue to be seen from a great distance. Here is something that all Babylon can unite around. The universal language of verse 7 is striking.

When the Lord made His promises to Abraham, it would be through his descendants that blessing would come to all nations. Here the king of Babylon is calling all nations to unite around his idol. This proud rejection of what God has revealed to him is but a shadow of how all humankind rejects God. 

This is, however, no game of musical statues. The king commands everyone to worship the idol. Disobedience will, v. 6, be serious. It is either bow or burn.

The king’s edict isn’t preventing people from worshipping their own gods. They do, however, have to acknowledge his god. The exiles know they are not to worship any other god (Exod. 20:1–3). To obey the king’s order will mean breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments. But not to worship the king’s statue is to suggest that his ‘god’ is not as equally god as ‘Yahweh’. That could appear bigoted and intolerant. The pressure the exiles face – to accept the world’s ‘gods’ as equals with the Lord – is the pressure that we face, too.

The arrogant law of the king is another threat to the existence of God’s people, and therefore to the promises of God. If the exiles stand against the king, they will all die in the furnace.

Reflection

How do we come under pressure to compromise on the exclusive claims of the Lord and the gospel? What consequences might there be for us when we refuse to accept the ‘gods’ of other religions, including secularism?