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Daniel 3:1-7 — An Image of Gold

This chapter shows the rebellion of King Nebuchadnezzar against the God of heaven who had given him world dominion. It is apparent that Nebuchadnezzar planned to use the golden image as a unifying principle to weld together all the nations, languages and peoples of his kingdom. He sent for all the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials for the dedication of this image. Many of these people had been conquered by him and brought into his kingdom. Now he would test their loyalty through worship of the image of gold.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in the province of Babylon at this time. Daniel is not mentioned at all. Perhaps he was ill, or he may have been in one of the outlying provinces caring for some of the king’s business. In this chapter, Daniel’s three friends are the central figures. God directed Daniel to include this story to let us know that they also had true faith in Him.

Nebuchadnezzar commanded all of his officials to bow before the great image, which may have represented the gods of Babylonia, or perhaps even represented the king himself as a god. He had a blazing furnace made ready for all who might disobey, so apparently he was expecting some rebellion from some of the officials. He was testing the loyalty of all of his officials. Remember that he had not only brought in Jewish young men to be trained but also young men from other nations that he had conquered. There were many who were not native Babylonians serving in very important leadership roles in his country. He had to know who would be faithful, and this was the method by which he chose to test his officials.

The image of gold that the king constructed was certainly a great display of wealth and workmanship. Some think that Nebuchadnezzar constructed this image in memory of his father, Nabopolassar. Others are convinced that he made it an image of Bel, a pagan god of Babylon. Still others believe that he made the image to resemble himself, because he had been identified with the golden head of the statue in the dream that Daniel had interpreted for him. In any case we know the image Nebuchadnezzar made was extremely large, for Daniel says it was ninety feet high and nine feet wide. It is described as being made of gold, but probably was made of a less expensive material overlaid with gold.¹⁸ Yet this was still an extremely valuable piece of workmanship. The image was set up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon, a location which would have been flat and expansive, and it enabled a great multitude to assemble for the dedication. The height of the image made it visible from a great distance.

After all had assembled, the herald loudly told the people that at the sound of the music they were to fall down and worship the golden image. Those who were unwilling to do so were to be thrown into a blazing furnace. Daniel 3:7 says, “Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshipped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” It appeared to be unanimous. There may have been many who were not worshipping from the heart, but they gave no visible evidence of it.