“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. 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. So all these officials came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! 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. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”
Daniel 3:1-7 NLT
Whenever God has revealed something to us, we have a choice. Famously, C.S. Lewis couched Hell and Heaven as the difference between a person’s desire to do their own will or to accomplish God’s. In chapter 2 of Daniel it was established that Nebudchednezzar’s power and authority was not self generated. It was in fact given by God and that it wouldn’t last. Instead it will be replaced and completely forgotten for a greater kingdom that will be self generated. Given the gravity of Nebedchednezzar’s dream and response to it, he could hardly dismiss Daniel as a liar. Yet, he clearly did not take ownership of the revelation. It should be noted that Daniel stated that this truth was something that was on the king’s heart. Chapter 3 shows the king denying the facts. His actions to set himself up as a golden idol in the land, against the backdrop of chapter 2, display a complete rejection of it. Even a pagan king in a conquering nation could not escape God, and God was not content for him to ignore that fact. No grand displays of ego or resources could assuage what would happen next. And it speaks volumes to the fact that God has a plan for everyone, even if they have the ego and means to try to reject it.
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