Daniel 2:47-3:6

The Voice

Nebuchadnezzar: ⁴⁷I am now certain that your God is the God of all gods, the Lord of all kings, and the Revealer of mysteries, for unlike the other wise men in my service, you were able to reveal to me this mystery. You told me not only what I dreamed but what it all means.

⁴⁸The king bestowed high honors and many gifts on Daniel. He promoted him to new positions in his court and made him governor over the whole province of Babylon and head over all the wise men in his realm. ⁴⁹Daniel approached the king and requested that he put his friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego—in charge of affairs in the province of Babylon while Daniel remained in the royal court.

3 One day King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his craftsmen to make a statue plated with gold that was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.

This giant idol clearly is meant to intimidate.

When finished, it was set up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon, ^2-3and King Nebuchadnezzar planned an elaborate ceremony to dedicate the statue. He sent out invitations to his officials. At the appointed time, his officers, prefects, governors, trusted advisors, treasury officials, judges, magistrates, and all the rest of his provincial leaders arrived and gathered near the statue for the dedication ceremony.

The Babylonian Empire has a complex governmental structure. At the top is the king, a man descended from Nabopolassar, the Babylonian who wrested the region from Assyrian control about 612 b.c. A resident of the Chaldean region of the Babylonian Empire, he brings his friends with him to the top, making the Chaldeans the most powerful group of people in the empire. As the empire grows, the king needs friends under him to rule the far-flung provinces, so he appoints satraps, guardians of large portions of the empire and representatives of the king in his absence. Within each large portion, prefects rule the conquered cities and report to the satraps. In every part of the empire, the power of the king is felt through his servants who administer justice, protect the lands from invasions, and collect hefty taxes.

Herald (shouting): ⁴People of all nations and languages: by order of the king, you are commanded ⁵to bow down and worship the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar every time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, lute, harp, pipe, and all the other musical instruments. ⁶Anyone who does not obey the king’s command and refuses to bow and worship will be taken immediately and thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.