Intro:

The last time that we were in Daniel, we finished Chapter 2. Chapter 2 was all about a dream that was troubling King N… and God helped Daniel to reveal and interpret that dream.

The dream that N had was of a great statue that was in the form of a man… the head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the middle portion of bronze, the legs of iron, and the feet and toes of iron mixed with baked clay.

As Daniel interpreted the dream, the head represented the glorious kingdom of Babylon, the silver a less glorious but stronger kingdom (that of the Medes and Persians) that would follow Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, the brass a still less glorious but stronger kingdom (that of the Greeks), and the iron (the least valuable metal) but the strongest kingdom of all (that of Rome). At the end of this history, a rock, representing Jesus Christ, would strike the world’s kingdoms, destroy them, and then grow to fill the whole earth.

For a short amount of time N was humbled by the greatness of Daniel’s God to be able to reveal and interpret his dream. N’s statements at the end of chapter 2 even make it sound as if he had a repentant heart…

Daniel 2:47 “47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.””

N makes a similar statement at the end of Chapter 3 and I will mention this again at that time… But listen carefully to N’s statement here in 2:47… “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets,”

He says that Daniel’s God is…

The God of gods… Not the One and only God… just the God of gods

The Lord of kings… this statement was 100% true. N stated that Daniel’s God was Supreme over all Kings. They are all inferior to him, and subject to his control… and then N says that Daniel’s God is…

A revealer of secrets… again, not THEE revealer of secrets… only, A revealer of secrets.

This is a great example of the fact that there can be some instant, emotional decisions made or words said that are not real repentance or confessions… There are people who will raise there hand or walk down an aisle that have been emotionally moved, but never really make an actual spiritual decision to follow God…

I believe that is what happened with King N at the end of chapter 2 and as we get into chapter 3 it is apparent that he has no desire to honor the One True God.

Most Bible scholars and commentators agree that the amount of time that has passed between chapters 2 and 3 is approximately 20 years. We don’t know exactly how much time passed in between chapters 2 and 3 but it was enough time for N to grow comfortable in his kingdom, enough time to forget about the God of Heaven and start thinking more and more about himself, his own achievements… his own greatness…

And it is out of this state of mind… that he builds…

The Statue of Pride

Turn in your Bible’s to Daniel 3… (Read vv.1-7)

Meat:

We are not told what the exact shape of this statue was. But I would say that it is a very high probability that the statue resembled a man, and if it did resemble a human figure, than it is also a very high probability that the face was made to look like N himself.

Remember the statue from N’s dream in chapter 2 was in the image of a man. And also remember Daniel told N that “… You are the head of gold”…

This statement could very well have stuck in the back of N’s mind and Satan could use that as a foothold on N’s life as the years went on. Satan could give N thoughts like…

“I sure am glad that I am the head of that statue and not the feet”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I was more than just the head?”

“Why can’t I be the whole statue”

“Why should my kingdom be succeeded by other kingdoms? Why shouldn’t this great Babylon that I have built last forever?”

I believe that the interpretation that Daniel gave to N regarding his dream in chapter 2 has never set well with him... so, with an attitude of pride and in an act of defiance N basically says “I will not allow the God of Daniel to set my kingdom aside. My rule will endure… I will make my own statue, that is completely made of gold and not just the head”…

Daniel 3:1 “1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.”

I want to share with you this morning, how the statue was symbol of pride…

The Statue:

First of all… this statue…

1. Glorified Nebuchadnezzar, not God

Nebuchadnezzar built this statue to show how great he was. The entire thing was gold, not just the head… It was as if N was reacting to God’s prophecy (from chapter 2) saying, “I am so powerful that the entire image is made of gold,” not just the head.

This statue was just one of many great building projects of Nebuchadnezzar. It stood 90 feet tall. To give you a perspective, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor is 130 feet from head to toe. This statue, built 2600 years ago was almost just as tall!

Nebuchadnezzar was saying, “I am Babylon. Look what I have done.” He seems to have forgotten that Daniel told him he served as king only because the God of heaven had placed him on the throne… However, he will get a, not so gentle, reminder of that in Chapter 4.

So often, we can be guilty of doing the same thing… We hit a low spot in life, make some changes, get back on our feet and maybe even have some sort of success… and we say… “Look what I’ve done”… and as soon as you get into that mentality, you are now glorifying yourself, instead of glorifying God…

The reality is, N couldn’t have even given the command to build this statue, if God didn’t bless him with the breath to speak the words… None of us would be where we are today, if God didn’t give us the blessing of waking up this morning… God is the one who should be praised and glorified, not just on Sundays, but every single day…

v.1 even gives us the location of where this statue stood… “… He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.”

This plain was a relatively flat piece of land which was surrounded by mountains… and by placing the statue in this plain, it would’ve been seen from several miles away…

As I stated before, this statue was close to the size of the Statue of Liberty… and an article I found online makes this statement… “In clear weather conditions and during the day, the Statue of Liberty can be visible from a distance of up to 50 miles, especially if you are at a higher altitude.”

So any one that may have been traveling along the mountains around the area, probably would’ve been able to see this huge statue… which is exactly what N wanted.

I always love to hear when an archaeological find lines up and confirms what Scripture says. Not that we need to these finds in order to believe Scripture, because as one of my Pastors from childhood would say “God said it, I believe it, that settles it”….. but it always brings a smile to my face when certain things are found that are exactly as they are described in God’s Word…

Julius Oppert lived from 1825 - 1905 and he was part of several different Archaeological projects because of his knowledge of ancient languages. And if I was reading some of his notes correctly, he was part of a project that he concluded was the place where the languages were confused… which we know as the tower of Babel…

In one of his reports he talks about a spot that was 6 miles S.E. of Babylon and sixteen miles S.W. of (modern day) Baghdad… Oppert says “I could mention many other ruins, but I shall only speak of a... square mound, the forms of which are so regular, that it is called (Arabic word I cannot pronounce -Mukhattat) but according to google it means very precise and beautiful. It is situated out of Babylon, in a plain, which is named at the present day as it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Dura. (Oppert goes on to say)... If there ever was a golden statue of this king, it was here on this spot; and the (beautiful, precise) mound was its pedestal.”

N spared no expense to glorify himself… this statue was N’s way of telling the world… “Hey, look at me.... .... Worship me!”

Secondly… this statue…

2. Symbolized Political Power

Not God’s Power.... And More specifically it symbolized…

2.1 Nebuchadnezzar’s Power Over ALL Other Provincial Officials

N had this statue built as a daily reminder to every other official within the province of Babylon, that he was in charge… he’s the boss...

Daniel 3:2-3 “2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

3 So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”

Here we see the list of officials that were summoned to the opening ceremony of this image. This is a list of the “who’s who” of Babylon. Everybody who was anybody was to be there.

Satraps - They were guardians or protectors of the Kings realm. They would have both military and civil power.

Administrators or Prefects - They were the supervisors of the military men. Today we would call them a General.

Governors - Similar to our State Governor, they would rule over an assigned region of the Kingdom.

Counselors - Think of a Supreme Court Judge.

Treasurers - Same as today, they handled the funds of the Kingdom.

Judges - These were a little lower ranking than that of the counselors. These would be Lawyers and smaller claims court Judges.

Magistrates - These were the police officers. Some versions even use the word Sheriff.

All the other rulers and officials from the provinces - basically everyone else that isn’t named above…

The point is that all of these political and judicial leaders were told they had to show up for the dedication and worship of this colossal statue… And because the decree came from king N, the highest ranking and most powerful official in the Kingdom… they all had to show up or suffer the consequences.

Pastor Thompson makes this observation in his notes, he says…

“This is the beginning of the Satanic world system of Gentile powers who will dominate the World and one the main features is forced religion.”

N did not care about the religious background of anyone else… he was going to force everyone to worship this statue which, in reality, represented himself.

Pastor Thompson goes on to say “This type of forced religion will continue and intensify until everyone in the world will be forced to worship one person - The Antichrist”

Which leads us into our 3rd point this morning… This statue…

3. Falsified Worship

To worship something is to prize it above everything and everyone else. When you worship someone or something, you are saying that they or it is the most important part of your life.

Folks, Almighty God is the most important thing, the most important person, He is the one that should receive our full submission, our full obedience and the only One that should receive our worship!

However, N wanted that worship for himself.

Daniel 3:4-5 “4 Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up;”

This is considered falsified worship because… most importantly, it is not directed to All Mighty God… but it is falsified because…

3.1 It Is Forced

Daniel 3:6 “and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

No one was gathering on the plain of Dura voluntarily. Not one person fell down before the statue because they had an ounce of love in their hearts for the idol.

Nebuchadnezzar had a beautiful city, with hanging gardens and an orchestra, and now another icon, an impressive golden statue, but the king had to force people to fall and worship with the threat of the fiery furnace if they declined.

Here’s the thing… you can’t force worship. Any worship that is forced is false. Parents, if you forced your kids to come to church (which is a good idea), they probably won’t really worship. If you are one of those husbands whom your wife drags to church (good for her) you probably won’t worship either. Why? Worship comes from the heart, and you can’t force it…

You have to make the conscious choice… God will never force you to love Him… you have to make that choice… you will either choose to love Him and out of that love, please Him with the way you live and then spend eternity in His presence…

Or you will choose to reject Him and out of that rejection, when this temporary life is over, your eternity in Hell will begin, forever separated from God… the One whom you rejected.

True worship can never be Forced…

The worship of this Idol was falsified…

3.2 By Using Music

Daniel 3:7 “7 So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”

I am sure that we would all agree music is a powerful tool. Music was created in order to honor and glorify God… But as is true of many of God’s creations, Satan has taken it and recreated it as a tool of evil. Music can either lift a heart toward God, or drag a soul to hell…

Some music is uplifting, but some music is harmful… We have to be careful of what we are filling our minds with… what the minds of our children are being filled with…

Someone once said “Let me write the music of a nation, and I will determine its morals.” - Meaning, if they could control the music that a nation is listening to, then they could control the morals of that nation…

As beautiful as the Music may have sounded when N gave the signal to start… Because it was not used to worship God, it was nothing but evil sounds coming from the strings, the drums and the wind.

I believe it was Henry Ironside that said “People may call it worship to sit and listen to a trained and possibly unconverted (non-christian) choir and orchestra rendering sweet and touching strains, but the music… has nothing to do with true adoration of the Father and the Son, which must be in spirit and in truth to be acceptable to God.”

May we choose to honor God with the music that we listen to and the songs that we sing.

Closing:

This is a drastic change in N… He went from saying that Daniel’s God (Our God) is “The God of gods and the Lord of kings” to saying… “I am in control, everyone must do my will… Its all about me, me me, I, I, I...”

Nebuchadnezzar’s mistake is that he grew dull to what God had revealed to him and he forgot his response to God because the kind didn’t spend any more time with Daniel’s God.

We are not told after Daniel revealed the dreams and their interpretations that the king requested more time with Daniel to find out more about Daniel’s God. I think that I would want to know more about this God who knew my dreams and their interpretation.

We are not told that N sought out Daniel to seek advice from his God as to how to rule his kingdom. He certainly didn’t seek Daniel’s advice about building the statue of himself.

And I believe that left the door wide open for Satan to come in and say his famous line… “Did God really say...”

Did God really say that…

your kingdom would be overthrown? It’s been 20 years and your Kingdom is stronger than ever!

He was the one who puts people in power… You are the one that conquered all these lands… You are the one that has built this kingdom… not God…

And all of these thoughts turned into a great big statue of pride.

And we as Christians, if we are not careful and active about pleasing God with our lives, we too can fall into the same trap…

I don’t need to pray… God knows my heart

I don’t need to read the Bible… I know everything I need to know

I don’t need to fellowship with other believers… I know that I am a Christian and that’s good enough

I, I, I,… do you know who else said I, I, I???

- I will ascend into heaven,

-  I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; 

- I will also sit on the mount of the congregation In the sides of the north;

- I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, 

- I will be like the Most High.

Pride comes before the fall my friends…

The more you exalt yourself, the further away you get from God… I would say Nebuchadnezzar making an image of himself to be worshipped is moving pretty far away from the day he said that Daniel’s God is “The Lord of kings.”…

I want to encourage you and may we encourage others to seek to glorify God with our lives, May our trust be in the power of God and not our own, and may we truly and wholeheartedly Worship the only One who is worthy to receive it… Our Sovereign,… All Mighty God!

Prayer