Daniel 3.4-Nebuchadnezzar Issues Proclamation Demanding World-Wide Worship Of The Statue Of Himself
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 31, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:4-Nebuchadnezzar Issues Proclamation Demanding World-Wide Worship Of The Statue Of Himself
Lesson # 81
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:4, which records Nebuchadnezzar’s commissioning a herald to issue a public proclamation at the dedication of the gold statue he erected of himself which demanded world-wide worship of this image.
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, 5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.” (NASB95)
“Then” is the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw) is a marker of a sequence of closely related events.
This conjunction denotes that after the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom had assembled for the dedication of the statue and stood directly in front of the statue which the king had erected “then” this proclamation was read to the dignitaries.
“Herald” is the masculine singular noun kā∙rôz (כָּרֹוז) (kaw-roze´), which means “herald” which is someone who announces publicly with a powerful voice the commands or proclamations of the king.
So this herald was the individual who publicly proclaimed in the presence of the dignitaries from the various provinces that at the sound of the music all the peoples, nations and language groups as represented by these dignitaries were to worship the image Nebuchadnezzar had erected of himself.
“Loudly proclaimed” is composed of the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb qerā(ʾ) (קְרָא) (ker-aw´), “proclaimed” which is followed by the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beh) and its object is the masculine singular pausal noun ḥǎ∙yil (חַיִל) (khah´-yil), “loudly.”
The verb qerā(ʾ) means “to publicly proclaim” referring to the act of vocal proclamation to instruct or draw attention.
Here the word refers to the act performed by the herald commissioned by Nebuchadnezzar of publicly proclaiming his decree for the worship of the image he erected of himself.
This herald was to publicly proclaim this edict to all the peoples, nations and language groups as represented by the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.
The noun ḥǎ∙yil means “authority” in the sense of possessing the power to command the behavior of others and compel obedience and is the object of the preposition b-, which is a marker of manner.
Thus, this prepositional phrase describes the manner in which the herald issued the proclamation at the dedication of the statue Nebuchadnezzar had erected of himself.
The manner in which the herald issued this proclamation to worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar was “with authority” in the sense that he spoke in a manner which compelled obedience by all those at the dedication of this gold statue.
This verb implies permissive authority meaning that this herald was delegated authority by Nebuchadnezzar to issue this proclamation in the manner in which he did.
“To you” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is second person masculine plural pronominal suffix -ḵōm (־כֹם) (koem), “you.”
The second person masculine plural pronominal suffix -ḵōm, which refers to the nouns ʿǎm, “O peoples,” ʾǔm∙mā(h), “nations” and liš∙šān, “language” which describe those individuals who were represented by the dignitaries and were under the dominion or authority of Nebuchadnezzar.
“The command is given” is the masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), which means “to command” since the statement in verse 5 that follows reveals that Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to bow down and pay homage to the gold statue which he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.
Thus, the herald said that “all of you are commanded” to bow down and pay homage to this image at the sound of the music.
“Peoples, nations and men of every language” is composed of the masculine plural form of the noun ʿǎm (עַם) (am), “O peoples” which is followed by the masculine plural noun ʾǔm∙mā(h) (אֻמָּה) (oom-maw´), “nations” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine plural noun liš∙šān (לִשָּׁן) (lish-shawn´), “language.”
The noun ʿǎm is in the plural and means “nations” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties and speaks of the national entities.
The noun ʾǔm∙mā(h) is in the plural and means “ethnicities” referring to an ethnic group, divided on the basis of constituting a unique entity and speaks of various ethnicities.
The noun liš∙šān means “language groups” referring to a distinct, rational form of communication unique to a socio-linguistic group, i.e. national people and thus speaks of those groups who share the same language.
Daniel 3:4-5 records Nebuchadnezzar commissioning a herald to publicly proclaim at the dedication of this gold statue to bow down and pay homage to it at the sound of music.
Daniel 3:4 says that the herald addressed various nations, ethnicities and language groups under his authority, which were represented by the dignitaries assembled at the dedication.
Therefore, we can see quite clearly that Nebuchadnezzar is demanding world-wide worship of himself.
As we noted in previous studies, the dedication of the statue was a ceremony, which was both political and religious.
It was a solemn ceremony in which Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue was consecrated as the symbol of world-wide worship and power of himself as a divine being.
Politically, this dedication was intended to symbolize the unity of the various provinces under Nebuchadnezzar’s authority.
Religiously, this dedication was an act of worshipping the gold statue, which represented Nebuchadnezzar.
That this dedication is religious is clearly indicated by Daniel 3:3-7.
Therefore, this dedication is an attempt by Nebuchadnezzar to join religion with politics, which has been attempted throughout history by various rulers and will be successfully attempted by the Antichrist during Daniel’s Seventieth Week who will demand worship from the inhabitants of the earth.
During the midway point of Daniels’ Seventieth Week, Antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation in the rebuilt Jewish temple and demand the worship of himself throughout the world.
So Nebuchadnezzar’s action as recorded in Daniel chapter 3, foreshadows or prefigures the actions of Antichrist during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
Daniel 3 records Nebuchadnezzar instituting the worship of himself which foreshadows Antichrist’s action during the tribulation period.
Revelation 13 and 17 teach that rise of the revived form of the Roman Empire under Antichrist during the first three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week will be accompanied by the formulation of a false religious system under the false prophet.
As we noted earlier, the demand of Nebuchadnezzar that he be worshipped foreshadows Antichrist’s actions during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
In Daniel 9:27, the adversative clause “but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate” refers to the Antichrist stopping the Levitical sacrifices that will be reestablished in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week.
In His Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24:15-16, the Lord Jesus Christ referred to this event, warning the inhabitants of Israel at the time to flee to the mountains.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, the apostle Paul makes a reference to Antichrist’s breaking of the treaty with Israel and also reveals that Antichrist will demand the worship that belongs to only God Himself.
Paul’s statement in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that Antichrist will “take his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as God” is a reference to the statement in Daniel 9:27, “on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate.”
Revelation 13:14-15 also mentions Antichrist exalting himself as God and receiving the worship of the world as such.