Daniel 3:1 says, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.”
Now that’s a lot of gold! Louis L’Amour wrote a story of a man who discovered a vein of gold high up in the rugged mountain terrain. The gold was under a towering rock that was precariously balanced on the steep hillside (Nebuchadnezzar’s image, 90 ft. x 9 ft. [1 cubit= 1½ ft.], must have been a challenge to set up, find a balancing point, and remain balanced.) Our miner friend took a little gold from under the rock. He decided it would be dangerous to take more. He calculated how much money it was worth, and what he could do with it, as he tossed and turned all night. The next day he decided he would take just a little more. This pattern continued for days, as the danger grew greater. They call it gold fever.
The record of Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, recorded by Daniel, gives us an interesting look at human nature. I want us to look for a moment at six areas of human character and see if any of these apply to us, or those around us. These six are: Greed, Pride, Control, Faith, Courage, and Reconciliation.
In Nebuchadnezzar we quickly notice greed, pride, and control. He had a kingdom of his own. Daniel 2:37 states, “Thou O king art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” Yet he wanted more kingdoms and took Judah captive. It was only in the second year of his reign (Daniel 2:1), that he had already captured Judah and had them in Babylon. It was then that he had the dream of the great image. Daniel interpreted the meaning of the image to be kingdoms of Gentile nations. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. When he later built the 90 ft. tall image it was all gold. It was a statement that there would be no other kingdoms than his. This show of greed led to pride that demanded all people bow to him and his image. Those who would not bow, he would control with the fiery furnace.
I must ask myself who I think I am. Is this me? Philippians 2:3 says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” The ones who do this will be controlled by those with greed and pride, but that’s alright, for God will not forget them.
That brings us to the three Hebrew children who showed faith and courage. We see them first not defiling themselves with the king’s meat and wine. They took a stand. They remained with the standing posture when all others were bowing to the 90 ft. image. This was not an act of pride, but of obedience to God. It takes courage to stand when those around us are bowing. When brought before the king, they withstood him to his face and stood with God. In these last days, as persecution looms before us, will we stand? Will we stand when others mock us?
Lastly we look at reconciliation. II Corinthians 5:18 states, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” Am I a reconciler? God reconciled Nebuchadnezzar—He was grass-fed. Daniel 4:37 says, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” Whatever became of the image ninety feet high?
