FRIDAY 07 March 2025 “Bow or Burn!” (Daniel 3:1-6)

Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends’

In our world of architectural extravagance, what is the most outrageous building or structure designed and crafted by mankind that you have ever seen? The skyline of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, or maybe the skyline of Hong Kong, or perhaps the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

While we have no actual photographs from the great ancient cities like Nineveh or Babylon, architects and sketch artists have been fascinated by historical descriptions of what those remarkable cities were like. Come with me again, back to Babylon about 2600 years ago. Daniel had been forcibly taken as a teenage captive from Jerusalem during King Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion in 605 BC, and marched to Babylon, a journey of about 700 miles by the circuitous route travelers likely took at that time.

You’ll recall Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, where all four enrolled in Nebuchadnezzar’s forced, three-year ‘captive leadership development reeducation program’, which was designed to prepare them to be leaders of their fellow Jewish captives, but at the same time loyal to the Babylonian Empire’s plans to conquer the whole world.

We’ve already looked at the miracles of Daniel Chapter 1 and 2 and how Daniel and his three friends were selected and assigned by King Nebuchadnezzar to hold very high roles of leadership responsibility in Babylon. If you missed those editions of walking with Jesus, you’ll find them in our Daily archives, January 9 through 23 of this year.

Today, let’s begin our deep dive into the amazing miracle of God found in Daniel Chapter 3. While Daniel does not give us a specific date, I believe King Nebuchadnezzar commissioned his finest architects and builders to construct this huge 90-foot statue of himself in about the year 580bc.

About the same time God was giving Ezekiel the ‘vision of the dry bones’, as we saw yesterday, as recorded in Ezekiel Chapter 37. I believe it would have been about this time that Jeremiah the Prophet would have died in Egypt. You’ll recall back on February 24 to 26, we looked closely at Jeremiah’s account of his departure from destroyed Jerusalem, first to Mizpah, and then he was taken forcibly with other captives to Egypt sometime later, according to Jeremiah 39-42.

It’s important, my friends, that we remember God was very strategic in His messages simultaneously, through His three Jewish prophets:

* Jeremiah, God’s prophet, to the last several Jewish kings in Jerusalem, and the final Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem before its destruction by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

* Ezekiel was taken captive and brought to Babylon in 597 BC. Then he served as God’s prophet to the Jewish captives scattered across the Babylon Babylonian empire, for the next several years.

* Daniel was God’s prophet to King Nebuchadnezzar and several succeeding emperors, the most powerful men in the world, over a period of 64 years.

As Nebuchadnezzar’s Great Babylonian Empire continued to stretch across the map of the known world, so his ego was inflated.  It seems he forgot or at least minimized the miracles of the God of Israel with Daniel, more than 20 years before. And in his arrogance, King Nebuchadnezzar commissioned his royal architects and builders to construct an image, we presume of himself, 90 feet tall and gold plated from head to toe! (Daniel 3:1)

We don’t know how long the construction of this massive statue required, but Daniel gives us this record: “King Nebuchadnezzar summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasures, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.” (Daniel 3:2)

Clearly this was an edict from the most powerful man in the world, gathering all of those of significant leadership roles and responsibilities throughout the entire Babylonian Empire. That gathering process must have been an enormous feat, For Nebuchadnezzar’s empire, stretched over most of the region of the world we know today as Central Asia and the Middle East.

As they arrived, I have no doubt this 90-foot gold plated statue could be seen gleaming in the desert sun, from many miles away in all directions. Once gathered, these hundreds of officials were given these instructions: “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the instruments, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever refuses and does not fall down in worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:4-6)

 I presume many of these leaders came assuming they were attending a great ‘Babylonian Empire Leadership Conference’, during which they’d be recognized as leaders and joined together as empowered and trusted leadership of the next, great, world dominating empire. Instead, the first proclamation they heard was to show their allegiance to King Nebuchadnezzar by bowing and worshipping the image he had constructed. While they contemplated this demand and its implications, they also learned their horrific fate if they hesitated or refused.

Let’s pause right here for today and contemplate along with them. What would you have done? What do you and I do every day as we declare our allegiance, our adoration, our priorities and values, with how we spend our time, our focused attention, our finances, our energy, our talents, even our relationships? And where does Jesus fit into all that, my friends?

Here’s a worship song to help us consider this decision, and tomorrow will rejoin Daniel to see what happened next…