LORD’S DAY, ARPIL 15
Daniel 3:1-3
2 Corinthians 5:10

“… we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ …”

THE IMAGE OF GOLD

Both the second and fourth chapters of Daniel describe tremendous spiritual crises in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar. The first took place at the beginning of his reign (602 BC) and the last at the very end (568-62 BC). Therefore, it seems appropriate to assume that the crisis described in chapter three occurred about 585 BC, just after Jerusalem had been destroyed and the God of Israel presumably defeated by the gods of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar’s pride had now reached tremendous heights. Nothing seemed to stand in his way, just as Jeremiah had predicted (Jer 27:6-7). Instead of giving glory to the God of Jeremiah and Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar took it all for himself. It is entirely possible that he tried to duplicate the form of the image he saw in his unforgettable dream of several years earlier (Dan 2:1-3). Daniel, however, had said that only the head was of gold, and that “another kingdom” (Dan 2:39), inferior to his own, would follow and would be made of silver.

Nebuchadnezzar, probably rejecting the idea that any kingdom could follow his mighty Babylon, might have determined to show permanence of his golden kingdom by having the entire image covered with gold! Thus, he clung to the more flattering aspects of the interpretation given by Daniel and dropped the rest.

Many Israelites did this type of thing when they ignored Old Testament prophecies of divine judgment on the nation and of the sufferings of the Messiah, and concentrated on prophecies of millennial blessing. Christians today are certainly capable of this, too, when we shun the warnings of shame (1 John 2:28) and loss (1 Cor 3:15) at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10), and focus on the glories of heaven. May our gracious Lord help us to learn from the sad consequences of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride!

THOUGHT: Those who do not learn from history must repeat it.
PRAYER: “O, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wand’ring heart to Thee.”