That Nebuchadnezzar was a brilliant man did not prevent him being an idolater. The world in which he was born was filled with numerous gods and goddesses. While he did seem to favor a few over the rest, he could not have conceived of the possibility there was but one, and the rest were fake. Even Israel seemed to struggle with that notion until the Exile. Further, his declaration at the end of this episode, granting the God of Israel protection from blasphemy and scorn had nothing to do with his pagan beliefs. Many gods and religions were so protected, according to the archaeological evidence. However, in the polytheistic ancient world, probably all gods were valid, but the gods of one's nation and household were given greater attention. You most certainly could bring your own gods from home when, as a foreigner, you were brought into Imperial service in Babylon. However, as with all rulers in those days, Nebuchadnezzar considered it a servant's feudal duty to worship his gods, too. Even if only to humor him, doing any less was considered a form of treason, and few would balk.
The few who balked at such polytheistic practices were the three close friends of Daniel: Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego, as they were known by their Babylonian names. In keeping with their previous efforts to remain faithful to Jehovah, they at least rejected the notion they could worship other gods, whether real or imagined.
We aren't told where this fits in with the chronology, and there's no reason to assume anything about it. Nor are we told where Daniel was when this happened, because he's not in the picture. We are told simply there was a time when Nebuchadnezzar had an image constructed which was quite large, and it was plated with gold. To envision something so large cast in pure gold would be quite unreasonable, especially given the known practices of the day. Nor should we imagine the basic material was stone. It was brick, or perhaps wood and brick. In the area around ancient Babylon, since as far back as the first Babylon under Nimrod, the only building material available was clay fired in ovens to make bricks, and held together by petroleum tar. The entire city was built of such material. The image could have been anything, and was likely a brick column, with perhaps something mounted on top to represent any of Nebuchadnezzar's favored deities.
The dedication ceremony called for every available official in the area of the city that day to appear. As servants of their emperor, they were to give the appropriate honors to his deity. The signal to prostrate themselves before the idol was the sound of a symphony orchestra, composed of every musical instrument known at that time, including a few borrowed from far distant lands. Some of the instruments are listed with their Greek names because they hadn't been seen in Babylon long enough to have a local name. Apparently everyone did their duty.
However, the Chaldean magi had a complaint. Naturally, this was after they were nearly destroyed and were saved by Daniel. Wholly ungrateful, they made note to the Emperor Daniel's three friends did not bow before the image. His anger was typical of rulers detecting treason in his high officials. Feeling somewhat indebted to them, he gave them another chance. Their answer was that he shouldn't go to so much trouble, because it wouldn't change anything. The narrative shows them as plain-speaking, without all the empty adulation which seemed to irritate rulers of intelligence, even if it was proper protocol. Thus, they weren't disrespectful; they simply got to the point. They weren't going to give honor and glory to any other god but Jehovah. It didn't matter if it cost their lives, nor how horrible such a death might be. If it mattered to Him, their God could save them, or let them toast as He pleased. The point was not lost on Nebuchadnezzar they considered Jehovah above his gods.
The brick kilns of Babylon had developed over several thousand years at this point. They were quite large, and evidence indicates most of them were round, partially sunk into the earth, and made themselves of several layers of brick. There was a single side door, and entering meant stepping down a ways. Fresh clay blocks were taken inside, arranged in stacks along the walls. The center was an oven or a fire pit, with a chimney above that. The fire was stoked, the door sealed, and the flames allowed to burn down, most likely overnight. As soon as it was cooled down enough, the door was unsealed and the finished bricks hauled out. To use these ovens as a means of execution is hardly surprising, given Babylonian brutality.
With such a direct answer, the Emperor was hotter in temper than the oven. If nothing else, it was deeply embarrassing for such protected officials to defy him publicly. He ordered the slaves to build a fire "seven times hotter" than normal, but we would be fools to think this is a literal expression, as if there was some means to measure the temperature accurately. Seven was a number symbolizing sacredness in a very broad sense, and these men were being offered to the god they had offended. Further, they were not stripped as most victims, but bundled up in ropes fully clothed, including their turbans. The command to throw them in fell on captains over the guards who normally executed this duty, symbolizing the utter necessity of it being done right. By getting close enough to toss them in, the captains died from heat exposure. That is, they swooned from the heat, and no one could get to them before they died, because the heat was too intense. It suggests the side door was used, and left open. Without a load of bricks to bake, the men slid down to fire itself.
No one knows how much time passed before Nebuchadnezzar looked to see, but it seems to have been rather soon. Perhaps this situation called for watching the victims incinerate, as a sort of ceremonial overabundance of effort to insure they did, indeed, die. They didn't. From his seat far enough away to be safe, but still close enough to watch, he noticed the men were unbound, alive, and not alone. He asked his advisers to make sure he wasn't seeing a vision. The term he used to describe the fourth character inside was common to that culture as anyone clearly not human, but above that. Any angelic being would be called the same thing by a Babylonian, and it might be used of exceptional men. Insisting we see it as a theophany of Jesus Christ is bad theology, silly pietism, because it would have had no meaning to Nebuchadnezzar, the one who needed the lesson here.
This sight so amazed Nebuchadnezzar he stood up and walked toward the kiln as close as he dared go. Calling out to those inside, he asked them by the name of their God, as he knew it, to come back out. Do not miss the point that he humbles himself before that God. They clambered out unharmed. Aside from the lack of bonds, they were completely untouched by the fire, nor so much as smelled of smoke. Nebuchadnezzar then publicly confessed the greatness of a God who could do such a thing. Then he declared their religion protected by the throne. Never again would they have to find ways to get around Imperial policies contrary to the Law of Moses. They were exempt. Further, no one in the empire was allowed to disparage their religion. This would forever shut up Chaldean magi in their carping about the Jewish upstarts. At this point, it is safe to say Nebuchadnezzar gave Jehovah an honored place in his pantheon. His later actions indicate little more, but at least that much.
In the end, the magi were frustrated. Not only did they fail to get rid of these three, but the men were promoted even higher above them. We don't hear from the trio again. We are left with an image of men who prospered and did not face any more hassles.
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Ed Hurst
13 November 2007
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