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GOD’S SUMMATION OF MANKIND (DANIEL CHAPTER 2)
CONSIDERABLY DIFFERS FROM
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S SUMMATION OF MANKIND (DANIEL CHAPTER 3)
05-12-13
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
(Exo 20:2,3) I am the LORD thy God, which
have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
(Exo 20:4-6) Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I
the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And
showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
(Dan 3:1-7) Nebuchadnezzar the
king made an image [Heb: an idolatrous figure] of gold,
whose height was threescore [60] [please note the
“sixes” as they appear] cubits [about 120 feet], and
the breadth [width] thereof six cubits [about 12 feet;
it was undoubtedly made of wood (representing some of us), covered with
gold, and standing upon a pedestal]: (1) he set it up
[Heb: raised it up] in the plain of Dura [about six miles
south of Babylon], in the province of Babylon [Heb: confusion]
[derived from mingled versus purity]. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent
to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the
judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers
of the provinces, to come to the dedication [Heb: initiation]
of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king (2) had set
up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the
treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the
provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king (3) had set up; and
they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar (4) had
set up. Then an herald [a proclaimer] cried aloud, To you
it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at
what time ye hear the sound [Heb: the voices] of the cornet,
flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king (5)
hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and
worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery
furnace [a type and shadow of Hell]. Therefore at that time,
when all the people heard the sound [the hypnotic voices]
of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,
all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king (6) had
set up.
1.
hypnotic: Dict: syn. = mesmerizing, spellbinding, rhythmic, soothing,
fascinating, magnetic.
2.
serpent = Heb: a snake (from its hiss) /// to hiss, i.e. whisper a
(magic) spell; gen. to prognosticate: divine, enchanter, use enchantment.
3.
Commentary:
“Nebuchadnezzar the king” = is a type and shadow of a certain
man personally possessed by Satan. Nebuchadnezzar is a
certain man within whom the spirit of Satan himself
dwelt. This particular man, Nebuchadnezzar, through Father God’s permissive
will, was a type and shadow of the antichrist i.e., the head
of the body of antichrists directly opposing Jesus Christ who is
the head of the body of Christ, or, the head of the body of
true Christians (Mat 21:42; Eph 1:22,23; Col 1:18). Nebuchadnezzar, at this
stage of his life, was an unholy composite of an earthly “king of
kings” (Dan 2:37), and the spiritual “god of this world” (2
Cor 4:4). Just previously in Daniel Chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had
experienced a dream from God symbolizing God’s summation of
mankind that he himelf (being unsaved) was unable to interpret, but
Daniel (being saved), by Holy Spirit interpretation, had communicated to
Nebuchadnezzar that “Thou art this head of gold.” (Dan 2:38).
4.
Commentary:
Gold was then, as now, the most precious valuable metal commodity and a
primary source of power; the “head of gold” indicates dominion,
power, and authority. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar/Satan and his kingdom
worshiped many gods. His physical and mystical kingdom
extended over all the “known” world, as does Satan’s kingdom now. Nothing
has changed except, as each “head” antichrist personality possessed by Satan
died, that dead “host” body was replaced by another living
physical body within whom Satan dwelt. Yep, the hidden “head” of the
antichrist body has been with us throughout the ages, and is still with
us today, but in these last days, the “head” or leader of the antichrists
is becoming clearly identified, “revealed in his time” (2 Thes 2:6).
5.
Commentary:
“made an image” = May we take significant note that the biblical text
of Daniel Chapter 3 never identifies the “image” therein as a man or
man-shape in any way. (Spirits are thoughts (2 Cor 10:5); do spirits have
defined shapes?) Nevertheless, we anthromorphically assume, for
the purposes of interpretation, that the image is a physical statue
symbolizing Nebuchadnezzar’s summation of mankind, while further
conveying the conceptual idea of an amorphous image of Satan. The
word description “image” is much more nebulous, vague, indefinite, and
undefinable than the word “statue.” The not-used word descripion “statue” is
hard, rigid, and minutely well-defined, whereas the word “image” begs
numerous connotations and is thus broadly ideational (i.e.,
thoughts; ultimately in context “strong holds” in the mind: 2 Cor 10:4).
6.
Commentary:
Trees are a biblical symbol of men and the raw material of God; the
finished product dervied from trees, crafted by Jesus Christ
who is the Great Carpenter, being wood planks or boards
representing redeemed peoples (priests) who have been separated from this
world and are assembled together for the purpose of building a
transport vessel to convey saved mankind to Heaven. Noah’s ark, the
tabernacle of Moses, and Jesus’ ship (Mat 14:22) are all vessels of
transport to Heaven. The enormous vertical image that was crafted by
Nebuchadnezzar (and who was “hidden” inside Nebuchadnezzar?), which
may in similarity of appearance and intent be likened unto a type of the
tower of Babel that Nebuchadnezzar built (he “climbeth up some other way”
John 10:1) was undoubtedly a huge edifice made of wood, representing
Nebuchadnezzar from his point-of-view, but ideationally representing all
mankind. The image of wood was covered with gold (pure gold is a soft
metal; the metal most malleable in its natural state) which represented,
from Nebuchadnezzar’s point-of-view, personal dominion, power, and
authority, but ideationally is a biblical symbol of the purity of God.
The crafted wood was covered with gold, as were certain articles
of furniture in the tabernacle of Moses that were made of wood and
thereafter covered with gold: the table of showbread, the altar of
incense, and the ark of the covenant. In these articles, the precious gold
covering functionally represented the Old Testament purity of God, and was a
type and shadow of the New Testament blood of Jesus Christ. Of course, the
“image” created by Nebuchadnezzar was indeed made of wood (unsaved
men in this case – “antichrists” 1 John 2:18), but the gold covering was
an uninspired counterfeit imitation of the purity of God,
the blood of Jesus Christ, which is unknowable to unsaved men and fallen
angels because it signifies agape love, pure love,
i.e., the “essence” of God, and must be internally experienced to be
recognized.
7.
Commentary:
The construction of Nebuchadnezzar’s “golden image” was a failed
Nebuchadnezzarian Satanic (mingled) attempt, symbolizing man’s failed
attempt, to replace God with himself; a vain attempt to replace the
unfathomable pure love of the one pure God in an attempt to be
equal with God, “I will be like the most High” (Isa 14:14), which is
literally and spiritually impossible for our “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16),
and the sole fountain thereof (Rev 22:1).
Amen
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