Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: Dan. 3. Nebuchadnezzar’s Unfinished Symphony.

#AManWithASelfImageProblem

Last week at church, we read Dan. 3 together.

Below are some thoughts on it.

The events of Dan. 1-4--and esp. those of ch. 3--share numerous contact-points with Gen. 10-11,

where the rise and fall of the tower of Babel is narrated.

As such, the text of ch. 3 has an ominous ring to it.

Acts which are contrary to God’s mind and will are about to occur,

which is never a good thing.

Consider a few notable parallels between the events of Gen. 10-11 and those of Dan. 1-4.

Just as the men of Babel gather the world’s tribes and clans together in the land of Shinar,

so (in Dan. 3) Nebuchadnezzar gathers tribal groups together under the shadow of Babel (cp. 3.2-4, 4.12)--a land pointedly referred to as ‘Shinar’ in Daniel’s first two verses (1.1-2).

Just as Shinar’s inhabitants speak to one another in a common tongue,

so Nebuchadnezzar addresses his people in a common tongue (3.4, 4.1).

Just as the men of Babel draw the world’s towards Shinar by means of a tall vertical structure erected on a plain,

so Nebuchadnezzar assembles his people around a tall structure erected ‘on the plain of Dura’

which he does in order to ‘make a name’/‘create a reputation’ for himself, like the men of Babel (cp. Gen. 11.4 w. 4.30).

Just as the top of Babel’s ancient tower comes into contact with the heavenly realms and hence arouses God’s attention,

so too does Nebuchadnezzar’s tree/kingdom (4.11).

And just as God calls together his heavenly council in response to the men of Babel’s actions (by a chain of plur. cohortatives: נרדה ונבלה שפתם),

so God’s ‘Watcher’ calls together the same heavenly council (by means of plur. impvs.: גדו אילנא וקצצו ענפוהי).

In both cases, heaven descends and breaks up Babel’s party.

Shinar’s inhabitants are dispersed throughout the world, as they should have been in the first place,

while Nebuchadnezzar is driven into the wild (and rendered unable to communicate with his people),

and Babylon falls shortly afterwards,

which allows Israel to return to her land.

As such, our text’s position with the canon of Scripture is instructive.

Ch. 3’s events describe the re-emergence of a spirit of pride of empire in Babel,

and are part of a sequence of events which are destined to end in Babel’s judgment.

God does not want too much power to be concentrated in one man.

Or at least not yet.

(The time for that will come, but not for another 600 years or so, and the person involved will not be Nebuchadnezzar.)

And yet, in Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration (ch. 4), we see a hint of God’s redemptive purposes.

While the languages brought about by Babel’s fall were the product of divine judgment, they will not simply be wiped out.

#GoodNewsForPolyglots

God will ultimately redeem every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev. 5),

just as he redeemed the fallen Nebuchadnezzar.

A *literary* analysis of our text is also instructive.

The most obvious feature of ch. 3’s literary nature is its preoccupation with *lists*.

Personnel are listed (vs. 2, 3, 27),

viz., ‘satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, justices, magistrates’, and a catch-all category, namely ‘every (other) ruler in the province’.

People-groups are listed (vs. 4, 7, 29), viz., ‘tribes, nations, and tongues’.

And musical instruments are listed (vs. 5, 7, 10, 15),

viz., ‘(animal) horns, piped instruments, lyres, zithers, harps, tambours’, and another catch-all category, namely ‘every (other) kind of musical (instrument)’.

These lists are significant in a number of ways.

First, they bring out the immoderate nature of Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony.

Every aspect of Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony is taken to an extreme.

Nebuchadnezzar does not want just Babylon’s natives to be represented; he wants every tribe, tongue, and nation represented.

He does not simply want a few of his more important officials to attend his ceremony; he wants *everyone* present.

And he does not simply want a few choice musical instruments to be played; he wants (quite literally) the whole ensemble.

As such, our text’s lists reflect a king who has lost all sense of proportion and perspective.

Indeed, as the chapter goes on, Nebuchadnezzar’s behaviour becomes more and more extreme.

Nebuchadnezzar seeks not simply to kill his three insubordinate Hebrew servants

(Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego), but to roast them in a furnace heated to seven times its normal temperature (3.19).

And, soon afterwards, he completely reverses his decision,

at which point he threatens to dismember anyone who speaks ill of the Hebrews’ God (3.29),

which is an improvement, but is not exactly the hallmark of a man in control of his mind and emotions.

Second, our text’s lists dictate the flow and tempo of our text,

which serves to enhance its dramatic tension.

As readers, it does not take us long to realise the potential danger posed by Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony,

but we do not know whether Daniel and his friends (and/or other exiles) are present at the ceremony.

Questions therefore form in our minds.

Where is Daniel?

How will Daniel respond to Nebuchadnezzar’s decree?

And what will Nebuchadnezzar do in response?

Ch. 3’s lists make us wait for the answers to these questions,

and hence prolong our suspense.

Indeed, the narrative transitions into virtual slow motion

as it builds to its epic climax in vs. 16-18,

where the three Hebrews emphatically declare they will *not* worship Nebuchadnezzar’s god.

Note: Vs. 16-18 are not only pivotal in thematic terms; they are also pivotal in numeric/textual terms. Dan. 3 consists (in the WLC) of 33 verses, of which vs. 16-18 are the middle three.

#SomebodyGiveMeAChiasmus!

Third, our text’s lists reflect the robotic subservience of Babylon’s officials.

As we work our way through our text’s many lists, we inevitably switch to auto-pilot.

The repitition of lists becomes mechanical and slightly mindless.

As such, it brings out the lack of individuality among Nebuchadnezzar’s people,

and their mindless subservience to his will and decree,

against which backdrop the calm and collected individuality of the Hebrews shines out like a beacon on a hill.

Also important to note is how the Hebrews’ actions disrupts our text’s regularity.

Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony is intended to reflect (and enforce) the harmony and unity of his kingdom,

yet the Hebrews’ actions cause our text’s regularities to dissolve.

When the music plays and the Hebrews refuse to bow down (vs. 7-8), the normal seven-fold list comes up an item short. (The פסנתרין is absent.)

P.S. In modern Hebrew, a פסנתרין is a piano, which I find quite neat.

And, later, when Nebuchadnezzar has to summon his counsellors (הרברי מלכא), the normal list of seven VIPs (plus a catch-all category) collapses to only four (vs. 27).

Hence, as the Hebrews disrupt Nebuchadnezzar’s big moment, they also disrupt the literary harmony of the text.

They are the fly in the ointment of Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony.

Compared to the rest of Dura’s attendees, they march to the beat of a different drum.

Our text’s numerical qualities also repay attention.

In Scripture, as in the modern world, ten is a nice round number:

Laban is said to have changed Jacob’s wages ‘ten times’ (Gen. 31.7);

Job’s friends are said to have reproached him ‘ten times’ (Job 19.3);

and Daniel and his friends are said to have been ‘ten times wiser’ than their rivals (1.20).

The text of ch. 3, however, is built around the number eleven,

which is significant,

since everything in the chapter is taken ‘one step too far’.

The chapter consists of 33 (3 x 11) verses.

Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘image’ (צְלֵם) is referred to 11 times,

The verb ‘stand’ (קום) occurs 11 times.

The word ‘man’ (גְּבַר) occurs 11 times.

The verb ‘worship’ (סגד) occurs 11 times.

And ‘king’ (מלך) occurs 22 (11 x 2) times.

The recurrence of the number 11 in our text also has other implications,

since it reflects the way in which Nebuchadnezzar overreaches himself.

Just as (in ch. 7) the beast’s 11th king arouses heaven’s attention and disapproval,

so too does Nebuchadnezzar’s eleven-fold ceremony.

And, ironically, the final deathblow is dealt to Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony when he sees ‘one figure too many’ in the furnace.

(‘I see four men unbound...in the midst of the fire, the fourth like a son of the gods!’)

Note: The 66 words highlighted above (i.e., ‘image’ x 11 + ‘stand’ x 11 + ‘man’ x 11 + ‘worship’ x 11 + ‘king’ x 22) also resonate with:

a] the measurements of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (60 cubits by 6 cubits), and

b] the issue at the centre of our text (and of the plain of Dura), namely ‘Nebuchadnezzar’s god’, which is referred to in vs. 18 as אלהיך = ‘your god’ = 66 (in gematria).

Ch. 3 has been constructed with great care and attention.

On, then, to the text itself.

At the outset of ch. 3, Nebuchadnezzar constructs an image of gold.

The question arises, Why gold? And why *now*?

The answer lies in ch. 2’s dream.

In ch. 2, Nebuchadnezzar is shown a vision of a colossus...

...with a head of gold, a torso of silver, a mid-section of bronze, and a lower-half of iron and clay.

The head of gold depicts the reign of Nebuchadnezzar himself,

while the other metals depict the reigns of Babylon’s successors (Cyrus, etc.).

As such, the colossus is intended to awaken Nebuchadnezzar from his slumber and complacency:

Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom will soon be replaced by others, and ultimately by *God’s*,

in response to which Nebuchadnezzar should acknowledge God’s authority over his life and reign,

but Nebuchadnezzar instead sets his sights on a different future,

and, in ch. 3, he starts to actualise it by means of a colossus made entirely of gold.

Nebuchadnezzar’s image is not only, therefore, an exercise in self-promotion;

it is a statement of intent.

Its message is clear:

‘There will be no kingdom of silver, nor of bronze, nor of any other material. Babylon, the kingdom of gold, will reign forever; her golden age will experience neither deterioration nor decay!’ (cp. Isa. 47.7).

Of course, given its size, Nebuchadnezzar’s image is unlikely to have been made entirely of gold.

More than likely, it was merely gold-plated, constructed around a clay core (like many of the statues which have been excavated from Babylon),

which (if true) is highly ironic.

Nebuchadnezzar does not like the future which God has revealed to him.

He would rather define his own future,

which he decides to symbolise by means of a golden colossus.

And yet, in his pride, Nebuchadnezzar decides to make the colossus 60 cubits high,

which forces him to involve clay in it.

As a result, the image at the centre of Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony is likely to have been underlain by the very weakness of the image depicted in ch. 2’s dream, namely, elements of ‘clay’!

The image is a monument not to Babylon’s great power and wealth,

but to man’s pride and poverty.

In 3.2-6, Nebuchadnezzar outlines how his ceremony is to proceed.

Its terms are simple: all without exception must bow down before the king’s image.

Nebuchadnezzar will provide music to get people in the mood, as well as a death-threat (as an added incentive).

All he asks is that they bow down before his image.

*Why* they choose to do so is of no concern to him.

As we know, however, before too long, Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony encounters a road block.

As he looks out on a vast sea of submissive subjects, three notable exceptions are still on their feet--namely, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego--,

and, to his great chagrin and frustration, Nebuchadnezzar can do nothing to persuade them to submit to his decree.

He is the most powerful man in the Near East, with a whole army at his beck and call.

And yet the one thing he now wants--viz., his people’s exceptionless unity and obedience--is the one thing he cannot acquire,

for, while Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have been given new names, they remain faithful to their old master.

They have pledged their obedience to a king far greater than Nebuchadnezzar.

The situation finally comes to a head in vs. 17-18,

where the Hebrews state their position in no uncertain terms.

Their words are a model of obedience, courage, and clarity of thought:

‘If our God, whom we serve, (truly) exists’, they say, ‘then he is able to deliver us.

(And both) from the furnace of blazing fire and from your hand he will deliver (us), O King.

But, should he not do so, let (this much) be known to you, O King: we do not render service to your gods, and we will not render worship to the golden image you have caused to stand!’

(Note: My trans. of vs. 17 is informed by its atnach.)

In essence, then, the Hebrews’ claim is as follows:

God is perfectly able to deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace should he choose to do so.

Of that, they have no doubt.

The question is *whether* God will choose to do so, i.e., whether God will be more glorified via the Hebrews’ martyrdom or deliverance (cp. Phil. 1.19).

The three Hebrews seem to *expect* God to deliver them (cp. ‘From your hand he will deliver (us), O King’).

But they do not state that belief with certainty.

All they state with certainty is what they themselves can control, namely, their next course of action,

which is to obey their God and Saviour, come what may.

They have been forced to make a choice: to honour the God of Heaven or to honour the customs of Babylon,

and they have decided to honour God.

If, as a result, they must be thrown to the flames, then so be it.

Of course, they could easily have found a way to justify their actions.

The ceremony, after all, was merely a ritual.

God would surely not be concerned about such minor details as whether they genuflected before a lump of metal, right?

(They needn’t have acknowledged Nebuchadnezzar’s sovereignty in their hearts, which is what ultimately matters, isn’t it?)

But while such gymnastics may have persuaded some people to take the easy way out, the Hebrews were made of sterner stuff,

and, importantly, their obedience did not suddenly arise like a bolt out of the blue.

They had been faithful in smaller matters, such as the issue of what to eat and what to drink (cp. ch. 1),

and, when the more difficult test came, they were therefore able to hold firm.

As Calvin writes,

‘When...death was set before their eyes, they did not turn aside from the straightforward course but saw God’s glory as of greater value than their own lives--nay, than a hundred lives if they had so many to prove their faith.’

A final thought.

Unexpected though it may be, our text resonates with many of the events of Rev. 4-5.

In Rev. 4-5, John is given a vision of a heavenly throne surrounded by heaven’s hosts, arranged in concentric circles.

The inner circle consists of four mighty creatures,

beyond whom are seated twenty-four elders,

beyond whom are assembled the rest of God’s people--men from every tribe and tongue and nation (Rev. 5.9).

As John watches, a song begins in heaven:

it is initiated by the inner creatures,

taken up by the elders, who fall on their faces before the throne of God,

and finally echoed by all God’s people (Rev. 4.8, 4.9-10, 5.8, 5.13).

Nebuchadnezzar’s ceremony parallels these events in a number of noteworthy ways.

Nebuchadnezzar’s image stands in place of the throne of God--the focal-point of Babylon’s worship.

It is surrounded by men of various degrees of importance (hence ch. 3’s lists of personnel).

And, as our text unfolds, it follows the course of Rev. 4-5.

A song begins in the centre of Dura’s assembly, which slowly ripples outwards as it is taken up by men from every tribe, nation, and tongue,

each of whom falls on his face in worship before Nebuchadnezzar.

As such, ch. 3 reflects Nebuchadnezzar’s remarkable pride and arrogance.

But, of course, while its events parallels those of Rev. 4-5 in various ways, they are distinguished from them by two important features.

First, whereas Babylon’s worship is directed towards an unworthy tyrant, heaven’s is directed towards a king who is entirely worthy of all praise and adoration (Rev. 4.11).

Second, whereas Babylon’s worship was coerced, heaven’s is given freely,

for heaven’s king has won the hearts and affections of his people and has led them to freely worship him in heaven’s courts.

And, remarkably, if I read ch. 4’s events right, Nebuchadnezzar himself is even now among their number, lost in wonder before the king of heaven’s throne!

The end.

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