Worship

From Unshaken on Youversion

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭3:1‭-‬7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In many ancient cultures, statues were often worshipped. Babylon wasn’t any different. In ancient Babylon, kings themselves, in addition to gods, were also worshipped through the use of statues. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream inspired this gold image, and his initial hope was to use this giant idol as a unifying prop to centralize worship. Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t just want to be king. He wants people to worship him as a god. 

Worship and power go together. As followers of Christ, we must be aware of what “powers and rulers” in the world demand our worship. In Jesus’ time, Caesar demands what belongs to Caesar and also demands what belongs to God. We cannot let worldly things, no matter how important, be MORE important than the worship of our God and King. All things not of God are short-lived.

Lucky for us, we can be confident that our worship is towards a God who can faithfully see us through every season.

Reflection Questions:

1. What about your faith makes you confident?