The third chapter of Daniel follows the same pattern as the first two: Nebuchadnezzar begins by making threats against those who do not bow to his every whim, and ends with his humbly admitting the Lord's power.

The similarities between the dramatic vision of the statue in chapter two and actually building an image in chapter three are not, however, mere repetition. Close attention to the detail in this chapter will show how in its pursuit of domination the selfish side of human nature continues to try to dominate, even though we might consciously submit to the Lord.

This third chapter opens with a huge image created by Nebuchadnezzar. The actual dimensions are important, not because of their physical impact, but because of the spiritual concepts they contain. Similarly, the impossibility of it being made from gold should not interfere with the spiritual exposition of the verse. The literal sense of the story is important only as a means of bringing out the spiritual sense.

This entire image was made of gold. But like the head of the statue in the previous chapter, this is not the gold representing love to the Lord, but self love. Every good correspondence also has an opposite sense.

The statue is described as sixty cubits tall, and six cubits wide. The recurring number "six" takes meaning from its contrast to the number immediately following. "Seven" is a state of fullness and completeness—the Lord rested on the seventh day of creation, clean animals entered the ark in sevens, we should forgive others "up to seventy times seven." As seven contains this sense of completeness, six represents a state of incompleteness.

"Six" is often used to describe the process of regeneration, especially in the creation series, and in the Ten Commandments. In the six days of creation, people are tempted and in a state of conflict, which must be overcome for the person to regenerate (AC 8494, 8539:2, 8888). The conflict illustrated in this chapter is between our sense of selfishness and our emerging conscience.

The number sixty is the fullness of this conflict, as sixty is a six multiplied by ten. If six represents the conflicts of temptation, ten represents completeness (AC 3107, 4638, 8468, 9416), or fullness of that conflict.

Ideally, the states of goodness, truth and their mutual expression should be equal. The shape representing a regenerate person would be a perfect cube, as described by "the Holy City coming down from God out of heaven" (Revelation 21:2).

But Nebuchadnezzar's image vastly different from this ideal: it was tall and narrow — ten times taller than it was wide, and no depth is described. It comes across as one dimensional, disproportionate, its most compelling feature the gold from which it is made.

As in the second chapter, Nebuchadnezzar calls together his advisers: before, it was astrologers and wise men. In this chapter he calls together the governors of his kingdom: the satraps, administrators and so on. When the Word speaks of governors, it speaks of our loves, because we are ruled and governed by loves. The list here gives a hierarchy of loves from the top, or ruling loves, down to the lesser affections we have.

We are shown our state when that ruling love is Nebuchadnezzar: he dominates the scene, his word is law. He controls a vast empire and has absolute control over life and death. Thus Nebuchadnezzar can summon his governors and order them around with the same ease with which he called together the wise men and demanded the impossible from them.

At the sound of music, his whole empire was to fall down and worship the gold image erected by the king. Music is used as a means of summoning the rulers of the land because if those men represent our various loves and affections, so music speaks to our loves.

If Nebuchadnezzar represents our selfishness and love of control, the Chaldeans come into the picture as a confirmation of this selfishness. The essence of profanation—evil pretending to be good—is the misuse of goodness and truth for one's own ends. Any state of genuine good or truth resisting this misuse would come into conflict with it.

Thus the Chaldeans with great enthusiasm name Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego who do not serve the king nor worship his golden image. By using their Babylonian names, they are refusing to recognize truth as coming from the Word. This is the very heart of profanation: to know something is from the Word, even to acknowledge it as such, and yet to deny it—just as those Chaldeans must have known that the three men were Jews, and that their Babylonian names were not truly their own. It is the ultimate denial of their identity, just as profanation is the ultimate denial of the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar's life is first of military conquest and the expansion of his empire. This conquest comes with the dominion of religious things. Thus it was not out of character for him to command worship. As the love of self progresses, it demands greater and greater things, until it demands to be treated as the Lord Himself (AR 717).

"The evil of the love of self is not, as is generally thought, that external elation which is called pride, but it is hatred against the neighbor, and thence a burning desire for revenge, and delight in cruelty. These are the interiors of the love of self. Its exteriors are contempt for others in comparison with self, and an aversion to those who are in spiritual good, and this sometimes with manifest elation or pride, and sometimes without it. For one who holds the neighbor in such hatred, inwardly loves no one but himself and those whom he regards as making one with himself, thus he loves them in himself, and himself in them for the sole end of self" (AC 4750:5).

Each person in this world is capable of giving freedom to these feelings, and if we do, soon we find ourselves doing what Nebuchadnezzar did: demanding that people see the world through our own personal spectacles, and roundly damning them to hell if they do not.

As we saw earlier, Daniel represents the conscience developing in opposition to our selfish states. Conscience is the activity of truth leading and guiding our minds towards a life in harmony with the Lord's. The conscience, however, must be made up of individual truths, truths applicable to different parts of our lives. We have a set of truths to govern marriage, work ethic, social interaction, and so on.

These individual truths are Daniel's Hebrew companions. Each time we have seen them, they have stood on their belief in God, but each time at Daniel's leadership. This time they stand alone, willing to confront the imperial wrath and face death for their belief.

The consequences were, of course, dire. Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage, demanding that the young men be cast into a fiery furnace, heated to seven times its normal heat. The young men were prepared to accept this punishment rather than retract their belief in the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar tried to scare the three men by heating the furnace to hotter than normal, which well describes the actions of evil spirits in temptation who,

"act against the affections of truth that make the conscience: as soon as they perceive anything of conscience, of whatever kind, then from the falsities and failings in the man they form to themselves an affection; and by means of this they cast a shade over the light of truth, and so pervert it; or they induce anxiety and torture him" (AC 1820:4).

The time the young men spend in the furnace represents a state of temptation, which occurs for the sake of regeneration (AE 439). Most simply defined, temptation is a battle between two sides within us, where the natural, or selfish side is subdued. Up until then, selfishness is seen as simply being a part of us, the way we are (AC 1820). In temptation, this self-image is changed, and we learn to see ourselves in the light of heaven (AE 439).

The power of the evil spirits is greatly illusory. Just as Nebuchadnezzar fell back after resistance, so the spirits also withdraw when we resist them. The greatest temptation we face is believing the Lord is unable to help us in our times of great need. If we cling to the believe that He can and does give help, then facing our inner selfishness becomes less difficult. The image the men were commanded to worship was, after all, an immobile object of gold, disproportionate and one-dimensional. Our selfishness is like that: seemingly monolithic, and yet devoid of any real life. Its attractions fade when seen in the light of heaven. Spiritual resistance is not so difficult, and the results give strength:

"Victories are attended with the result that the malignant genii and spirits afterward dare not do anything; for their life consists in their being able to destroy, and when they perceive that a man is of such a character that he can resist then at the first onset they flee away, as they are wont to do when they draw near to the first entrance to heaven, for they are at once seized with horror and terror, and hurl themselves backward" AC 1820.

Nebuchadnezzar is brought to awareness and appreciation of the power of the Lord, this time, with his own senses. There is a power in his acquiescence after witnessing the four men in the fiery furnace that is far more dramatic than his incredulity after Daniel foretold the dream in chapter two. This time he actually saw the power of the furnace, so strong that those who cast the three men in were killed by its heat, yet he saw the three men walk out unscathed. This proved the power of God to him more than anything before.

We see something of this process in the final verses of Chapter three, where Nebuchadnezzar praises the Lord, showing a new humility impossible for him before. As a result, the affection of truth begins to rule in place of the former selfish loves. Thus we see Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego promoted in the province of Babylon, presumably in place of the Babylonian satraps, administrators, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the officials of the province who responded to Nebuchadnezzar's call to worship the gold image.

313. Verse 6. And I saw, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders, signifies in the whole heaven, and especially in the inmost heavens. This is evident from the signification of "in the midst," as being the inmost, and therefore the whole (of which presently); from the signification of "throne," as being heaven in the whole complex (of which above, n. 253; from the signification of "the four animals" as being the Lord's providence and guard that heaven be not approached except through the good of love (of which see above, n. 277; and as that guard is especially in the third or inmost heaven, since all who are there are in the good of love to the Lord from the Lord, that heaven is signified especially by "the four animals" (which will be more clearly seen from what follows in this chapter). It is also evident from the signification of "elders" as being those who are in truths from good (of which also see above n. 270; here, therefore, those who are in the middle or second heaven, since all who are there are in truths from good; for there are these two heavens, the third and second, distinguished from each other by this, that those in the third heaven are in love to the Lord, and those in the second in charity towards the neighbor; those in charity towards the neighbor are in truths from good. From this it can be seen what is especially signified by the "four animals" and the "elders."

[2] But the "four animals" signify in general all Divine good in the whole heaven, which guards; and the "elders" signify in general all Divine truth proceeding from Divine good in the whole heaven; both guard because they are united; thus "the four animals and the elders," together, signify Divine good united to Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and therefore the entire angelic heaven, but especially the two inmost heavens. This is so for the reason that angels are not angels from what is their own [ex proprio], but from the Divine good and the Divine truth that they receive; for it is the Divine with them, that is, the Divine received by them, that causes them to be angels, and causes heaven, which is made up of them, to be called heaven (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 2-12, 51-86).

[3] That "the midst" or "in the midst" signifies the inmost, and therefore the whole, can be seen from many passages in the Word; but first let something be said to explain whence it is that because "the midst" signifies the inmost it also signifies the whole. This may be illustrated by comparison with light, with the sun, with the arrangement of all in the heavens, and also of all who are of the church on earth. By comparison with light: Light in the midst propagates itself round about or from the center to circumferences in every direction; and because from the inmost it is propagated and fills the spaces around, thence "in the midst" signifies also the whole. By comparison with the sun: The sun is in the midst because it is the center of its universe; because from it are the heat and light in its system, therefore the sun "in the midst" signifies its presence in every direction, or throughout the whole. By comparison with the arrangement of all in the heavens: There are three heavens, and the inmost of them is the third heaven; this flows into the two lower heavens, and makes them to be one with it by communication which is effected by influx from the inmost. Moreover, in every society of the heavens that which is inmost is also the most perfect; those, therefore, who are round about in that society are in light and intelligence according to their degree of distance from the inmost (See in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 43, 50, 189). By comparison with those who are in the church on earth: The Lord's church is spread through the whole world; but its inmost is where the Lord is known and acknowledged, and where the Word is; from that inmost, light and intelligence are propagated to all who are round about and are of the church, but this propagation of light and intelligence is effected in heaven (of which see in the work on Heaven and Hell 308). From this it can be seen that "the midst" or "in the midst," as it signifies the inmost, signifies also the whole. This makes clear what is meant by "I saw, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing," namely, the Lord in respect to His Divine Human, in the whole heaven, and especially in the inmost heavens.

[4] "The midst" also signifies the inmost, and therefore the whole, in many passages in the Word, as in the following. In Isaiah:

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee (Isaiah 12:6).

"Inhabitant of Zion" signifies the like as "daughter of Zion," namely, the celestial church, that is the church that is in the good of love to the Lord; "great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee" signifies the Lord, that He is everywhere and throughout the whole there.

[5] In David:

We have considered Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple. As is Thy name, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth (Psalms 48:9-10).

"Temple" signifies the church that is in truths from good which is called a spiritual church; "in the midst of it" is in its inmost, and thence in the whole of it; therefore it is said, "as is Thy name, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth," meaning even to the ultimates of the church, the "earth" is the church.

[6] In the same:

God is my King of old, working salvations in the midst of the earth (Psalms 74:12);

"working salvations in the midst of the earth" signifying in every direction.

[7] In the same:

God stood in the congregation of God, in the midst of the gods He will judge (Psalms 82:1).

"The congregation of God" signifies heaven; "in the midst of the gods" signifies with all angels there, thus in the whole heaven; for the angels are called gods from the Divine truth that they receive from the Lord, for "God" in the Word signifies the Lord in respect to Divine truth proceeding from Him, and constituting heaven (See above, n. 24, 130, 220a, 222a, 302).

[8] In Moses:

Behold, I send an angel before thee; beware of his face, since My name is in the midst of him (Exodus 23:20-21).

"Angel" here, in the highest sense, means the Lord; "My name in the midst of him," means that all Divine good and Divine truth are in him (See above, n. 102, 135, 224).

[9] In Luke:

Jesus said of the last times, Then let them that are in Judea flee on the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out (Luke 21:21).

This treats of the consummation of the age, by which is meant the last time of the church, when judgment takes place. "Judea" does not mean Judea, but the church; and the "mountains" do not mean mountains, but the good of love to the Lord; and as these things are said respecting the end of the church, it is clear what is signified by "let them that are in Judea flee on the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out;" namely, that when judgment takes place all those of the church who are in the good of love to the Lord shall be safe.

[10] In Isaiah:

In that day shall Israel be third to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land; whom Jehovah shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isaiah 19:24-25).

"Israel" means the spiritual of the church; "Assyria" the rational of the men thereof; and "Egypt" cognitions and knowledges [cognitiones et scientifica]. From this it can be seen what is signified by "Israel shall be the third to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land," namely, that everything there shall be spiritual, both the rational and the recognizing and knowing faculty [cognitivum et scientificum]; for when the inmost is spiritual, which is truth from good, then the rational also which is therefrom is spiritual, and likewise the knowing faculty, for both are formed from the inmost, which is truth from good, or the spiritual.

[11] In Jeremiah:

My heart in the midst of me is broken, all my bones are shattered (Jeremiah 23:9).

"The heart broken in the midst of me" signifies grief from inmosts to ultimates, that is, through the whole; therefore it is also said, "all my bones are shattered," "bones" signifying the ultimates.

[12] In the following passages, also, "in the midst" signifies in the whole, or throughout the whole. In Isaiah:

It shall be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the peoples, as the beating of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is completed (Isaiah 24:13).

These things were said of the church vastated in respect to good and to truth, and in which there is nothing but evil and falsity. "In the midst of the earth" means that throughout the whole of the church there is evil; and "in the midst of the peoples" means that throughout the whole of it there is falsity; therefore it is compared to "the beating of an olive-tree," and to "the gleanings left when the vintage is completed;" "olive" signifying the good of the church, "vintage" the truth thereof, and "beating" and "gleanings" thereof signify vastation.

[13] In David:

They search out perversities, for the midst of men and the heart are deep (Psalms 64:6).

The "midst of man" means the intellectual where truth should be; and the "heart" the voluntary where good should be; here, both of these perverted, the latter into evil, and the former into falsity.

[14] In the same:

There is no certainty in the mouth of anyone; perdition is their midst (Psalms 5:9).

In the same:

They bless with their mouth, but in their midst they curse (Psalms 62:4).

In the same:

The saying of the transgression to the wicked in the midst of my heart is, there is no dread of God before his eyes (Psalms 36:1).

In Jeremiah:

They have taught their tongue to speak a lie: their ¹ dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me (Jeremiah 9:5-6).

Also in these and in many other passages, "in the midst" signifies in the whole, because in the inmost; for such as the inmost is, such is the whole; since from the inmost all the rest are brought forth and derived, as the body is from its soul; the inmost of everything is also what is called the soul. For example: The inmost of man is his will and understanding therefrom, and such as is the will and the understanding, thence, such is the whole man; so again, the inmost of man is his love and faith therefrom, and such as is his love and the faith, thence such is the whole man.

[15] That the whole man is such as his midst or inmost is, is also the meaning of the Lord's words in Matthew:

The lamp of the body is the eye; if the eye be good the whole body is light; if the eye be evil the whole body is darkened (Matthew 6:22-23).

The "eye" signifies man's understanding (See above, n. 37, 152), if this is good, that is, if it is made up of truths that are from good, the whole man is such, which is signified by "the whole body is light;" but on the other hand, if the understanding is made up of the falsities of evil, the whole man is such, as is signified by "the whole body is darkened." The eye is called "good;" but in the Greek the eye is called "single," and "single," means that there is unity, and there is unity when truth is from good, or the understanding is from the will. Also, the "right eye" signifies the understanding of good, and the "left eye" the understanding of truth; if these make one, there is a "single eye," thus a "good eye."

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