I was challenged in Ruach this morning by Sam Bloom who asked “Where already?”  He was referring to my dilatoriness in just teasingly mentioning I will shortly get to write my novel about Nebuchadnezzar’s Pillar.  He was right!  I should stop avoiding confronting this thing and, perhaps, stop teasing my readers with the novel only yet written in my head and not completely on paper. I will begin by introducing you to Nebuchadnezzar who erected the pillar which is the name of the novel. I am referring to Daniel 3 and I am simply copying down the words in my
copy of the Gideon New Testament which is a slim volume and sits on the shelf over my desk.  What you see next is what is written in that Book of Daniel, Chapter 3.

(1). “Neb-u-chad-nez’zar the king made an image of gold, whose height wasthreescore cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up on theplain of Du’ra in the province of Babylon.

2. Then Neb-u-chad-nez’zar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Neb-u-chad-nez’zar the king had set up.

3. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Neb-u-chad-nez’zar had set up.

4. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

5. That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Neb-u-chad-nez’zar hath set up:

6. And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Daniel declined the invitation and then comes the story of how he andtwo others escaped burning in that fiery furnace.

The rest of the novel seeks to unravel the mystery of what happened tothe approximately 90 feet tall pillar which the desert of Dur’a, might retain bits of evidence of that image. The Jews, of course, could not use images and certainly not worship them