THE GOLDEN IMAGE
If you ask a Christian what the number 666 represents, they will tell you it is the mark of the beast. But are they right? Not any more than when they say that if you don’t believe in Christ you will be thrown into hell and tormented for eternity, or any number of like errors to which they blindly ascribe. As it is written in Isaiah 5:20, they “call evil good, and good evil.” But how can they know otherwise, for they lack understanding; and without understanding, their “knowledge” is entirely faulty. They do not have the eyes to see truth, especially the depths of truth, but look only at things on the surface, and that at best.
In Daniel 3 regarding the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar made, we see an account that Christians regard as a warning against idolatry. But let us examine it more closely.
First, who was Nebuchadnezzar? He bore a title that is specifically relevant to Yahshua – “king of kings.” In Revelation 17:14 and 19:16 Yahshua is called the “King of kings.” But in Daniel 2:37 and Ezekiel 26:7 Nebuchadnezzar is equally given that revered title. And in Jeremiah 25:9, 27:6, and 43:10, he is called Yahweh’s servant – “My servant,” a title, once again, equally ascribed to Yahshua (Matthew 12:18, Isaiah 42:1). So who was Nebuchadnezzar? In prophetic type, he was Yahshua, the King of kings and “My Servant.” We cannot go into all the types and pictures per this man, but will address two, and particularly concentrate on this one regarding the golden image.
In Daniel 4:16 we read that Nebuchadnezzar received the mind of a beast and seven periods of time passed over Him. So how did Yahshua fulfill this most unusual account? And in like regard, how was Yahshua a tree that grew large and became strong and its height stretched to heaven and was visible to the whole earth and all the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky found their place in it, and because of pride will be cut down (Daniel 4:11-12)? Surely you know. Yahshua has come to this earth as the body of Christ, Christianity, and all of this that we read here became true per that body. And this will indeed be true regarding being cut down as well.
Thus we clearly see that in Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic representation of Yahshua, he foreshadowed the establishment, extensiveness, corruption, and because of pride, the fall of Christianity, the body of Christ. So what else did Nebuchadnezzar represent in his place as Yahshua? He made a “golden image.”
In Genesis 1:26-27 and 9:6 we read that God created man – “in our image, according to our likeness”; and like Nebuchadnezzar, man was to rule over the entire earth. And in Genesis 5:3, Adam brought forth “a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.”
The Hebrew word used here for “image” in these five occasions (twice in vs. 27) is “tselem” (#6754). In the New American Standard, that identical word (though listed as #6755) is used eleven times in Daniel 3 regarding the “golden image” that Nebuchadnezzar made. In fact, translated “image,” these are the only two occasions in the Scriptures where this Hebrew word is used. All the other times when referring to a molten or graven image per an idol, a completely different Hebrew word is used. Furthermore, in the sixty-plus cases when reference is made to a graven/molten “image” or “images,” it is always a different Hebrew word. Only four times is the word “tselem” used to refer to an idol, and that always in a plural usage – “images.” So what can all of this mean?
First, since Nebuchadnezzar, in prophetic type, is Yahshua, we see testified that Yahshua makes a golden image. This is very important! And, used here eleven times per that image, it is the identical word that was used in the creation of man in His image. Also, gold speaks of the pure kingdom of God, and even of Yahshua Himself. Thus, Yahweh/Yahshua made man, and equally makes a golden image per the kingdom. (If you are thinking of something negative at this point, you are in for a surprise.)
In Daniel 2, our prophetic Yahshua also saw in a dream the “statue” (once again, tselem) with the head of gold, the breast of silver, the belly of bronze, and the legs of iron. Yahshua is of course the head of “fine gold,” the Remnant is the breast of silver, Christianity is the belly of bronze, and the nations are the legs of iron. And equally, it is Yahshua who establishes all of these parts/works as well. They are His divine creation, His divine order.
So, what is this “golden image” that Yahshua makes, formed of the same element as the Head of gold, and made in an “image” that is a repeat of creation when Yahweh made man in their “image”?
Before we answer this, let us consider some other questions. We read in Daniel 3:2 that all the “satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces” were brought together before the golden image. We know that Daniel was the “ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon” (2:48). We also know that Nebuchadnezzar brought far more than just four Jews to Babylon when he captured Jerusalem. In 2 Kings 24:16 we read that there were in fact 7,000 men of valor, and Daniel 1:6 tells us that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were only four of those “among them.”
So the question is – Why weren’t Daniel and any of the others thrown into the furnace? Obviously, they bowed down! So was Daniel guilty of “idol worship” by bowing down to the golden image? There certainly did not seem to be any consequences in his relationship with Yahweh for doing so. And you can be sure he was there, for he was the chief prefect over all the wise men. The fact is, this account is highly prophetic and is immensely relevant to this hour.
It is also quite striking that Daniel is continually referred to by his Hebrew name, while in contrast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are continually referred to by their Babylonian names. It is also quite noteworthy that there were three of these Babylonian-named men, or a representation of the number of years that Christianity was supposed to receive per the kingdom – 3,000. In fact, there is even more here that is strikingly familiar.
In Zechariah 13:9 we read that the third part of Christianity is likewise thrown into a fire – “And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.” Is this not precisely what happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego? Were they not equally cast into the fire and it burned away the “dross,” the bonds that had once held them? Thus these three Babylonian-named men reveal the third part of the church that is cast into the fire.
Furthermore, this third part of the church coincides with the Millennial reign, the time period when stacking the eighth day on the seventh (The Issue – II, page 12) makes it possible for Yahshua to return. This means that Yahshua would be present in the third-part Millennial reign. Therefore, who was in the third-part fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego? Was it not likewise the Son of God (Daniel 3:25)? What we see here then is that three-part Babylonian-named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who were cast into the fire in Yahshua’s presence, and their bonds were burned off of them, clearly represent the third part of the church that, as written in Zechariah 13:7-9, passes through the fire and is refined in the Millennial reign in Yahshua’s presence.
There are two other testimonies here that are quite revealing and similarly confirming. First, we notice that the fire into which the three were thrown was heated “seven times more than it was usually heated” (3:19). What is the number seven? It is the mark of the beast that is specifically identified with Christianity. But what other testimony do we have?
In Daniel 3:1 we see that the golden image was “set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.” The Hebrew word “dura” (#1757) comes from the word “dur” (#1753), which means “to dwell.” The word “dur” is used seven times in the Scriptures, and all seven are in Daniel – 2:38, 4:1, 12, 21, twice in 35, and 6:25. In each case it refers to those whom Nebuchadnezzar (and Darius) ruled over, including in prophetic testimony the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field. These seven usages testify to the very residents of the place where Dura was located – in Babylon. Once again we see mark-of-the-beast mystery Babylon Christianity.
Having seen this unmistakable parallel, this raises the critical question – What was it that these three men did, or did not do, that caused them to be cast into the seven-times-hotter fire? They refused to bow down to the golden image made by the king of kings.
It is interesting that there is no other description about this image, other than its size – “the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits“ (2:1). Its actual appearance is a mystery; all we know is that it was an “image,” the same word for man’s creation in the “image” of Yahweh. Many Christians like to take these two dimensions and add the number of musical instruments (six) and make it the “antichrist” – 666. But by what we now know about Christianity, we can fully expect they will be 180 degrees wrong, … and such they are once again!
Six is the number of man, and 666 is perfect man, or the Bride perfected by the latter rain and immortality. Thus 60 and 6, or 66, must be a man as well – a witness. Also, this man is created by Yahshua (Nebuchadnezzar), and he is made in an image like unto Him – gold. Who could it be that if others do not “bow down” to, they will be thrown into the third-part fire in the Millennial reign?
In A Lesson From Intercession, page 4, we see the vital necessity of touching the head of the golden rod in order to be delivered from death. Without question, the former rain came because the head of the Golden Rod, Yahshua, was touched. We also saw the great necessity that there be a second golden rod in order for there to be the latter rain. While Yahshua is indeed the head of gold in the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in Daniel 2, there is no question that the golden image that he made, wherein if one does not bow down to it will be cast into the third-part Millennial reign fire, is the second golden rod.
And furthermore, these two golden rods are clearly the like “two golden pipes” in verse 12 of the highly revealing vision in Zechariah 4, “which empty the golden from themselves” – the kingdom truths which you are receiving now. Thus, the two golden rods = the two golden pipes.
What does all of this mean for today? In Acts 3:22-23 we read quotes from Deuteronomy 18:15 and 19:
"Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.
And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'”
In The Love of Money, page 14 we clearly see that the prophet spoken of here is the second golden rod, the twelfth apostle who is raised up in the last days to repair the breach and complete Yahweh’s covenant with man (Shelah and Clay of Spittle, page 5). We will get straight to the point. Everyone who will not accept the message of this “golden image” that the King of kings makes, and follow the instruction that he sets forth, will be utterly cut off from the Remnant Bride and not reign with her, but will be cast into the Millennial reign where the fire will refine them as silver and test them as gold. It is the rejection of this “golden image” today that will determine every man’s fate in the Millennium, and forever.
Someone may object that Yahweh surely would not use a common man in this way. But remember, Yahweh can and will place His glory on the common, even as we see in 1 Samuel 6 where the return of the ark of the covenant to the field of Yahshua following seven months (again, mark-of-the-beast Christianity), was accompanied by “golden mice and the likenesses of their hemorrhoids” (vs. 11). Accompanying the ark on its return journey were “golden mice” and “golden hemorrhoids” (vss. 17-18). It is most striking, once again, that the word “likeness,” which is used here three times (vss. 5 and 11), is the same Hebrew word per the “golden image” – “tselem.”
In Daniel 3:1 we see that the image was built in Dura of Babylon, and in Acts 3:22 the second golden rod is nothing more than a man “like me from your brethren.” He is nothing more than a golden mouse and golden hemorrhoid, raised up out of Christianity, but prepared by Yahweh to stand in the office made possible by the first golden rod, Yahshua.
This man is encouraged that on one occasion when he was complaining to Yahweh regarding a thrift store He had called him to start and operate, saying – “I did not ask for this business; it was not my idea, and it is not my business; it is Your business, and it looks like You could do a better job running Your business,” that He answered and said – “I’m not running a business; I’m building a man.” A golden image, I trust.
It is indeed fitting that the actual appearance of this “golden image” that Nebuchadnezzar made is a mystery, for its prophetic testimony and fulfillment is likewise a mystery, concealed until these last days. And it is revealing that the word “image” was used eleven times in Daniel, the number of the first apostles, less the unique Elijah fulfillment. It is in fact the golden image in this last day that represents those first eleven, and completes their number by Yahweh restoring that office to a man, it having been occupied by Satan for nearly 2,000 years.
Today Yahweh is revealing truth through a man, a golden rod, a golden pipe, a golden image, even a golden hemorrhoid, that if you reject will cause you to be cast into the Millennial fire reserved for the third part of Christianity.
My gratefulness to Yahweh for using David Shepherd to first see much of the things that are revealed here.
E-Mail your comments or ask to be notified of
future publications