most scholars believe the statue was an idol, image, of himself, or possibly his father. Anyway it was of a man. Romans 1 discusses idols of men, or humankind.
What statue - idol - image?
What verse in Dan 4 - are you talking about?
In Dan 2 & 3 he accepts and calls YHVH the Most High God.
Dan 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said,
Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
Dan 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the
king made an image of gold, whose height
was threescore cubits,
and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace,
and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of
the most high God, come forth, and come
hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill:
because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
Dan 4:2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God (see 3:1) hath wrought toward me. (
The gold statue is probably of YHVH.)
SO - Nebuchadnezzar has already accepted YHVH as the Most High God at this point. An image of himself is not the problem. We are told the problem.
Dan 4:24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this
is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
Dan 4:25 That
they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee,
till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots;
thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Dan 4:28
All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29
At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
And this is why --- as per 25 - till thou know HE GIVES IT. Twelve months later he says I and MY and and while he is still speaking self aggrandizement - the prophesy comes true.
Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon,
that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, and
for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,
saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken;
The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee,
until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
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