Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar was one of the greatest Babylonian kings over Babylon. He was known as a builder of cities. He is described in the Bible as one of the foreign rulers God used for his purposes.
One of Neb's downfalls was he thought of himself as a god and he was persuaded to build a gold statue that all were to worship. This was a large human statue that was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. Failure to worship the image would incur death by fire. The three compatriots of Daniel refused and were thrown into a furnace from which the Lord delivered them unhurt. In Daniel, chapter 3 we can read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. His weaknesses included he became extremely proud, which led to a bout of insanity. He also tended to forget the demonstrations of God's power he witnessed, he was a slow learner.
We can learn the following lessons from Nebuchadnezzar's life:
-History records the actions of God's willing servants and those who were his unwitting tools.
-A leader's greatness is affected by the quality of his advisers.
-Uncontrolled pride is self-destructive.
Nebuchadnezzar's story is told in 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 21-52; and Daniel 1-4
'Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.' Daniel 3:24-25
until the next time...nel
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