Nebuchadnezzar

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= Introduction =

Nebuchadnezzar was the reigning Babylonian king during the Minor Prophets Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel. He was also the ruler during the reigns of the Israelite kings, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. He was one of the greatest rulers in the history of Babylon. His pride in his great accomplishments led to his later downfall and humiliation recorded in Daniel. He also played a major in the downfall of Jerusalem. God used Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His plan and conquer Israel, sending them into exile.

= Historical Setting =

Nebuchadnezzar was the oldest son of Nabopolassar, who was the founder of the Chaldean Empire. He was not of royal birth, but was instead a governor who was popularly voted to the position of leadership during unrest in the Assyrian Empire. During his reign as well as the reign of his son, he built many temples and ziggurats in addition to rebuilding the older ones. He also made Babylon the new capital of the newly formed Chaldeans in 625 BC, from which they were henceforth called Babylonians. His reign took place after the fall of Nineveh as prophesied in Nahum.

= Biography =

As a young Prince
The year of Nebuchadnezzar’s birth is uncertain, yet it is not likely he was born before 630 BC because according to tradition, he began his military career at a young age appearing as a military administrator in 610 BC. He is first mentioned by his father as a laborer in the restoration of the temple of Marduk, who was the chief god of the Babylonians. At around 607 BC, young Nebuchadnezzar, now the crown prince, led an army with his father to the mountains near Assyria, there performing many independent operations after his father returned to Babylon. Later, when Egypt invaded, he took his father’s place as head of the army and defeated the Egyptians, securing the whole region of Syria. When His father died in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon and assumed the throne three weeks later.[i]

As leader of Babylon
As Nebuchadnezzar grew his empire, he made expeditions in Syria and Palestine from June to December of 604, and conquered many local states, including Judah. He began to hire Greek mercenaries into his armies[ii], which allowed him to further his campaigns and extend Babylonian control in Palestine throughout the next three years. On the last occasion, between 601-600 BC, “Nebuchadnezzar clashed with an Egyptian army, with heavy losses; this reverse was followed by the defection of certain vassal states, Judah among them.”[iii] This brought an intermission in the series of annual campaigns in 600 BC, while Nebuchadnezzar retreated to Babylonia to repair his losses of chariots. He began again in the beginning of 599 BC from December to March. Nebuchadnezzar’s strategic planning appeared in his attack on the Arab tribes of northwestern Arabia, in preparation for the occupation of Judah.

Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim was one of the sons of Josiah who assumed the throne after his father died and his older brother was taken to captivity in Egypt by Pharaoh Necho.[iv] When the new Chaldean Empire, under the newly crowned Nebuchadnezzar II, later defeated Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish (605 BC), Jehoiakim changed his allegiance from the Egyptian king to Nebuchadnezzar. He remained loyal for three years and revolted against Nebuchadnezzar despite Jeremiah the prophet’s warnings who saw events much more clearly. After several battles and invasions, Nebuchadnezzar led the final invasion against Judah and besieged Jerusalem (598 BC). King Jehoiakim died before the siege began and was succeeded by his son.[v]

Jehoiachin - End of the Davidic dynasty
Once Jehoiakim died, Jehoiachin succeeded his father’s throne in the midst of the Babylonian siege. He then surrendered the capital to the Babylonians on March 16, 597 BC, and was taken to Babylon with many of his subjects. This was the deportation described in Jeremiah 39 and 52. After Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, he pillaged the city as well as the temple, which suffered at his hands as he removed the temple treasures and destroyed the building. Later, in 587 or 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar returned and completely destroyed the city and Temple, and the Hebrew captivity began. “This destruction and the deportations of Jews to Babylonia in 586 and 582 were seen as fulfillments of prophecy and, therefore, strengthened Judaic religious beliefs and awakened the hope for the reestablishment of the independent Jewish state.”[vi]

Zedekiah
Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, was placed on the throne by the Babylonians after the death of Jehoiachin. His name was then changed to Zedekiah(reign lasted from 597–586 BC). His reign ended the Davidic line, which seemed to the Israelites that God had abandoned them. Zedekiah was just a puppet leader, who did the bidding of the Babylonians. “Under his rule the rebuilding of the city began and a new hope for the future grew among the inhabitants.”[vii] During this time, some became convinced that the exiles were going to return soon, but Jeremiah said otherwise (Jeremiah 28:10). Zedekiah was also more inclined to follow Jeremiah’s counsel than Jehoiakim had been but was weak and vacillating and whose court was torn by conflict between pro-Babylonian and pro-Egyptian parties. After paying Babylonia tribute for nearly 10 years, the King made an alliance with Egypt. A second time Nebuchadnezzar sent an army to Jerusalem, which he captured in August 586. Zedekiah was then taken to Nebuchadnezzar, and after watching his sons executed, he was blinded and taken prisoner to Babylon.[viii]

= Association with Prophets in the Exile =

Daniel
The prophet Daniel was a significant figure in Babylonian history as well as Nebuchadnezzar’s (Daniel 1-4:37). Chapters 4 and 5 deal with Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, as well as the fall of Babylon. Chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 are a brief description of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Jerusalem. Verses 3-7 tell how Daniel and his friends were attempted to be indoctrinated by the Babylonians as they tried to erase the Jew’s culture. In chapter two, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream after none of his advisors could. In chapter three Nebuchadnezzar forces his nation to worship an idol he had made, but Daniel’s friends would not. In chapter four, the climax of Daniel’s ministry under Nebuchadnezzar is seen when God humbles the great king after warning him against his pride. In the end, he admits that Yahweh is ruler over all.

Ezekiel
“Ezekiel’s ministry was conducted in Jerusalem and Babylon in the first three decades of the 6th century BC”[ix] He prophesied the fall of Tyre, which after a short while, Nebuchadnezzar leveled (Ezekiel 26). He also prophesied the abominations the Babylonians were going to commit against both the city and the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:1-11:25). For Ezekiel and his people, these years were bitter ones because the remnant of the Israelite domain was eliminated by the rising Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar (reigned 605–562 BC). Though Jerusalem surrendered in 597 BC, Israelite resistance was renewed, and in 587–586 BC the city was finally destroyed after a lengthy siege. In both downfalls, large numbers of the surviving population were forcibly deported to Babylonia.

Jeremiah
“The era in which Jeremiah lived was one of transition for the ancient Near East.”[x] The Assyrian empire, which had been dominant for two centuries, declined and fell. Its capital, Nineveh, was captured in 612 BC by the Babylonians and Medes. Egypt had a brief period of resurgence under the 26th dynasty (664–525 BC) but did not prove strong enough to establish an empire. The world now belonged to the Neo-Babylonian empire, ruled by a Chaldean dynasty whose best-known king was Nebuchadnezzar. The small and comparatively insignificant state of Judah had been a vassal of Assyria and, when Assyria declined, asserted its independence for a short time. Subsequently Judah vacillated in its allegiance between Babylonia and Egypt and ultimately became a province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.[xi] Despite the fateful part he played in Judah’s history, Nebuchadnezzar is seen in Jewish tradition in a predominantly favorable light. It was claimed that he gave orders for the protection of Jeremiah, who regarded him as God’s appointed instrument whom it was impiety to disobey. In Jeremiah 27 he tells the nations to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and the prophet Ezekiel expressed a similar view at the attack on Tyre (Jeremiah 29).[xii]

= Connection to Minor Prophets =

Micah
Although Micah lived long before Nebuchadnezzar (Micah lived in the 700s BC, Nebuchadnezzar lived from 630-561 BC), he prophesied when the circumstances of when the kingdom would fall. An outside source says, “Some of the promises (In Micah) seem to presuppose the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent Babylonian Exile (6th century BC)”[xiii]. In Micah 5:1 the capture of king Zedekiah is referred to when Micah prophesies, “they have laid siege against us; with a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek”. Zedekiah was not a real king even though he sat on the throne. He was set up by the Babylonians and was not from the Davidic line. The exile had begun.

Habakkuk
Habakkuk prophesied during the final days of the Assyrian Empire and the beginning of the Babylonian’s Empire, during the early reign of Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar.[xiv] The fall of Jerusalem had not occurred, yet Habakkuk combines lamentation and oracle in these three chapters as he prophesies of the future. In the first chapter, he cries out for Yahweh to help his people: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear?” (1:2). Though Yahweh will send mighty nations (e.g., the neo-Babylonians will be the executors of his judgment), Habakkuk wonders who will then stop these instruments of God’s justice, who use great force. The answer comes in a brief, almost cryptic verse, “but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

= Conclusion =

Although Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, ransacked the temple, and killed thousands of Israelites, he was still used by God to accomplish His purpose of judgment against His people. And at the end of his life, Nebuchadnezzar had not only accomplished God’s will, but he also gave God the glory when he stated in Daniel 4:17, “In order that the living may know that the most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of men.”

= References = Britannica, Encyclopedia. "Ezekiel (Hebrew Prophet)." //Encyclopedia Britannica.// 2010. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/199484/Ezekiel?anchor=ref195755. Goodspeed, George Stephen. //A history of the Babylonians and Assyrians.// New York, New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1902. Healy, Mark. //Nebuchadnezzar: scourge of Zion.// New York, New York: Firebird Books, 1989. Larue, Gerald A. //Babylon and the Bible.// Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969. Mount, Ralph Holmes. //Babylon.// 2. Mansfield, Ohio: Mount Publications, 1966. Saggs, Henry W.F. "Nebuchadnezzar II (king of Babylon)." //Encyclopeida Brittanica.// 1994-2010. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/407575/Nebuchadrezzar-II (accessed November 1, 2010). Schwantes, Siegfried J. //A Short History of the Ancient Near East.// Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1976.

[i] (Goodspeed 1902)

[ii] (Saggs 1994-2010)

[iii] Ibid

[iv] (Larue 1969)

[v] (Saggs 1994-2010)

[vi] []

[vii] (Larue 1969)

[viii] (Schwantes 1976)

[ix] (Britannica 2010)

[x] (Saggs 1994-2010)

[xi] []

[xii] (Larue 1969)

[xiii] []

[xiv] //John MacArthur Study Bible//, Habakkuk: Background and Setting

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