Nebuchadnezzar – 18 Sept 2008

Pride crops up a lot in men’s lives and therefore appears in a number of characters in the Bible.  You will see a steady theme emerge: Men who become too proud get taken down more than a peg or two! 

Nebuchadnezzar was such a man.  He was an amazing man of great power and influence.  He built Babylon into the largest city of its time.  His buildings were without compare.  He designed and built the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven ancient wonders, just to keep his wife happy.  On a military level he was awesome and was responsible for the invasion and conquest of .  One day he was strolling around his palace and surveying all that he had built, much as men do when they have finished some DIY task.  However, on this day, while patting himself on the back, he was struck down for his pride.

For seven years he lost his mind.  Wandering as a madman, looking more like half-man, half-beast, he learned the hard way that it is God who gives and takes, builds and destroys.  Not man.

The mighty Nebuchadnezzar, feared ruler and conqueror, had been humbled.

Read the full story in Daniel chapters 1 – 4.

Keep yourself humble before God rather than have God teach you a lesson! Don’t think He is beyond dealing with us in this life rather than the next…..He loves us too much to leave us to mess up without correction.

Offer up a prayer right now thanking God for what he has given you.

He really likes that!

Jim Finch