The Book of Jeremiah contains a prophecy about the arising of a "destroyer of nations", commonly regarded as a reference to Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 4:7) as well as an account of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem and looting and destruction of the temple (Jer. 52).
Professor Wole Soyinka talks when it is necessary, he is not the garrulous type of person. But when he talks the whole world would like to listen. I read Professor Wole Soyinka’s double- barreled message titled “King Nebuchadnezzar: The Reign of Impunity” what a timely article! This article has been and will remain undeleted forever by some print and electronic media and will read all over and over again. Let us treasure the work of facts sorry I mean evidence-based articles. My nephew of 12 years old called me from Australia he made a special request from me to tell him the story of The King called Nebuchadnezzar. Find below the story sent to my nephew culled from Free Wikipedia. .
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Portrayal in the Bible
Nebuchadnezzar is widely known through his portrayal in the Bible, especially the Book of Daniel. The Bible discusses events of his reign and his conquest of Jerusalem. Daniel 2 contains an account attributed to the second year of his reign, in which Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a huge image made of various materials (gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay). The prophet Daniel tells him God's interpretation, that it stands for the rise and fall of world powers, starting with Nebuchadnezzar's own as the golden head.
Daniel 3 is an account of Nebuchadnezzar erecting a large idol made of gold for worship during a public ceremony on the plain of Dura. When three Jews, whose names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (respectively renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by their captors, to facilitate their assimilation into Babylonian culture), refuse to take part, he has them cast into a fiery furnace. They are protected by what Nebuchadnezzar describes as "a son of the gods" (Daniel 3:25 NIV) and emerge unscathed without even the smell of smoke. Daniel 3 goes on to say that Nebuchadnezzar realized that no man-made god has the power to save and praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He then made a decree that anyone of any nation that would make any accusation against God would be mutilated and their homes be destroyed. Daniel 4 contains an account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream about an immense tree, which Daniel interprets to mean that Nebuchadnezzar will go insane for seven years because of his pride. The chapter is written from the perspective of king Nebuchadnezzar.
Bout of insanity
While boasting about his achievements, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God. The king loses his sanity and lives in the wild like an animal for seven years. After this, his sanity and position are restored and he praises and honors God. Theologians have interpreted this story in several ways. Origen attributed the metamorphosis as a representation of the fall of Lucifer, Bodin and Cluvier maintained it was a metamorphosis of both soul and body, Tertullian confined the transformation to the body only, without the loss of reason, cases of which Augustine stated were reported in Italy, but gave them little credit. Gaspard Peucer asserted that the transformation of men into wolves was common in Livonia. Some Jewish rabbis asserted there was an exchange of souls between the man and ox, while others argued for an apparent or docetic change which was not real. The most generally received opinion, which was also held by Jerome, was that the madman was under the influence of hypochondriachal monomania by which God could humble the pride of kings.
Modern writers have speculated that the biblical account might refer to an illness with a natural organic cause. Some consider it to have been an attack of clinical lycanthropy or alternatively porphyria. Psychologist Henry Gleitman wrote that Nebuchadnezzar's insanity was a result of general paresis or paralytic dementia seen in advanced cases of syphilis. Some scholars think that Nebuchadnezzar's portrayal by Daniel is a mixture of traditions about Nebuchadnezzar and about Nabonidus (Nabuna'id) who became confused with him. For example, Nabonidus was the natural, or paternal father of Belshazzar, and the seven years of insanity could be related to Nabonidus' sojourn in Tayma in the desert. Fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, written from 150 BC to 70 AD state that it was Nabonidus (N-b-n-y) who was smitten by God with a fever for seven years of his reign while his son Belshazzar ruled.
The Book of Jeremiah contains a prophecy about the arising of a "destroyer of nations", commonly regarded as a reference to Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 4:7), as well as an account of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem and looting and destruction of the temple (Jer. 52).
Culled from free Wikipedia
