In the Holy Bible we read accounts of all types of kings – the good, the bad and the ugly. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is one of those Kings who stand out. The book of Daniel includes 4 chapters on him. It is worth examining important facts about any ruler which defines their legacy – most especially the final period of their reign which seems to be the account Daniel gives of King Nebuchadnezzar.
Highlights of his reign:
We first hear of the ruthlessness of king Nebuchadnezzar in the gruesome account of the events leading to the fall of Jerusalem as recorded in 2 Kings Chapter 25. He took many Israelites into exile in Babylon.
He is the king who threatened his subjects with death if they failed to reveal and to interpret the dreams he had – which he had forgotten yet left him troubled.
“…if ye will not make known unto me the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill”.
Daniel 2: 5
When Daniel supernaturally revealed and interpreted the dream, he depicted some kind of fake conversion. He acknowledged the authenticity of Daniel’s God.
The king was in idolatry. It’s not clear if the image he built was of himself. He received self-gratification by insisting everybody must worship that image.
He is remembered for the fiery furnace meant to punish all who did not worship the golden image.
He is remembered for his rage towards Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego for standing their ground not to worship demons – depicting how he dealt with opposition.
He had under him a group of YES – men and women who had to obey his dictatorial leadership under duress and without question or compromise. These consisted of the cream of society – but see how they chose to worship demons – instead of questioning or challenging their leader. This is recorded in Daniel 3: 2 – 7. Imagine all these well-educated guardians of society bowing down to worship the golden image. Sounds familiar?
King Nebuchadnezzar on the other hand depended on Godly people like Daniel to add a bit of rare flavor to his government.
Nebuchadnezzar never gave God glory for all the development and prosperity of his kingdom. Finally, God judged him, rejected him as king and he was made to eat grass like cattle and His hair grew long like feathers and nails like claws of birds.
” The king spoke and said: Is not this the great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom BY THE MIGHT OF MY POWER and for the honor of MY MAJESTY? 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 you…. the same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws”.
Daniel 5: 30 – 33
After that strange experience it seems finally Nebuchadnezzar got converted in his heart. In Chapter 4 verse 37 He says,
“Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk-in pride HE IS ABLE TO ABASE”.
Would we say king Nebuchadnezzar was eventually brought down to earth by finally acknowledging the authority of God over him? Nebuchadnezzar was not the center of authority – God was and He still is today. It is tough when we have to force God to humble us when we fail to humble ourselves and honor Him as God. I wonder whether we shall find Saint Nebuchadnezzar in heaven? It of course depends. ‘They that endure to the end shall be saved.’ Perhaps the lesson we learn here is that God is as much concerned about the spiritual state of the political leaders as with the rest of the population. “All souls are mine” – does He not say?
Documented world Dictators:
Apart from Biblical accounts of ruthless kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Saul History gives a record of some of the most terrible dictators of our times. As in the case of Nebuchadnezzar please see if you can identify the most outstanding things they are remembered for. Feel free to Google to discover more about the ones you didn’t know about as it’s not possible to discuss them in details in this article.
Yes – what do we remember about: Emperor Nero, Hitler, Pol Pot, Iddi Amin, Joseph Stalin, Muammar Gaddafi, Francisco Frank of Spain, Mussolini, Sadam Hussein, Augusto Pinochet? The list is growing every year.
There is a lot of resemblance of the activities of these men compared to those of Nebuchadnezzar. Would we be right to conclude that they are his disciples? Most of them assumed power purporting to be the saviors of the masses. They soon became intoxicated with power, felt very insecure and ruthlessly crushed all oppositions. They applied the tactics of instilling fear in the hearts of the citizens. There is a lot of evidence that most brutal dictators are actually people struggling with mental problems. Probably they don’t even ‘know what they are doing’ as our Master might say. Yes, millions of people lost their lives during the reign of those dictators. In addition, their rulership’s were characterised by near anarchy – a state of lawlessness. Many of the citizens of those countries went into exile mainly in the West resulting onto brain drain.
The real power base within a nation – “there is nothing new under the sun”
It is becoming more and more clear that within most nations of the world there seems to be groups of people or organisations who are the real authority who rule through the National leaders. So many times Intercessors and other analysts may center on the Head of State – praying for him or her to change – become a better person, or even be replaced. You would have thought that it is the masses – the electorate collectively – who should be the true bosses of their nation.
Going back to examine the system of Babylon we do see a group of people who seemed to give wrong counsels to the kings from time to time. One title given to such people is Satraps – some kind of provincial or regional or departmental leaders who wielded a lot of authority. First we see them mentioned among those who bowed down to worship the golden image in Daniel Chapter 3. They tend to hide within the YES group. They are the ones who then reported to the King about the Hebrew boys’ refusal to worship the image.
These are the same group of people who forced King Darius later in Daniel 6 to sign a decree to throw Daniel into the den of lions. And they are still the same type of people led by an evil man called Herman who in the Book of Esther forced King Ahasuerus to sign a decree to annihilate the Jews.
In our days such groups have consisted of Secret Societies – especially within Western Nations; Drug cartels such as in South America, and the Mafia. Most countries of the world have such people who have self-interests which the National leader must support and protect. These groups of people prosper in chaotic situations. They are worse than flies! They are completely heartless. Their aim is to become filthy rich at all costs. They don’t mind gaining the whole world – now – even if they are destined for eternity in hell. These are extremely dangerous people. May God open our eyes to locate and isolate such groups and individuals through Spiritual warfare so our Land can be healed. Definitely in warfare you have to understand your enemy.
A very clear example is that of the Myanmar (Burmese) leader and former political activist – Aung San Suu Kyi. She was blamed world-wide for her silence following what is referred to as The Rohingya crisis – which led to genocide caused by the military against a Moslem minority group. She found it hard to condemn the actions I believe because she had to play to the tune of the military junta – the actual power house of that country.
Is AMINISM still alive and kicking in Uganda?
Iddi Amin is ranked among the top notorious ruthless dictators of the world. When his 8 year unprecedented rule ended in April 1979 there were jubilations in most parts of our country. Some people however cautioned Ugandans saying – ‘Amin May have gone – but Aminism will not go easily’. How true that prophecy has turned up to be. Yes they say history can repeat itself. A lot of brutality and barbarism of the world’s dictators seem to be a repeat of the actions of King Nebuchadnezzar. May be we really have to be concerned about the need to break such evil cycles in our Land. Our people seem now to be well educated about domestic violence and child abuse and how not to tolerate them. How come we are tolerating political abuse from one generation to another? Are we bewitched? Oh Uganda May God uphold thee.
A lesson from King David.
David is referred to as ‘A man after God’s heart”. What a testimony from our Father God Himself! This was only possible because David humbled himself, repented and turned away from his sinfulness. If he never repented, he would have been forever labelled an adulterer and a murderer. God forgave him for good. And God seemed to remember only King David’s acts after repentance – describing him as a man after God’s heart. All the corrupt people in our country including politicians, the president, army officers, and all those in authority have the opportunity to write the final chapter of their lives – something to be remembered for – their legacy. God can give you a new slate to write your desired legacy. The decision is yours. Remember one of the thieves next to our Lord on the cross? He repented just before his death – and we admirably remember him for that. If you choose not to change – like the other defiant thief, God will still deliver our country – His own way. Yes – Uganda is bleeding and we are crying. God who made ears and eyes is hearing our cries, and seeing our tears. It’s only a matter of time.
For God and my country.
