Historians call King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon the greatest king of Babylon—even perhaps of the Middle East, period! The “greatest king of Babylon”—a man cruel enough to throw three teenagers into a fiery furnace and watch for sport; cruel enough to command that that furnace be so hot that it killed his own obedient soldiers; cruel enough to gather all the sons of the last king of Judah, execute them before Zedekiah’s eyes—and then take his eyes too!
Secular historians have a strange way of defining greatness. They ignore this man’s beastly heart and look at the extent of the territory he ruled, the vast building projects he oversaw, the cities and palaces he built up, the hanging gardens of Babylon he commissioned. So historians call this man “great.”
But Nebuchadnezzar didn’t need anyone to tell him he was the greatest king of Babylon. He knew he was, and he used every opportunity to let people know it!
Will Durant described the buildings that Nebuchadnezzar constructed during his reign in The Story of Civilization: “Practically all the better buildings were of brick, for stone was rare in Mesopotamia; but the bricks were often faced with enameled tiles of brilliant blue, tallow or white, adorned with animal and other figures in glazed relief, which remain to this day supreme in their kind. Nearly all the bricks so far recovered from the site of Babylon bear the proud inscription: I am Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon.”
This was a proud man. He knew he was great, and he wanted everyone else to know it too, even stamping his name the building materials themselves!
God wanted to teach this proud king an important lesson, which is recorded in Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar himself wrote this account (verse 1). Why did God give him an entire chapter in the Bible? What does God want us to learn from this “greatest king of Babylon?”
A Beast of a Trial
“I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me” (verses 4-5). Nebuchadnezzar reached out to all the wise men and the astrologers in his kingdom, but none of them could interpret the dream except for Daniel.
Verses 9-18 describe Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a massive tree spreading over the entire Earth. When Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel his dream, Daniel was initially stunned into silence by what God revealed it meant. Nebuchadnezzar encouraged Daniel not to be afraid to share what it meant, so Daniel told him.
“My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth” (verse 19-22).
This great tree pictured King Nebuchadnezzar, but that tree was cut down! Daniel told the king the meaning God had revealed (verses 24-26). Nebuchadnezzar would be forced to live like an animal. He would still have the kingdom at the end of it, but for seven years he would live and eat like an animal. How fitting for a man with the heart of a beast.
In verse 27, Daniel warned him to repent and show some humility and mercy, and he might manage to avoid the fate prophesied in that dream. God gave him one year to repent. But king Nebuchadnezzar did not listen.
After that year had passed, Nebuchadnezzar was walking through his palace—maybe built of bricks stamped with his name—and he thought, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (verse 30).
Immediately upon uttering this, Nebuchadnezzar was startled by a voice from heaven. “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (verse 31-32).
Verse 33 records his miraculous transformation from mighty king to wild beast: “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.”
But look at the results in verses 34-37! By the end, he said: “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honourthe King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (verse 37).
It took this incredible, seven-year trial for Nebuchadnezzar to finally humble himself before God and say these words.
A Simple Complex
This is all recorded for us. What does God want us to learn from this account?
Gerald Flurry writes in Daniel Unlocks Revelation: “Human nature is not humble; it is self-willed, and we all have it! Don’t kid yourself! We don’t realize how self-willed we are, so God has to show us! God knows how to humble the proud. Sometimes He has to get out His paddle and correct us. He tries and tests us, because He is shaping and molding — He wants us to rule the world. … We had better be humble people. Those who walk in pride, God is able to abase. In fact, we should regularly ask God to humble us in His mercy. … [W]e need more humility! We all need to get over our ‘Nebuchadnezzar complex.’”
We all have a Nebuchadnezzar complex we need to get over! There is some part of us that is like that carnal, proud, cruel king. Even the converted must recognize and fight it. “Most of the WCG leaders ended up being harder than Nebuchadnezzar—and they had God’s Holy Spirit! It appears that many of them are headed for the lake of fire. Can you and I see our Nebuchadnezzar pride?” (ibid). This Nebuchadnezzar complex is something we all have to conquer, whether we have God’s Spirit working with us or in us.
What is involved in this Nebuchadnezzar complex? Mr. Flurry points out some tendencies in that quote. It involves being self-willed and walking in pride. Mr. Flurry also makes it clear how we are to overcome that Nebuchadnezzar complex: We need to be humble. Humility is the opposite of pride. If we are going to overcome that complex of self-will and pride, we all need to be humble.
This complex manifests differently in us than it did in Nebuchadnezzar. None of us have the power that he had. Ours might be more subtle. We aren’t proud because we’ve conquered the Middle East or built impressive palaces. But we can be proud for other reasons.
1 Corinthians 8 brings out a few of these areas: “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (verse 1). Knowledge can lead to pride. This is especially applicable if you attend Imperial Academy or Herbert W. Armstrong College; it is easy to let that education go to your head. If we’re not careful, we can let that knowledge puff us up. Material knowledge puffs us up, but even spiritual knowledge—if not applied in love—can puff us up.
We tend to be more sophisticated in our complexes, but there is still a danger of being full of pride. Paul warned the Romans against thinking too highly of themselves (Romans 12:3). We all have to grow in humility to overcome that pride and self-will.
Clothed in Humility
Humility can express itself in different ways: How teachable are you? How submissive to authority are you? How thankful to God are you?
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the lesson that he had all that greatness because Godgave it to him. The man Nebuchadnezzar did not amass all that wealth and power on his own. He had it because it was God’s will for him to be king of the Babylonian empire. Nebuchadnezzar had to learn to be thankful to God for that (Daniel 4:34, 37). That takes a lot of humility. Being grateful to God helps foster this humility.
1 Peter 5:5 says, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” We must be clothed with humility—what a wonderful attitude! And humility is expressed in how submissive we are. How well are we applying that verse? How well do you submit to “the elder”—the ministry or your parents or your teachers—God’s government?
Peter goes on to say, “all of you be subject one to another.” That humility is expressed in how to treat one another as well—how you give to one another and serve one another. Humility is an important part of building relationships. Nebuchadnezzar probably didn’t have a lot of close, meaningful friendships.
God knows how to humble the proud. Verse 6 reads, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” You don’t have to worry about exalting yourself or doing great things for yourself. If you are focused on serving others and serving God, over time, you will be exalted for that! “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (verse 7). If we have humility, we will go to God for the help and strength we need. Take everything to God. We are not here because of our own strength or ability; it is all because of God.
A Perfect Example of Humility
Nebuchadnezzar offers a great example of vanity and pride. But Philippians 2 shows us the greatest example of humilitywe can find: “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (verses 7-8).
Jesus Christ was an all-powerful God Being. But He humbled Himself to become dirt. Then among human beings, He humbled Himself further and became a servant! He was here to serve in His earthly ministry. He was not here to exalt himself or leave behind impressive palaces. He was here to serve. And He humbled himself even further in the death that He experienced—that of a criminal. He displayed perfect humility.
Jesus Christ did not have a Nebuchadnezzar complex. He was not self-willed; He only did His Father’s will. He did not walk in pride; He knew where He got His strength and his power. He gave God the Father the credit for everything He did.
Consider His humility, and go to war against your Nebuchadnezzar pride. We all have areas we could be submitting better; we all have that pride that we must continually battle against. But if we go to God continually and ask for humility, we can overcome our Nebuchadnezzar complex.