Continue with:PAY ATTENTION TO GOD'S PROPHETIC WORD FOR OUR DAY - On Trial

Conclusion of On Trial

Nebuchadnezzar's religious devotion went particularly to Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. The king credited Marduk with all his conquests. In Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar built and beautified the temples of Marduk and of numerous other Babylonian deities.  The image of gold that this Babylonian king set up on the plain of Dura may have been dedicated to Marduk. (Daniel 3:1, 2) And Nebuchadnezzar appears to have relied heavily on divination in planning his military moves.

By completing Babylon's massive double walls that his father had started to build, Nebuchadnezzar made the capital city seemingly impregnable. To satisfy his Median queen, who longed for the hills and forests of her homeland, Nebuchadnezzar reportedly built the hanging gardens-one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He made Babylon the greatest walled city of the time.  And how proud he was of that seat of false worship!

"Is not this Babylon the Great, that I myself have built?"  boasted Nebuchadnezzar one day.  According to Daniel 4:30-36, however, "while the word was yet in the king's mouth," insanity struck him. Unfit to rule for seven years, he ate vegetation, just as Daniel had foretold. Then his kingdom was restored. Do you know the prophetic significance of all of this?  Can you explain how its major fulfillment bring us right to the time of the end?

Next time: PAY ATTENTION TO GOD'S PROPHETIC WORD FOR OUR DAY -Picking Up Prophetic Strands

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000