Who was King Nebuchadnezzar?
King of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar was the son and successor of Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on Assyria and laid Nineveh in ruins. He was the greatest and most powerful of all the Babylonian kings. He married the daughter of Cyaxares, and thus, the Median and Babylonian dynasties were united.
Nebuchadnezzar occupies more Biblical space than any other non-Jewish king, his name appearing more than 90 times in Scripture. He defeated Pharaoh-nechoh at Carchemish during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign in 605 BC (Jeremiah 46:2). A year later he besieged Jerusalem, eventually carrying off many choice Jewish citizens to Babylon, including Ezekiel, the priest and Daniel, the prophet (2 Kings 24:10-16). Judea’s last three kings, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, were severely dealt with by Nebuchadnezzar. Finally on March 15, 597 BC the city Jerusalem itself was destroyed by him (2 Kings 25).
Nebuchadnezzar reigned as king of Babylon from 605 BC to 562 BC, a period of 43 years. Upon his death, his son, Evil-merodach, ascended the throne.
All of the events of 2 Kings 24:1, Jeremiah 27:6, Daniel 1:18, Daniel 2:1, Jeremiah 21:2, Jeremiah 46:2, and many, many others occurred during this 43-year reign. There was only one Nebuchadnezzar–one and the same in all of these Scripture passages.
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Dr. Elmer Towns is a college and seminary professor, an author of popular and scholarly works (the editor of two encyclopedias), a popular seminar lecturer, and dedicated worker in Sunday school, and has developed over 20 resource packets for leadership education.His personal education includes a B.S. from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a M.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary also in Dallas, a MRE from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and a D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.He is co-founder of Liberty University, with Jerry Falwell, in 1971, and was the only full-time teacher in the first year of Liberty’s existence. Today, the University has over 11,400 students on campus with 39,000 in the Distance Learning Program (now Liberty University Online), and he is the Dean of the School of Religion.Dr. Towns has given theological lectures and taught intensive seminars at over 50 theological seminaries in America and abroad. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries. He has written over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. Four doctoral dissertations have analyzed his contribution to religious education and evangelism.
