Page 82 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

sense of gratification in accomplishment, that is natural and legitimate, but the feeling
that welled up in the heart of this arrogant king as he considered the works of his hand
and head, was something totally other. It was a phobia of pride that exalted his own

ego to the very pinnacle of Heaven, that stormed the portals of glory, that would
demand from Deity Himself a recognition of his parity with the Most High. Perhaps
never since that most glorious of created beings aspired to equality with the Deity and
as a result was hurled from Heaven, had there been in the heart of any creature such

colossal presumption as was found in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon,
as he paced the roof of his palace and revelled in his own accomplishments and
resisted and resented the very thought that any being in earth or heaven could be
greater than he.

“Thou hast said in thine heart…I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be
brought down to Hell to the sides of the pit.”

In the midst of his prideful debauch and “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 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.’”

In the twinkling of an eye, Nebuchadnezzar became a raving maniac. With wild

shrieks he rushed from the room and down the staircase as the crown of gold toppled
from his head. Across the tiled-floor of the throne-room he raced, tearing from his
body his regal robes and scattering them as he went. Through the doors and down the
corridors he ran bellowing like a wounded bull while the palace retainers stood by in

consternation. By the time he issued from the great door of the palace he was very
little encumbered with garments of any kind, only his tunic and short trousers
remaining, and these he also discarded as he continued his mad flight down Palace
Way. Nebuchadnezzar, the proud and dignified monarch of the greatest empire of

ancient times was running down the street of his capital city, stripped, stark naked.

The thing was so sudden, so amazing that no one was prepared for it, and it is

doubtful that any would have dared to try and restrain the willful king, had they even
expected it or been prepared for it. None knew the extent of his madness nor the
degree of his mental derangement. So King Nebuchadnezzar, once talented, efficient,
brave, the former statesman and conqueror, passed out through the massive gates of
the city of his genius and headed for the wilderness, an irresponsible maniac; no one

hindered him, no one challenged him, no one pursued him.