Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-04-30
NEDUcHApNEzzAR. KING OF BABYLON.


Prominent among the figures of ancient
| history stands Nebuchadnezzar, King of
Babylon. HIS name IL found upon many
pages OF the Old Testament and his ca
reer Is closely linked with the history of
the chosen people. 1t was he who invaded
the ranks of judah, dragged them captive
into his land, and did much TO change and
mould their destiny. 1t was in his palace
that the youthful Daniel was reared and
| trained; it was his dream that Daniel was
| called upon 70 interpret. and IL was his
decree that sent the three Hebrew heroes
| into the fiery furnace. IL is interesting TO
know that in addition TO the Bible ac-
| count OF thls King the monuments OF
! Babylon also have much to tell, and the
testimony OF these monuments strictly
accords with the statements of Holy Writ.
10 some people the perfect accuracy of the
Bible may be so unassailable that such
confirmation may be considered entirely
unnecessary and not worth the trouble of
mentioning. and vet surely IL is fact of
! interest that at this day when the Scrip
| lures are attacked so defantly lin many
cases by those who claim 70 be friendsl
there should be rising from the mounds of
the East such wonderful testimony to con-
| 'front.' and contule this new opposition.
Let the reader turn to Daniel l.. and 2,
and he will find the following In the
| third year OF the reign of Jehoiakim. King
OF judah, came Neouchadnezzar, King Of
Babylon, into Jerusalem and besieged it,"
A reference to this campaign has been
found in Babylonia. In one of the curious
looking mounds of that country was dis
covered an inscription telling of an expedi-
ton which NebuchadneZZar conducted
against Syria, Palestine. and Egypt.
Danieli. q, in describing this attack. states
that ACKNOWLEDGMENT carried of certain
holy vessels and brought them into the
treasury-house of his God" The express
sion his God" occurs elsewhere in the
Old Testament ia referring to the deity of
Nebuchadnezzar. Some people have
branded this monotheistic expression
his God as a palpable error, inasmuch
as the Babylonian kings did not worship
only one God, but were famed for the
multitude of their divinities. Skeptics
have said. Here is O mistake. The
Hebrew writer. worshipping only one God,
could very naturally and properly speak
of his God but he made big blunder
in representing q Babylonian king as doing
service for his God ," Arecent discovery,
pletely vindicates the Old Testament state
ment. 1t 10 very true that Babylonian kings
were generally worshippers or many del
ties, but the inscriptions show that
Nebtgctdd,aeztdr icds an exception. He was o
deyotee Of one special divinity, Merodach:
and in his writings Nebuchadnezzar speaks
OF Merodach as his Lord" the God
who created him." &c. His chief title is
Worshipper OF Merodach." He speaks
OF Merodacn as 1.-THE chief of the Gods"
1.-THE God Of Gods" &c. On one of the
monuments Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS he says
Merodach, the great Lord. has appointed
me to the empire of the world and has
confided to my care the far-spreading peo-
pie Of the earth" All OF the inscriptions
of the King end with prayer TO Nero
dach, his great Lord. Thus we see that
while the expression, This God" would
have been incorrect in connection with
any other Babylonian king, yet in the
case of Nebuchadnezzar IL was entirely
accurate and appropriate.
ii. Chronicles. xxxvi., 7, says that
Nebuchadnezzar brought the treasures
into his temple al Babylon" Reference to
this temple has been found in some of tho
recently resurrected inscriptions which
were written by Nebuchadnezzar him.
self. The King declares that he built for
his God. Merodash. a great temple at
Babylon. he even describes the manner
in which he did the work.
DREAMS. /.
The Book Of Daniel represents the Baby.
lonian aud Assyrian kings as attaching
much importance to dreams. The accu.
racy of the Old Testament on this point
has recently been visdicated. The new
inscriptions show that the Assyriaps bad
dream deity to whom they prayed for
favorable dreams or for confirmation of
dreams already had" One OF the succes-
sors OF Nebuchadnezzar says. "Msrodach,
the great Lord showed me dream" etc.
Daniel W., 60, reads. :. is not this srsa.