A confusing chronology of kings accompanies the prophet, Hosea’s ministry in ancient Israel.

During the prophet Hosea’s ministry, about 750 to 714 BCE, four of the last five kings of Israel murdered their predecessors to ascend to the throne. These are the also the days of the prophets Amos and Isaiah who, along with Hosea and the infamous prostitute, Gomer, are the principal characters in my upcoming novel, recently renamed, Faithless Heart, based on the theme of the Book of Hosea—God’s enduring love for Israel.

Unlike the scriptural background for the first two novels in my Three Prophets Series, For the Sake of His Name and The Ivory House, the Book of Hosea records very few chronological events. There are no sieges, confrontations in lions’ dens or priestly challenges at Mount Carmel to dramatize.

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Pharaoh Necho II with miner’s cap and workout clothes. (Brooklyn Museum)

Three kings of powerful, non-Jewish nations brought about events in ancient times, at God’s prompting, that set in motion the promised latter-day restoration of Israel.

Over a period of exactly 70 years Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Emperor Koresh (Cyrus) the Great of Persia acted as God’s agents to both end Judah’s ancient sovereignty and begin the Jewish people’s modern return to the promised land. From 609 BCE and the death of Judah’s King Josiah, to 539 BCE and the Persian invasion of Babylon, God directed the decision-making of Necho, Nebuchadnezzar and Koresh the Great.

In this, part two of a two-part study, Defending Nebuchadnezzar, I had promised in a previous blog entry to examine “the geopolitical havoc that drove Nebuchadnezzar to madness, [his] obsessing over Egypt and … his decision to put a savage end to the sovereignty of ancient Israel.” (See Part One.) But according to the Second Book of Kings, it was not wholly Nebuchadnezzar’s choice to destroy Israel but, “the commandment of the Lord to remove them [Judah] out of his sight.”

While researching the Book of Daniel (for the development of my novel, For The Sake of His Name), it became clear that Nebuchadnezzar was only one of at least three, powerful, non-Jewish rulers who were divinely inspired to facilitate the central drama of biblical history, the end of the ancient Jewish state (and the beginning of its latter day restoration).

I’ve reduced the scope of this post to discuss only the “ordained” roles in Israel’s history of these three kings for two reasons…

1. It’s a fascinating study. For example, the time interval from the action of the first inspired king, Pharaoh Necho II, to the intervention of the last, Koresh the Great, is exactly seventy years and Jeremiah’s well-known prophecy of the duration of the Babylonian Captivity was also 70 years.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” Jer 29:10

So we find two distinctly different, but parallel, 70-year manifestations of divine will.

2. It’s my blog and I can change the rules as I please without suffering serious consequences.

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After defeating the combined armies of Egypt and Assyria at Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered Jerusalem. Babylon carted way the city’s holy temple treasures and took captive, along with many others, the prophet Daniel and his three friends Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah (better known soon afterward for dancing in a fiery furnace after being renamed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). Following his facilitation of the first deportation at Jerusalem, then General Nebuchadnezzar succeeded his father, Nabopollassar, as king. The rest, of course, is history, but little of what has been written is kind to the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s most notorious commander-in-chief. There are, of course, reasons for that.

Read the Book of Daniel and you too will likely consider Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon to have been a savage, narcissist and boor. Of course you would be right, but no one is perfect. In the course of researching my book about the Prophet Daniel’s life in Babylon, For the Sake of His Name, I discovered, along with several factors which help to explain Nebuchadnezzar’s serial brutality toward Jerusalem, ample testimony of his exceptional talents as a statesman, engineer and visionary as well as gifted general and king.

In this, Part One of a two-part study, Defending Nebuchadnezzar, we’ll examine the great king’s singular list of accomplishments. In Part Two, we’ll examine the geopolitical havoc that drove him to madness, obsessing over Egypt and his most impactful  move, historically, his decision to put a savage end to the sovereignty of ancient Israel.

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