Nebuchadnezzar: The King With The Claws

Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king over a vast nation. He ruled over Babylon in its prime. His armies were unstoppable. He was also proud. So much so that he was insane. To prove that point, he once demanded that his magicians not only tell him the interpretation of his dream, but what it was as well! They couldn't possibly know what his dream was since he hadn't told anyone. Because they couldn't answer him, he ordered every single wise man in Babylon executed.
Psycho!

Daniel put a stop to it before anyone was killed, because he had the answer Big Boy was looking for. God had told Daniel the dream and its meaning. So Nebuchadnezzar was pacified.

That is, until he ordered everyone in Babylon to worship his idol. Ant time the music played, everyone had to bow to the giant gold statue. If not, into the furnace with you!

Daniel's three friends would not bow to the idol, that being idolatry and all. They were given a chance to bow down again, but they did not.
Neb got so angry he commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than normal, I guess to absolutely incinerate them. Yes, overkill. Instead, his own men got cooked.
Duh.
Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego were indeed tossed in, but were protected by an angelic being who stood with them in the fire and saw to it that they were unharmed.

When an astonished Nebs saw this, he gave props to the Most High.
Wouldn't you?
Some time later, Nebuchadnezzar had another fearful dream that he couldn't understand. Daniel once again told him the interpretation. But this time, it was not in the king's favor.
His kingdom would be taken from him for a time while he went into the wilderness and given the mind of an animal.
Yes, the mind of an animal.
Why?
PRIDE.

He was given a year to repent, to help the poor and treat his people better, but he decided to revel in his power instead.
Folks, eventually all proud men are chopped down.

When he finished announcing how he had built great Babylon by his mighty power for his great majesty, God spoke from Heaven and adjusted his attitude.
And his lifestyle.
He was "driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of Heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird."

At least it wasn't the hair of a peacock. That would've looked stupid.

At the end of  "seven periods of time" Nebuchadnezzar got his mind back. He gave praise and honor to God Most High, and then he was restored to his kingdom. That's the last we see of him, and I'm hoping he is with God now in Heaven.

Pride is like a fist in God's face. Would you ever put your fist in Andre the Giant's face?

Or how about these guys?

No? Why not? Because you fear the outcome! But we have no problem opposing God. Maybe it's because we can't see him, or because he doesn't act quickly to strike us down, that we feel we can do what we want.
How foolish.

The One who dreamed up and made the entire universe as well as every angel is somehow ignorant? The One who keeps track of every atom in the human body cannot tell his right hand from his left?
Come on, people.
Pride is the thought that we know better than God. Nebuchadnezzar's pride manifested itself as a disregard for how he got his position. It was God who put him there, and God who removed him. Neb learned this lesson from his bout in the grass.
What will it take for us to know that God is God, and we are not?