1. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon was described as a ruthless leader that expanded his empire to the point of its fall. He was the restorer of Babylonian independence, and decided to expand to places like Jerusalem and Egypt, sending the Jewish people into exile and causing conflict with Egypt and causing a Jewish rebellion. It was said that he skinned his son because he tried to overthrow him, Nebuchadnezzar then used his skin to put over his throne as an example to the people. He was cruel and demanded all the exiles not stop for a moment for the fear of God would help them and punish him. Nebuchadnezzar was ruthless and cruel to all conquered people. He was also known as a rebel to God, he disobeyed him so he was punished often. Nebuchadnezzar soon figured out that controlling too much land is possible and you cannot control many places at once. His expanding and ruthlessness ended up in his defeat and the fall of the empire. <br />Nebuchadnezzar was the restorer of Babylon; he rebuilt the city including buildings and religious temples. He built the hanging garden of Babylon for his wife Amytis which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It included exotic animals and plants from all over the world. Along with rebuilding the empire around him, he expanded the empire reaching to the borders of the only known world. He built temples and palaces rejoining the empire after Ashurbanipal’s empire had fallen. Nebuchadnezzar had risen to power after his father, Nabopolassar; he then rebuilt the new and larger Babylon. In expanding the city and empire he created more enemies then allies causing future battles with Egypt and Judah trying to gain control of their people and land. In Egypt Nebuchadnezzar had fought a battle against Necho, he defeated the army but had left to be crowned king after his father died. Necho escaped with part of his army and attacked Babylon later and Nebuchadnezzar had lost. In Judah Nebuchadnezzar had taken over after the king had welcomed him into the city. He had killed him, he then took 5,000 Judeans and 7,000 other tribes which most ended up dying slowly on their way to be exiled. At first his empire was strong but the more he expanded the more problems he caused with other lands and their cultures and beliefs. Nebuchadnezzar had made more enemies and created less peace among his empire causing it to weaken more and more. <br />In Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams he was often troubled by confusing symbols. Daniel interpreted many of his dreams including one that he saw a great statue representing the kingdoms before and after Babylon, then of God controlling all of them and their rulers. Daniel interpreted that this meant that Nebuchadnezzar should accept God, but Nebuchadnezzar was known for being self-righteous and he refused. God had given him a year to accept him and worship him for such a great empire, Nebuchadnezzar did not and was punished by being exiled from Babylon for seven years. He lived like a wild animal, eating plants and animals. His upper half as an ox and his lower half as a lion. He had grown long hair and nails and walked like an animal and he also did not have humanly speech. His evil son Merodach had ruled and caused more damage to the empire than his father. He had been known to disobey God and rule the way he pleased causing more havoc among the empire. After seven years God had granted him mercy and had him placed at the throne again, Nebuchadnezzar at that time threw his son into jail for the rest of his life. Another dream that contributed to this punishment was one of a great tree that represented Nebuchadnezzar and it protected all the animals and people. Then the tree rotted and fell, Daniel also interpreted that this meant God was the ruler of all thing and could take away Nebuchadnezzar’s empire and power at his will.<br />Nebuchadnezzar was a ruthless and cruel man; he skinned his own son alive to set an example and he sent his other son to prison for the rest of his life. When he conquered lands and people he was merciless, torturing them by having them chained to a river to starve or drown while he had a feast on one of his ships to celebrate his victory of the land that was now part of his empire. He held no oath sacred and broke the peace between Babylon and Judah; he killed the king after the king had welcomed him into the city and then appointed a new one of his choosing. He even tortured Daniel and the three pages Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. When they refused to worship to the idol Durah he threw them in a fiery furnace, it is said that a miracle had happened and God had saved them. He then massacred the 600,000 Jews, who obeyed him and worshiped the idol, his reason was not having the courage to do what the other men had done and trusted God. Nebuchadnezzar was said to worship God from that point but still ran the empire to his liking and was determined on ruling the way he pleased. <br />Nebuchadnezzar was a frequent disobeyer of God. He was said to be chosen by him to be great and this is why his empire was successful. He rarely listened to his interpreters and advisers about religion and God, he wanted to expand the empire and be more powerful. In his dreams God gave him signs, things he was supposed to do for him and he never did them. Nebuchadnezzar had been chosen for greatness and was set in his way off ruling, ruthlessly and cruelly making his empire eventually fall. God had punished him; he had lost more power in the empire then, then ever before.<br />Nebuchadnezzar like all other great rulers had figured out controlling too much area is possible, too much to control and handle. The way Nebuchadnezzar had expanded his empire was a forceful way that caused rebellions around all lands that he had conquered. This caused more battles that the main city could not handle. The worst were the Jewish rebellions; Nebuchadnezzar was known as “the wicked one” to the Jewish people and was hated for exiling and killing over 600,000 thousand of them. Babylon had countless attacks by the Jewish and even Egyptian people to throw Nebuchadnezzar out of power. He could not control all the people or land around him. When expanding and growing his empire he made difficult enemies to deal with and suffered the consequences of not making peace but using force to get what he wanted. When a ruler loses power so does the empire that they control, it weakens and eventually crumbles because no one person can control the entire world. Babylon was like Rome, it became too much to handle and had more powerful enemies leaving them with ruined cities and more dead Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar ruled for forty three years before his evil son took over and finished off the empire to fail. With the help of his father the Babylonian empire was destined to fail like all the others before them. This empire could have lasted longer if Nebuchadnezzar had taken a different approach, he could have had peace among his empire but his green and need to expand caused him to lose everything. <br />Nebuchadnezzar ruined his own empire by his actions; he conflicted with too many people and expanded too far to control. His ruthless ways had caused him to fail; his expanding borders had caused him to want more. He wanted the world and believed that he was God, that he could do what he wanted. Nebuchadnezzar had set his empire up to fail with the expansion that could not be controlled by just one leader.<br />