2 Kings 24:11-12 "And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came to the city, while his servants were besieging it; and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign".

Nebuchadnezzar is so confident! He strides right in to the city while his men are besieging it, he is 100% certain of his victory, and we see from Jehoiachin's capitulation that he is right to be.

Although the Bible is about the Jews, and Jehoiachin is was one of their kings, he does not play a starring role in the narrative, other than to be the king of Judah, when it falls to Babylon and to have done "what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to what his father had done." (2 Kings 24:19). His fate is foretold by Jeremiah as being one of defeat and exile. (Jeremiah 22:24-30) Nebuchadnezzar, on the other hand, is definitely a lead player in the story. He was the king who conquered Jerusalem, the one who took her people into exile. He was the king chosen by God to bring this necessary but horrendous chastisement upon God's people. He was the king who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace, and saw the power of their God (Daniel 3:19-29). He was the king Daniel served, and whose dreams Daniel interpreted (Daniel 2 and Daniel 4). And he was the foreign king to whom the Lord offered salvation, after first allowing him to go mad (Daniel 4:28-37).

Jehoiachin was a Jewish king, yes, but his part, by his own choosing, seems to have been to cravenly collapse at Nebuchadnezzar's feet, and allow the kingdom for which he was responsible to be plundered. God clearly had an eye on Nebuchadnezzar, though. There was something about this king of Babylon that made him the proper instrument for God's chastisement of His people, but also led God to send him portentous dreams, a brave Jewish man to interpret them, and even a chance at conversion and salvation.

Even in the Old Testament, there are signs and examples of God's mercy being available to all. The Jews were the chosen people, held to the standard of the law, because God wanted to make of them an example to other nations and people. When they followed God, other nations would see them rewarded, when they failed to, other nations would see them punished (as Jehoiachin and Judah were), and thus learn that their God is the one true God. But God loves every single one of His people, even the ones who lived before the Good News of universal brotherhood was proclaimed, and acts in their lives when the time is right.

We can see in Nebuchadnezzar's story how God looks over each of us, and shows His power and mercy in our lives when it will be most efficacious to our salvation. It is up to us to accept it when offered, because that is the way to salvation.