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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D A N I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. II.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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It was said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:17"><I>ch.</I> i. 17</A>)
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that Daniel had understanding in dreams; and here we have an early and
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eminent instance of it, which soon made him famous in the court of
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Babylon, as Joseph by the same means came to be so in the court of
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Egypt. This chapter is a history, but it is the history of a prophecy,
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by a dream and the interpretation of it. Pharaoh's dream, and Joseph's
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interpretation of it, related only to the years of plenty and famine
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and the interest of God's Israel in them; but Nebuchadnezzar's dream
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here, and Daniel's interpretation of that, look much higher, to the
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four monarchies, and the concerns of Israel in them, and the kingdom of
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the Messiah, which should be set up in the world upon the ruins of
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them. In this chapter we have,
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I. The great perplexity that Nebuchadnezzar was put into by a dream
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which he had forgotten, and his command to the magicians to tell him
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what it was, which they could not pretend to do,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. Orders given for the destroying of all the wise men of Babylon, and
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of Daniel among the rest, with his fellows,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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III. The discovery of this secret to him, in answer to prayer, and the
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thanksgiving he offered up to God thereupon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:16-23">ver. 16-23</A>.
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IV. His admission to the king, and the discovery he made to him both of
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his dream and of the interpretation of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:24-45">ver. 24-45</A>.
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V. The great honour which Nebuchadnezzar put upon Daniel, in recompence
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for this service, and the preferment of his companions with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:46-49">ver. 46-49</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nebuchadnezzar's Forgotten Dream.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 603.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
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Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled,
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and his sleep brake from him.
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2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the
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astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show
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the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
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3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my
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spirit was troubled to know the dream.
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4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live
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for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the
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interpretation.
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5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is
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gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with
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the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your
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houses shall be made a dunghill.
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6 But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye
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shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore
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show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
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7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants
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the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.
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8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would
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gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
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9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, <I>there is
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but</I> one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt
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words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore
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tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the
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interpretation thereof.
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10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is
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not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter:
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therefore <I>there is</I> no king, lord, nor ruler, <I>that</I> asked such
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things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
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11 And <I>it is</I> a rare thing that the king requireth, and there
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is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods,
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whose dwelling is not with flesh.
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12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and
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commanded to destroy all the wise <I>men</I> of Babylon.
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13 And the decree went forth that the wise <I>men</I> should be
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slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We meet with a great difficulty in the date of this story; it is said
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to be in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Now Daniel was carried to Babylon in his first year, and, it should
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seem, he was three years under tutors and governors before he was
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presented to the king,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:5"><I>ch.</I> i. 5</A>.
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How then could this happen in <I>the second year?</I> Perhaps, though
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three years were appointed for the education of other children, yet
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Daniel was so forward that he was taken into business when he had been
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but one year at school, and so in the second year he became thus
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considerable. Some make it to be the second year after he began to
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reign alone, but the fifth or sixth year since he began to reign in
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partnership with his <I>father.</I> Some read it, <I>and in the second
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year,</I> (the second after Daniel and his fellows stood before the
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king), <I>in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar,</I> or <I>in his reign,</I>
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this happened; as Joseph, in the second year after his skill in dreams,
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showed and expounded Pharaoh's, so Daniel, in the second year after he
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commenced master in that art, did this service. I would much rather
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take it some of these ways than suppose, as some do, that it was in the
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second year after he had conquered Egypt, which was the thirty-sixth
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year of his reign, because it appears by what we meet with in Ezekiel,
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that Daniel was famous both for wisdom and prevalence in prayer long
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before that; and therefore this passage, or story, which shows how he
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came to be so eminent for both these must be laid early in
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Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Now here we may observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The perplexity that Nebuchadnezzar was in by reason of a dream which
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he had dreamed but had forgotten
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>He dreamed dreams,</I> that is, a dream consisting of divers
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distinct parts, or which filled his head as much as if it had been many
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dreams. Solomon speaks of a <I>multitude of dreams,</I> strangely
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incoherent, in which <I>there are divers vanities,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:7">Eccl. v. 7</A>.
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This dream of Nebuchadnezzar's had nothing in the thing itself but what
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might be paralleled in many a common dream, in which are often
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represented to men things as foreign as are here mentioned; but there
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was something in the impression it made upon him which carried with it
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an incontestable evidence of its divine original and its prophetic
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significancy. Note, The greatest of men are not exempt from, nay, they
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lie most open to, those cares and troubles of mind which disturb their
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repose in the night, while <I>the sleep of the labouring man is
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sweet</I> and sound, and the sleep of the sober temperate man free from
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confused dreams. The abundance of the rich will not suffer them to
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sleep at all for care, and the excesses of gluttons and drunkards will
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not suffer them to sleep quietly for dreaming. But this recorded here
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was not from natural causes. Nebuchadnezzar was a troubler of God's
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Israel, but God here troubled him; for he that made the soul can
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<I>make his sword to approach to it.</I> He had his guards about him,
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but they could not keep trouble from his spirit. We know not the
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uneasiness of many that live in great pomp, and, one would think, in
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pleasure, too. We look into their houses, and are tempted to envy them;
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but, could we look into their hearts, we should pity them rather. All
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the treasures and all the delights of the children of men, which this
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mighty monarch had command of, could not procure him a little repose,
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when by reason of the trouble of his mind his <I>sleep broke from
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him.</I> But God <I>gives his beloved sleep,</I> who return to him as
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their rest.</P>
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<P>
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II. The trial that he made of his magicians and astrologers whether
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they could tell him what his dream was, which he had forgotten. They
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were immediately sent for, to <I>show the king his dreams,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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There are many things which we retain the impressions of, and yet have
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lost the images of the things; though we cannot tell what the matter
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was, we know how we were affected with it; so it was with this king.
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His dream had slipped out of his mind, and he could not possibly
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recollect it, but he was confident he should know it if he heard it
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again. God ordered it so that Daniel might have the more honour, and,
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in him, the God of Daniel. Note, God sometimes serves his own purposes
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by putting things out of men's minds as well as by putting things into
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their minds. The magicians, it is likely, were proud of their being
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sent for into the king's bed-chamber, to give him a taste of their
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office, not doubting but it would be for their honour. He tells them
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that he had <I>dreamed a dream,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They speak to him in the Syriac tongue, which was then the same with
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the Chaldee, but now they differ much. And henceforward Daniel uses
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that language, or dialect of the Hebrew, for the same reason that those
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words,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:11">Jer. x. 11</A>,
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are in that language because designed to convince the Chaldeans of the
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folly of their idolatry and to bring them to the knowledge and worship
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of the true and living God, which the stories of these chapters have a
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direct tendency to. But
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+8:1-27"><I>ch.</I> viii.</A>
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and forward, being intended for the comfort of the Jews, is written in
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their peculiar language. They, in their answer, complimented the king
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with their good wishes, desired him to tell his dream, and undertook
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with all possible assurance to interpret it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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But the king insisted upon it that they must tell him the dream itself,
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because he had forgotten it and could not tell it to them. And, if they
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could not do this, they should all be put to death as deceivers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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themselves <I>cut to pieces</I> and <I>their houses made a
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dunghill.</I> If they could, they should be rewarded and preferred,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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And they knew, as Balaam did concerning Balak, that he was able to
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<I>promote them to great honour,</I> and give them that <I>wages of
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unrighteousness</I> which, like him, <I>they loved</I> so dearly. No
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question therefore that they will do their utmost to gratify the king;
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if they do not, it is not for want of good-will, but for want of power,
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Providence so ordering it that the magicians of Babylon might now be as
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much confounded and put to shame as of old the magicians of Egypt had
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been, that, how much soever his people were both in Egypt and Babylon
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vilified and made contemptible, his oracles might in both be magnified
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and made honourable, by the silencing of those that set up in
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competition with them. The magicians, having reason on their side,
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insist upon it that the king must tell them the dream, and then, if
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they do not tell him the interpretation of it, it is their fault,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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But arbitrary power is deaf to reason. The king falls into a passion,
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gives them hard words, and, without any colour of reason, suspects that
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they could tell him but would not; and instead of upbraiding them with
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impotency, and the deficiency of their art, as he might justly have
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done, he charges them with a combination to affront him: <I>You have
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prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me.</I> How
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unreasonable and absurd is this imputation! If they had undertaken to
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tell him what his dream was, and had imposed upon him with a sham, he
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might have charged them with lying and corrupt words; but to say this
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of them when they honestly confessed their own weakness only shows what
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senseless things indulged passions are, and how apt great men are to
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think it is their prerogative to pursue their humour in defiance of
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reason and equity, and all the dictates of both. When the magicians
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begged of him to tell them the dream, though the request was highly
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rational and just, he tells them that they did but dally with him, to
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gain time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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<I>till the time be changed</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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either till the king's desire to know his dream be over, and he grown
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indifferent whether he be told it or no, though now he is so hot upon
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it, or till they may hope he has so perfectly forgotten his dream (the
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remaining shades of which are slipping from him apace as he catches at
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them) that they may tell him what they please and make him believe it
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was his dream, and, when the thing which is going, is quite <I>gone
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from him,</I> as it will be in a little time, he will not be able to
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disprove them. And therefore, without delay, they must tell him the
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dream. In vain do they plead,
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1. That there is <I>no man on earth</I> that can retrieve the king's
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dream,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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There are settled rules by which to discover what the meaning of the
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dream was; whether they will hold or no is the question. But never
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were any rules offered to be given by which to discover what the dream
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was; they cannot work unless they have something to work upon. They
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acknowledge that the gods may indeed <I>declare unto man what is his
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thought</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:13">Amos iv. 13</A>),
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for God <I>understands our thoughts afar off</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:2">Ps. cxxxix. 2</A>),
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what they will be before we think them, what they are when we do not
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regard them, what they have been when we have forgotten them. But those
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who can do this are gods, that <I>have not their dwelling with
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flesh</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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and it is they alone that can do this. As for men, their <I>dwelling is
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with flesh;</I> the wisest and greatest of men are clouded with a veil
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of flesh, which quite obstructs and confounds all their acquaintance
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with spirit, and their powers and operations; but the gods, that are
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themselves pure spirit, know what is in man. See here an instance of
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the ignorance of these magicians, that they speak of many gods, whereas
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there is but one and can be but one infinite; yet see their knowledge
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of that which even the light of nature teaches and the works of nature
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prove, that there is a God, who is a Spirit, and perfectly knows the
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spirits of men and all their thoughts, so as it is not possible that
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any man should. This confession of the divine omniscience is here
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extorted from these idolaters, to the honour of God and their own
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condemnation, who though they knew there is a God in heaven, <I>to whom
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all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secret is
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hid,</I> yet offered up their prayers and praises to dumb idols, that
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have <I>eyes and see not, ears and hear not.</I>
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2. That there is no king on earth that would expect or require such a
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thing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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This intimates that they were <I>kings, lords,</I> and
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<I>potentates,</I> not ordinary people, that the magicians had most
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dealings with, and at whose devotion they were, while the oracles of
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God and the gospel of Christ are dispensed <I>to the poor.</I> Kings
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and potentates have often required unreasonable things of their
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subjects, but they think that never any required so unreasonable a
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thing as this, and therefore hope his imperial majesty will not insist
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upon it. But it is all in vain; when passion is in the throne reason is
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under foot: He was <I>angry and very furious,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Note, It is very common for those that will not be convinced by reason
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to be provoked and exasperated by it, and to push on with fury what
|
|
they cannot support with equity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The doom passed upon all the magicians of Babylon. There is but
|
|
<I>one decree for them all</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
|
|
|
|
they all stand condemned without exception or distinction. The decree
|
|
has gone forth, they must every man of them be slain
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
Daniel and his fellows (though they knew nothing of the matter) not
|
|
excepted. See here,
|
|
|
|
1. What are commonly the unjust proceedings of arbitrary power.
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar is here a tyrant in true colours, speaking death when he
|
|
cannot speak sense, and treating those as traitors whose only fault is
|
|
that they would serve him, but cannot.
|
|
|
|
2. What is commonly the just punishment of pretenders. How
|
|
unrighteous soever Nebuchadnezzar was in this sentence, as to the
|
|
ringleaders in the imposture, God was righteous. Those that imposed
|
|
upon men, in pretending to do what they could not do, are now sentenced
|
|
to death for not being able to do what they did not pretend to.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Dream Revealed to Daniel; Daniel's Thanksgiving.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 603.</TD></TR>
|
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the
|
|
captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the
|
|
wise <I>men</I> of Babylon:
|
|
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why <I>is</I>
|
|
the decree <I>so</I> hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing
|
|
known to Daniel.
|
|
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would
|
|
give him time, and that he would show the king the
|
|
interpretation.
|
|
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to
|
|
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
|
|
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven
|
|
concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not
|
|
perish with the rest of the wise <I>men</I> of Babylon.
|
|
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision.
|
|
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
|
|
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for
|
|
ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
|
|
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth
|
|
kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
|
|
knowledge to them that know understanding:
|
|
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what
|
|
<I>is</I> in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
|
|
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who
|
|
hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now
|
|
what we desired of thee: for thou hast <I>now</I> made known unto us
|
|
the king's matter.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
When the king sent for his wise men to tell them his dream, and the
|
|
interpretation of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
Daniel, it seems, was not summoned to appear among them; the king,
|
|
though he was highly pleased with him when he examined him, and thought
|
|
him <I>ten times</I> wiser than the rest of his wise men, yet forgot
|
|
him when he had most occasion for him; and no wonder, when all was done
|
|
in a heat, and nothing with a cool and deliberate thought. But
|
|
Providence so ordered it; that the magicians being nonplussed might be
|
|
the more taken notice of, and so the more glory might redound to the
|
|
God of Daniel. But, though Daniel had not the honour to be consulted
|
|
with the rest of the wise men, contrary to all law and justice, by an
|
|
undistinguishing sentence, he stands condemned with them, and till he
|
|
has notice brought him to prepare for execution he knows nothing of the
|
|
matter. How miserable is the case of those who live under arbitrary
|
|
government, as this of Nebuchadnezzar's! How happy are we, whose lives
|
|
are under the protection of the law and methods of justice, and lie not
|
|
thus at the mercy of a peevish and capricious prince!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have found already, in Ezekiel, that Daniel was famous both for
|
|
prudence and prayer; as a prince he had power with God and by man; by
|
|
prayer he had power with God, by prudence he had power with man, and in
|
|
both he prevailed. Thus did he <I>find favour and good
|
|
understanding</I> in the sight of both, and in these verses we have a
|
|
remarkable instance of both.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Daniel by prudence knew how to deal with men, and he prevailed with
|
|
them. When <I>Arioch, the captain of the guard,</I> that was appointed
|
|
to slay all the wise men of Babylon, the whole college of them, seized
|
|
Daniel (for the sword of tyranny, like the sword of war, <I>devours one
|
|
as well as another</I>), he <I>answered with counsel and wisdom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
he did not fall into a passion, and reproach the king as unjust and
|
|
barbarous, much less did he contrive how to make resistance, but mildly
|
|
asked, <I>Why is the decree so hasty?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
And whereas the rest of the wise men had insisted upon it that it was
|
|
utterly impossible for him ever to have his demand gratified, which did
|
|
but make him more outrageous, Daniel undertakes, if he may but have a
|
|
little time allowed him, to give the king all the satisfaction he
|
|
desired,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The king, being now sensible of his error in not sending for Daniel
|
|
sooner, whose character he began to recollect, was soon prevailed upon
|
|
to respite the judgment, and make trial of Daniel. Note, The likeliest
|
|
method to turn away wrath, even the wrath of a king, which is as the
|
|
messenger of death, is by a <I>soft answer,</I> by that yielding which
|
|
<I>pacifies great offences;</I> thus, though <I>where the word of a
|
|
king is there is power,</I> yet even that word may be repelled, and
|
|
that so as to be repealed; and so some read it here
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then Daniel returned,</I> and stayed <I>the counsel and edict,
|
|
through Arioch, the king's provost-marshal.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Daniel knew how by prayer to converse with God, and he found favour
|
|
with him, both in petition and in thanksgiving, which are the two
|
|
principal parts of prayer. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. His humble petition for this mercy, that God would discover to him
|
|
what was the king's dream, and the interpretation of it. When he had
|
|
gained time he did not go to consult with the rest of the wise men
|
|
whether there was anything in their art, in their books, that might be
|
|
of use in this matter, but <I>went to his house,</I> there to be alone
|
|
with God, for from him alone, who is the Father of lights, he expected
|
|
this great gift. Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He did not only pray for this discovery himself, but he engaged
|
|
his companions to pray for it too. He <I>made the thing known</I> to
|
|
those who had been all along his bosom-friends and associates,
|
|
requesting <I>that they would desire mercy of God concerning this
|
|
secret,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though Daniel was probably their senior, and every way excelled them,
|
|
yet he engaged them as partners with him in this matter, <I>Vis unita
|
|
fortior--The union of forces produces greater force.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:16">Esth. iv. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Praying friends are valuable friends; it is good to have an
|
|
intimacy with and an interest in those that have fellowship with God
|
|
and an interest at the throne of grace; and it well becomes the
|
|
greatest and best of men to desire the assistance of the prayers of
|
|
others for them. St. Paul often entreats his friends to pray for him.
|
|
Thus we must show that we put a value upon our friends, upon prayer,
|
|
upon their prayers.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He was particular in this prayer, but had an eye to, and a
|
|
dependence upon, the general mercy of God: <I>That they would desire
|
|
the mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
We ought in prayer to look up to God as the <I>God of heaven,</I> a God
|
|
above us, and who has dominion over us, to whom we owe adoration and
|
|
allegiance, a God of power, who can do everything. Our savior has
|
|
taught us to pray to God as <I>our Father in heaven.</I> And, whatever
|
|
good we pray for, our dependence must be upon the <I>mercies of God</I>
|
|
for it, and an interest in those mercies we must desire; we can expect
|
|
nothing by way of recompence for our merits, but all as the gift of
|
|
God's mercies. They desired mercy <I>concerning this secret.</I> Note,
|
|
Whatever is the matter of our care must be the matter of our prayer; we
|
|
must desire mercy of God concerning this thing and the other thing that
|
|
occasions us trouble and fear. God gives us leave to be humbly free
|
|
with him, and in prayer to enter into the detail of our wants and
|
|
burdens. <I>Secret things belong to the Lord our God,</I> and
|
|
therefore, if there be any mercy we stand in need of that concerns a
|
|
secret, to him we must apply; and, though we cannot in faith pray for
|
|
miracles, yet we may in faith pray to him who has all hearts in his
|
|
hand, and who in his providence does wonders without miracles, for the
|
|
discovery of that which is out of our view and the obtaining of that
|
|
which is out of our reach, as far as is for his glory and our good,
|
|
believing that to him nothing is hidden, nothing is hard.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Their plea with God was the imminent peril they were in; they
|
|
desired mercy of God in this matter, that so Daniel and his <I>fellows
|
|
might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon,</I> that the
|
|
righteous might not be destroyed with the wicked. Note, When the lives
|
|
of good and useful men are in danger it is time to be earnest with God
|
|
for mercy for them, as for Peter in prison,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+12:5">Acts xii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The mercy which Daniel and his fellows prayed for was bestowed.
|
|
The <I>secret was revealed unto Daniel</I> in a <I>night-vision,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some think he dreamed the same dream, when he was asleep, that
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed; it should rather seem that when he was
|
|
awake, and continuing <I>instant in prayer,</I> and <I>watching in the
|
|
same,</I> the dream itself, and the interpretation of it, were
|
|
communicated to him by the ministry of an angel, abundantly to his
|
|
satisfaction. Note, The <I>effectual fervent prayer of righteous men
|
|
avails much.</I> There are mysteries and secrets which by prayer we are
|
|
let into; with that key the cabinets of heaven are unlocked, for Christ
|
|
has said, Thus <I>knock, and it shall be opened unto you.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. His grateful thanksgiving for this mercy when he had received it:
|
|
<I>Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He did not stay till he had told it to the king, and seen whether he
|
|
would own it to be his dream or no, but was confident that it was so,
|
|
and that he had gained his point, and therefore he immediately turned
|
|
his prayers into praises. As he had prayed in a full assurance that God
|
|
would do this for him, so he gave thanks in a full assurance that he
|
|
had done it; and in both he had an eye to God as the <I>God of
|
|
heaven.</I> His prayer was not recorded, but his thanksgiving is.
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The honour he gives to God in this thanksgiving, which he studies
|
|
to do in a great variety and copiousness of expression: <I>Blessed be
|
|
the name of God for ever and ever.</I> There is that <I>for ever</I> in
|
|
God which is to be blessed and praised; it is unchangeably and
|
|
eternally in him. And it is to be blessed <I>for ever and ever;</I> as
|
|
the matter of praise is God's eternal perfection, so the work of praise
|
|
shall be everlastingly in the doing.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He gives to God the glory of what he is in himself: <I>Wisdom and
|
|
might are his, wisdom and courage</I> (so some); whatever is fit to be
|
|
done he will do; whatever he will do he can do, he dares do, and he
|
|
will be sure to do it in the best manner, for he has infinite wisdom to
|
|
design and contrive and infinite power to execute and accomplish.
|
|
<I>With him are strength and wisdom,</I> which in men are often parted.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He gives him the glory of what he is to the world of mankind. He
|
|
has a universal influence and agency upon all the children of men, and
|
|
all their actions and affairs. Are the times changed? Is the posture
|
|
of affairs altered? Does every thing lie open to mutability? It is God
|
|
that <I>changes the times and the seasons,</I> and the face of them. No
|
|
change comes to pass by chance, but according to the will and counsel
|
|
of God. Are those that were kings removed and deposed? Do they
|
|
abdicate? Are they laid aside? It is God that <I>removes kings.</I>
|
|
Are the <I>poor raised out of the dust,</I> to be <I>set among
|
|
princes?</I> It is God that <I>sets up kings;</I> and the making and
|
|
unmaking of kings is a flower of his crown who is the fountain of all
|
|
power, <I>King of kings and Lord of lords.</I> Are there men that excel
|
|
others in wisdom, philosophers and statesmen, that think above the
|
|
common rate, contemplative penetrating men? It is <I>God that gives
|
|
wisdom to the wise,</I> whether they be so wise as to acknowledge it or
|
|
no; they have it not of themselves, but it is he that <I>gives
|
|
knowledge to those that know understanding,</I> which is a good reason
|
|
why we should not be proud of our knowledge, and why we should serve
|
|
and honour God with it and make it our business to know him.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He gives him the glory of this particular discovery. He praises
|
|
him, <I>First,</I> For that he could make such a discovery
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He reveals the deep and secret things</I> which are hidden from the
|
|
eyes of all living. It was he that revealed to man what is true wisdom
|
|
when none else could
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:27,28">Job xxvii. 27, 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is he that reveals things to come to his servants and prophets. He
|
|
does himself perfectly discern and distinguish that which is most
|
|
closely and most industriously concealed, for he will <I>bring into
|
|
judgment every secret thing;</I> the truth will be evident in the great
|
|
day. He <I>knows what is in the darkness,</I> and what is done in the
|
|
darkness, for that <I>hides not from him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:11,12">Ps. cxxxix. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The light dwells with him,</I> and he <I>dwells in the light</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+6:16">1 Tim. vi. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and yet, as to us, he <I>makes darkness his pavilion.</I> Some
|
|
understand it of the light of prophecy and divine revelation, which
|
|
dwells with God and is derived from him; for he is the <I>Father of
|
|
lights,</I> of all lights; they are all at home in him.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> For that he had made this discovery to him. Here he
|
|
has an eye to God as the <I>God of his fathers;</I> for, though the
|
|
Jews were now captives in Babylon, yet they were <I>beloved for their
|
|
father's sake.</I> He praises God, who is the fountain of wisdom and
|
|
might, for the wisdom and might he had given him, wisdom to know this
|
|
great secret and might to bear the discovery. Note, What wisdom and
|
|
might we have we must acknowledge to be God's gift. <I>Thou hast made
|
|
this known to me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
What was hidden from the celebrated Chaldeans, who made the
|
|
interpreting of dreams their profession, is revealed to Daniel, a
|
|
captive-Jew, a babe, much their junior. God would hereby put honour
|
|
upon the <I>Spirit of prophecy</I> just when he was putting contempt
|
|
upon the <I>spirit of divination.</I> Was Daniel thus thankful to God
|
|
for making known that to him which was the saving of the lives of him
|
|
and his fellows? Much more reason have we to be thankful to him for
|
|
making known to us the great salvation of the soul, to us and <I>not to
|
|
the world,</I> to us and <I>not to the wise and prudent.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The respect he puts upon his companions in this thanksgiving.
|
|
Though it was by his prayers principally that this discovery was
|
|
obtained, and to him that it was made, yet he owns their partnership
|
|
with him, both in praying for it (it is what <I>we desired of thee</I>)
|
|
and in enjoying it--Thou hast <I>made known unto us the king's
|
|
matter.</I> Either they were present with Daniel when the discovery was
|
|
made to him, or as soon as he knew it he told it them (<B><I>heureka,
|
|
heureka</I></B>--<I>I have found it, I have found it</I>), that those
|
|
who had assisted him with their prayers might assist him in their
|
|
praises; his joining them with him is an instance of his humility and
|
|
modesty, which well become those that are taken into communion with
|
|
God. Thus St. Paul sometimes joins Sylvanus, Timotheus, or some other
|
|
minister, with himself in the inscriptions to many of his epistles.
|
|
Note, What honour God puts upon us we should be willing that our
|
|
brethren may share with us in.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nebuchadnezzar's Dream.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 603.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had
|
|
ordained to destroy the wise <I>men</I> of Babylon: he went and said
|
|
thus unto him; Destroy not the wise <I>men</I> of Babylon: bring me in
|
|
before the king, and I will show unto the king the
|
|
interpretation.
|
|
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and
|
|
said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah,
|
|
that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
|
|
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name <I>was</I>
|
|
Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which
|
|
I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
|
|
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The
|
|
secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise <I>men,</I> the
|
|
astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king;
|
|
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and
|
|
maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the
|
|
latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed,
|
|
are these;
|
|
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came <I>into thy mind</I> upon
|
|
thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that
|
|
revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
|
|
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for <I>any</I>
|
|
wisdom that I have more than any living, but for <I>their</I> sakes
|
|
that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that
|
|
thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the introduction to Daniel's declaring the dream, and the
|
|
interpretation of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He immediately bespoke the reversing of the sentence against the
|
|
wise men of Babylon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
He went with all speed to Arioch, to tell him that his commission was
|
|
now superseded: <I>Destroy not the wise men of Babylon.</I> Though
|
|
there were those of them perhaps that deserved to die, as magicians, by
|
|
the law of God, yet here that which they stood condemned for was not a
|
|
crime worth of death or of bonds, and therefore let them not die, and
|
|
be <I>unjustly destroyed,</I> but let them live, and be justly shamed,
|
|
as having been nonplussed and unable to do that which a prophet of the
|
|
Lord could do. Note, Since God shows common kindness to the evil and
|
|
good, we should do so too, and be ready to save the lives of even bad
|
|
men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:45">Matt. v. 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
A good man is a common good. To Paul in the ship God gave the souls of
|
|
all that sailed with him; they were saved for his sake. To Daniel was
|
|
owing the preservation of all the wise men, who yet rendered not
|
|
according to the benefit done to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+3:8"><I>ch.</I> iii. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He offered his service, with great assurance, to go to the king,
|
|
and tell him his dream and the interpretation of it, and was admitted
|
|
accordingly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Arioch brought him in haste to the king, hoping to ingratiate himself
|
|
by introducing Daniel; he pretends he had sought him to interpret the
|
|
king's dream, whereas really it was to execute upon him the king's
|
|
sentence that he sought him. But courtiers' business is every way to
|
|
humour the prince and make their own services acceptable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He contrived as much as might be to reflect shame upon the
|
|
magicians, and to give honour to God, upon this occasion. The king
|
|
owned that it was a bold undertaking, and questioned whether he could
|
|
make it good
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Art thou able to make known unto me the dream?</I> What! Such a babe
|
|
in this knowledge, such a stripling as thou are, wilt thou undertake
|
|
that which thy seniors despair of doing? The less likely it appeared
|
|
to the king that Daniel should do this the more God was glorified in
|
|
enabling him to do it. Note, In transmitting divine revelation to the
|
|
children of men it has been God's usual way to make use of the <I>weak
|
|
and foolish things</I> and persons <I>of the world,</I> and such as
|
|
were <I>despised</I> and despaired of, <I>to confound the wise and
|
|
mighty,</I> that the excellency of the power might be of him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:27,28">1 Cor. i. 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Daniel from this takes occasion,
|
|
|
|
1. To put the king out of conceit with his magicians and soothsayers,
|
|
whom he had such great expectations from
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>This secret they cannot show to the king;</I> it is out of their
|
|
power; the rules of their art will not reach to it. Therefore let not
|
|
the king be angry with them for not doing that which they cannot do;
|
|
but rather despise them, and cast them off, because they cannot do it."
|
|
Broughton reads it generally: "This secret <I>no sages, astrologers,
|
|
enchanters, or entrail-cookers, can show unto the king;</I> let not the
|
|
king therefore consult them any more." Note, The experience we have of
|
|
the inability of all creatures to give us satisfaction should lessen
|
|
our esteem of them, and lower our expectations from them. They are
|
|
baffled in their pretensions; we are baffled in our hopes from them.
|
|
Hitherto they come, and no further; let us therefore say to them, as
|
|
Job to his friends, <I>Now you are nothing; miserable comforters are
|
|
you all.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. To bring him to the knowledge of the one only living and true God,
|
|
the God whom Daniel worshipped: "Though they cannot find out the
|
|
secret, let not the king despair of having it found out, for <I>there
|
|
is a God in heaven that reveals secrets,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The insufficiency of creatures should drive us to the
|
|
all-sufficiency of the Creator. <I>There is a God in heaven</I> (and it
|
|
is well for us there is) who can do that for us, and make known that to
|
|
us, which none on earth can, particularly the secret history of the
|
|
work of redemption and the secret designs of God's love to us therein,
|
|
the mystery which was <I>hidden from ages and generations;</I> divine
|
|
revelation helps us out where human reason leaves us quite at a loss,
|
|
and makes known that, not only to kings, but to the poor of this world,
|
|
which none of the philosophers or politicians of the heathens, with all
|
|
their oracles and arts of divination to help them, could ever pretend
|
|
to give us any light into,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:25,26">Rom. xvi. 25, 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He confirmed the king in his opinion that the dream he was thus
|
|
solicitous to recover the idea of was really well worth enquiring
|
|
after, that it was of great value and of vast consequence, not a common
|
|
dream, the idle disport of a ludicrous and luxuriant fancy, which was
|
|
not worth remembering or telling again, but that it was a divine
|
|
discovery, a ray of light darted into his mind from the upper world,
|
|
relating to the great affairs and revolutions of this lower world. God
|
|
in it <I>made known to the king what should be in the latter days</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, in the times that were to come, reaching as far as the setting
|
|
up of Christ's kingdom in the world, which was to be <I>in the latter
|
|
days,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+1:1">Heb. i. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>The thoughts which came into thy mind</I> were not the repetitions
|
|
of what had been before, as our dreams usually are"--</P>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD>Omnia quæ sensu volvuntur vota diurno
|
|
<BR>Tempore sopito reddit amica quies--
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR>The sentiments which we indulge throughout the day
|
|
<BR>often mingle with the grateful slumbers of the night.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD ALIGN=RIGHT>
|
|
C<FONT SIZE=-1>LAUDIAN</FONT>. </TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
"But they were predictions of <I>what should come to pass
|
|
hereafter,</I> which he that <I>reveals secrets makes known unto
|
|
thee;</I> and therefore thou art in the right in taking the hint and
|
|
pursuing it thus." Note, Things that are to come to pass hereafter are
|
|
secret things, which God only can reveal; and what he has revealed of
|
|
those things, especially with reference to the last days of all, to the
|
|
end of time, ought to be very seriously and diligently enquired into
|
|
and considered by every one of us. Some think that the <I>thoughts</I>
|
|
which are said to have come into the king's mind upon his bed, what
|
|
should come to pass hereafter, were his own thoughts when he was awake.
|
|
Just before he fell asleep, and dreamed this dream, he was musing in
|
|
his own mind what would be the issue of his growing greatness, what his
|
|
kingdom would hereafter come to; and so the dream was an answer to
|
|
those thoughts. What discoveries God intends to make he thus prepares
|
|
men for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He solemnly professes that he could not pretend to have merited from
|
|
God the favour of this discovery, or to have obtained it by any
|
|
sagacity of his own
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>But, as for me,</I> this secret is not found out by me, but is
|
|
<I>revealed to me,</I> and that <I>not for any wisdom that I have more
|
|
than any living,</I> to qualify me for the receiving of such a
|
|
discovery." Note, It well becomes those whom God has highly favoured
|
|
and honoured to be very humble and low in their own eyes, to lay aside
|
|
all opinion of their own wisdom and worthiness, that God alone may have
|
|
all the praise of the good they are, and have, and do, and that all may
|
|
be attributed to the freeness of his good-will towards them and the
|
|
fulness of his good work in them. The secret was made known to him not
|
|
for his own sake, but,
|
|
|
|
1. For the sake of his people, for <I>their sakes that shall make known
|
|
the interpretation to the king,</I> that is, for the sake of his
|
|
brethren and companions in tribulation, who had by their prayers helped
|
|
him to obtain this discovery, and so might be said to make known the
|
|
interpretation--that their lives might be spared, that they might come
|
|
into favour and be preferred, and all the people of the Jews might fare
|
|
the better, in their captivity, for their sakes. Note, Humble men will
|
|
be always ready to think that what God does for them and by them is
|
|
more for the sake of others than for their own.
|
|
|
|
2. For the sake of <I>his prince;</I> and some read the former clause
|
|
in this sense, "Not for any wisdom of mine, <I>but that the king may
|
|
know the interpretation, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of
|
|
thy heart,</I> that thou mightest have satisfaction given thee as to
|
|
what thou wast before considering, and thereby instruction given thee
|
|
how to behave towards the church of God." God revealed this thing to
|
|
Daniel that he might make it known to the king. Prophets receive that
|
|
they may give, that the discoveries made to them may not be lodged with
|
|
themselves, but communicated to the persons that are concerned.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_45"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Interpreted.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 603.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great
|
|
image, whose brightness <I>was</I> excellent, stood before thee; and
|
|
the form thereof <I>was</I> terrible.
|
|
32 This image's head <I>was</I> of fine gold, his breast and his
|
|
arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
|
|
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
|
|
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands,
|
|
which smote the image upon his feet <I>that were</I> of iron and clay,
|
|
and brake them to pieces.
|
|
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the
|
|
gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the
|
|
summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no
|
|
place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image
|
|
became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
|
|
36 This <I>is</I> the dream; and we will tell the interpretation
|
|
thereof before the king.
|
|
37 Thou, O king, <I>art</I> a king of kings: for the God of heaven
|
|
hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
|
|
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the
|
|
field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand,
|
|
and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou <I>art</I> this head of
|
|
gold.
|
|
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee,
|
|
and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over
|
|
all the earth.
|
|
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as
|
|
iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all <I>things:</I> and as iron
|
|
that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
|
|
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters'
|
|
clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there
|
|
shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou
|
|
sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
|
|
42 And <I>as</I> the toes of the feet <I>were</I> part of iron, and part
|
|
of clay, <I>so</I> the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
|
|
broken.
|
|
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they
|
|
shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not
|
|
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
|
|
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set
|
|
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom
|
|
shall not be left to other people, <I>but</I> it shall break in pieces
|
|
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
|
|
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the
|
|
mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the
|
|
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath
|
|
made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the
|
|
dream <I>is</I> certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Daniel here gives full satisfaction to Nebuchadnezzar concerning his
|
|
dream and the interpretation of it. That great prince had been kind to
|
|
this poor prophet in his maintenance and education; he had been brought
|
|
up at the king's cost, preferred at court, and the land of his
|
|
captivity had hereby been made much easier to him than to others of his
|
|
brethren. And now the king is abundantly repaid for all the expense he
|
|
had been at upon him; and for receiving this prophet, though not in the
|
|
name of a prophet, he had a prophet's reward, such a reward as a
|
|
prophet only could give, and for which that wealthy mighty prince was
|
|
now glad to be beholden to him. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The dream itself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:31,45"><I>v.</I> 31, 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar perhaps was an admirer of statues, and had his palace
|
|
and gardens adorned with them; however, he was a worshipper of images,
|
|
and now behold a <I>great image</I> is set before him in a dream, which
|
|
might intimate to him what the images were which he bestowed so much
|
|
cost upon, and paid such respect to; they were mere dreams. The
|
|
creatures of fancy might do as well to please the fancy. By the power
|
|
of imagination he might shut his eyes, and represent to himself what
|
|
forms he thought fit, and beautify them at his pleasure, without the
|
|
expense and trouble of sculpture. This was the image of a man erect:
|
|
<I>It stood before him,</I> as a living man; and, because those
|
|
monarchies which were designed to be represented by it were admirable
|
|
in the eyes of their friends, the <I>brightness</I> of this image
|
|
<I>was excellent;</I> and because they were formidable to their
|
|
enemies, and dreaded by all about them, the <I>form</I> of this image
|
|
is said to be <I>terrible;</I> both the features of the face and the
|
|
postures of the body made it so. But that which was most remarkable in
|
|
this image was the different metals of which it was composed--the
|
|
<I>head of gold</I> (the richest and most durable metal), the <I>breast
|
|
and arms of silver</I> (the next to it in worth), the <I>belly and
|
|
sides (or thighs) of brass,</I> the <I>legs of iron</I> (still baser
|
|
metals), and lastly the feet <I>part of iron and part of clay.</I> See
|
|
what the things of this world are; the further we go in them the less
|
|
valuable they appear. In the life of a man youth is a head of gold, but
|
|
it grows less and less worthy of our esteem; and old age is half clay;
|
|
a man is then <I>as good as dead.</I> It is so with the world; later
|
|
ages degenerate. The first age of the Christian church, of the
|
|
reformation, was a head of gold; but we live in an age that is iron and
|
|
clay. Some allude to this in the description of a hypocrite, whose
|
|
practice is not agreeable to his knowledge. He has a head of gold, but
|
|
feet of iron and clay: he knows his duty, but does it not. Some observe
|
|
that in Daniel's visions the monarchies were represented by four beasts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:1-28"><I>ch.</I> vii.</A>),
|
|
|
|
for he looked upon that wisdom from beneath, by which they were turned
|
|
to be earthly and sensual, and a tyrannical power, to have more in it
|
|
of the beast than of the man, and so the vision agreed with his notions
|
|
of the thing. But to Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen prince, they were
|
|
represented by a gay and pompous image of a man, for he was an admirer
|
|
of the <I>kingdoms of this world and the glory of them.</I> To him the
|
|
sight was so charming that he was impatient to see it again. But what
|
|
became of this image? The next part of the dream shows it to us
|
|
calcined, and brought to nothing. He saw a stone cut out of the quarry
|
|
by an unseen power, without hands, and this stone fell upon the <I>feet
|
|
of the image,</I> that were of <I>iron and clay,</I> and <I>broke them
|
|
to pieces;</I> and then the image must fall of course, and so the gold,
|
|
and silver, and brass, and iron, were all broken to pieces together,
|
|
and beaten so small that they became like the <I>chaff of the summer
|
|
threshing-floors,</I> and there were not to be found any the least
|
|
remains of them; but the stone <I>cut out of the mountain</I> became
|
|
itself a <I>great mountain, and filled the earth.</I> See how God can
|
|
bring about great effects by weak and unlikely causes; when he pleases
|
|
a <I>little one shall become a thousand.</I> Perhaps the destruction of
|
|
this image of gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, might be intended
|
|
to signify the abolishing of idolatry out of the world in due time. The
|
|
<I>idols of the heathen are silver and gold,</I> as this image was, and
|
|
<I>they shall perish from off the earth and from under these
|
|
heavens,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:11,Isa+2:18">Jer. x. 11; Isa. ii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And whatever power destroys idolatry is in the ready way to magnify and
|
|
exalt itself, as this stone, when it had broken the image to pieces,
|
|
became a great mountain.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The interpretation of this dream. Let us now see what is the
|
|
meaning of this. It was from God, and therefore from him it is fit that
|
|
we take the explication of it. It should seem, Daniel had his fellows
|
|
with him, and speaks for them as well as for himself, when he says,
|
|
<I>We will tell the interpretation,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This image represented the kingdoms of the earth that should
|
|
successively bear rule among the nations and have influence on the
|
|
affairs of the Jewish church. The four monarchies were not represented
|
|
by four distinct statues, but by one image, because they were all of
|
|
one and the same spirit and genius, and all more or less against the
|
|
church. It was the same power, only lodged in four different nations,
|
|
the two former lying eastward of Judea, the two latter westward.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The <I>head of gold</I> signified the Chaldean monarchy, which was
|
|
now in being
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:37,38"><I>v.</I> 37, 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou, O king! art</I> (or rather, <I>shalt be</I>) <I>a king of
|
|
kings,</I> a universal monarch, to whom many kings and kingdoms shall
|
|
be tributaries; or, Thou art the <I>highest of kings</I> on earth at
|
|
this time (as a <I>servant of servants</I> is the meanest servant);
|
|
thou dost outshine all other kings. But let him not attribute his
|
|
elevation to his own politics or fortitude. No; it is <I>the God of
|
|
heaven</I> that has <I>given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and
|
|
glory,</I> a kingdom that exercises great authority, stands firmly, and
|
|
shines brightly, acts by a puissant army with an arbitrary power. Note,
|
|
The greatest of princes have no power but what is given them from
|
|
above. The extent of his dominion is set forth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
that <I>wheresoever the children of men dwell,</I> in all the nations
|
|
of that part of the world, he was <I>ruler over them all,</I> over them
|
|
and all that belonged to them, all their cattle, not only those which
|
|
they had a property in, but those that were <I>feræ
|
|
naturæ</I>--<I>wild,</I> the <I>beasts of the field</I> and
|
|
<I>the fowls of the heaven.</I> He was lord of all the woods, forests,
|
|
and chases, and none were allowed to hunt or fowl without his leave.
|
|
Thus "<I>thou art the head of gold;</I> thou, and thy son, and thy
|
|
son's son, for seventy years." Compare this with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:9,11">Jer. xxv. 9, 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
especially
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+27:5-7">Jer. xxvii. 5-7</A>.
|
|
|
|
There were other powerful kingdoms in the world at this time, as that
|
|
of the Scythians; but it was the kingdom of Babylon that reigned over
|
|
the Jews, and that began the government which continued in the
|
|
succession here described till Christ's time. It is called a
|
|
<I>head,</I> for its wisdom, eminency, and absolute power, a head of
|
|
<I>gold</I> for its wealth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+14:4">Isa. xiv. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
it was a golden city. Some make this monarchy to begin in Nimrod, and
|
|
so bring into it all the Assyrian kings, about fifty monarchs in all,
|
|
and compute that it lasted above 1600 years. But it had not been so
|
|
long a monarchy of such vast extent and power as is here described, nor
|
|
any thing like it; therefore others make only Nebuchadnezzar,
|
|
Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar, to belong to this <I>head of gold;</I>
|
|
and a glorious high throne they had, and perhaps exercised a more
|
|
despotic power than any of the kings that went before them.
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar reigned forty-five years current, Evil-merodach
|
|
twenty-three years current, and Belshazzar three. Babylon was their
|
|
metropolis, and Daniel was with them upon the spot during the seventy
|
|
years.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The <I>breast and arms of silver</I> signified the monarchy of the
|
|
Medes and Persians, of which the king is told no more than this,
|
|
<I>There shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
not so rich, powerful, or victorious. This kingdom was founded by
|
|
Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian, in alliance with each other, and
|
|
therefore represented by two arms, meeting in the breast. Cyrus was
|
|
himself a Persian by his father, a Mede by his mother. Some reckon that
|
|
this second monarchy lasted 130 years, others 204 years. The former
|
|
computation agrees best with the scripture chronology.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The <I>belly and thighs of brass</I> signified the monarchy of the
|
|
Grecians, founded by Alexander, who conquered Darius Codomannus, the
|
|
last of the Persian emperors. This is the <I>third kingdom, of
|
|
brass,</I> inferior in wealth and extent of dominion to the Persian
|
|
monarchy, but in Alexander himself it shall by the power of the sword
|
|
<I>bear rule over all the earth;</I> for Alexander boasted that he had
|
|
conquered the world, and then sat down and wept because he had not
|
|
another world to conquer.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The <I>legs and feet of iron</I> signified the Roman monarchy.
|
|
Some make this to signify the latter part of the Grecian monarchy, the
|
|
two empires of Syria and Egypt, the former governed by the family of
|
|
the Seleucidæ, from Seleucus, the latter by that of the
|
|
Lagidæ, from Ptolemæus Lagus; these they make the two legs
|
|
and feet of this image: Grotius, and Junius, and Broughton, go this
|
|
way. But it has been the more received opinion that it is the Roman
|
|
monarchy that is here intended, because it was in the time of that
|
|
monarchy, and when it was at its height, that the kingdom of Christ was
|
|
set up in the world by the preaching of the everlasting gospel. The
|
|
Roman kingdom was strong as iron
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>),
|
|
|
|
witness the prevalency of that kingdom against all that contended with
|
|
it for many ages. That kingdom <I>broke in pieces</I> the Grecian
|
|
empire and afterwards quite destroyed the nation of the Jews. Towards
|
|
the latter end of the Roman monarchy it grew very weak, and branched
|
|
into ten kingdoms, which were as the toes of these feet. Some of these
|
|
were weak as clay, others strong as iron,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
|
|
Endeavours were used to unite and cement them for the strengthening of
|
|
the empire, but in vain: <I>They shall not cleave one to another,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
This empire divided the government for a long time between the senate
|
|
and the people, the nobles and the commons, but they did not entirely
|
|
coalesce. There were civil wars between Marius and Sylla, Cæsar
|
|
and Pompey, whose parties were as iron and clay. Some refer this to the
|
|
declining times of that empire, when, for the strengthening of the
|
|
empire against the irruptions of the barbarous nations, the branches of
|
|
the royal family intermarried; but the politics had not the desired
|
|
effect, when the day of the fall of that empire came.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The stone <I>cut out without hands</I> represented the kingdom of
|
|
Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the world in the time of the
|
|
Roman empire, and upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in the <I>kingdoms
|
|
of the world.</I> This is <I>the stone cut out of the mountain without
|
|
hands,</I> for it should be neither raised nor supported by human power
|
|
or policy; no visible hand should act in the setting of it up, but it
|
|
should be done invisibly the <I>Spirit of the Lord of hosts.</I> This
|
|
was <I>the stone which the builders refused,</I> because it was not cut
|
|
out by their hands, but it has now become the <I>head-stone of the
|
|
corner.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The gospel-church is a kingdom, which Christ is the sole and
|
|
sovereign monarch of, in which he rules by his word and Spirit, to
|
|
which he gives protection and law, and from which he receives homage
|
|
and tribute. It is a kingdom <I>not of this world,</I> and yet set up
|
|
in it; it is the kingdom of God among men.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The <I>God of heaven</I> was to set up this kingdom, to give
|
|
authority to Christ to execute judgment, to set him as <I>King upon his
|
|
holy hill of Zion,</I> and to bring into obedience to him a willing
|
|
people. Being set up by the God of heaven, it is often in the <I>New
|
|
Testament</I> called the <I>kingdom of heaven,</I> for its original is
|
|
from above and its tendency is upwards.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It was to be set up <I>in the days of these kings,</I> the kings
|
|
of the fourth monarchy, of which particular notice is taken
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:1">Luke ii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
That Christ was born when, by the decree of the emperor of Rome, <I>all
|
|
the world was taxed,</I> which was a plain indication that that empire
|
|
had become as universal as any earthly empire ever was. When these
|
|
kings are contesting with each other, and in all the struggles each of
|
|
the contending parties hopes to find its own account, God will do his
|
|
own work and fulfil his own counsels. <I>These kings</I> are all
|
|
enemies to Christ's kingdom, and yet it shall be set up in defiance of
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
(4.) It is a kingdom that knows no decay, is in no danger of
|
|
destruction, and will not admit any succession or revolution. It shall
|
|
<I>never be destroyed</I> by any foreign force invading it, as many
|
|
other kingdoms are; fire and sword cannot waste it; the combined powers
|
|
of earth and hell cannot deprive either the subjects of their prince or
|
|
the prince of his subjects; nor shall this <I>kingdom be left to other
|
|
people,</I> as the kingdoms of the earth are. As Christ is a monarch
|
|
that has no successor (for he himself shall reign for ever), so his
|
|
kingdom is a monarchy that has no revolution. The kingdom of God was
|
|
indeed taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:43">Matt. xxi. 43</A>),
|
|
|
|
but still it was Christianity that ruled, the kingdom of the Messiah.
|
|
The Christian church is still the same; it is fixed on a rock, much
|
|
fought against, but never to be prevailed against, by the gates of
|
|
hell.
|
|
|
|
(5.) It is a kingdom that shall be victorious over all opposition. It
|
|
shall <I>break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms,</I> as the
|
|
<I>stone cut out of the mountain without hands</I> broke in pieces the
|
|
image,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:44,45"><I>v.</I> 44, 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
The kingdom of Christ shall <I>wear out</I> all other kingdoms, shall
|
|
outlive them, and flourish when they are sunk with their own weight,
|
|
and so wasted that their place <I>knows them no more.</I> All the
|
|
kingdoms that appear against the kingdom of Christ shall be broken with
|
|
a <I>rod of iron,</I> as a <I>potter's vessel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:9">Ps. ii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
And in the kingdoms that submit to the kingdom of Christ tyranny, and
|
|
idolatry, and every thing that is their reproach, shall, as far as the
|
|
gospel of Christ gets ground, be broken. The day is coming when Jesus
|
|
Christ shall have <I>put down all rule, principality, and power,</I>
|
|
and have made <I>all his enemies his footstool;</I> and then this
|
|
prophecy will have its full accomplishment, and not till then,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24,25">1 Cor. xv. 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our savior seems to refer to this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:44">Matt. xxi. 44</A>),
|
|
|
|
when, speaking of himself as the stone set at nought by the Jewish
|
|
builders, he says, <I>On whomsoever</I> this stone <I>shall fall, it
|
|
will grind him to powder.</I>
|
|
|
|
(6.) It shall be an everlasting kingdom. Those kingdoms of the earth
|
|
that had <I>broken in pieces</I> all about them at length came, in
|
|
their turn, to be in like manner broken; but the kingdom of Christ
|
|
shall break other kingdoms in pieces and shall itself <I>stand for
|
|
ever.</I> His throne shall be as the days of heaven, his seed, his
|
|
subjects, as the stars of heaven, not only so innumerable, but so
|
|
immutable. Of the <I>increase</I> of Christ's <I>government and
|
|
peace</I> there shall be <I>no end. The Lord shall reign for ever,</I>
|
|
not only to the end of time, but when time and days shall be no more,
|
|
and God <I>shall be all in all</I> to eternity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Daniel having thus interpreted the dream, to the satisfaction of
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar, who gave him no interruption, so full was the
|
|
interpretation that he had no question to ask, and so plain that he had
|
|
no objection to make, he closes all with a solemn assertion,
|
|
|
|
1. Of the divine original of this dream: <I>The great God</I> (so he
|
|
calls him, to express his own high thoughts of him, and to beget the
|
|
like in the mind of this great king) has <I>made known to the king what
|
|
shall come to pass hereafter,</I> which the gods of the magicians could
|
|
not do. And thus a full confirmation was given to that great argument
|
|
which Isaiah had long before urged against idolaters, and particularly
|
|
the idolaters of Babylon, when he challenged the gods they worshipped
|
|
to <I>show things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you
|
|
are gods</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:23">Isa. xli. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
and by <I>this</I> proved the God of Israel to be the true God, that he
|
|
<I>declares the end from the beginning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:10">Isa. xlvi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Of the undoubted certainty of the things foretold by this dream. He
|
|
who makes known these things is the same that has himself designed and
|
|
determined them, and will by his providence effect them; and we are
|
|
sure that <I>his counsel shall stand,</I> and cannot be altered, and
|
|
therefore <I>the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof
|
|
sure.</I> Note, Whatever God has made known we may depend upon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Da2_49"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nebuchadnezzar's Honours Daniel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 603.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and
|
|
worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an
|
|
oblation and sweet odours unto him.
|
|
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth <I>it is,</I>
|
|
that your God <I>is</I> a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a
|
|
revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
|
|
48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many
|
|
great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of
|
|
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise <I>men</I> of
|
|
Babylon.
|
|
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach,
|
|
Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of
|
|
Babylon: but Daniel <I>sat</I> in the gate of the king.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
One might have expected that when Nebuchadnezzar was contriving to make
|
|
his own kingdom everlasting he would be enraged at Daniel, who foretold
|
|
the fall of it and that another kingdom of another nature should be the
|
|
everlasting kingdom; but, instead of resenting it as an affront, he
|
|
received it as an oracle, and here we are told what the expressions
|
|
were of the impressions it made upon him.
|
|
|
|
1. He was ready to look upon Daniel as a little god. Though he saw him
|
|
to be a man, yet from this wonderful discovery which he had made both
|
|
of his secret thoughts, in telling him the dream, and of things to
|
|
come, in telling him the interpretation of it, he concluded that he had
|
|
certainly a divinity lodged in him, worthy his adoration; and therefore
|
|
he <I>fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was the custom of the country by prostration to give honour to
|
|
kings, because they have something of a divine power in them (<I>I have
|
|
said, You are gods</I>); and therefore this king, who had often
|
|
received such veneration from others, now paid the like to Daniel, whom
|
|
he supposed to have in him a divine knowledge, which he was so struck
|
|
with an admiration of that he could not contain himself, but forgot
|
|
both that Daniel was a man and that himself was a king. Thus did God
|
|
magnify divine revelation <I>and make it honourable,</I> extorting from
|
|
a proud potentate such a veneration but for one glimpse of it. He
|
|
<I>worshipped Daniel,</I> and <I>commanded that they should offer an
|
|
oblation to him,</I> and burn incense. Herein he cannot be justified,
|
|
but may in some measure be excused, when Cornelius was thus ready to
|
|
worship Peter, and John the angel, who both knew better. But, though it
|
|
is not here mentioned, yet we have reason to think that Daniel refused
|
|
these honours that he paid him, and said, as Peter to Cornelius,
|
|
<I>Stand up, I myself also am a man,</I> or, as the angel to St. John,
|
|
<I>See thou do it not;</I> for it is not said that the oblation was
|
|
offered unto him, though the king commanded it, or rather <I>said
|
|
it,</I> for so the word is. He said, in his haste, <I>Let an oblation
|
|
be offered to him.</I> And that Daniel did say something to him which
|
|
turned his eyes and thoughts another way is intimated in what follows
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The king answered Daniel.</I> Note, It is possible for those to
|
|
express a great honour for the ministers of God's word who yet have no
|
|
true love for the word. <I>Herod feared John,</I> and <I>heard him
|
|
gladly,</I> and yet went on in his sins,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+6:20">Mark vi. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He readily acknowledged the God of Daniel to be the great God, the
|
|
true God, the only living and true God. If Daniel will not suffer
|
|
himself to be worshipped, he will (as Daniel, it is likely, directed
|
|
him) <I>worship God,</I> by confessing
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Of a truth your God is a God of gods,</I> such a God as there is no
|
|
other, above all gods in dignity, over all gods in dominion. He is a
|
|
Lord <I>of kings,</I> from whom they derive their power and to whom
|
|
they are accountable; and he is both a discoverer and a <I>revealer of
|
|
secrets;</I> what is most secret he sees and can reveal, and what he
|
|
has revealed is what was secret and which none but himself could
|
|
reveal,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:10">1 Cor. ii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. He preferred Daniel, made him a great man,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>.
|
|
|
|
God made him a great man indeed when he took him into communion with
|
|
himself, a greater man than Nebuchadnezzar could make him; but, because
|
|
God had magnified him, therefore the king magnified him. Does wealth
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make men great? The king <I>gave him many great gifts;</I> and he had
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no reason to refuse them, when they all put him into so much the
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greater capacity of doing good to his brethren in captivity. These
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gifts were grateful returns for the good services he had done, and not
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aimed at, nor bargained for, by him, as the rewards of divination were
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by Balaam. Does power make a man great? He made him <I>ruler over the
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whole province of Babylon,</I> which no doubt had great influence upon
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the other provinces; he made him likewise chancellor of the university,
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<I>chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon,</I> to
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instruct those whom he had thus outdone; and, since they could not do
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what the king would have them do, they shall be obliged to do what
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Daniel would have them do. Thus it is fit that the <I>fool should be
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servant to the wise in heart.</I> Seeing Daniel <I>could reveal this
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secret</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>),
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the king thus advanced him. Note, It is the wisdom of princes to
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|
advance and employ those who receive divine revelation, and are much
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|
conversant with it, who, as Daniel here, show themselves to be well
|
|
acquainted with the kingdom of heaven. Joseph, like Daniel here, was
|
|
advanced in the court of the king of Egypt for his interpreting his
|
|
dreams; and he called him <I>Zaphnath-paaneah--a revealer of
|
|
secrets,</I> as the king of Babylon here calls Daniel; so that the
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preambles to their patents of honour are the same--for, and in
|
|
consideration of, their good services done to the crown in <I>revealing
|
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secrets.</I>
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4. He preferred his companions for his sake, and upon his special
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|
instance and request,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>.
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Daniel himself <I>sat in the gate of the king,</I> as president of the
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council, chief-justice, or prime-minister of state, or perhaps
|
|
chamberlain of the household; but he used his interest for his friends
|
|
as became a good man, and procured places in the government for
|
|
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Those that helped him with their
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|
prayers shall share with him in his honours, such a grateful sense had
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he even of that service. The preferring of them would be a great stay
|
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and help to Daniel in his place and business. And these pious Jews,
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being thus preferred in Babylon, had great opportunity of serving their
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brethren in captivity, and of doing them many good offices, which no
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doubt they were ready to do. Thus, sometimes, before God brings his
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people into trouble, he prepares it, that it may be easy to them.</P>
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