37<\/strong>. Nebuchadnezzar’s final doxology.<\/p>\n extol<\/em> ] or exalt<\/em>: Psa 30:1<\/span>; Psa 118:28<\/span>; Psa 145:1<\/span>, &c.<\/p>\n truth judgement<\/em> ] cf. Psa 111:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n and those that walk in pride<\/em>, &c.] Cf. Eze 17:24<\/span>; Psa 18:27<\/span>; Psa 75:7<\/span>; also Pro 16:18<\/span>. Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that the humiliation which he has experienced is a punishment for his pride.<\/p>\n “The Bible always represents to us that pride and arrogant self-confidence are an offence against God. The doom fell on Nebuchadnezzar while the haughty boast was still in the king’s mouth. The suddenness of the nemesis of pride is closely paralleled by the scene in the Acts of the Apostles in which Herod Agrippa I. is represented as entering the theatre to receive the deputies of Tyre and Sidon”; and, in spite of the ominous warning, which according to the story in Josephus he had received just before, as accepting the blasphemous adulation of the multitude, and as being stricken immediately by a mortal illness (Act 20:20-23<\/span>; Jos. Ant.<\/em> xiv. viii. 2). “And something like this we see again and again in what the late Bishop Thirlwall called the ‘irony of history’ the cases in which men seem to have been elevated to the very summit of power only to heighten the dreadful precipice over which they immediately fell. He mentions the cases of Persia, which was on the verge of ruin when with lordly arrogance she dictated the peace of Antalcidas; of Boniface VIII., in the Jubilee of 1300, immediately preceding his deadly overthrow; and of Spain, under Philip II., struck down by the ruin of the Armada at the zenith of her wealth and pride. He might have added the instances of Ahab, Sennacherib [cf. Isa 10:12-19<\/span>; Isa 10:33-34<\/span> ], Nebuchadnezzar, and Herod Antipas, of Alexander the Great, and of Napoleon” (Farrar, p. 198 f.).<\/p>\n Additional Note on Nebuchadnezzar’s madness<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The malady from which Nebuchadnezzar is represented as suffering agrees, as Dr Pusey has pointed out (p. 425 ff.), “with the description of a rare sort of disease, called Lycanthropy, from one form of it, of which our earliest notice is in a Greek medical writer of the 4th cent. a.d., in which the sufferer retains his consciousness in other respects, but imagines himself to be changed into some animal, and acts, up to a certain point, in conformity with that persuasion.” Persons thus afflicted imagine themselves for instance to be dogs, wolves, lions, cats, cocks, or other animals, and cry or otherwise behave themselves in the manner of these animals. Marcellus (4 cent. a.d.) says, “They who are seized by the kynanthropic or lykanthropic disease, in the month of February go forth by night, imitating in all things wolves or dogs, and until day especially live near tombs.” Galen mentions the case of one who crowed, and flapped his arms, imagining himself to be a cock; and many similar cases are on record in modern times. Dr Pusey states that he found no notice of the exact form of the disease with which Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted (which would be Boanthropy<\/em>); but there seems to be no intrinsic reason why an ox should not be the animal whose nature was thus assumed. A man who imagined himself to be an ox might naturally enough eat grass like an ox; but a perverted appetite, including, in particular, a desire to devour grass, leaves, twigs, &c., is also an independent characteristic of many forms of insanity. At the same time, persons suffering in these ways are often not entirely, or continuously, bereft of their reason; they are at times aware that they are not what they imagine themselves to be; and frequently (as visitors to lunatic asylums sometimes notice) make on many subjects acute and sensible remarks; so that there is no difficulty in supposing that Nebuchadnezzar could, as seems to be represented in Dan 4:34<\/em><\/span>, have recognized God in prayer even before his reason had wholly returned to him. Dr Pusey refers at some length to the case of Pre Surin, who, in exorcising others, fell for many years into a strange malady, in which he believed himself to be possessed, and acted outwardly in the manner of a maniac, and yet remained fully conscious of religious verities, and was inwardly in perfect peace and communion with God.<\/p>\n If therefore it were clear that the narrative in Daniel was the work of a contemporary hand, there does not seem to be any sufficient reason why the account of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity should not be accepted as historical: it is supported by physiological analogies; and the objections that it is not mentioned by other ancient writers, and that his empire would not have been preserved to him during such a long illness, are hardly of a nature to be conclusive; our records of his reign are imperfect [248] , and an arrangement may have been made by which the chief courtiers continued to rule in the king’s name, as in the similar cases of Charles VI. of France, Christian VII. of Denmark, George III. of England, and Otho of Bavaria, referred to by Dr Farrar (p. 201).<\/p>\n [248] The statement of Berosus (ap. Jos. c. Ap.<\/em> i. 20) that ‘falling into a sickness ( ), he ended his life,’ is too vague to be regarded as confirmatory of the narrative in Daniel: Berosus uses almost the same expression ( ) in speaking ( ib.<\/em> i. 19) of the death of Nabopolassar; besides, it is implied that from this sickness Nebuchadnezzar did not recover.<\/p>\n The question assumes, however, a different complexion, if it be true that the book is a work of the Maccaban age. We then have no contemporary evidence for the fact; and it becomes an open question, whether it is more than a popular tradition which the writer has followed, and which he has adopted for the purpose of teaching one of the great lessons of his book. Some support is given to this opinion by the curious, though imperfect, parallel quoted by Eusebius ( Praep. Evang.<\/em> ix. 41) from the Assyrian history of Abydenus (prob. 2<\/span> cent. a.d.): “Megasthenes says that Nebuchadnezzar became stronger than Herakles, and made wars upon Libya and Iberia, and having conquered these countries settled a part of their inhabitants on the right of Pontus. After this, it is said by the Chaldans, he ascended the roof of his palace, and being possessed by some god or other, cried aloud: ‘O Babylonians, I, Nebuchadnezzar, announce to you beforehand the coming misfortune, which Bel my ancestor and the Queen Beltis are alike powerless to persuade the Fates to avert. A Persian mule [i.e. Cyrus] will come, having your own deities as his allies [249] , and will bring slavery. He who will help him in this undertaking will be Mds [250] , the boast of Assyria [251] . Would that, before my citizens were betrayed, some Charybdis or sea might receive him, and utterly extinguish him! or else that, betaking himself elsewhere, he might be driven through the desert, where is no city nor track of man, where wild beasts have their pasture, and birds do roam, and that among rocks and ravines he might wander alone! and that I, before he imagined this, might meet with some happier end!’ Having uttered this prophecy, he forthwith disappeared; and Evilmaluruchus [Evil-merodach], his son, succeeded him on the throne.”<\/p>\n [249] Cyrus, in his ‘Cylinder-Inscription,’ represents himself as led into Babylon by Merodach, the supreme god of Babylon (cf. the Introd. p. xxxi. bottom<\/em>).<\/p>\n [250] Schrader, following a conjecture of von Gutschmid’s, reads ‘the son of a Median woman,’ i.e. Nabu-na’id, who certainly made himself unpopular by his neglect of the gods of Babylon, and may well have been regarded as in great measure responsible for its capture by Cyrus.<\/p>\n [251] Used in the sense of Babylonia<\/em>.<\/p>\n Megasthenes was a contemporary of Seleucus Nicator (b.c. 312 280); but the statements about Nebuchadnezzar’s prophecy are made on the authority of the ‘Chaldaeans.’ Prof. Be van, following Prof. Schrader [252] , points out well the historical significance of the passage, and its bearing on the Biblical narrative. “Obscure as the passage is in some of its details, one part may be regarded as certain, viz. that we have here a popular legend of Babylonian origin, coloured of course by the Greek medium through which it has passed. The prophecy put into the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar evidently refers to the overthrow of the Babylonian empire by Cyrus, the ‘mule.’ The resemblances between the narrative in Daniel and the Babylonian legend can hardly be accidental”: in both the king is on the roof of the palace; in the one case a prophetic voice declares to him that he will be driven from men, and have his abode with the beasts of the field, in the other he invokes a similar fate upon his nation’s foe. “But to suppose that either narrative has been directly borrowed from the other is impossible. It would appear that of the two, that in Abydenus is on the whole the more primitive. Its local character,” notice, for instance, the interest evinced by it in the history of Babylon, “is strongly marked; and it shews no signs of having been deliberately altered to serve a didactic purpose. In Daniel, on the other hand, we find a narrative which contains scarcely anything specifically Babylonian, but which is obviously intended to teach a moral lesson. It is therefore probable that some Babylonian legend on the subject of Nebuchadnezzar had, perhaps in a very distorted form, reached the ears of the author of Daniel, who adapted the story in order to make it a vehicle of religious instruction.”<\/p>\n [252] In his Essay on ‘Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness’ in the Jahrbcher fr Protest. Theol.<\/em>, 1881, p. 618 ff.<\/p>\n Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven – <\/B>Compare Dan 2:47<\/span>, and Dan 4:1-3<\/span>. He felt himself called on, in this public manner, to acknowledge the true God, with whose supremacy he had been made acquainted in so affecting a manner; to praise him that he had preserved him, and restored him to his reason and his throne; to extol or exalt him, by recognizing his sovereignty over the mighty kings of the earth, and the power to rule over all; and to honor him by making his name and attributes known abroad, and by using all his influence as a monarch to have him reverenced throughout his extended empire.<\/P> All whose works are truth – <\/B>See Deu 32:4<\/span>; Psa 33:4<\/span>; Rev 15:3<\/span>. The meaning is, that all that he does is done in accordance with the true nature of things, or with justice and propriety. It is not based on a false estimate of things, as what is done by man often is. How often are the plans and acts of man, even where there are the best intentions, based on some false estimate of things; on some views which are shown by the result to have been erroneous! But God sees things precisely as they are, and accurately knows what should be done in every case.<\/P> And those that walk in pride he is able to abase – <\/B>What had occurred to Nebuchadnezzar might occur to others, and as God had shown that he could reduce the most exalted sovereign of the earth to the lowest condition in which a human being can be, he inferred that he could do the same to all, and that there was no one so exalted in rank, so vigorous in health, and so mighty in intellect, that he could not effectually humble and subdue him. This is indeed an affecting truth which is constantly illustrated in the world. The reverses occurring among men, the sick-bed, the loss of reason, the grave, show how easily God can bring down rank, and beauty, and talent and all that the world calls great, to the dust. In the Greek Codex Chisianus there is at the close of this chapter a beautiful ascription of praise to God, which has nothing to correspond with it in the Chaldee, and the origin of which is unknown.<\/P> I will translate it, because, although it is not of Divine authority, and is no part of the sacred writings, it contains sentiments not inappropriate to the close of this remarkable chapter. It is as follows: To the Most High I make confession, and render praise to Him who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and the rivers, and all things in them; I acknowledge him and praise him because he is the God of gods, and Lord of lords, and King of kings, for he does signs and wonders, and changes times and seasons, taking away the kingdoms of kings, and placing others in their stead. From this time I will serve him, and from the fear of him trembling has seized me, and I praise all his saints, for the gods of the pagan have not in themselves power to transfer the kingdom of a king to another king, and to kill and to make alive, and to do signs, and great and fearful wonders, and to change mighty deeds, as the God of heaven has done to me, and has brought upon me great changes. I, during all the days of my reign, on account of my life, will bring to the Most High sacrifices for an odor of sweet savor to the Lord, and I and my people will do what will be acceptable before him – my nation, and the countries which are under my power.<\/P> And whosoever shall speak against the God of heaven, and whosoever shall countenance those who speak anything, I will condemn to death. Praise the Lord God of heaven, and bring sacrifice and offering to him gloriously. I, king of kings, confess Him gloriously, for so he has done with me; in the very day he set me upon my throne, and my power, and my kingdom; among my people I have power, and my majesty has been restored to me. And he sent letters concerning all things that were done unto him in his kingdom; to all the nations that were under him.<\/P> Nebuchadnezzar is supposed to have lived but about one year after this (Wintle), but nothing is known of his subsequent deeds. It may be hoped that he continued steadfast in his faith in that God whom he had thus been brought to acknowledge, and that he died in that belief. But of this nothing is known. After so solemn an admonition, however, of his own pride, and after being brought in this public manner to acknowledge the true God, it is to be regarded as not improbable that he looked on the Babylon that he had reared, and over his extended realms, with other feelings than those which he had before this terrible calamity came upon him. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded in his kingdom by his son Iloarudam, according to Ptolemy, who is the Evil-Merodach of Jeremiah. After the death of Evil-Merodach, who reigned two years, Niricassolassar, or Neriglissar, who seems to have been the chief of the conspirators against the last king, succeeded him. He had married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and in the course of his reign made a great stand against the growing power of the Medes and Persians; but at length, after a reign of four years, was killed in a battle with them under the command of Cyrus. His son Laborosoarchod succeeded him, and having reigned only nine months, and not reaching a Thoth, or beginning of an Egyptian year, he is not mentioned by Ptolemy; but he is said to have been quite the reverse of his father, and to have exercised many acts of wanton cruelty, and was murdered by his own subjects, and succeeded by his son Nabonadius, or Belshazzar. – Wintle.<\/P> Remarks<\/P> (1) The narrative in this chapter furnishes an illustration of the disposition among men to make arrangements for their own ease and comfort, especially in view of advancing years, Dan 4:4<\/span>. Nebuchadnezzar had drawn around him all that it is possible, perhaps, for man to accumulate with this view. He was at the head of the pagan world – the mighty monarch of the mightiest kingdom on the earth. He was at peace – having finished his wars, and having been satiated with the glory of battle and conquest. He had enlarged and beautified his capital, so that it was one of the wonders of the world. He had built for himself a palace, which surpassed in richness, and elegance, and luxury, all the habitations of man in that age. He had accumulated vast wealth, and there was not a production of any clime which he could not command, nor was there anything that is supposed to be necessary to make man happy in this life which he had not in his possession.<\/P> All this was the result of arrangement and purpose. He designed evidently to reach the point where he might feel that he was at ease, and flourishing in his palace. What was true in his case on a large scale is true of others in general, though on a much smaller scale. Most men would be glad to do the same thing; and most men seek to make such an arrangement according to their ability. They look to the time when they may retire from the toils and cares of life, with a competence for their old age, and when they may enjoy life, perhaps, many years, in the tranquility of honorable and happy retirement. The merchant does not expect always to be a merchant; the man in office to be always burdened with the cares of state. The soldier does not expect always to be in the camp, or the mariner on the sea. The warrior hopes to repose on his laurels; the sailor to find a quiet haven; the merchant to have enough to be permitted to sit down in the evening of life free from care; and the lawyer, the physician, the clergyman, the farmer, each one hopes, after the toils and conflicts of life are over, to be permitted to spend the remainder of his days in comfort, if not in affluence.<\/P> This seems to be based on some law of our nature; and it is not to be spoken of harshly, or despised as if it had no foundation in what is great and noble in our being. I see in this a high and noble truth. It is that our nature looks forward to rest; that we are so made as to pant for repose – for calm repose when the work of life is over. As our Maker formed us, the law was that we should seek this in the world to come – in that blessed abode where we may be free from all care, and where there shall be everlasting rest. But man, naturally unwilling to look to that world, has abused this law of his being, and seeks to find the rest for which the soul pants, in that interval, usually very short, and quite unfitted for tranquil enjoyment, between the period when he toils, and lies down in the grave. The true law of his being would lead him to look onward to everlasting happiness; he abuses and perverts the law, and seeks to satisfy it by making provision for a brief and temporary rest at the close of the present life.<\/P> (2) There is a process often going on in the case of these individuals to disturb or prevent that state of ease. Thus there was in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, as intimated by the dream. Even then, in his highest state of grandeur, there was a tendency to the sad result which followed when he was driven from his throne, and treated as a poor and neglected maniac. This was intimated to him by the dream; and to one who could see all the future, it would be apparent that things were tending to this result. The very excitements and agitations of his life, the intoxication of his pride, and the circumstances of ease and grandeur in which he was now placed, all tended by a natural course of things to produce what followed. And so, in other cases, there is often process going on, if it could be seen, destined to disappoint all those hopes, and to prevent all that anticipated ease and tranquility. It is not always visible to men, but could we see things as God sees them, we should perceive that there are causes at work which will blast all those hopes of ease, and disappoint all those expectations of tranquility. There may be<\/P> (a) the loss of all that we possess: for we hold it by an uncertain tenure, and riches often take to themselves wings. There may be<\/P> (b) the loss of a wife, or a child and all our anticipated comforts shall be tasteless, for there shall be none with whom to share them. There may be<\/P> (c) the loss of reason, as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, for no human precaution can guard against that. There may be<\/P> (d) the loss of health – a loss against which no one can defend himself – which shall render all his preparations for comfort of no value. Or<\/P> (e) death itself may come – for no one has any basis of calculation in regard to his own life, and no one, therefore, who builds for himself a palace can have any security that he will ever enjoy it.<\/P> Men who build splendid houses for themselves may yet experience sad scenes in their dwellings; and if they could foresee all that will occur in them, it would so throw a gloom over all the future as to lead them to abandon the undertaking. Who could engage cheerfully in such an enterprise if he saw that he was constructing a house in which a daughter was to lie down and die, or from which his wife and children were soon to be borne forth to the grave? In this chamber your child may be long sick; in that one you or your wife may lie down on a bed from which you will never rise; from those doors yourself, your wife, your child, will be borne forth to the grave; and if you saw all this now, how could you engage with so much zeal in constructing your magnificent habitation?<\/P> (3) Our plans of life should be formed with the feeling that this is possible: I say not with the gloomy apprehension that these calamities will certainly come, or with no anticipation or hope that there will be different scenes – for then life would be nothing else but gloom; but that we should allow the possibility that these things may occur to enter, as an element, into our calculations respecting the future. Such a feeling will give us sober and just views of life; will break the force of trouble and disappointment when they come; and will give us just apprehensions of our dependence on Him in whose hand are all our comforts.<\/P> (4) The dealings of God in our world are such as are eminently fitted to keep up the recognition of these truths. What occurred to Nebuchadnezzar, in the humbling of his pride, and the blighting of his anticipated pleasures, is just an illustration of what is constantly occurring on the earth. What house is there into which trouble, disappointment, and sorrow never come? What scheme of pride is there in respect to which something does not occur to produce mortification? What habitation is there into which sickness, bereavement, and death never find their way? And what abode of man on earth can be made secure from the intrusion of these things? The most splendid mansion must soon be left by its owner, and never be visited by him again. The most magnificent banqueting-hall will be forsaken by its possessor, and never will he return to it again; never go into the chamber where he sought repose; never sit down at the table where he joined with others in revelry.<\/P> (5) The counsel given by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar Dan 4:27<\/span>, to break off his sins by righteousness, that there might be a lengthening out of his tranquility, is counsel that may now be given to all sinners, with equal propriety.<\/P> (I.) For, as in his case, there are certain consequences of sin to which we must look forward, and on which the eye of a sinner should rest. Those consequences are<\/P> (1) such as spring up in the course of nature, or which are the regular results of sin in the course of events. They are such as can be foreseen, and can be made the basis of calculation, or which a man can know beforehand will come upon him if he perseveres in a certain course. Thus he who is intemperate can look upon certain results which will inevitably follow if he perseveres in that course of life. As he looks upon the poverty, and babbling, and woe, and sorrow, and misery, and death of an inebriate, he can see that that lot will be certainly his own if he perseveres in his present course, and this can be made with him a matter of definite calculation or anticipation. Or<\/P> (2) there are all these consequences of sin which are made known in the sacred Scriptures as sure to come upon transgressors. This, too, is a large class; but these consequences are as certain as those which occur in the regular course of events. The principal difference between the two is, that revelation has designated more sins that will involve the sinner in calamity than can be ascertained in the ordinary course of events, and that it has carried the mind forward, and discloses what will take place in the future world as well as what will occur in this. But the one is more certain than the other; and alike in reference to what is sure to occur in the present life, and what we are told will occur in the future state, the sinner should allow himself to be influenced by the anticipation of what is to come.<\/P> (II.) Repentance, reformation, and a holy life would, in many cases, go far to arrest these calamities – or, in the language of Daniel, lengthen out tranquility. This is true in the following respects:<\/P> (1) That impending temporal calamities may be often partially or wholly turned away by reformation. An illustration of this thought occurred in the case of Nineveh; and the same thing now occurs. A young man who is in danger of becoming intemperate, and who has already contracted some of the habits that lead to intemperance, could avert a large class of impending ills by so simple a thing as signing the temperance pledge, and adhering to it. All the evils of poverty, tears, crime, disease, and an early death, that intemperance produces, he would certainly avert; that is, he would make it certain that the large class of ills that intemperance engenders would never come upon him. He might experience other ills, but he would never suffer those. So it is of the sufferings produced by licentiousness, by gluttony, by the spirit of revenge; and so it is of all the woes that follow the violation of human laws. A man may indeed be poor; he may be sick; he may be bereaved; he may lose his reason, but these ills he will never experience. But what Daniel here affirms is true in another sense in regard to temporal calamities. A man may, by repentance, and by breaking off from his sins, do much to stay the progress of woe, and to avert the results which he has already begun to experience. Thus the drunkard may reform, and may have restored health, rigor, and prosperity; and thus the licentious may turn from the evil of his ways, and enjoy health and happiness still. On this subject, see the notes at Job 33:14-25<\/span>, particularly the notes at Job 33:25<\/span>.<\/P> (2) But by repentance and holy living a man may turn away all the results of sin in the future world, and may make it certain that he will never experience a pang beyond the grave. All the woe that sin would cause in the future state may be thus averted, and he who has been deeply guilty may enter the eternal world with the assurance that he will never suffer beyond the grave. Whether, then, we look to the future in the present life, or to the future beyond the grave, we have the highest conceivable motives to abandon the ways of sin, and to lead lives of holiness. If a man were to live only on the earth, it would be for his welfare to break off from the ways of transgression; how much higher is this motive when it is remembered that he must exist forever!<\/P> (6) We have an illustration in the account in this chapter of the evil of pride, Dan 4:29-31<\/span>. The pride which we may have on account of beauty, or strength, or learning, or accomplishments; which we feel when we look over our lands that we have cultivated, or the houses that we have built, or the reputation which we have acquired, is no less offensive in the sight of a holy God than was the pride of the magnificent monarch who looked out on the towers, and domes, and walls, and palaces of a vast city, and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have builded?<\/P> (7) And in view of the calamity that came upon Nebuchadnezzar, and the treatment which he received in his malady, we may make the following remarks:<\/P> (a) We should be thankful for the continuance of reasons. When we look on such a case as this, or when we go into a lunatic asylum, and see the wretchedness that the loss of reason causes, we should thank God daily that we are not deprived of this inestimable blessing.<\/P> (b) We should be thankful for science, and for the Christian religion, and for all that they have done to give comfort to the maniac, or to restore him to a sound mind. When we compare the treatment which the insane now receive in the lunatic asylums with what they everywhere meet with in the pagan world, and with what they have, up to a very recent period, received in Christian lands, there is almost nothing in which we see more marked proof of the interposition of God than in the great change which has been produced. There are few persons who have not, or may not have, some friend or relative who is insane, and there is no one who is not, or may not be, personally interested in the improvement which religion and science have made in the treatment of this class of unfortunate beings. In no one thing, so far as I know, has there been so decided progress in the views and conduct of men; and on no one subject has there been so evident an improvement in modern times, as in the treatment of the insane.<\/P> (c) The possibility of the loss of reason should be an element in our calculations about the future. On this point we can have no security. There is no such vigour of intellect, or clearness of mind, or cultivation of the habits of virtue, and even no such influence of religion, as to make it certain that we may not yet be reckoned among the insane; and the possibility that this may be so should be admitted as an element in our calculations in regard to the future. We should not jeopard any valuable interest by leaving that undone which ought to be done, on the supposition that we may at a future period of life enjoy the exercise of reason. Let us remember that there may be in our case, even in youth or middle life, the loss of this faculty; that there will be, if we reach old age, in all probability, such a weakening of our mental powers as to unfit us for making any preparation for the life to come, and that on the bed of death, whenever that occurs. there is often an entire loss of the mental powers, and commonly so much pain. distress, or prostration, as to unfit the dying man for calm and deliberate thought; and let us, therefore, while we have reason and health, do all that we know we ought to do to make preparation for our eternal state. For what is our reason more certainly given us than to prepare for another world?<\/P><\/p>\n Dan 4:34<\/span>; Dan 4:37<\/span><\/p>\n I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto Heaven.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n An Unlikely Convert<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>There is no reason why grace should not have worked in Nebuchadnezzars heart. Full and accurate knowledge is not an essential for salvation. Nebuchadnezzar was not entirely shut in by heathenism; for in the course of his life he was brought into contact with the servants of God, and he would learn from them the part assigned to him in prophecy. <\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>We are not to expect too much in the way of evidence. It was not to be expected of one who was in Nebuchadnezzars position that he would be the saint John or Paul was. His antecedents and surroundings would operate against him, so that there would be only an imperfect development of grace, and he would do many things a Christian knows to be wrong. <\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>We have a very imperfect record of what he was after conversion; but what we have is encouraging. Nebuchadnezzar disappears from our view here under a favourable light. We remark then <\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> In the way of evidence of his conversion, his clear recognition of the Divine sovereignty. That is implied in the description of God as the King of Heaven, One whose sovereignty was not connected with a single planet and baulked here and there by others, but who had the whole dome of Heaven, and, therefore, the whole range of earth, under His potent sway. Indeed, there is no more frequently quoted or more satisfactory expression of the Divine sovereignty than that which we have from the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar (v. 34, 35). He felt that he had been in the grasp of that sovereignty; he had been sovereignly humbled, and he had been sovereignly delivered. Now it is true that a recognition of the Divine sovereignty is not enough to save us, but there must be something like this in every saved person. As it is true of the sinner that he says, I am my own; who is Lord over me? so it is a mark of a converted man that he recognises that God has a propriety in him, and a right to dispose of him for His own glory. We remark <\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> That he had a clear recognition of the righteousness of Gods dealings with him. All whose works are truth, and His ways judgment. He was not the erring, fickle tyrant such as he had been taught to regard the objects of his worship; but He was One who, truthfully observing all that takes place, and above all possibility of deception, applies a just and equal test to every mans conduct, and appoints for him what is right. We do not suppose that he saw the righteousness of God in many of its bearings, that he could spell out a tenth part of what we can do; but he did not rest in the general idea of righteousness, but felt it in its application to himself, that God had not gone beyond right in degrading him as He had done to the condition of a beast. To have learned such a lesson as that from his life, was that not the mark of a saved person? We remark <\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> That there was the clear recognition of what had been the blot and sin of his precious life, what he calls walking in pride, and a humbling of himself for it. As the rhetorician, being asked what was the first thing in the roles of eloquence, answered, pronunciation; what was the second, pronunciation; what was the third, still he answered, pronunciation–so if you should ask me concerning the precepts of the Christian religion, I would answer firstly, and secondly, and thirdly, and for ever, humility. There is nothing more insisted on in Scripture, and there is nothing in which hypocrites so grossly fail in; and, therefore, when we see it present we may entertain a good hope regarding a man. Nebuchadnezzar could not have such an emptying of his own goodness, such a realization of personal violence as we may have, to whom have been disclosed the holiness and the love of God in the cross of Christ. But if he abased himself according to his light, accepting of the mercy of God, he would be accepted of God according to the words, God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, etc.<\/em> There is a beautiful exhibition of humility in what the whole of this fourth chapter is–a royal proclamation. It begins, Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth. Its design was to magnify God in his humiliation and in his restoration to his reason and to his kingdom; and it is an unvarnished record, concealing nothing, extenuating nothing. If Nebuchadnezzar gained admittance, why may not we? There is no restraining of the Spirit, no loss of virtue in the blood of Christ, no withdrawing of the Divine promise. Let us strive then to enter in while the door of mercy is standing open. (R<\/em>. Finlayson, B<\/em>.A<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Restitution of Nebuchadnezzar<\/strong><\/p>\n First, Nebuchadnezzar was humbled as God humbleth His enemies; now he is humbled as God humbleth His children; that although he had more honour than he had before, yet he is not proud of it as he was before, but crieth with the prophet David Psa 115:1<\/span>), Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name, give the glory. In these verses two things show themselves st the first view, that is Nebuchadnezzars restitution, and his thankfulness in his restitution. First, he showeth the time when he was restored, in these words, At the end of these days, then he showeth the manner how he was restored, in these words, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven, and mine understanding was restored to me. In his thankfulness, first, he extolleth Gods power in setting him up, and pulling him down, and raising him again; then he commendeth Gods justice and truth, which deserves to be praised for His judgments as much as for His mercy, as though he rejoiced that God hath made him like a beast, that he might die like a man. At the end of these days. As Daniel noted the time of his pride when he walked in his palace, to show how pride grows out of buildings, and wealth, and apparel, and such roots, so he noteth the time of his fall, while the words were in his mouth, to show that he was punished for his pride and, ignorance, that he might know where to begin his conversion, and abate his pride. And when he had taken away the cause, then God would take away the punishment, so likewise he noteth the time of his restitution, at the end of these days, that is, after seven years were expired, to show how long the sickness of pride is in curing, and to show <\/p>\n how everything was fulfilled which was prophesied, even to the point of time. Yet another note is set upon this beast; lest we should think that God only regardeth the season, and thinks seven years punishment enough for such a sin, he saith not barely, that his understanding and honour was restored unto him when seven years were ended, but that they were restored unto him when he began to lift up his eyes to Heaven, to show that this blessing came from above, and that He which had humbled, him had restored him again; as if he should say to all that are cast down with sickness, or poverty, or infamy, or any trouble whatsoever in body or mind, He which hath humbled you will raise you, as He hath done me; but you must look up unto Heaven, and lift up your hearts to Him, and then your understanding, and comfort, and wealth, and pleasure, and health, and liberty, and good name, and all, shall return unto you again, like Jobs sheep, and camels, and oxen, in greater number than he had before. Like a man which is wakened out of a long trance, now: he began to stir and lift up his eyes. When the heart is once lift up, it will lift up the eyes, and the hand, and voice, and all to Heaven. He which never looked up to Heaven so long as his comfort was upon the earth, now his mind is changed, his looks, and gestures, and speeches, and all are changed with it, as though God would show a visible difference between the spiritual and carnal, even in their looks and gestures, as there is between a child and an old man. The spiritual minds are heavenly, and look up, because their joy is above. Now he talks no more of his palace, nor his power, nor his majesty, though it be greater than it was; but he looked above his own palace to another palace, from whence that terrible voice came down unto him, Thy kingdom is departed from thee; which expresseth his contrite heart and wounded spirit, how many passions battled within, as if he should chide himself and say, Unthankful man, my power ever descended from above, and I ever looked upon the earth and mine honour came down from Heaven, and I never lift up mine eyes before; but now, saith he, go up, my voice, and my hands, and my eyes. How long will ye pore upon the earth like a beast? So he lifted up his eyes unto Heaven. After he had lifted up his eyes, he beginneth to pray, and praise, and give thanks to God, which showeth that he did not only lift up his eyes, but his heart too (Psa 25:1<\/span>). Now God thinks the time long enough; and as He reformed the ground after the flood with fruit, and herbs, and flowers again, so He reformed Nebuchadnezzar with understanding, and beauty, and honour again. As when he repented himself and said, I will drown the earth no more Gen 8:21<\/span>), so I will chase Nebuchadnezzar no more. Now he knows a King above him, he shall be a king again; now he seeks my honour, I will give him honour; now he magnifieth him that debased him, I will return to exalt him. So the voice which thundered from Heaven, Thy kingdom is departed from thee, sounds again, Thy kingdom is restored to thee. Thus the displeasure of God is but an interim, until we know something that we should know, and then Nebuchadnezzar shall be king again, then the sick man shall be whole again, them the bondman shall be free again, then the poor man shall be rich again. His mercies are called everlasting, because they endure for ever (Psa 136:1-2<\/span>); but His anger is compared to the clouds because it lasteth but a season. Now the first cure of the kings restitution was of his mind. Mine understanding, saith Nebuchadnezzar, was restored unto me. To show what an inestimable gift our understanding and reason is, whereby we differ from beasts; for which we cannot be thankful enough, therefore he records it twice, as though his heart did flow with gladness, and his tongue could not choose but speak often of it, as a man thinketh and speaketh of that which he loveth: Mine understanding was restored unto me, etc.<\/em> That which was first taken away was first restored again, which so soon as it was gone, he was counted a man no more, but a beast. After he had said Mine understanding was restored to me, he annexeth, mine honour was restored to me; so he grew to a king again. As he was wont to put on one robe after another when he was a king, so when God would make him a king again, first he puts upon him the robe of understanding, as it were the foundation of a king, like the princely spirit which came upon Saul (1Sa 10:9<\/span>); and when he had a princes heart, then God gave him a princes power, and proclaimed, like a voice from Heaven, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel; so gloriously he rose again like the sun, with a triumph of his restitution, and welcome of his subjects, like the shout which went before Solomon (1Ki 1:34<\/span>). Here a wise man may study and wonder, like Elisha, when his master was rapt to Heaven. For as though a snuff had been taken from the ground, and set in the candlestick again, and shined brighter than it did before; so Nebuchadnezzar was raised from the dust and set in the throne; even now no man cared for him, and now no man dare displease him. That which Solomon saith in Pro 16:7<\/span>, When the ways of a man please the Lord, he will make all his enemies at peace with him; so when Nebuchadnezzar pleased the Lord, God gave him grace with men, and his glory was augmented: My glory was increased, etc.<\/em> That is, he received not only his kingdom, and power, and honour again, but he received usury of them. When he sought Gods honour, and cared not for his own, honour was increased, according to that (1Sa 2:30<\/span>), I will honour them that; honour me. Now he hath received grace, let us examine his thankfulness. Now let us see the parts of this kings confession, that we may see how his thankfulness did answer to his sin. Before, he had robbed God of his honour; now, as though he came to make restitution, he brings praise, and thanks, and glory in his mouth. First, he advanceth Gods power, and saith that His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; in which words he confesseth that God was above him, because that his kingdom was not an everlasting kingdom, but a momentary kingdom, like a spark, which riseth from the fire, and falleth into the fire again. Therefore, he showeth what a fool he was to vaunt of his kingdom, as though it were like Gods kingdom, which lasteth for ever. Secondly, he magnifieth the power of God, and saith that God doth what he listeth both in heaven and earth, and nothing can hinder him, or say unto him, What dost thou? Under which words he confesseth again that God was above him, because he could not reign as he listed; for when he thought to live at his pleasure, he was thrust out at doors, and God said not to him, Wilt doest thou? but Thy kingdom shall depart from thee. Therefore, he showeth what a fool he was to vaunt of his power, as though it had been like Gods power, which cannot be checked. Thirdly, he commendeth the justice of God, and saith that His works were all truth, and His ways were all judgment. Under which words he confesseth again that God was above him; for his ways were all errors, and his works were all sins, as the end proved. Therefore, he shows what a fool he was to vaunt of his works, as though they had been like Gods works, which cannot be blamed; therefore, he concludes, I Nebuchadnezzar praise, and extol, and magnify the King of heaven. Such a schoolmaster is affliction, to teach that which prophets and angels cannot teach. Thus you have seen pride and humility, one pulling Nebuchadnezzar out of his throne, the other lifting him into his throne; whereby their which stand may take heed lest they fall, and they which are fallen may learn to rise again. (H<\/em>. Smith<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Dan 4:37<\/span><\/p>\n And those that walk in pride He is able to abase.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nebuchadnezzar<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a grandeur and at the same time an awe cast around the history of Nebuchadnezzar which draws out the reverential attention of childhood, and the careful investigation of those who are interested in watching the course of human character and motive. His terrible invasion of the Holy Land; the way in which the Almighty seemed to go before and to follow him; the voice of prophecy, which proclaimed his advent from time to time; his evident fulfilment of Gods own designs with regard to his sinful people, and the remarkable pride of his disposition meeting with so signal a punishment from Heaven; all alike invest him with an importance which forbids us to pass him by in the study of the characters of the Old Testament. <\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>See what his position historically was. He is a person of considerable interest in connection with the providential dealings of God with the human race. His name, his character, and his punishment, are alike a proverb. His connection with the Church of God and the people whom Jehovah loved, and the way in which he is made the subject of prophetic revelations, excite our surprise when we consider the marked manner in which his personal conduct is condemned and punished by a signal display of Gods chastening anger. His position, therefore, as well as his personal character, become matters of interesting consideration. The point with which we have to deal in this character is the paradoxical union of overbearing pride with the strong conviction of the almighty power of God. This was not only a convection, but a fully realised truth, and one which frequently affected the practice of the king in such a way as to induce him to alter his whole mode of life; nor only that, but to go to the humbling extent of recognising before his people the errors of his idolatry and the purity of the persecuted religion. <\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The first question we have to consider is the nature of pride itself. It is one of the most inexplicable of the feelings to which we are subject. It is by many looked upon as of the same family with vanity, though, perhaps, no two faults are more widely apart. It is often applauded in the same breath with self-respect and independence of character, on occasions when it is a simple scandal upon those attributes to class them with it. In some of its manifestations it is capable of defying God; in others it is simply reducible to that amount of self-reliance and manly energy which is one of the highest and noblest attributes of man. There are so many gradations of pride, and so many feelings akin to it, that one of the best ways of ascertaining its distinctive nature is seeing it by contrasts. Compare the pride of Nebuchadnezzar with that of Saul, and with that of Herod. Amongst the holy and eminent servants of God, Moses had the tendency towards the fault of Herod. Paul, perhaps, more than any other among the saints of God, resembles in natural character that of Saul; while the character that most resembles Nebuchadnezzar amongst the servants of God is that of Jehoshaphat. Sauls was a character of genuine pride; one which firmly believed in its own inherent power of existence and action, independently of any superior authority or source; and if he professed belief in such, he only did so in conformity with national prejudice, or the associations of education. The pride of Nebuchadnezzar, on the other hand, rested on circumstances which were the adventitious accidents of his life; his empire, his successes, his vast dominion, and his prestige of conquest; while side by side with the pomp of circumstance he clearly saw the present Deity, acknowledged His power, and humbly bent beneath His vengeance we was not essentially proud, though his heart was lifted Up within him. With these two cases, what is strictly called pride ceases, for Herods case is one of vanity–a fault far removed from genuine pride. Pride recognises some positive, indefeasible claim to independence of action, and irresponsibility, and is pained rather than otherwise when others attribute to it its own quality. Vanity simply takes pleasure in being praised for the possession of what it very often does not possess, cares far less for having it then being thought to have it. <\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>In the world there are many representatives of both these classes. There is the man who has the impression that he stands independent of any being or power. There is the man who bases his sense of independence on some special attribute or circumstance connected with his life. The modes in which these two men should deal with themselves are very various. Representatives of the former class are Saul, using Samuel but as a tool, and the Mosaic law but as a machine. There, too, in the elder world is Cato, the representative of Roman independence; and Diogenes, the cynic philosopher, who, wrapped round in the ragged mantle of humility, covered a boson essentially proud. Widely different, and vastly more numerous, are the followers in that other wake; men proud of something; an attribute, a talent, or a circumstance. Nebuchadnezzar, boasting of his vast dominion; Sardanapalus, tenacious to the death of indomitable purpose. Xerxes, proud of millions; and Leonidas, prouds of tens. Pompey, proud of being leader of the aristocratic East; and Caesar, proud of guiding the destinies of the more popular West. Alexander, boasting of worlds which left no more to conquer. If members of the former class would correct their faults, they must first try to realise definite and dogmatic Christianity; they must hold and gaze at the creed, as if it were a limited, impersonating form of truth revealed by God. They must get rid of their tendency to subjectivity and contemplation, leading them into scepticism or latitudinarianism in their views of religion, and consent to become dogmatic. They are worshipping an idol made without hands, even self. (E<\/em>. Monro<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Pride Abased<\/strong><\/p>\n There, is in this dream much of that incongruity which is characteristic of dreams; yet the turn of the angels words, whereby he indicated that the tree represented a man, and the moral purpose of the whole, as expressed in the concluding phrases, could not but impress the heart of Nebuchadnezzar; and even before he had received the interpretation from Daniel his conscience must have whispered that the tree was designed to represent himself. But his conscience only gave him a vague presentiment of its real meaning. When Daniel had interpreted the dream, he passed into the counsellor, and valuing the welfare of the monarch more than his good opinion for the moment, and fearing degradation for him more than the loss of favour for himself, he added these words, which are not more remarkable for the courtesy of their tone than for the sternness of their fidelity. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. We do not know how this wise advice was received. For a full year things went on as before. But though Gods retribution may come slowly, it comes surely, and ere long all that Daniel descried was realised. Much has been written by commentators in all ages on the illness of Nebuchadnezzar, but it is generally agreed that he became insane. The disease from which he suffered goes under the generic name, zoanthropia. After seven times had gone, the king lifted up his eyes to Heaven, and his understanding came to him gain, but came in a form more clear than before, for now he perceived that his greatness was not all his own. He discovered that he had nothing which he had not received, and he was disposed to give to the Most High God the glory of all he was, and all that he had done. With this recognition of the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God, his reason came to him, and the glory of his kingdom and the honour and brightness of his court were restored. What did Nebuchadnezzar design by the publication of the decree in which these facts are here preserved? Did he mean to represent himself as having become an adherent of the Jewish faith? Probably, while acknowledging the supremacy of Jehovah as the Most High, he still clung to the worship and service of inferior divinities. His was but an imperfect conversion. <\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>We have here a very solemn warning against pride and vainglory. With all his ability, Nebuchadnezzar had nothing which he had not received from God. Whoever plumes himself upon what he has done in the world, as if he were the author of it all, and not simply the instrument in the hand of God, is as really and truly proud and haughty as was Nebuchadnezzar here. The merchant who speaks of his business as the sole result of his ability, and calls himself, with supreme satisfaction, the architect of his own fortunes; the author who thinks of his book as the creation of his own genius; the statesman who looks upon his position as entirely self-made, the artisan who prides himself upon his foremanship; and the millionaire who, looking upon his glittering heaps, congratulates himself as the sole author of his gains–all alike are guilty of Nebuchadnezzars sin; for they have shut God out of their hearts, and they have not given Him the acknowledgment and the honour to which He is entitled. Then let us be clothed with humility, and, wherever we are, and whatever we have, let us acknowledge God. <\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>An illustration of the proverb that pride goeth before a fall. Sooner or later the spirit which I have been now exposing will bring punishment upon him who cherishes it, and the punishment will be of such a nature as to make the sinner see and know the heinousness of his sin. <\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>A beautiful illustration of fidelity in the proclamation of Gods truth. It cost Daniel a great deal to give this interpretation of the dream to the monarch. The king had been very kind to him. But necessity was laid upon him, and faithfulness, alike to Jehovah and to Nebuchadnezzar, required that he should speak the whole truth. Hence he gave the interpretation with the utmost exactness; and then, in the most courteous manner, he advised the king to repentance. <\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>A loud call to us to thank God for the continuance of our reason. How seldom we think of this! <\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>We are here reminded that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men. God is the King of kings. This our comfort amid the movements of our times. (W<\/em>. M<\/em>. Taylor, D<\/em>.D<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Downfall of Pride<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a very remarkable confession, considering it only as the acknowledgment of a mighty, and proud king, thoroughly and sincerely humbled before his God. The humiliation of so great a monarch in the sight of the whole world–both of the Jews, whom he had brought low, and of the Babylonians, who were inclined to make him an idol–was in itself a great example of Gods power over the hearts of men, and a powerful witness before the heathen to the name and honour of the true and only God. But the case is full of deeper and diviner meaning, when we regard Nebuchadnezzar as the type and pattern of the great anti-Christian power, the power of the world, opposed from the beginning to the Kingdom of the saints of the Most High, and the power of His Christ. In this light we see that the kings humiliation was also a type and pattern of the complete victory, one day to be attained, of the Christian Church over all opposing forces. That Nebuchadnezzar was a type or pattern of the great anti-Christian power we may discern from the following considerations. <\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Babylon is in Scripture opposed to Jerusalem. It is the proper name of the city of the world, as opposed to the city of God. <\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Nebuchadnezzar was a king of extraordinary valour, wisdom, and spirit; a thorough sample or specimen of what this world entitles a great man. He had been influenced for good by a former dream: still the great change, from pride to humility, remained to be wrought in Nebuchadnezzar. A complete victory was obtained by Gods almighty grace and providence over the spirit of the world and of anti-Christ in the person of this great king . . . These astonishing providences of old, these dealings of God with His people on a large scale, are in reality and substance the same as His dealings with each individual among us. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to <\/em>Tracts for the Time. <\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Most High Able to Abase the Proud<\/strong><\/p>\n God Abasing the Proud<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. PRIDE AND VANITY. In one of our famous English universities an annual sermon is preached on Pride. No one will say that once a year is too often for a congregation, young and old, to be bidden to meditate on that thesis. Many learned things have been said and written upon the nature and essence of pride. Probably none of them could equal in impressiveness this account of pride-speaking, this repeated pronoun, the persona| and-the possessive: Great Babylon, that I have builded by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty. Whatever other definitions may be given of pride, certainly this is true of it, that it is the contemplation of self, a concentration in self, the having self in the throne of the being, as the one object of attention, of observation, of consideration, always, everywhere, and in all things. It is often assumed that this attention given to self is of necessity the contemplation of supposed excellence, that it is, therefore, so far as it is characteristic of pride, of the nature of self-complacency, or self-admiration, and yet some of the proudest of men have been at the very antipodes of self-satisfaction. It is the very consciousness of their own deformity, moral or physical, of their own inferiority in some prized or coveted particular of birth, gift, or grace, which has driven them in upon themselves in an unlovely and unloving isolation. Self-complacency is not <\/strong>the only form of pride. It is doubtful whether that self-complacency does not rather belong to the very different title of vanity. A beggar may be proud; a cripple may be proud: failure takes refuge in pride. Pride is self-contemplation, but not necessarily self-admiration; self-absorption, but not necessarily self-adoration. It is not quite evident from the words of King Nebuchadnezzar whether his besetting sin was pride or vanity. Something may turn upon the unanswerable question whether he thought or whether he spoke the Is not this great Babylon? I think that vanity always speaks. I doubt if the vain man ever keeps his vanity to himself. I am sure that pride can be silent; I am not sure that pride, as pride, ever speaks. If I would ascertain which of the two was Nebuchadnezzars failing, I should look rather to the hints dropped first in the Judgment upon him, and then in the account of the recovery. From the one I learn that what he had to be taught was that the heavens do rule; from the other I learn that he then first praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever. This decides me that, however pride and vanity may have mingled (if they ever do mingle) in his composition, pride was the differentia; that pride which contemplates self as the all in all of life and being, not necessarily as beautiful, of perfect, or happy; not necessarily as satisfactory, either in circumstance or in character, but as practically independent of all above and all below it,–the one object of importance, and interest, and devotion; knowing neither a superior to reverence, nor an inferior to regard. Vanity, though, or perhaps because, a poorer and meaner thing, is also a shallower thing, and less vital. Vanity may still be kind, a charity. Vanity may still love and be loved. Vanity, I had almost said, and I will say it, vanity may still worship. Vanity does not absolutely need to be taught the great lesson that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, or does according to His will in the army of heaven. Pride and vanity both ask, Is not this great Babylon? but vanity asks it for applause from below, pride asks it in disdain of One above. But in all this we may not have found our own likeness. There may be some here who are not by natural temperament either proud or vain; and yet when I think once again what pride is, I doubt whether anyone is born without it. We may not dwell complacently upon our own merits. Certainly we may not be guilty of the weakness and the bad taste which would parade those supposed merits before others. Pride itself often casts out vanity, and refuses to make itself ridiculous by saying aloud, Is not this great Babylon? But the question is not whether we are self-admirers, but whether we are self-contemplators; not whether we are conceited in our estimate of gifts or graces, in our retrospect of attainments or successes, in our consciousness of power, or our supposition of greatness, but whether, on the contrary, we have constantly in our remembrance the derivation and the responsibility, and the accountableness of all that we have and are; whether there is a higher presence and a diviner being always in our view, making it impossible to admire or to adore that self which is so feeble and so contemptible in comparison; whether we are so in the habit of asking ourselves the two questions: What hast thou which thou hast not received? and What hast thou for which thou shalt not give an account? as to maintain always the attitude of worship, and the attitude of devotion within, and this superscription ever upon the doors and gates of the spiritual being, Whose I am and Whom I serve. <\/p>\n . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 37<\/span>. Now I – praise and extol<\/B><\/I>] It is very probable that Nebuchadnezzar was a true convert; that he relapsed no more into idolatry, and died in the faith of the God of Israel. It is supposed that he lived seventeen<\/I> years after his restoration. But the authorized Version, which is followed in the margin, states the date of this decree to be B.C. 563, the year preceding Nebuchadnezzar’s death.<\/P> <\/p>\n Thus can the Lord make the stoutest hearts to stoop, and do him homage. This doxology proceeds from his heart. God is <\/P> truth<\/B> essentially; he is the rule and standard of truth, his words are truth, his ways are truth: and they are <\/P> judgment; <\/B>he is wise, and hath dealt justly with me for my pride, and in very faithfulness hath afflicted me, and in very tenderness hath restored me: I do and ever shall adore him for it. <\/P> Those that walk in pride he is able to abase; <\/B>as he hath declared upon me, in stupendous changes, which I proclaim to all the world for his glory. He had a just controversy with me, and I have no ground to quarrel with him, but to give him glory by this confession. <\/P> <\/p>\n 37. praise . . . extol . . .honour<\/B>He heaps word on word, as if he cannot say enough inpraise of God. <\/P> all whose works . . . truth .. . judgment<\/B>that is, are true and just (Rev 15:3<\/span>;Rev 16:7<\/span>). God has not dealtunjustly or too severely with me; whatever I have suffered, Ideserved it all. It is a mark of true contrition to condemn one’sself, and justify God (Ps 51:4<\/span>).<\/P> those that walk in pride . .. abase<\/B>exemplified in me. He condemns himself before the wholeworld, in order to glorify God.<\/P><\/p>\n Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven<\/strong>,…. Now he knew that the heavens ruled, and that there was a God and a King there, above all gods and kings; who had brought him low, and raised him up again, and to whom were owing all his present glory and magnificence, and therefore worthy of his highest praises; and which he in the most public manner gave by words before his lords and counsellors, and by writing under his own hand, by this edict and proclamation:<\/p>\n all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment<\/strong>: everything he does in providence, and every step he takes therein, are according to truth and righteousness; he is true to his word, and righteous in his works, as he had been to him:<\/p>\n and those that walk in pride he is able to abase<\/strong>; not only that show it now and then, but always, and in everything; in their looks and gestures, in their talk and walk, and throughout the whole of their conversation; in whom it is public, visible, notorious, and constant; but let them carry their heads ever so high, and be as proud and haughty as they will, God is able to humble them; he has various ways of doing it. Such as are proud of their outward beauty, or the strength of their bodies, he can, by sending a disease upon them, make their beauty to consume like a moth, and weaken their strength in the way; such as are elated with their wealth and substance, and with honours conferred upon them, or dignity they are raised to, he can soon strip them of all their riches by one providence or another, and bring down those that stand in slippery places of honour and dignity to destruction in a moment; and such as pride and plume themselves with their wit and knowledge, the natural endowments of their mind, he can take away their reason and understanding from them, as he did from this monarch, and put them upon a level with brutes: such who behest of their own righteousness and good works, and trust in themselves, that they are righteous and holy persons, and despise others; and think to be justified and saved by them, and not to be beholden to any other, but be their own saviours; these the Lord, by his Spirit, can humble, by showing them the impurity of their nature; their impotence to that which is spiritually good; the imperfection of their best righteousness to justify them in his sight; so that they shall appear to be polluted and defiled creatures, who thought themselves very holy; and to be very weak and insufficient of themselves, to do anything spiritually good, who gloried in the power and strength of their free will; and see that their best works are no other than filthy rags, and to be renounced in the business of their justification and salvation: in short, he humbles by showing them that all their temporal good things are owing to the good providence of God, and are dependent on it; and that all they have in spirituals is owing to the grace of God, and not to any desert of theirs; in consequence of which they become meek and lowly, and walk humbly with their God, who before walked in the pride of their hearts, and in the vanity of their minds. And a power to do this is peculiar to God himself; none but God can look upon him that is proud, and abase him, and bring him low; and sooner or later, by one means, or in one way or another, he will stain the pride of all glory: it is his usual way to abase him that exalts himself, and exalt him that humbles himself; see Job 40:11<\/span>, pride being a most hateful sin to him, contrary to his nature and glory, to his grace and to his Gospel; the first sin of angels and men. And of abasement and humiliation of such proud ones, Nebuchadnezzar was an instance in various respects; who was one of the proudest monarchs upon earth, yet was humbled with a witness; but, after all, whether truly converted, is a question.<\/p>\n At the close of the edict, Nebuchadnezzar joins the ingenuous confession of his faults with the praises of God! What he says of the proud, he doubtless applies properly to himself; as if he had said, God wished to constitute me a remarkable monument of his method of humbling the proud for the instruction of all mankind. For I was inflated with pride, and God corrected this by so remarkable a punishment, that my example ought to profit the world at large. Hence I said, King Nebuchadnezzar does not simply return thanks to God, but at the same time confesses his fault, for though subdued with deserved harshness, yet his haughtiness could not be arrested by any lighter remedy. First of all he says, I praise, extol, and glorify the king of heaven! This heaping together of words doubtless proceeded from vehement affection. At the same time a contrast must be understood, on the principle formerly mentioned; since God is never rightly praised unless the ignominy of men is detected; he is not properly extolled, unless their loftiness is cast down; he is never glorified unless men are buried in shame and he prostrate in the dust. Hence, while Nebuchadnezzar here praises, extols, and glorifies God, he also confesses himself and all mortals to be nothing — as he did before — to deserve no praise but rather the utmost ignominy. <\/p>\n He adds, since all his works are truth Here קשוט , kesot, is taken for “ rectitude or integrity.” For דיני-אמת, dini-ameth, mean true judgments, but refer here to equity. God’s works are therefore all truth, that is, all integrity, as if he had said, none of God’s works deserve blame. Then the explanation Follows, All his ways are judgments We see here the praise of God’s perfect justice; this ought to be referred to Nebuchadnezzar personally, as if he had said, God does not deal with me too strictly; I have no reason for expostulating with him, or for murmuring as if he were too severe with me. I confess, therefore, that I deserve whatever punishment I sustain. And why so? All his ways are justice; meaning the highest rectitude. Then, All his works are truth; that is, nothing contrary to equity is found there, nothing crooked, but everywhere the highest justice will shine forth. We see then how Nebuchadnezzar by this language condemns himself out of his own mouth by declaring God’s justice to be in all his works. This general form of expression does not prevent Nebuchadnezzar from openly and freely confessing himself a criminal before God’s tribunal; but it acquires greater force by his example, which admonishes us by the general confession of God’s justice, rectitude, and truthfulness in whatever he does. And this is worthy of notice, since many find no difficulty in celebrating God’s justice and rectitude when they are treated just as they like; but if God begins to treat them with severity, they then vomit forth their poison, and begin to quarrel with God, and to accuse him of injustice and cruelty. Since therefore Nebuchadnezzar here confesses God to be just and true in all his works, without any exception, notwithstanding his own severe chastisements, this confession is not feigned; for he necessarily utters what he says from the lowest depths of his heart, through his having experienced the rigor of the divine judgment. <\/p>\n He now adds at last, He can humble those who walk in pride. Here Nebuchadnezzar more openly displays his own disgrace, for he is not ashamed to confess his fault before the whole world, because his punishment was known to every one. As God then wished his folly to be universally detested, by making so horrible an example of him by his punishment, so Nebuchadnezzar now brings his own case forward, and bears witness to the justice of the penalty, in consequence of his extreme pride. Here then we see God’s power joined with his justice, as we have previously mentioned. He does not attribute to God a tyranny free from all law; for as soon as Nebuchadnezzar had confessed all God’s ways to be just, he condemns himself of pride directly afterwards. Hence he does not hesitate to expose his disgrace before mankind, that God may be glorified. And this is the true method of praising God, not only by confessing ourselves to be as nothing, but also by looking back upon our failings. We ought not only to acknowledge ourselves inwardly guilty before him, but also openly to testify the same before all mankind whenever it is necessary. And when he uses the word “humility,” this may be referred to outward dejection; for Nebuchadnezzar was humbled when God east him out into the woods to pass his life in company with the wild beasts. But he was also humbled for another reason, as if he had been a son of God. Since this humbling is twofold, Nebuchadnezzar wishes here to express the former kind, because God prostrates and throws down the proud. This is one kind of humiliation; but it becomes profitless unless God afterwards governs us by a spirit of submission. Hence Nebuchadnezzar does not here embrace the grace of God, which was worthy of no common praise and exaltation; and in this edict he does not describe what is required of a pious man long trained in God’s school; yet he shews how he had profited under God’s rod, by attributing to him the height of power. Besides this, he adds the praise of justice and rectitude, while he confesses himself guilty, and bears witness to the justice of the punishment which had been divinely inflicted on him. <\/p>\n (37) The King of heaven.<\/strong>How far the king arrived at a belief in one God is not clear. There may be noticed, however, a progress in his spiritual character, effected by the grace of God, after each of the interviews which he held with the prophet. At first (Dan. 2:26<\/span>) his belief was no higher than that which a heathen has in his own superstitions. This develops (Dan. 2:47<\/span>) into a belief that Daniels God is a God of gods, a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets. But even at that time he had not arrived at anything like a belief that Jehovah was equal to his own gods. The story of the three holy children shows how little depth there was in his former profession, for in Dan. 3:15<\/span> he is represented as setting himself above all gods. After the miracle wrought in their behalf he acknowledges Jehovah to be the most high God, though he continued to regard Him as only on a level with his own Bel-Merodach. This chapter represents him as recognising the Most High to be the cause of his recovery, and as praising the King of heaven. Holding, as he did, the Babylonian theory of sickness, he must have supposed himself to have been under the influence of some evil spirit; and, with a view to his recovery, his magicians must have treated his disease with charms, amulets, exorcisms, and by placing before him images of his gods. This thanksgiving makes it possible to suppose that he had relinquished much of his belief in his former superstitions, and that he was advancing towards, if not actually in possession of, the truth.<\/p>\n ‘Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the king of heaven, for all his works are truth and his ways judgment, and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.’<\/p>\n Nebuchadnezzar’s final testimony is to the ‘king of heaven’ whose works are truth and whose ways are wise, revealing excellent judgment. He may well have come, under Daniel’s guidance, to a belief in Daniel’s God. He certainly now saw the king of heaven as supreme and able to keep men humble and in their place.<\/p>\n Dan 4:37<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> The reader, desirous of entering more fully into the circumstances of Nebuchadnezzar’s extraordinary madness, will find ample satisfaction in Calmet’s remarks on the metamorphosis of that monarch. We shall conclude with the following observations of the learned Dr. Mead upon the subject: “All the circumstances of Nebuchadnezzar’s case agree so well with an hypochondriacal madness, that to me it appears evident that Nebuchadnezzar was seized with this distemper, and under its influence ran wild into the fields; and that, fancying himself transformed into an ox, he fed on grass, in the manner of cattle. For every sort of madness is the disease of a disturbed imagination; which this unhappy man laboured under full seven years. And through neglect of taking proper care of himself, his hair and nails grew to an excessive length; whereby the latter growing thicker and crooked, resembled the claws of birds. Now the ancients called persons affected with this species of madness, , or , because they went abroad in the night, imitating wolves <\/em>or dogs; <\/em>particularly intent upon opening the sepulchres of the dead; and had their legs much ulcerated, either by frequent falls, or the bite of dogs: in like manner as the daughters of Proetus, related to have been mad, who, as Virgil says, Ecl. 6:48.<\/p>\n Implerunt falsis mugitibus agros.<\/em> With mimic howlings fill’d the fields. <\/p>\n For, as Servius observes, their minds were possessed with such a species of madness, that, fancying themselves cows, they ran into the fields, bellowed often, and dreaded the plough. But these according to Ovid, Metam. xv. 325. the physician Melampus.<\/p>\n Per carmen et herbas<\/em> Eripuit Furiis.<\/em> Snatch’t from the Furies by his charms and herbs. <\/p>\n Nor was this disorder unknown to the moderns; for Schenckius records a remarkable instance of it in a husbandman of Padua, who, imagining that he was a wolf, attacked, and even killed several people in the fields; and when at length he was taken, he persevered in declaring himself a real wolf, and that the only difference consisted in the inversion of his skin and hair. But it may be objected to our opinion, that this misfortune was foretold to the king, so that he might have prevented it by correcting his morals; and therefore it is not probable that it befel him in the course of nature. But we know, that those things which God executes, either through clemency or vengeance, are frequently performed by the assistance of natural causes. Thus, having threatened Hezekiah with death, and being afterwards moved by his prayers, he restored him to life, and made use of figs laid on the tumour, as a medicine for his disease. He ordered king Herod, upon account of his pride, to be devoured by worms: and nobody doubts but that the plague which is generally [and justly] attributed to divine wrath, most commonly owes its origin to corrupted air.” see Dr. Mead’s Works, Medica Sacra, chap. 7: p. 182. <\/p>\n Praise and extol, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> This great king probably lived only one year after his recovery, and it might be hoped that during that term he continued in the faith and worship of the true God. But, however that was, his death happened about the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, after he had reigned as sole monarch forty-three years. He is said to have been one of the greatest princes that had reigned in the East for many ages, and Josephus Ant. lib. 10: quotes Berosus and Megasthenes as both bearing testimony either to his valour, his wealth, or his magnificence. He was doubtless made use of as an instrument of providence to inflict the divine vengeance on several nations, and many of the prophesies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel were fulfilled by him. It had been foretold, especially by the prophet Ezekiel in the 26th and following chapters, that he should reduce Tyre, and subdue Egypt: the former of which he besieged for thirteen years, and at length took it, after it was nearly depopulated, and the effects of the inhabitants transported to new Tyre, an island not far from the old city, which was afterwards reduced by Alexander. While he was employed in this siege, he executed the wrath of the Almighty on some of the nations in the neighbourhood, as on the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Philistines: but in a particular manner the Jewish nation often felt the power of his arm under several of their kings: their city Jerusalem was besieged not only in the reign of Jehoiakim, but again under his son Jehoiakin, and multitudes of persons were sent into captivity to Babylon; so numerous indeed, that scarce enough were left for necessary uses; 2 Kings 24<\/span>. He came afterwards with all his army and pitched against it, and built forts against it, under the reign of Zedekiah, when the siege continued from the tenth month of the ninth year of that king until his eleventh year (see 2 Kings 25<\/span> and Jeremiah 52<\/span>.) at which time there was a dreadful famine in the city; and the men of war thereof escaping in the night, the army of the Chaldees pursued them, took the king and put out his eyes at Riblah, and carried him to Babylon, where he was kept in prison till his death. Soon after this, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, about two years before the siege of Tyre, he sent his general Nebuzar-adan against Jerusalem, who burnt the temple and palace, and almost the whole of the city; and at length carried off the small remains of the people into captivity, leaving only a few poor stragglers to till the ground. “Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land,” Jer 52:27<\/span>. After Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem, and reduced Tyre, he marched into Egypt, and, taking advantage of some civil dissentions in that kingdom, he slew many of the inhabitants, carried away others as captives, enriched himself and his army with a large share of plunder, and made himself master of the country, so that he had now subdued the whole territory from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. To which may be added, that he had taken the province of Elam from Astyages, agreeably to the prediction of Jeremiah, chap. Jer 49:34<\/span> and had placed his throne therein, or fixed his royal pavilion in it, as a token of supreme and sovereign authority. How he employed himself afterwards, in the peaceable part of his reign, in improving and adorning his great city has already been intimated. Most of the events both of war and peace contributed to gratify his lust and to swell his pride; till at length, his madness having reached its utmost pitch, he was at once reduced to a level with the beasts of the earth, and thereby made to exhibit an useful example to future generations, of the malignant force of inveterate habits, of the dangerous effects of licentious tyranny, of the weakness of human nature, attended with all the greatest advantages of wealth and power, to govern and conduct itself properly, and of the sovereign controlling power of Providence in the highest and most important affairs of life. From the time of his transformation to his death we know but little of his history. Whatever was the fate of this great king, it will be more to our present purpose to observe, that he was succeeded by his son Iloarudam, according to Ptolemy, who is the Evil-merodach of Jeremiah, who married a discreet and prudent woman called Nitocris, from whom was born a son, whose history is the subject of the next chapter. After the death of Evil-merodach, who reigned two years, Niricassolassar or Neriglissar, who seems to have been the chief of the conspirators against the last king, succeeded him: he had married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and in the course of his reign made a great stand against the growing power of the Medes and Persians; but at length, after a reign of four years, was killed in a battle with them under the command of Cyrus. His son Laborosoarchod succeeded him, and having reigned only nine months, and not reaching a Thoth or beginning of an Egyptian year, he is not mentioned by Ptolemy: however, he is said to have been quite the reverse to his father, and after he had exercised many acts of wanton cruelty (see Xen. Cyrop. lib. Dan 3:4<\/span> \ud83d\ude42 he was murdered by his own subjects, and succeeded by Nabonadius or Belshazzar. <\/p>\n Several uses might be made of these historical sketches in explaining various parts of this book: but I shall only remind the reader, that as the captivity began in the year 605 before Christ, or one year before Nebuchadnezzar began his reign, so we shall be now advanced as far as the fifty-first year thereof, at the entrance upon the reign of Nabonadius. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>1st, The introduction to this edict begins not with pompous titles, as was the usual style of eastern monarchs, but with that simplicity and humility which afflictions had taught the royal penman, Nebuchadnezzar the king.<\/em> <\/p>\n It is directed to all people, <\/em>&c. that dwell in all the earth; <\/em>who, while he published his own shame, might admire and adore the greatness and the grace of God herein displayed. And he adds his cordial salutation, Peace be multiplied unto you.<\/em> <\/p>\n The design of the writing is, to acquaint them with the signs and wonders that God had wrought towards him. The world in general had heard, no doubt, of the strange events which had befallen him; his dream, his madness, and recovery: here he gives an account of it from his own pen; content to bear his reproach, if God may be glorified thereby. Note; <\/em>What God has in general done against <\/em>us as the effect of our sins, as well as what he hath done for <\/em>us in mercy, should be mentioned to his glory, and for our own humiliation. <\/p>\n In the contemplation of what had passed, he breaks forth into admiration of God’s wondrous works; How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! <\/em>the more he reviewed the scene, the more he was lost in amazement: convinced by fullest experience, his pride is mortified; he feels himself a worm, the creature of a day; he foresees his own monarchy hastening to ruin; but he beholds a kingdom about to be erected, which should be eternal, and humbly acknowledges God’s incontestable rights to the universal sovereignty and everlasting dominion. <\/p>\n 2nd, Returned victorious from his wars, a conquered world at his feet, the mighty Nebuchadnezzar after all his toils sets himself down to rest in his palace; flourishing <\/em>in health of body and vigour of mind, crowned with glory and affluence, and no enemy able to trouble his repose. Then, when most he seemed secure, God’s secret hand dashed all his joys, and one dream filled him with terror and dismay: so easily can God disturb the joyous sinner, and in a moment, even in the midst of his worldly comforts, make him feel the beginning of sorrows. <\/p>\n 1. He summoned his magicians and astrologers to attend; repeated his dream, and demanded the interpretation. But though they had boasted, that they wanted nothing more than to hear it, in order to explain it, now their rules of art or magic failed them, and they are obliged to confess their ignorance. 3. He declares to him the dream which troubled him. He beheld a lofty and spreading tree which reached to the heavens and was visible to the ends of the earth; the leaves <\/em>or branches <\/em>beautiful, and laden with fruit, affording shelter and food to all the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven. When, lo! a watcher and an holy one <\/em>came down from heaven, and published aloud the decree of the most High, that the tree must be cut down, its branches broken, its fruit destroyed; and all the beasts and fowls are bid to depart from under it. Yet is it not to be rooted up, but the stump must be left encircled with a band of iron; and this the holy messenger explains of a man, who should be degraded into a brute, exposed to the dew of heaven, and dwell among the beasts during seven years; and this is by the immutable decree of the watchers, and the demand of the holy ones; <\/em>and the end purposed in this whole transaction is, to magnify the most High, to make his universal power and sovereignty known; who at his pleasure can humble the greatest, and exalt the meanest of the sons of men. Such was the dream, which since the magicians cannot interpret, he looks to Daniel to explain, confident that he is able to unfold the secret. <\/p>\n 4. Daniel, at his command, addresses himself to the task assigned him. [2.] He introduces with a most respectful compliment the unpleasing interpretation. The king had observed his amazement, and bid him not fear to disclose the secret, desiring, however terrible, to know the truth: and Daniel, not as a courtier who meant to flatter, but as one who really wished the prosperity of his prince, intimates how desirous he was, if God so pleased, that the dire contents of this vision had rather respected the king’s enemies than himself. Note; <\/em>When we are constrained to be the messengers of evil to sinners, we must do it in such a way as to evince that we have not desired the woeful day, but wish the evil averted. <\/p>\n [3.] He declares plainly the purport of the dream, (1.) The tree represents this mighty monarch, It it thou, O king, <\/em>whose conquests had spread on every side; whose growing greatness all admired; under whose government the nations enjoyed protection, and by him were rendered rich and flourishing. Thus should the kings of the earth be the fathers of their people, protecting them from oppression, and seeking to promote their wealth and prosperity: and they are great indeed who thus improve their delegated power. (2.) His doom is read, which his pride had provoked. The watcher and the holy one coming down from heaven, is usually interpreted of holy angels, whose ministry God employs in executing the decrees of his providence, and who approve and applaud them as altogether righteous; or possibly it may signify that watcher <\/em>over his Israel, that Holy One, <\/em>the uncreated Angel of the covenant, to whom all judgment is committed, and who in the government of the world fulfils the counsels of the Holy Ones, <\/em>the persons of the undivided Godhead, the watchers <\/em>over their believing people. <\/p>\n To vast prosperity was Nebuchadnezzar advanced; but the command is, Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong> HIS CONVERSION OUT OF A STATE OF HEATHENISM<\/strong>. There was a mass of idolatrous opinion and vicious custom, in the midst of which Nebuchadnezzar was brought up, and by which he was configured. He was ill-placed so far as an opportunity of conversion, or a radical change of heart and life, are concerned. <\/p>\n
II.<\/strong> HIS CONVERSION<\/strong>, OUT OF A STATE OF WORLDLY PRIDE<\/strong>. He was uniformly prosperous. He had no change, no checks, no defeats; therefore, he was filled with the thought of himself, so as to shut out the thought of a higher. <\/p>\n
III.<\/strong> THE UNUSUAL MEANS EMPLOYED IN SECURING HIS CONVERSION<\/strong>. He had to be humbled. His reason was taken from him, and he became like a beast in his habits. It was the greatest humiliation that could have been sent on earths monarch. <\/p>\n
IV.<\/strong> THE EVIDENCES <\/strong>NEBUCHADNEZZAR GAVE OF HIS BEING CONVERTED<\/strong>. <\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong> WHO THEY ARE THAT WALK IN PRIDE<\/strong>. There is not a man, however near his walk may be with God, but he hath cause, abundant cause to deplore his self-seeking, his want of entire motive in following after God, and that sad admixture of self, that defiles all that he does, and all that he thinks. And, I believe, the nearer is the approach to the living God, the more is the soul made conscious of the hatefulness of that pride that lurketh within it. The cross is the great revealer of it. And yet, though believers in the Lord are ever constrained to mourn over the pride that is in them, they are not those that walk in it. This is the feature of the unregenerate soul: and it is true of all of them. I need hardly attempt to prove that the careless sinner walketh altogether in pride; for he setteth up his own will, his own pleasure, above the will, and above the pleasure, of God; he is his own rule, and his own master. The self-righteous formalist, who goeth about to establish his own righteousness, walketh in pride; it is a remarkable expression–he will a not submit himself to the righteousness of God; he cannot stoop so low. Need I attempt to prove that the more lover of the world walketh in hispride? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, mark out his features, and at once disclose his character. And what is that lofty, independent spirit, which the self-important man has, that will not for one moment allow that all he is, and all he has, and all he can do, belongs to God? <\/p>\n
II.<\/strong> THEY THAT WALK IN PRIDE SHALL BE ABASED<\/strong>. God hath said it; and what He has said He will most surely accomplish. Both the apostle James and the apostle Peter make use of the same words: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble. If you ask why so great a stress is laid upon this in Gods Word, it is because pride is infinitely hateful to God. There is in all sin that which stands opposed to God; but there is in pride that which insults Him, that which rejects Him, that which dethrones Him. And as destructive is it to the soul. For no proud, unsubdued spirit can ever see aught of beauty in Christ. <\/p>\n
III.<\/strong> But now observe that GOD IS ABLE TO ABASE THEM<\/strong>. So Nebuchadnezzar knew. Truly he had lessons, awful lessons; he had proof, awful proof, laid upon him, that God is able to abase. There are some striking exhibitions of this same truth in the prophets. In the sixteenth chapter of Isaiah, we have a particular notice of proud Moab; observe, in the sixth verse, We have heard of the pride of Moab (he is very proud), even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath–so notorious, it Is mentioned thrice in one verse–Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab; every one shall howl; for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. Look at the thirteenth of Jeremiah, and there see how awfully the Holy Ghost directeth us to Jerusalem (in the eighth and ninth verses), Then the word of the Lord came unto me, Thus saith the Lord, after this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem: this evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart; and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. Remark what the Lord says of Babylon, in the fiftieth of this same prophet, the twenty eighth verse: The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His temple; call together the archers against Babylon; all ye that bend the bow camp against it round about; let none thereof escape; recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her, for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel; therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be out off in that day, saith the Lord; behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of Hosts, for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee; and the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. Observe how again and again the Lord speaketh of her as most proud. I bessech you mark His dealings with His own people. They know it. Look at the great work of conversion. How He layeth low! For in what doth the life of faith consist? Many a believer here present can reply, Dependent upon Christ for all I want and all I have; just as poor at the last as at the first; Christ my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; living upon Him for what He has done, receiving from Him what He has promised, and having not one thing in myself to recommend, me to His notice, but bringing my poor empty vessel to receive out of His inexhaustible abundance. What is this but the abasing of those that did walk in pride? And what is the very life of a close walking with God? Why, it is but the continued denial of self. For what is the Spirits victory? It is but His victory over that nature of mine that would always lead me to self; it is but substituting, as it were, the love of Christ for the love of the creature. Truly God is able to do this; and no one but God is able to do it. Afflictions cannot do it–the deepest awe upon the conscience cannot do it–the most alarming representations of eternal woe cannot do it–and the most winning unfoldings of Divine glory cannot do it. The ministers of Christ cannot abase the soul of man–angels and archangels cannot; they can rejoice over the abased spirit, but abase the soul they cannot. It is the work of God, the eternal Spirit, and no one but Him. And by what simple means can He do it! By a word, by a thought, by a glance of the mind, by a conversation, by a text, or by bringing before us some glimpse of the cross of Jesus. And the same power doth it take to keep them low. He always abases, that He may exalt. How patiently, then, ought you to submit yourselves to the will of God! Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. And, above all, He would have you learn the perpetual causes for abasement. That is hew we ought to reason–what cause have I for deep abasement, that I require it so much? (J<\/em>. H<\/em>. Evans, M<\/em>.A<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
II.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>S JUDGMENT ON PRIDE<\/strong>. We have formed now from the history perhaps some idea of pride. We have heard what pride says to itself in the secrecy of its solitude. The same history shall suggest another thought or two about it, and the first of these is its penal, its judicial isolation. They shall drive thee from men. We are not going to explain away the literal, or at least the substantial fulfilment of this prophecy. Though it would be untrue to say that medical history furnishes a complete illustration of the judgment threatened and executed upon King Nebuchadnezzar, yet medical history does afford a sufficient likeness of it to render the fact, not credible only, for that its being written in the Bible would make it, but approximately intelligible. Some grievous forms of insanity in which the sufferer finds himself transfigured, in imagination at least, into an irrational creature, of which he adopts the actions and gestures, the tones and the habits, under which, in that harsh and cruel treatment of madness, from which even kings down to our own age were not exempt, the dweller in a palace might find himself exiled from the society and companionship of men. Something of this kind may seem to be indicated in this touching and thrilling description, and the use now to be made of it requires no more than this brief and general recognition of the particulars of the history from which it is drawn. He was driven from men; the Nemesis of pride is isolation. The proud man is placed atone in the universe, even while he dwells in a home. This is a terrible feature; this is the condemning brand of that self-contemplation, that self-concentration, that self-absorption, which we have thought to be the essence of pride. The proud man is driven by his own act, even before judgment speaks, if not from the presence, if not from the companionship, at least from the sympathy of his fellows. This isolation of heart and soul is the Cain-like mark set upon the unnaturalness of the spirit which it punishes. No sooner is self made the idol, than it shuts the windows of the inner being alike against God above and man below. They shall drive thee from men. Thou hast driven thyself from God! Another thought comes to us out of the history. Mark the words describing the discovery, Mine understanding returned unto me; my reason returned unto me. What was the first use of it? I blessed the Most High; I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever. It is deeply interesting to notice, and it fully accords with the observations of medical men, that the return of reason is here prefaced by a lifting up of the eyes to Heaven as though in quest of reconciliation and recognition. Yes, prayer is no stranger to the hospitals and asylums of the insane. Our moral is, the pride which will no worship is of itself an insanity. Worship is the rational attitude of the creature towards the Creator. Pride, dreaming of independence; pride, placing self where God ought to be; pride, tolling of the Babylon which it has builded; refusing to recognise any being above or below external to it, yet possessing claims upon it, is a non-natural condition. Before it can recover intellect it must look upward. The first sign of that recovery will be the acknowledgment of the Eternal. We have yet one word, and it is that of the text itself: Those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Nebuchadnezzar puts it into his proclamation of thanksgiving: Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, and extol, and honour the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment, and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. King Nebuchadnezzar knew it by experience; he had lived in ignorance, he had lived in defiance of it, he had reaped as he had sewn, he had walked in pride, he had been driven from men. Seven times had passed over him. Not till he had lifted his eyes to Heaven, not till he knew that self was not all, did reason return to him. Honour and brightness came back with it. His councillors and his lords sought him. We in England know, by tradition at least, what the rejoicings are when a monarch recovers his understanding, though there may have been no judgment in that insanity which was the calamity and the sorrow of an earlier generation of Englishmen. Nebuchadnezzar may have meant only to enthrone the God of Heaven as cue God, though the chief God of the crowded Pantheon. That is nothing to us now. We can read his words and put our own construction: Those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Solemn, awful, terrible confession; verified day by day in history, not modern only, but of to-day! How often in our experience has a proud man, quite apart from act or deed of his own, found himself under a treatment but too nicely calculated to humble him! How often has a rich man, building his house on the winnings of chance or of speculation, found to his discomfiture that he has built it upon the sand! How often has a selfish man, having but one tender spot or two in his whole moulding and making, staked his very life, we will say, upon two well-beloved sons, and then found, to use the Scripture similitude, that he has laid the foundation of his prosperity in the first-born and set up the gates thereof in the younger. How often has a professional man on the eve of the last step to greatness developed some fatal symptoms of palsy, or consumption, which made him bid farewell to all his glory, and betake himself to his last gloomy home, in the vaults, perhaps, beneath this church! How often has a statesman, brought by the last turn of the wheel of politics to the very summit of his ambition, been laid low by the importunate strokes of a jealous and envious rivalry, and compelled to exchange earth for the melancholy Pantheon of posthumous fame! (Dean Vaughan<\/em>.)<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
2. When none besides could give the king any satisfaction, at last Daniel appears; whether sent for expressly, or of his own accord coming in at this juncture, is not said. He is called Belteshazzar, from Bel, the god of the Chaldeans; and the king, who had before experienced his superior wisdom, addresses him with high respect, as the master of the magicians; <\/em>not as being of their number, but as excelling them in knowledge, or as appointed their president; but that for which he most admired him was, that the spirit of the holy gods <\/em>was in him: either he speaks as a heathen, who believed in a multitude of gods; or perhaps he might have learned from the Jews the knowledge of the Elohim, the three Persons in one Godhead, and concluded from what he had experienced before, that under the teaching of God’s Spirit, every secret could by him be easily interpreted. <\/p>\n
[1.] He appeared at first exceedingly affected with what he heard, astonished for one hour, <\/em>at the heavy judgment contained in the vision. Note; <\/em>The ministers of God behold, with deepest concern, the miseries impending over the heads of the wicked, who seem unconcerned and unaffected with any sense of their own danger. <\/p>\n