“613. THE FALL OF PRIDE—DANIEL 4”

The Fall of Pride—Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar was beyond doubt one of the greatest and most illustrious princes that the world has ever seen; and the ages as they roll disclose new evidences, long hidden, of that eminence in power and magnificence which the Scripture ascribes to him. His misfortune was, that he was but too conscious of his own greatness; and when he looked down upon the nations lying at his feet, and cast his eyes abroad upon the magnificence he had created around him, his heart was lifted up in kingly pride; and ascribing all that he had achieved to the strength of his own arm, and to the largeness of his own conceptions, he began to deem himself something more than mortal—wholly forgetting the Power by whom kings reign, and who had made him what he was, and had given him all he owned.

One day, as he “walked in the palace of his kingdom,” and viewed the glories all around him, whereby he had rendered the great city in which he reigned the wonder of the earth—he exclaimed, in a burst of imperial pride: “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in his mouth, expressing the thought of his heart, there fell a voice from heaven, pronouncing the terrible words: “The kingdom is departed from thee! and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.” That very hour this doom was fulfilled—that very hour in which Nebuchadnezzar had deemed himself almost a god, beheld him far less than man. The mind of a man fled from him, and the mind of a beast entered. He fancied himself a beast of the field, and as such he cast off the robes and refused the food and habitation of a man. He rushed forth into his park, and mingled with the beasts that fed there, living upon the herbs of the field, fleeing the face of man, and remaining exposed to the weather day and night, summer and winter, “until his hair was grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” No doubt he was constantly watched at a distance, and his safety duly protected, while his son Evil-Merodach assumed the regency until his father should be restored to his right mind.

This did not occur until the time appointed—seven years—had passed; and then—it is the king himself who relates the facts in a proclamation published on his recovery—“At the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes unto heaven;” that first look to heaven—that mute appeal of the brute-man, was not in vain—“Mine understanding returned to me;” and what was the first impulse and use of his restored understanding? “I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him that liveth forever and ever.” God’s victory over the proudest of men was complete. He proceeded to confess that before Him, “all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou.” In this conviction he continued after, on perceiving the change that had taken place in him, his counsellors and his lords repaired to him, and brought him back to his palace and his kingdom; for he ends in extolling “the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride, He is able to abase.”

What had materially contributed in bringing the king to this frame of mind, was without doubt the fact, that in interpreting another dream for him, Daniel had foretold all this to him a year before it occurred—had solemnly warned him of the approaching judgment, and had boldly and faithfully counselled him to seek to avert the doom not yet sealed, by repentance and righteousness. The warning was in vain; but it bore fruit after the threatened punishment had been inflicted.

Hanging Garden, from Assyrian Sculptures

We wish to add a few words respecting the nature of Nebuchadnezzar’s claim, of which he so much vaunted, of being the builder of great Babylon. There was reason for it. He was not indeed the founder of the city—for it existed from very ancient times; but he improved it so greatly, adorned it with so many grand buildings, and rebuilt parts of it so magnificently, that he brought it to a very different condition to that in which he found it. Josephus, following Berosus, ascribes to Nebuchadnezzar the adorning of the temple of Bel with the spoils he had taken in war—the embellishments of the ancient city—the triple wall of burnt brick surrounding it—a new palace of extraordinary size and splendor—stone terraces, which had the appearance of mountains, planted with various kinds of trees, and the celebrated hanging gardens of similar construction, erected to gratify his Median consort, who was desirous of having, in this dead level, some scenery resembling that of her native country. Of the old city before his time, there are no ascertained remains; nor, from the inferior materials of which it was formed, is it likely that such should be found. But not only Babylon, but the whole region, is full of his great name. This is quite a recent discovery, which we owe to Colonel Rawlinson.

It was a custom in Babylon, borrowed perhaps from the Assyrians, that the brick used in building the ancient cities on the lower Tigris and Euphrates, should be stamped with the name and titles of the royal founder. This practice may eventually afford the key to important chronological disclosures; and Colonel Rawlinson expresses a hope that the bricks collected from different sites may enable him to reconstruct the chronology of the country. Now, the fact in point is, that every ruin in Babylon Proper, to some distance north of Bagdad, has its bricks stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar; and Colonel Rawlinson states that he has examined the bricks in situ, belonging perhaps to one hundred different towns, within this area of about one hundred miles in length, and thirty or forty in breadth, and that he has never found any other royal name than that of Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. Many of these, and others, may perhaps be identified with those in the list of numerous towns built by Nebuchadnezzar, contained in an inscription now deposited in the India House. The extent and number of the works thus bearing the name of this great king, would almost pass belief on any evidence less conclusive; and certainly the necessity of finding inhabitants for the numerous towns built by him in this region, supplies a new and interesting motive for his zeal in sweeping the population of Judah, and doubtless of other conquered nations, into this quarter.

Autor: JOHN KITTO