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THEIR MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE.

Finish'd their course, and fought their fight,
Thence did their mounting souls aspire;
Starting from flesh, they took their flight,
Borne upwards on a car of fire.

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Nor has the afflicted and tempted believer been less supported by this precious promise, when scorched by the flames of temptation, or seeming in danger of being consumed by the fires of affliction. And whether under individual, or family, or national bereavements, nothing will enable the believer "to glorify the Lord in the fires," but the presence of Him who is King of kings, and Lord of lords; nor will this be withheld from the weakest and most humble of his people. The Jewish youths were cast into a furnace, probably a large hollow in the earth, heaped with the fiercest combustibles, yet the fire had no effect upon them: it only consumed the bands whereby they had been fettered, and left them at liberty to walk with their Saviour, and utter the praises of their Deliverer.

Well

is it for us, if the fires of affliction or trial consume the bands wherewith we are tied and bound, and in like manner loose us, and set us free to praise and serve our Redeemer, whose promise is, never to leave, never, never to forsake his people.

When persecution's torrent blaze

Wraps the unshrinking martyr's head;
When fade all earthly flowers and bays,
When summer friends are gone and fled,

Is he alone in that dark hour

Who owns the Lord of love and power?

Or waves there not around his brow

A wand no human arm may wield,
Fraught with a spell no angels know,

His steps to guide, his soul to shield?
Thou, Saviour, art his charmed bower,
His magic ring, his rock, his tower.
And when the wicked ones behold
Thy favourites walking in thy light,
Just so, in fancied triumphs bold,

They deem'd them lost in deadly night;
Amaz'd they cry, "What spell is this,
Which turns their sufferings all to bliss ?"

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NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S SECOND VISION.

The fourth chapter of Daniel records another vision of Nebuchadnezzar, which it is supposed he had B.C. 568. It is prefaced by a remarkable confession of the wondrous manner in which the Most High dealt with him. The vision represented a mighty tree rearing its head on high, but cut down by command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel gave the interpretation with courageous faithfulness: he spoke with power from above. It is recorded Dan. iv. 24-27;

This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That 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 they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 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 tranquillity.

Whatever impression might at the moment have been made by this solemn warning, it seems to have passed speedily away. Amidst the pomp and might which surrounded Nebuchadnezzar, his spirit of arrogance increased. About a year afterwards, while walking in his hanging gardens,

The monarch glanced an eye of pride
On all his regal power had done;
For, stretched beneath him far and wide,
Glitter'd resplendent Babylon.

Palace on palace, tower on tower,

In heaven-defying grandeur rose;
And one, the pinnacle of power,

Whose very base was built on those.
And in that tower of towers was seen
The king of all that pageantry:
While pride was in the monarch's mien,
And pride was glancing from his eye.

HIS PRIDE AND HUMILIATION.

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But the impious declaration, and the immediate judg ment that followed, are best given in the words of Scripture, Dan. iv. 29–33.

At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: 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.

The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

Of all the awful events which prove the nothingness of man in his best estate, none is more striking than the case of a mighty monarch, once remarkable for his wisdom and his valour, bereft of that reason which constitutes the superiority of man over the beasts of the field.

The instance of Nebuchadnezzar was a very peculiar one. He became as a beast; the form taken by his mental disease is considered to have resembled that called Lycanthropy, in which the sufferer imagines himself to be a brute, and acts like one. In this state the fallen monarch continued seven years, eating grass as the oxen, and exposed to the dew of heaven; but, doubtless, carefully watched and guarded from injury. At the expiration of that period, his reason was restored, when he acknowledged the hand that smote him, and professed himself a sincere believer in the Lord Jehovah; according to his own words, Dan. iv. 1-3; 34-37;

Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be

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NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S PENITENCE.

multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God had wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation and 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? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

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. Thus there is reason to believe that Nebuchadnezzar became a monument of Divine mercy: he must have deeply abhorred his former proud, impious, and cruel conduct; but he was not allowed any lengthened opportunity to evidence this change. The Divine Sovereignty was fully vindicated by the fact, by the indisputable testimony placed upon the national record, and confirmed by revelation; but the course of Divine providence was forwarded by other and different instruments. It is thought that Nebuchadnezzar only lived a few months after his reason was restored.

During the illness of Nebuchadnezzar, it is considered that the government was conducted by his queen, Nicotris, to whose wisdom and abilities historians bear record, and who continued to carry into execution his plans for the improvement of Babylon.

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We now come to a period of history which has much perplexed most of the historians and chronologers. Scripture does not afford any continued clew to guide us through this maze, but it supplies some insulated notices, which serve to test any scheme proposed to us. The view taken by Hales, the latest and most accurate of modern chronological historians, seems the safest and the best ; but it is unnecessary here to give all the reasons for adopting the calculations which influenced him. These will be found in his own work, and well deserve examination: they are not vague ideas of his own, but are founded upon the accounts

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