as well in the army of heauen as in the dwellers of the earth By the army of heauē I do not vnderstand as in other places the Sunne the Moone the Starres but the Angels themselues and euen the very deuils which may well be called heauenly in respect of their begynning and furthermore we know that they be the Princes of the ayre Therfore signifieth Daniel as well the Angels as deuils and men to be gouerned by his will and although the wicked do rush out neuer so outragiously yet they are held in by a secrete bridle that they can not fulfill what soeuer they lust Therfore is God sayd to worke as well in the army of heauen as in men what soeuer he will because he hath the Angels obedient vnto him that is the elect but the deuils are compelled to obey his rule although they would do the contrary We know that the deuils are by all meanes agaynst God but yet at the length they are compelled to obey him not willyngly but by constraint And euen as he dealeth with the Angels and deuils so also he doth with the dwellers on earth For some doth he gouerne with his spirite that is the elect which after that they be regenerate by his spirite are so led of him that his righteousnes doth truly shyne forth in all their workes He worketh also in the reprobate but after an other sort for he draweth them headlong by the hand of the deuill he driueth them by his secret power he striketh them with the spirite of brayneséekenes he blyndeth them and casteth them into a reprobate sense he hardeneth also their hartes to stubbornes Behold how God doth worke all thinges by his will in men and Angels Now there is an other kinde of working for as much as belongeth to the outward state For God doth lift this man on high and casteth downe an other So we sée that rich mē often tymes become poore and some are lift vp from the donghill to clime to high degrées of honor The prophane men do call it the play of fortune but it is the incomprehensible and most iust moderation of the prouidence of god Thus God worketh then after his will in men and Angels But that inward action should be put in the first place as we haue sayd 33 At the same tyme was myne vnderstandyng restored vnto me and I returned to the honour of my kingdome my glory and my beauty was restored vnto me and my counsaillers and my Princes sought vnto me and I was established in my kingdome and my glory was augmented towardes me Here doth Nebuchadnezer declare more copiously that which he had touched briefly before that is to say that he had recouered his wit agayne and so doth he commend the mercy of God because he was contēt with a small temporall correction at the length gaue him hys mercifull hand to make hym a mā agayne of a brute beast Not that he was chaunged into a beast as is sayd already but because he was brought to that shamefull miserie that he was lyke the wilde beastes and fed also with them Wherfore that deformitie was so horrible that the restoryng might be called as it were a new creation and therfore Nebuchadnezer doth so much celebrate this grace of God not without cause Therfore in that tyme myne vnderstādyng was restored to me He had spokē this once but because vnderstādyng reason is an inestimable benefite of God Nebuchadnezer doth inculcate this sētēce doth cōfesse that he had tryed the singular grace of God because he was restored to his minde agayne And he doth also adde that he was restored to hys honor and to the excellencie of his kyngdome because hée was sought to of his counsellers and nobles It is not knowen how this was fulfilled because the memory of those tymes is buryed but that it is probable that at the length the Princes of the kyngdome were bowed to clemency that they coueted to receiue to them the kyng that was cast forth We will not say that thys was done of them of purpose for God so vsed them that yet they knew not that they did execute that which he determined They heard a voyce from heauen To thee be it spoken O king Nebuchadnezer beholde the kingdome is gone from thee c. This thyng ought to haue bene known amōgest all men to haue bene spread abroad amongest all but we know that men do very easely forget when God speaketh The Princes therfore though they did not know that they did God seruice therein yet required they their kyng By this meanes he returned to hys dignitie of the kingdome and hys honor was greater then it was before 34 Now therefore I Nebuchadnezer prayse and extoll and magnifie the king of heauē whose workes are all truth and hys wayes iudgement and those that walke in pride he is able to abase This is the end of the commaundement where Nebuchadnezer doth ioyne a notable confession of his fault with the prayses of god For that which he doth adde of the proud he doth vndoubtedly properly apply to hys own person as though he should say God would set me forth as a notable example whereby all might know that the proud are humbled by his hand For I was puffed vp wyth pride but God hath thus corrected me by an horrible punishmēt that now my example might profit all men Therefore haue I sayd that the king Nebuchadnezer did not thanke God here simply but did also confesse hys fault because he was worthely brought by such seuerity into subiection for hys arrogancy coulde by no lighter remedy be corrected But first he sayth I prayse extoll and glorifie the king of heauen There is no doubt but this heape of wordes came of a vehement affection And here also the antethesis must be vnderstād by that principle which we haue sene before that is that God is neuer rightly praysed vntill the shame of men be vncouered that God is neuer rightly extolled but when their highnes is throwne downe that God is neuer glorified but when men being as it were ouerwhelmed wyth shame fall downe vpon the earth Therefore also whyles Nebuchadnezer doth in thys place prayse extoll and glorifie God he doth also confesse as before that both he and all mortall men are nothing do deserue no prayse but are worthy of all shame Afterward he addeth because all hys workes are truth Here Kesot is taken for righteousnes and integrity For emez dine are called true iudgementes but it is here referred to equity therefore all the workes of God are verity that is they be vpright as though he should say that nothyng is worthy to be reprehended in the workes of god Therefore the explication foloweth that all hys wayes are iudgement We sée therefore that here is praysed in God perfect iustice This ought to be also referred vnto Nebuchadnezer as though he should say God did not handle me ouer roughly there is no
cause why I should finde fault wyth hym or murmure agaynst hym as though he hath bene ouer seuere agaynst me Therefore I confesse what punishment soeuer I sustayne I was worthy of it Why For all the wayes of the Lord are iudgement that is there is great vprightnes in them Furthermore all his workes are truth that is there is no vnequall thing found in them neyther any deceitfull thyng but great righteousnes shall shine in them euery where We sée then how Nebuchadnezer doth condemne hym self by hys owne mouth with these words whiles he declareth the righteousnes of God in all hys workes Neyther doth thys generality hinder that Nebuchadnezer should not set hymselfe gilty openly and fréely before the iudgemēt seat of God but this word hath more hehemency whiles he beyng admonished by hys owne example doth confesse vniuersally that God is iust and whatsoeuer he doth is right and true And thys poynt is worthy to be noted For many can easely prayse Gods iustice and equity when they haue all thinges at their owne hartes desire but if God beginne once to deale sharply with thē then poure they forth their poyson and beginne to quarell wyth God and to accuse hym of iniustice and cruelty Wherefore in that that Nebuchadnezer doth here cōfesse without exception that God is iust and true in all hys workes when as he was so seuerely punished this confession is not fayned for that which he speaketh must néedes come forth of the inward and liuely féeling of the hart because he had tasted the rigour of Gods iudgement Now in the end is added That he can humble them that walke in pride Here Nebuchadnezer doth disclose hys owne sinne and shame more plainly and he is not ashamed to confesse hys fault before the whole world seyng that the punishment was euident Wherefore like as God would haue hys madnes to be detested of all men when he executed such a terrible example of so horrible a punishment vpon hym so doth Nebuchadnezer now come forth and testifie that he did worthely suffer this so greuous punishment because in déede he was to proud And here do we sée the power of God ioyned with hys iustice as was sayd before He doth not attribute vnto God any Tyranny that should be lawles For whē Nebuchadnezer hath confessed all the wayes of God to be iudgemēt straight wayes after he saith of himselfe that he was proud Wherfore he doubteth not to set forth his shame before mē that he might glorify god And thys is the right way to prayse God not onely when we confesse our selues to be nothyng but also when we recount our vices agayne when we do not onely knowledge wythin our selues and in our owne consciences that we are wicked and worthy to be condemned before God but testify the same wyth open mouth before all mortall men so oft as shall be necessary And when the word of humilitation or humbling is named it is to be referred to that outward abbasing and casting downe when God cast Nebuchadnezer forth into the woodes to liue among the wilde beasts Howbeit he was also humbled after an other sort euen as one of the children of God. Seyng then there be two kindes of humiliation Nebuchadnezer speaketh of the first where God doth cast down and deface the proud Thys is one kynde of humbling which hath no fruit vnlesse the Lord do afterward gouerne vs wyth hys spirit of humility Thus Nebuchadnezer doth not here comprehend the grace of God which yet should haue had the chiefe prayse neither yet doth he describe in thys decrée whatsoeuer were to be required of a godly man that had bene long exercised in the schole of God but yet he maketh it manifest that he had much profited vnder Gods corrections when he attributeth vnto hym the most high power and ioyneth thereunto the commendation of iustice and equity The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thys sinne of price is so fast fixed in all our hartes euer since we haue bene corrupted in our father Adam graunt that we may learne to examine our selues throughly that we may be so displeased wyth our selues as becommeth vs and that we may perceaue that there is no wisdome neither equity but that commēth from thee onely so that we may flie vnto they mercy and that we may confesse our selues worthy to be iudged to eternall death and yet trusting to they mercy which thou hast vouchedsafe to offer vnto vs by thy Gospell and beleuing in the mediator whom thou hast geuen vnto vs we may doubt nothing to flye vnto thee and to call thee father that we beyng regenerate by thy spirite may walke in true humility and modesty whiles at the length thou do rayse vs vp vnto that heauenly kingdome which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thine onely begotten Sonne Iesus Christ our lord Amen Chap. 5. The Texte KIng Beltsazar made a great feast to a thousand of hys Princes dranke wine before the thousand DAniel doth here declare and history which was done at the same tyme that Babylon was taken but in the meane season hee leaueth the iudgement of God to be considered of the readers of the which the Prophetes prophecied before the people was banished Here doth he not vse a propheticall stile as we shall sée afterward but is content wyth the simple narration but the vse of the history may be learned by those wordes which folow Therfore it is now our dutie to weigh in this history that which may make to the edification of fayth and of the feare of god In the first place we must note the tyme in the which Beltsazar did celebrate thys feast Now the seuenty yeares were passed frō that tyme that Daniel was brought into exile For although Nebuchadnezer were called afterward the father of Beltsazar yet is it manifest enough that Euilmerodah was betwixt them two And Euilmerodah raigned thrée and twenty yeares Other also number two kings before Beltsazar for they do put Regassar after Labassardach which two make eight yeares more Metastenes sayth so many do folow hym But it is manifest that Nebuchadnezer the great which brought Daniel away which was the sonne of the first Nebuchadnezer raigned 45. yeares Other do transferre two yeares to hys fathers Empire Howsoeuer it is he obtayned the kinges power 45. yeares Now adde moreouer 23. yeares to Euilmerodah which will make thréescore and eight Beltsazar also raigned 8. yeares Therfore we sée 72. yeares to be passed after Daniel was caried away captiue Metasthenes reckeneth 30. yeares in the raigne of Euilmerodah and moreouer there are added vnto hym 8. yeares So should the yeares be more then fourescore And this is probable enough Although it séemeth that Methasthenes erred in this that he made diuerse kinges seyng they were onely diuerse names For Herodotus doth not call thys king of whom now mētion is made Beltsazar but calleth hys father Labinetus hym also by the same name Therfore
confirmed by this example as if God did hereby set forth vnto vs the Image of his iudgement as in a glasse This is one lesson Also the cause is to be noted why God maketh opē warre agaynst all the proud because we can lift vp our heades neuer so little but we fight agaynst god For all rule and power is in hys hand yea our life is in hys hand Neyther are we any thing neyther can we do any thing but onely of hym and by hym Who soeuer chalengeth therefore thys or that be it neuer so little to hymselfe he withdraweth so much from god Wherefore it is no maruaile though God do testify that he can not abyde the hygh countenaunces of men for they do wilfully prouoke him to anger when they vsurpe the least thing that can be vnto themselues It is true that Cities are built by the industry and labour of men and that those kynges are worthy commendation that eyther built Cities or fortifie them so that due prayse remayne vnto God and nothing be taken therefrom But when men extoll and magnify themselues and wyll haue their power séene they bury the blessing of God as much as in them lyeth Then is it necessary as we haue sayd that their sacrilegious temerity robbing God of his honor be called to accompt Also the kyng sheweth hys vanity when he sayth I haue built it for my princely palace and for the excellency of my maiestie By these wordes he doth not dissemble but that he regarded hys owne glory in all hys buildinges to the entent that hys name myght be aduaunced amongest hys posterity To be short therefore would he both in his lyfe and after hys death be thus renowmed in the world that God should be nothing in respect of hym and so all the proud shoote at this marke that they may set themselues in Gods place It followeth The word was yet in the kinges mouth when a voyce was heard from heauen Here we sée how soone God can euen in a moment represse the madnes of them that do outragiously extoll thēselues And it is no maruaile though this voyce was heard sodainly seing there had bene a space for repentaunce geuen before vnto the kyng Nebuchadnezer Now in thys kynde of speach They say vnto thee we néede not to be curious to know who spake The name of the kyng is not geuen hym for honor but in derision as though he should say thou art dronken wyth thy present dignity for whyles all men do honor thée as a God thou doost forget thyne owne fraility howbeit this princely Maiestie and power can not let but that God can cast thée downe because thou wilt not humble thy self willingly thy kingdome is departed from thée Thys was incredible then for Nebuchadnezer was in a quiet possession of the kyngdome No man did shew hymselfe an enemy his Monarchy was terrible to all nations yet doth God pronounce at that present that the kyngdome was departed from hym And thys maketh for the certainty of the oracle that Nebuchadnezer may know that the tyme is now fulfilled and the punishment can no longer be deferred because he had so abused Gods mercy and mocked hys clemency It followeth And they shall driue thee from amongest mē and thy dwelling shal be wyth the beastes of the fielde and they shall make thee eate grasse like the oxen That some mē thinke that Nebuchadnezer was transformed into a beast it is to great an absurdity Therefore we néede not to imagine any such metamorphosis but that he was so cast forth of mans company that except onely mans shape he differed nothing from brute beastes Yea there came such a deformity vpon hym in that exile that he was horrible to looke vpon as we shall sée afterward that all the heares of hys body did grow as the fethers grow vpon the Egles and hys nayles did grow like birdes clawes Thys had he common wyth the beastes and birdes in the rest he was lyke a man For we know not whether God did strike this kyng with madnes so that he ranne away and hid hymselfe for a space or whether he were cast forth by tumult and the conspiracy of hys nobles or by the consent of the whole people Thys we do not know because the histories of those times are vnknowen vnto vs. Now whether he were enraged and so ranne forth of mans company or he were cast forth as tyrantes are many times or not this example is very notable that he remayned with beastes for a seasō Yet is it probable that he was so beside hymselfe that God yet left hym the forme of man and tooke away his reason as shall better appeare by the texte They shall cast thee forth of mans company and thy dwelling shall be wyth wilde beastes and they shall make thee eate grasse like the bullockes That is to say thou shalt be depriued of all thy princely delicates yea of all the commō diet of the vulgare people thou shalt haue none other meat then brute beastes haue And seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee Of thys we haue spoken before Some do restreine it to vij dayes which neither hath reasō nor colour Neither do I expound it of monethes for that had bene a short tyme Wherefore their sentence is more probable which do extend it to seuen yeares For if Nebuchadnezer were cast forth by any tumult he could not be so shortly called in agayne Furthermore because that God would shew in his person an example the remēbraunce whereof might continue many ages I doubt not but that he was seperated from the commō state of men for a long season If it had bene but for seuen dayes or monthes we sée how little Gods iudgementes vnles they be seuere are regarded in the world Wherefore that God myght print thys punishment in the hartes of all he continueth it for a long space I do not say vij yeares precisely for as I sayd the certaine number is put for the vncertayne but I do say that it was a long space Seuen yeares sayth he shall passe ouer thee whiles that thou know that the most high is the ruler in the kingdome of men This is the ende of the punishment Wherein we note that God doth mitigate the bitternes of the payne because he doth limite it vnto a certaine tyme and also had his ende determined that Nebuchadnezer should repent in the end because hee could none other wayes waxe wise but by punishment as the prouerbe is of the foolish So was it of necessitie that kyng Nebuchadnezer must bee compelled by scourges to submit him selfe vnto God because nothyng could be done with him by admonitions neither yet before by heauenly visions God dealeth not thus with all Wherfore we haue here a speciall example of hys clemency and mercy which caused that this punishment which was layd vpon Nebuchadnezer tooke place and was profitable The reprobate do more and more harden their hartes agaynst God yea
they are more and more enraged and waxe furious That Nebuchadnezer was chastened for a space by the hand of God and afterward repented to perceiue that God beareth the whole rule in all the world this was of speciall grace He sayth that God is the ruler in the kyngdome of men because that tyrauntes will be persuaded of nothyng more hardly then that they are vnder the power of god They will confesse in one word that they reigne by his grace but in the meane seasō they suppose that they are come to their authoritie either by their power or by fortune and that they are mainteined therein either by their power their wisedome or by their riches Wherfore they shut forth as much as in them lyeth God from the gouernement of the world whiles they are puffed vp with this fonde opinion that they remaine in their state and dignitie by their own power or wisedome This was no small profite then that Nebuchadnezer began to perceiue that God is the gouernour in the kyngdome of men for the kyngs would set him in a meane state betwixt them and the people They graunt in dede that the people must be in obedience vnto God but they thinke thē selues to be exempted from the common order and they imagine after their lustes that they haue a priuiledge that they nede not to be vnder the hand gouernment of god So was this as I haue sayd no vulgare nor cōmon lesson the Nebuchadnezer learned at the last that God doth raigne in the earth For kyngs do cōmonly shut him vp in the heauēs and imagine that he doth content him with hys owne glory so that he doth not intermedle with mens matters Afterward hee addeth what kinde of gouernment God hath euen that he raiseth vp whom he pleaseth and casteth downe others God is not the gouernour then onely in this respect that he susteineth the world by his vniuersall prouidence but because no man commeth to any authoritie but at his pleasure He gyrdeth some with a gyrdle he vngyrdeth others he powreth contempt vpon Princes and maketh the mighty weake as it is written in the booke of Iob. We may not imagine then any power of God that is idle but we must ioyne it with the present acte Whether then that tyrauntes haue the gouernment or good and godly kynges altogether is gouerned by the secret counsaile of God for other wayes he could not be the kyng and gouernour of the world 30 At that same houre was this thing fulfilled vpon Nebuchadnezer and hee was driuen from men and did eat grasse as the bullockes and his body was wet with the dew of heauen till hys heares were growne like Egles fethers and hys nayles like byrdes clawes The Prophet doth conclude that which he had spoken before that is as soone as the voyce came from heauē Nebuchadnezer was cast forth of mens company It may be that they had some occasion to dryue hym forth But because the coniecture is doubtfull I had rather leaue it indifferent which the holy ghost hath not reueiled I will onely touch this briefly that when he boasted that Babylon was built by the strength of his power it might be that euē the nobles also did disdayne whiles they saw him puffed vp with so great arrogancy or it may be also that he spake after this maner when he thought that they lay in wayt for him or when he perceaued that troubles were moued agaynst him How soeuer it is God sent forth his voyce and droue forth of the company of mē the kyng Nebuchadnezer in the same moment Therfore In that houre sayth he was the word fulfilled If it had bene a long space afterward the cause might haue bene ascribed to fortune or other lower meanes but where there is such copulation of the word with the worke the iudgement is more manifest then can be darkned by mās malignitie Therfore he sayth that he was cast forth and did eate grasse so that he differred not from the oxen that his body was watered with rayne because he did lye without the house For we oftentymes are watred with rayne and there is none which can escape that necessitie in the fieldes and often tymes the trauellers do come wette to their Inne But here the Prophet doth speake of the continuall iudgement of God that he had no house to go into but did lye in the fieldes So he sayth He was watered with the dew of heauen vntill sayth hee his nailes did grow lyke byrdes clawes and his heares lyke Egles fethers This place doth more confirme that which was spoken before that seuen tymes should bee expounded of a long time because his heares would not haue so growē in seuē monethes neither would there haue bene such a deformitie and so great in this space Therfore thys chaungyng which is described of the Prophet doth sufficiētly declare that the kyng Nebuchadnezer was punished with a longer tyme Neither could he so quickly be humbled because arrogancie is vntameable euen in a meane man how much more in such a great mighty Monarche 31 And at the end of these dayes I Nebuchadnezer lift vp myne eyes vnto heauen and myne vnderstādyng was restored vnto me and I gaue thankes vnto the most high and I praysed and honored him that liueth for euer whose power is an euerlastyng power and his kingdome is from generation to generation Now the Prophet doth bryng in the kyng speakyng agayne Therfore he sayth After that tyme was passed he lift vp his eyes vnto heauen There is no doubt but he doth meane of those seuen yeares And seyng he began at the length to lift vp his eyes vnto heauen hereby it appeareth how lōg the healing of his disease that is of his pride was For euen as where there is some liuyng part corrupted and almost consumed the remedy is hard and long euen so because pride is altogether fastened in mens hartes and doth occupy euen the very marow and doth infect what soeuer is in the soule therefore is it not so easily plucked away And this is worthy to be noted Furthermore we are also taught by this word that God did so worke in the kyng Nebuchadnezer that he did not forth with bring forth the effect of his grace opēly It was profitable for Nebuchadnezer to be so shamefully handled for the space of seuen yeares or such a tyme and to bee banished from the company of men but he could not so soone perceiue this vntill God had opened his eyes So then God doth often times chastise vs and calleth vs by litle and litle and also doth prepare vs to repentaunce but his grace is not straight way knowne ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng that although we are nothyng yet we do neuer cease to stand in our owne conceite and also are blinded by the vayne cōfidence of our selues and furthermore do vaynely boast of our vertues and powers which are nothyng that we may learne to put of
the instinction of the spirite that they are nothyng that is before God because it commeth to passe none otherwyse that they should extoll them selues so much but that they are blinded in theyr owne darkenes But when they shal be drawne vnto the light they shall know that they are altogether nothing And what so euer we be it hangeth altogether of the grace of God which doth kéepe vs euery moment and doth ioyne vnto vs a new strength Therefore our part is nothing els but to rest and stand stedfast in God because as soone as he draweth backe his hād and the power of his spirite we fade away Therefore we are something that is in the Lord God but we are nothing in our selues Now it followeth that God worketh according to hys will in the army of heauen and in the dwellers vpon earth This might séeme absurde that God is sayd to do as he will as though he had neither moderation nor equity nor rule of iustice But we must marke that which we haue spoken in an other place that men are gouerned by lawes because their willes are peruerse and are caryed hither and thether after their owne lustes without measure but God is a law vnto him selfe because his wil is most perfect iustice Therfore as oft as the Scripture setteth forth vnto vs the power of God and doth commaunde vs to be content therewith it doth not attribute vnto God a tyrannicall Empire as the wicked do falsely imagine But because we do not leaue of to speake agaynst God and do set our reason agaynst his secrete counsailes and so striue with him as though he dyd not that iustly and wisely which is not allowed of vs therfore that the holy ghost might bridle this presūption he doth pronoūce that God doth all things after his owne will. Let vs then remember that when we heare mētion made of God there cā no peruerse nor vniust thyng be layd vnto him his will is not chaunged by any lust but is great iustice Seyng then it is so let vs also remember how great how stubburne and how proude our rashnes is which dare cast and obiect this or that agaynst god Whereof it foloweth that this doctrine is necessary to cast vpon vs a bridle of modestie that God doth all thynges after his owne will as it is sayd in the Psalme our God is in heauen he hath done what soeuer he would Now we do gather by this sentence that nothyng commeth by chaunce but what soeuer commeth to passe in the world commeth by the secrete prouidence of god Neither ought here to be admitted that vnsauery distinction betwixt the sufferaunce of God and his wil. For we sée that the holy ghost which is the best master to teach vs to speake doth here playnly expresse two thinges that is the God worketh he worketh after his owne will. And sufferance as also these curious searchers do say differeth frō wil as though God did graunt as it were agaynst his will that which yet he would not haue done There is nothing more worthy to be laughed at thē to imagine this weakenes to be in god Furthermore the very force of doing is added Therefore saith Nebuchadnezer God doth what he will. And he doth not speake accordyng to the sense of the flesh but by the instinction of the spirite as hath bene sayd He should therfore as well be heard as if a Prophet were sent from heauen Now then we sée that the world is so gouerned by the secrete prouidence of God that nothyng commeth to passe but that which he hath commaunded and decréed and furthermore that hee should also worthily be counted the author of all thynges Where some do obiect a kinde of absurditie that God is therfore the author of sinne if nothing be but by his will yea if he worke it this cauillation is easily put away because there is a diuersitie betwixt the doing of God and the workyng of men For when any man sinneth God after his maner doth worke there but in the meane season he farre differreth from man because he exerciseth his iudgement euen as he is sayd to blinde and to harden When then God doth commaunde the reprobate or the deuil those doth he geue vp to be cast into all kindes of lustes When God then doth so he doth exercise his iudgementes And he which sinneth is worthely giltie neither can he intāgle God in the societie of his wickednes Why For God hath nothyng common with him as concernyng the action of sinne Therefore we see that these thynges which many would haue to disagrée betwixt them selues do well agrée that is that God doth rule by his will what soeuer is done in the world and yet he is not the author of sinne Why For he so vseth the deuill and all the reprobate that he is alway a iust iudge The cause doth not alway appeare vnto vs but we must marke this principle because that with God is all power therfore it is not right to speake agaynst his iudgements what shew of absurditie soeuer they haue And therfore it foloweth in the text There is none that can stay his hand or can say vnto him why hast thou thus done When Nebuchadnezer sayth that the hand of God can not be stayed hereby he derideth the madnes of men which yet do not doubt to rise agaynst god Now let them lift vp their finger if they can to stay his hand and yet beyng ouercome of their infirmitie they go forward in that their rage Therfore Nebuchadnezer doth worthely shew their foolish madnes whiles they lift vp them selues so presumpteously that they would put God to silence or shut him vp in their cages or make some chaynes wherby they may binde hym Seyng then that men do burst forth into such outragious fury they are worthily laughed at And hereto belong the wordes which we read in Daniel Afterward he addeth that none sayth VVhy hast thou done so We know that mens tounges are losed to all wickednes of talke because scarce the hūdreth part of mē doth conteine them selues in this sobrietie to geue the glory vnto God and to confesse that he is iust in hys workes But here Nebuchadnezer did not looke what men were wont to do but what was lawfull Therfore he sayth that God can not be corrected that is by right seyng how soeuer the reprobate do talke yet their vayne talkyng doth fall by it selfe because it hath no ground neither yet any colour The summe is that the will of God should be a law vnto vs because we striue agaynst him in vayne and furthermore because if we permit vnto our selues so much lust if our madnes also do brust forth so farre that we will braul with God this shal be without successe For God hym selfe shal be iustified in his iudgements and so all mens mouthes shal be stopped This is the summe But we must marke that which is added That the will of God is done
it séemeth that Methasthenes was deceaued in the names But forasmuch as belongeth to the reckening of tyme I wyllingly receaue that which hee saith that Euilmerodah raigned thirty yeares For when we speake of the seuenty yeares wherof Ieremy did prophecy we may not beginne at the captiuity of Daniel neyther at the destruction of the Citie but at that miserable destruction which came betwixt the first victory of king Nebuchadnezer which he had whiles hys father was aliue and the burning and vtter ruine of the temple and the Citie For when report was brought of the death of hys father as we haue sayd in an other place he returned into hys countrey lest any tumult should arise in hys absence Therefore that we may finde the seuenty yeares in the which God would end the captiuity of hys people it shal be necessary to prolong the raigne of Euilmerodah longer thē thrée and twenty yeares Although there is no great difference in that matter For a little after Nebuchadnezer returned and caried away the king although he left the Citie standing And though the temple did stand still at that tyme yet God had layd a most greuous plague vpon the people which was almost as euill as the last destruction Howsoeeuer it is we sée that Beltsazar doth celebrate this feast when the tyme of deliueraunce was now at hand And here is the prouidence of God to be considered which ruleth the houres and tymes that the wicked whē the time is ripe for their fall cast themselues downe hedlong So chaunced it to this wicked kyng It was a meruelous madnes and blindnes that he prepared so great a feast full of delicates whē as the Citie was yet besieged For Cyrus had now a long tyme besieged the Citie wyth a great army thys miserable king was halfe surprised yet notwithstanding as it were in despight of God he maketh a dainty feast and calleth a thousād gestes Hereby may we easily coniecture what busines there was what charges in the feast For if one would intertaine but eyther ten or twenty men there will be much busines and trauayle if so be he wyll treate thē sumptuously But whē there was preparation made for the Prince when there were a thousand noble personages the Quéene and the kinges concubines when so great a multitude was then gathered together no doubt there must néedes be much searching out of many partes to finde sufficient delicates and thys thing may séeme increadible But Xenophon although he tell many fables and do neither kéepe the grauity nor fidelity of an historiographer because he wil set forth the prayses of Syrus like and orator yet in thys poynt there is no cause why he should lie sayth that there was preparation of vitayle layd vp in store that the Babylonians might beare the siege ten yeare more And Babylō may worthely be called a coūtrey For the greatnes of that City was such that is is incredible to be tolde Doubtles it must néedes be that is was very full of people And seyng they caried vitailes from all Asai thether it is no meruaile if the men of Babell had vitaile layd vp in store that they myght sustaine themselues a long space the gates being shut vp But thys is wonderfull that the king which should haue watched hymselfe or at the least haue sent forth hys watchmen lest the Citie should bee taken gaue hymselfe to banketing and to pleasure as though he were in great peace and were in no daunger of the outward enemy He had to do wyth Cyrus a stout man if there were euer any who also not onely excelled in wisdome but also in actiuitie far passed all other Seing then he was so mightely assaulted it is meruaile that he was so careles to geue himselfe to feasting and banketyng Xenophon sayth that that day was a feast day Wheras the Iewes thinke that the victory was gotten of the Chaldeis agaynst the Persians that is a trifle For Xenophon whom we may beleue in thys matter when hee doth not lye in the fauour of Cyrus for then he is a most graue author and a witnes worthy to bee beleued but when he wyll prayse Cyrus there is no end in thys point is an historiographer when he saith that thys was euery yeare a feastiuall day and a solemne feast wyth the Babilonians He sheweth also how Babylon was taken that is Gobria and Gabatha beyng captaynes For thys Beltsazar had gelded the one to put hym to shame and had killed the sonne of the other the father beyng yet aliue Therefore when the one did burne wyth the desire of reuengement for the death of hys sonne and the other for the shame that he had done vnto hym they both conspired together So it came to passe that Cyrus turned away many riuers of Euphrates and so Babylon was sodenly taken We must also note that Babylon was twise taken or els the prophecies should not be beleued For whereas the Prophetes threaten to the Babylonians the vengeaunce of God they say that their enemies should be most cruel which should not séeke golde or siluer but should desire mens bloud Furthermore they speake of the most horrible actes which were wont to bee committed in battayle But no such thing came to passe when Babylon wan taken of Cyrus But whē the Babylonians casting of the yoke had deliuered themselues from the dominion of the Persians Darius recouered the Citie which was wrought by the meanes of Zopirus who maymed his body and fayned that he was so cruelly handled of the kyng that he myght betray the Citie How sore the Babylonians were then afflicted we may gather in that he crucified thrée thousand of the nobles What was done among the common people when those thrée thousand nobles were destroyed and all were hanged on the gallowes yea euen crucified Hereby then it playnly appeareth that the punishment was reserued for the Babylonians vntill that tyme although in the meane season they were subiect to a straunge power and were reprochfully handled of the Persians that is brought to bongade and slauery for they were forbidden to were weapons and they were taught of Cyrus euen the first day to serue so that they durst not cary a sword It is nedefull to touch these thinges briefly that we may know that mens affayres are so gouerned by the secrete iudgement of God that he casteth downe the reprobate when their punishment is neare them Of the which thing we haue here a notable example in the king Beltsazar The tyme of the deliueraunce which was spoken of by Ieremy was come the 70. yeares were ended Babylon was besieged Now the Iewes might lift vp their heades and hope well because the comming of Cyrus chaunced aboue all mens opinion For he rushed in sodainly from the mountaines of Persia when that nation was barbarous Seing then that Cyrus came sodainly lyke a whirle winde thys alteration myght geue some hope to the Iewes But when he did lie