this peruerse affection and so to be subiect to thee that we may hange of thy mere grace and fauour that we may know that we stand and are susteine by thy onely power and so may learne to glorifie thy name that we do not onely obey thy word in true and pure humilitie but also may cōtinually desire and seeke for thy helpe and mistrustyng our selues may rest in that grace and fauour which is our onely stay vntill at the length thou gather vs into thy heauenly kyngdome where we may obteine that blessed eternitie which is gotten for vs by thy onely begotten sonne Amen For as much as Nebuchadnezer sayth that hée lift vp his eyes vnto heauen and his vnderstandyng was geuen him agayne hereby we gather that he was a space without his minde Neither yet was he so without his minde in my iudgement but he knew his miserie but in the meane season he dyd byte the bridle and was like a brayneséeke man Other say that he was altogether mad I will not contend of this matter but this is sufficient for me that he was without his minde so that he had some part of a beast But it is probable that he had some intelligence left that he perceiued some punishment by his miserie In the meane season he did not lift vp his eyes into heauen vntill God drew him to him For the rods of God do nothyng profite vs except he worke within vs by his spirite as we sayd before The speach is as much as if he should say he began to thinke that God was a iust iudge For although his shame did trouble him for a while yet he did not looke vnto the hand of the smiter euē as is sayd in an other place Therfore he begā to acknowledge that God is the reuenger of pride after that tyme which was appointed before was past of that which we haue spoken And they do lift their eyes into heauen which do also cast thē downe to the earth Because Nebuchadnezer should haue risen vp vnto God whom before he had forgotten as wakened from his déepe dreame hée should also haue throwen downe him selfe to the earth because now he had receiued the reward of his arrogācy For he durst lift vp his head aboue mans state when he tooke to him self those things which were due vnto god Therfore he dyd not now lift vp his eyes vnto heauē by a vayne confidence as before whē he was made drōken with the beautie of his Monarchie but he did so looke vpon God that he was cast down protestrate in his minde Afterwardes he addeth And J blessed the most highe and I praysed and glorified hym that liueth for euer This chaungyng doth shew that the punishment was layd vppon kyng Nebuchadnezer especially for this cause because he spoyled God of hys iust honour Here he doth describe the fruite of his repentaunce If this affection dyd spryng of repentaunce that Nebuchadnezer should blesse God it foloweth then that first hee was a sacrilegious person which tooke from God hys lawfull honour and would set hym selfe in hys place euen as hath bene sayd before And here also we may learne what it is to prayse God truly that is when we beyng brought to nothyng do acknowledge and determine with our selues that all thinges are vnder his gouernment and as we shall sée afterward that he is the gouernour of heauē earth that his will should stand both for law and reason and for the chief rule of iustice For otherwyse we may celebrate the prayses of God with open mouth but it shal be a mere dissimulation because no man can prayse him sincerely and purely but he which doth ascribe vnto hym all these thynges which we will speake after And first Nebuchadnezer sayth because his power is the euerlasting power and his kingdome from generation to generation In the first place here he confesseth that God is the eternall king which is a great thing For there is set agaynst thys perpetuitie the weakenes which is in men seing that all the chiefe Monarches which excell with greatest power haue nothing safe or certayne not onely because they are subiect to the chaunges of fortune as the prophane men doo commonly iudge or rather they hang on the gouernment of God but because they fade away for the most part by theyr owne vanitie We sée the whole world as it were tossed and to be like the troubled sea If there be any quietnes in one part or moe yet in euery moment there may some new and soddayne thing come to passe which was not looked for As in a quiet and bright heauen a tempest will soddaynely rise euen so we sée it come to passe in mens affayres Seing then it is so there is no firme nor stable state in the earth and especially Monarches doo shake them selues with theyr stormy stirres This is then the perpetuitie which is here declared of the king Nebuchadnezer that God is a Monarche which by hym selfe reteyneth and gouerneth hys empire and therefore he is without all daunger and perill of changing 32 And all the inhabitantes of the earth are reputed as nothing and according to his will he worketh in the army of heauen and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand nor say vnto hym what doest thou Now is added the contrary member that the Antithesis might bee full For although it followeth that among men there is nothyng sure or sound where that principle is of force that God is the euerlastyng kyng yet few do so reason because all men doo graunt vnto God with one worde a sure and perpetuall state but in the meane season they do not descēde into themselues that they might earnestly wey and consider theyr owne weakenes but being vnmindefull of theyr state they rage euen agaynst God himselfe Therfore thys explication was necessary which is set forth that is after that Nebuchadnezer praysed God because his power is euerlastyng he addeth of the contrary part that all the inhabitors of the earth are reputed as nothing Kela which some do thinke to be one word and take it for a thing that endeth For Kala signifieth to finish or to fulfill and some tymes it signifieth to consume wherof they thinke the name is deriued because that men are reputed in theyr owne measure but God is vnmeasurable But that is a hard interpretation and this opinion is more receaued that He should bee put for Aleph and so sayth Nebuchadnezer that men are reputed as nothing before God. Now therefore we sée how aptly these two members do agrée betwixt themselues that is that God is the euerlasting king and men are nothing For if any thing be geuen vnto mē so much is diminished from the power and high empire of god Therefore it followeth that Gods right can not stand whole vntill all mortall men are brought to nothing And although men do set much by them selues yet Nebuchadnezer doth pronounce by
substaunce which neither see neither heare nor vnderstand and thou hast defrauded the liuing God of his honour in whose hand thy lyfe is vpō whom thou doest depend and of whom also thou hast what soeuer thou boastest vpon Seyng then thou diddest so despise the liuyng God which was so mercyfull vnto thée how foule and shamefull is this ingratitude We sée therefore how seuerely the Prophet doth here rebuke the wicked tyraunt for his sacriledge for his outragious pride and rash boldnes and also for his shamefull ingratitude agaynst God. 24 Then was the palme of the hand sent from hym and hath written this writing In the word bedain then there is an emphasis signifiyng that the full tyme of the vengeaunce of God or declaration thereof was now come Wherefore Daniel declareth that God did vse long sufferance towardes the king Beltsazar and did deferre hys punishment of long tyme but now hee came forth as a iudge and sat vpon his iudgement seat when hys pride was at full and hys wickednes was in no wyse tolerable We sée therefore that thys must be read with an emphasis as though he should say thou canst not here complaine of the swiftnes of thy punishmēt as though God had done it before the tyme Thou canst not say that God was ouer hasty in thys punishmēt Consider and weigh wyth thy selfe how many wayes and how long space thou hast prouoked hys wrath And concerning thys last fact thou wast come to the full measure of iniquity whē thys hand appeared vnto thée God therefore now in due tyme draweth thée forth to punishment because he hath long suffered thée and thy horrible sinnes After thys long sufferaunce what remayned seing thou doost so proudly set thy selfe agaynst hym but that he should bring thée downe because thou art vtterly desperate and no amendment is to be hoped And lest Beltsazar should demaund farther from whence thys hand commeth he sayth that it procedeth from the presence of God as a witnes of hys vengence from heauen that thou shouldest not thinke it to be a vayne vision but shouldest know that God by this figure doth declare hymselfe to be displeased wyth thy sinnes and because thou art now come to the extremity of thy wickednes thy spedy punishment is also fallen vpon thée And thys writyng was noted sayth he as though he should say that the kyng Beltsazar is not deceaued because this is the hand of God that is sent from hys presence that it might be a sure witnes of his vengeaunce 25 And thys is the writing which he hath written mene mene tekel vpharsin 26 Thys is the interpretation of the thing mene God hath numbred thy kyngdome and hath finished it 27 Tekel thou art weighed in the balance art found to light 28 Peres thy kyngdome is diuided and geuen to the Medes and Persians Here Daniel doth expound those foure wordes which were written on the wall The king could not read them eyther because he was astonished or because God had troubled all hys senses and had as it were dawbed vp his eyes And the same may we say also of the Mages and Soothsayers They myght haue read if they had not bene blynded by god Daniel doth first of all therefore rehearse those fower wordes mene mene tekel vpharsin Then doth he interprete thē One word is twise rehearsed Mene. Some do thus diuide it that both the yeares of the life of the king and also the tyme of the kynges raygne was numbred But this subtilty semeth not substantiall Therefore I thinke that this word was added twise for cōfirmation as though the Prophet should say that the number was now fulfilled For in accomptes it is easy to fayle as the prouerbe is Wherefore that Beltsazar myght vnderstand that hys lyfe and hys kingdome was now at an end God doth affirme that the number is full and perfect as though he should say that there should not be added one minute of an houre to the terme appointed And thus doth Daniel hym selfe interprete the same God sayth he hath numbred thy kingdome that is God hath appoynted and determined an end of thy kingdome so that it must néedes come to an end because the tyme is accomplished Although here God speake but to one king and the writing was set before hys eyes yet may we gather a generall doctrine hereof that God hath determined a certayne time to all kingdomes The scripture testifieth the same of euery one of our liues If God then haue appointed to euery mā hys dayes much more may it be sayd of publike Empyres and kingdomes because they are of greater importance Therefore let vs know that not onely kinges do lyue or die but that kyngdomes are chaunged also by Gods appointment as is sayd before and that they are so set vp by God that he appointeth them also their certayne end And hereof should we take comfort when we sée tyrauntes deale so outragiously that there is no measure in their lustes and cruelly When then they do so rage as though they would mixe heauen and earth together let vs remember this doctrine that their yeares are numbred God knoweth how long it is expedient for them to raigne he can not be deceaued For vnles he did know it to be profitable for the church and his elect that the tyrantes should rage for a time doubtles he would straight wayes bridle them and plucke them downe but because he hath appointed the number from the beginning let vs know that the full tyme of vengeaūce is not yet come as long as he suffereth thē to abuse so licenciously their rule and power graunted vnto them of God. Now foloweth the exposition of the word tekel Because thou wast weighed in the balance sayth he and wast found faulty Heare Daniel declareth that God doth so order hys iudgementes as if he did holde the balance in hys hand It is a similitude borowed of the custome of men We know that the vse of the balance is that there should be a certaine measure and an equall distributiō in thinges So also is it written that God doth all thinges by waight and measure because he doth nothing confusedly but with such measure that there can be neither more nor lesse as the common saying is For this cause Daniel sayth that Beltsazar was weighed in the balaunce that is to say that God was not hasty in punishing of hym but did execute that punishment iustly after his vsuall manner and continuall order because he was found faulty that is because he was light and of no weight As though he should say thou supposest that thyne honour should be spared and because all men do reuerence thee thou thinkest thy selfe worthy of honour Thou art deceaued sayth he for the iudgement of God is otherwise God doth not vse the common balance but he hath waightes of hys owne and thereby thou art found faulty that is nothing worth a man of no reputation There is no doubt but
the tyraūt was greatly moued with these wordes but because hys end was come he was forced to suffer the voyce of the preacher And vndoubtedly God dyd bridle hys rage because he should not ryse vp agaynst Daniel In the end is added this word Peres for the word Vpharsin that his kingdome is diuided that is to say by the Medes and the Persians I doubt not but that God did signify by that word the destruction of the Monarchy which was at hand When he sayth therefore Vpharsin and they shall diuide he meaneth that this Monarchy can continue no longer because he will diuide it and breake it asunder But the Prophet doth allude very aptly to the diuision which was made betwixt the Medes the Persians and so was their shame encreased for the Babylonians were compelled to serue two sundry Lordes It is a great griefe whē any people hath gottē dominion farre and large and beyng afterward ouercome should be cōpelled to beare the yoke of one Lord but when there be two Lordes this increaseth the griefe So therefore Daniel doth shew that the vengeaunce of God shall not be simple when the Monarchy of Babylon is scattered abroad and this shal also encrease the greatnes of the punishment that the Medes and the Persians shall rule ouer them But true it is that the Citie was taken by the strength and industry of Cyrus but because Cyrus did geue so great honor to hys father in law that he did willingly admit hym to the society of the kyngdome therefore the Medes and the Persians are sayd to haue diuided betwixt them that kyngdome although there was properly no diuision of the kingdome Cyrus afterward as he was rauished wyth an insatiable ambition and couetousnes was drawen forth into other warres But Darius who was aboue 60. yeares old as we shal sée afterward did remaine quietly at home He was of the Medes as is well knowne For if we shall beleue many historiographers his sister the mother of Cyrus was as it were banished into Persia because there was a prophecy of the greatnes of Cyrus Who because his Grādfather had geuen hym out to be destroyed did afterward reuenge this iniury yet not so cruelly but that he spared his life He was cōtent that he should remayne in some honor and made hym a gouernor And after this hys sonne raygned ouer the Medes and Cyrus suffered it willingly Then Cyrus maried hys daughter So what for kinred and what for the loue of thys new affinity he was wylling to haue hym pertaker of hys Empire In thys sēse doth Daniel speake of the diuisiō of the Monarchy to be at hand because the Medes and the Persians should diuide it betwixt them 29 Then at the commaundement of Beltsazar they cloched Daniel wyth purple put a chaine of golde about hys necke and made a proclamation concerning hym that he should be the third ruler in the kingdome It is meruaile that the king gaue such commaundement when he was thus roughly handled of the Prophet It appeareth that hys hart did then fayle hym For before he would haue raged wythout measure and would haue commaunded thys holy Prophyt of God to haue bene put to death How then doth it come to passe that he commaundeth hym to be appareled like a kyng and causeth hym to be proclamed the third in the kingdome Some thinke that thys was done because the lawes of the kinges of Babylon were in great reuerence yea their wordes were sure and whatsoeuer they spake was vnchaungeable inmoueable They thinke therefore that this came of the regard of hys honor that king Beltsazar did performe his promise But I suppose that he was first astonished when he heard the Prophet and so became like a blocke or a stone howbeit I thinke that he did thys for his owne safety For he myght haue bene brought into contempt with his nobles if he had not shewed some courage Wherefore that he myght shew hymselfe not to be moued he commaunded Daniel thus to be adorned as though that threatning had bene of no force He did not despise that which had bene spoken by the Prophet but he would haue hys Princes perswaded and all them which were at the feast that God did threaten onely to make thē afrayde but not to execute so greuous punishment And the kynges when they are most afrayde are yet very ware of this alwayes that they shew no signe of their feare for they thinke that their authority should therby decay Wherefore that he may kéepe hys authority wyth hys subiectes he would séeme altogether careles and wythout all feare I doubt not but that thys was the deuise of thys tyraunt when he commaunded Daniel to be adorned with purple and princely ornamentes 30 The same night was Beltsazar the king of the Chaldees slayne and Darius of the Medes receaued the kingdome when he was 52. yeares olde Here Daniel sheweth briefly that this prophecy was fulfilled the same night as we haue sayd before that there was then a solemne feast because it was a feastiuall day which the Babylonians did yearely kéepe and by thys occasion the Citie was betrayed by two gouerners Gobria and Gabatha for so they are named of Xenophon And in this place do the Hebrue rabbines vtter their impudēcy and ignoraunce as they are bolde to bable after their manner of thinges vnknowne For they say that the kyng was slaine because that one of the Garde heard the voyce of the Prophet and therefore would execute that iudgement of God as though forsooth that the iudgemēt of God should depend of one prophane mans wyll or pleasure Wherefore passing ouer such childish trifles we must remember the truth of the history that Beltsazar was taken in hys feast when he had made hymselfe dronken and rioted wyth his noble men and concubines In the meane time we may obserue the meruelous mercy of God toward the Prophet For it was not possible but that he was in daunger amongest the rest For he was clothed with purple wythin an houre after the Medes the Persians entred the Citie In that tumult he could not haue escaped if God had not couered him with the shadow of hys hand We sée therefore how God careth for hys and deliuereth them from most great daungers as though he did draw them forth of the graue And there is no doubt but that this holy Prophet was sore troubled in that tumult for he was no stocke But it was necessary that he should be thus exercised that he might know the God was the kéeper of hys lyfe and that he should therefore prepare himselfe more readily to serue hym because he dyd sée that there could be nothing better then to cast all hys cares vpon God. Daniel sayth further that this kingdome was translated vnto the king of the Medes whom he calleth Darius but Xenophon calleth hym Cyaxares Howbeit thys is certayne that Babylon was taken by the power and industry of Cyrus for
moued with cruell threatnynges to pollute them selues with the worshyp of the image at the length are ready to defēd the pure worshyp of GOD not onely by their owne bloud but also by the sufferyng of most horrible tormentes As for the goodnes of God that shyneth forth in the end of this tragedy it is very profitable to arme vs with an inuincible fayth and constancy After this there doth folow the lyke battaile and victory of Daniel hym selfe whiles that he had rather to be cast to the ragyng Lyons then to absteine but three dayes from an open profession of hys fayth lest by deceitfull dissimulation he might prostitute the holy name of God to the derision of the wicked and he beyng deliuered forth of the denne as it were drawen forth of the graue most miraculously triūpheth ouer Sathan and his cōfederates Heare come not forth any Philosophers which can dispute subtily and cunnyngly of vertues in their studyes when they are quyet but here haue we the infatigable constācy of holy men in the exercise of true holynes to styrre vs vp with open cry to folow them Wherfore vnles we be altogether vncapable of doctrine we must learne of those Scholemasters diligently to take hede whether that Sathan lay hys baytes of flattery that we be not snared therewith or if that he assayle vs with violence that we may repulse and breake hys assaultes with a bold contempt of death and all daungers If any man will make excuse that the exāples of both these deliueraūces that we haue named are rare I do graunt that God doth not alwayes stretch forth his hand from the heauens to saue hys in lyke sort but which is sufficient for vs he hath hereby testified that he will be the faithfull guerdon and keper of our lyfe so oft as it shall be in any daunger and that we are not exposed to the lustes of the wicked but that God can assuage their fury and outragious enterprises when he seeth it good But we may not onely looke vpon the end and successe but we must behold how boldly courageously these holy men haue offered them selues to death for the defence of Gods glory neither doth their prompt and ready myndes in offeryng them selues as sacrifices deserue lesse prayse because they were deliuered Now amongest how many styrres and stormes was the Prophet tossed those 70. yeares that he lyued in Captiuity it will be good to consider He was so well treated of no kyng as he was of Nebuchadnezar whom he yet found a ragyng beast The other were more cruell whiles by the sodaine death of Balsazar and the wynnyng of the Citie he was brought vnder new Lordes the Persians and the Medes Who fiercely breakyng in like cruell enemyes as they made all afrayde so is there no doubt but that they wounded his heart And though he were wel vsed of Darius so that that seruitude was tolerable yet through the enuy and cursed conspiracy of the noble mē he was then in most daunger Howbeit as he was more carefull for the commune safety of the Church then for his owne quietnes in what sorow was it like that he remained and with how great grief was he troubled when that present state dyd shew none end of the cruell oppression of that miserable people He did depend assuredly vpō the Prophecy of Ieremy But this was an incomparable paciēce and constancy that his hope dyd not languish nor decay beyng so long differed yea that it was not vtterly drowned beyng drawen through so many ragyng floudes and tempestes after such sondry sortes Now come I to the Prophecies wherof the former were sent vnto the Babilonians partly because God would adourne his seruaūt with certaine speciall markes which should compell that most proude nation though now in conquest to reuerence and honour hym partly because it was conuenient that his name should be had in reuerēce amongest those prophane persons that beyng in authoritie he might exercise the office of a Prophet more freely towardes hys owne nation And after that his name was famous amongst the Chaldees God committed vnto hym Prophecies of great importance which should peculiarly belong to the elect people but God dyd so apply them to the vse and commoditie of the auncient people that they should both mitigate the sorowes with cōfortable remedyes and comfirme the waueryng myndes vntill the commyng of Christ and also he had no lesse regarde of our tymes For that which he dyd speake before of the transitory and vanishyng shew of the Monarchies and of the euerlastyng stability of Christes kyngdome is no lesse profitable to be knowne of vs this day then of old For God declareth that earthly power which is not founded in Christ is transitory and he threatneth a sodeine ruine to all kyngdomes which set them selues vp in pride to obscure or hynder the glory of Christ The Kynges that now reigne in so great kyngdomes vnles they willyngly come vnder Christes dominion shall feele in the end by dolefull experiēce that this horrible iudgement doth also apperteine vnto them For what is more intolerable then to robbe hym of his right and authoritie by whose protection their dignitie is preserued yet do we see how few of that number do receiue the Sonne of God offering hym selfe vnto them yea how they busie them selues how they seeke all shiftes and try all extremities rather then they will suffer hym to enter into their borders and many of their Counsellours diligently apply their whole industry endeuour and study to shut vp all passages And yet in the meane season that they pretende the name of Christianity and do boast them selues the chief defenders of the Catholicke faith it may easely bee confuted as a vayne bablyng if it be once knowne what the kyngdome of Christ is by a true and right definition For the scepter of his kyngdome or hys throne is nothyng els but the doctrine of the Gospell neither doth hys Maiesty shyne any where els neither doth he otherwayes atteine his empire then where all both high and low with quyte myndes to learne lyke shepe do heare his voyce and folow whether so euer he calleth But they do not onely euerywhere reiect this doctrine wherin true Religion and the lawfull worship of God is conteined wherin the euerlastyng saluation of man and the true felicitie consisteth but they banishe it and driue it farre from them with manaces and terrors with fire and with sword and leaue no force vnattempted to driue it forth of their borders And what a blindnes is this and how monstruous that they whom the onely begotten Sonne of God doth call most louyngly vnto him selfe cā not abide to receaue him and to imbrace him But many such is their pride thinke their authoritie nothyng if they submit their scepters to the hye Kyng Others will not suffer theyr lustes to be brideled and as hypocrisy doth blinde the wittes of them all they desire darknes and are afrayd to
power or wisedome of this world do blinde our eyes at any tyme but that we may direct our sight eyes and senses alwayes to behold the kingdome of thy Sonne and that we may so be there fixed that nothing may hinder vs to hast forward in the course of our vocatiō whiles that at the length we may come to the marke which thou hast set before vs and vnto the which thou doost call vs at thys day by the trumpe and preachyng of thy Gospell and that at the length thou wilt gather vs into that blessed eternitie which is purchased for vs by the bloud of this thy Sonne and that we may neuer be broken by thys stone with the wicked world but that beyng strengthned with his power we may by him be raysed vp aboue all the heauens Amen 44 And in the dayes of these kinges shall the God of heauen set vp a kingdome which shall neuer be destroyed and this kingdome shall not be geuen to an other people but it shall breake and destroy all the other kingdomes and it shall stād for euer The God of heauen shal thē rayse vp a kingdome which shall neuer be destroyed neither shall this kingdome be geuen to an other people it shall destroy all and it selfe shall for euer The which comfortable promise of this eternall kingdome doth not onely pertaine to the person of Christ who is the onely king that liueth and raigneth for euer but also to hys Church which is the whole body of his kingdome to all his people and subiectes and to euery particular member and person of the same Thus doth this eternall king communicate his eternitie to all his because he will haue alwayes a kyngdome in this world though the world can not alwayes sée it and he doth regenerate al his true subiectes of thys kingdome with his eternall spirite into euerlastyng lyfe to raygne wyth hym in hys kingdome for euer Therfore the perpetuity of this kyngdome of Christ is true after two sortes besides the eternitie that is in the person of Christ first in the whole body which is the Church who though it be often tymes so scattered that it do not appeare in mans eyes yet doth it neuer vtterly perish but God doth preserue it by his secret and incomprehensible wisdome and power so that it shall remayne for euer Secondly in euery one of the faythfull there is an other perpetuity because they are borne agayne by the incorruptible séede and beyng borne by the spirit of God are not onely the mortall children of Adam but they cary the heauenly lyfe in themselues because the spirit which is in them is life as Paul sayth to the Romaynes And we sée how thys kingdome hath bene eternall euer since the doctrine of the Gospell hath bene preached For though the Church haue séemed sometymes as it had bene buried yet God gaue life in the very graue of Idolatry and ignoraunce vnto hys elect And now how is it come to passe that the children of the Church the souldiours of Christes kingdome are come forth as it were of the graue in such aboundaunce but that the Lord hath mercy vpon Zion because hys tyme appointed is come and therefore his seruauntes delite to builde vp Zion yea he himselfe wyll builde it and his glory shall appeare and the heathen shall feare and all the kinges of the earth at his glory and the people which shall be as it were new created shall prayse the Lord. Furthermore Daniel sayth that this kingdome can not be translated from one to an other as the first was from Baltazar to Darius the second from Darius to Alexander the thirde from that cursed kinred of Alexander and hys Princes to the Romaines The fourth of the Romaynes was turned not onely to straungers of forraine nations but to swineherds as Iustine writeth to beastes as was Heliogabalus to monsters in nature as was Nero and Caligula and such lyke like as also as the Gospell did grow it continually decayed because it was so manifest an enemy to Christes kingdome But as for Christes kingdome neither can Christ be spoiled of his power and dominion neither yet we his members can lose this kingdome whereof hee hath made vs pertakers Therefore Christ raigneth for euer as well in hym selfe as in hys members without any perill of alteration for we shall be preserued for euer by hys grace and hee hath receaued vs into hys protection that wee can not perish Iohn 10. We that are kept through his power by fayth as Peter sayth may be sure and quiet for what so euer the world and the deuill deuise against vs we shall for euer remayne safe and sure in Christ And thus would Daniel haue all men to sée that there is no stabilitie any where how great so euer the power or glory appeare but onely in Christ Where Daniel sayth that this stone was hewen forth of the mountaine without handes he declareth that nothing in Christes kingdome is wrought by mans power but all things in the saluation of man are wrought by God as Isa. 63 Because the Lord did sée no helper in the world he armed himselfe with hys owne strength Agayne herein we note his lowe and base beginning like vnto a stone that had no forme nor fashion Which both are comprehēded in Micha where he sayth Thou Bethleem Ephratha art the least amongest the thousandes of Iuda yet foorth of thee shall hee come vnto me that shall be the ruler in Israell whose goynges foorth haue bene from all eternitie Thus Daniel would aunswere mans grosse imaginatiōs which might thinke that because Christes glory did not appeare so great at the first as in the kingdomes of the worlde and because yet his kingdome is vnder the crosse that therefore it were not to be regarded and would haue vs to lift vp our eyes to the heauens and behold Gods power herein who worketh his glory contrary to mans iudgement 45 Where thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountayne without handes and that it brake in peeces the yron the brasse the clay the siluer and the golde so the great God hath shewed the king what shall come to passe hereafter and the dreame is true and the interpretation thereof is sure Thys must we alwayes consider that our Sauiour Christ sayd vnto Pilate that his kingdome is not of this world no man can sée how it springeth or spreadeth how soeuer the children of this kyngdome be dispersed or scattered and be neither named nor knowen in the world yet is it certayne that this kyngdome of God and hys Christ remayneth safe sound though neither Eliah nor any other man can sée it and that this kyngdome shall ouercome all powers that stand vp agaynst it ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing thou hast made it open and knowne vnto vs by so many so cleare and most sure testimonies that we may looke for none other redemer then
as hath bene sayd and it wil be more euident afterward yet do we sée how he suffered this horrible iudgement of God to be pronounced agaynst hym If then we which are but chaffe in comparison of hym and of no reputation can not abide the threatninges of God when so euer they shal be pronounced agaynst vs euen he shal be a witnes and iudge agaynst vs who though he were in so great power and dignity yet durst he do nothing agaynst the prophet Now in the end of the verse the sentence is repeated agayne which was expounded before vntill thou know that the most hye beareth rule in the kingdome of men and he geueth it to whom he will. Thys place doth teach how hard a thing it is for vs to geue all power vnto god We are in deede great speakers of the glory of God with our tounges howbeit there is no man but he restrayneth hys power whiles that he vsurpeth some what to hym selfe or turneth some what thereof to one or an other Especially when God doth rayse vs vp to any honor or dignity we forget that we are men and we robbe God of hys honor and thrust our selues into hys place Thys disease is hard to be cured and thys punishment which God hath layd vpon the king of Babylon is an example for vs For God would haue bene content with a smaller punishment but because thys madnes doth so sticke in the bowels and mary that men dare chalenge vnto them selues that which is peculiar vnto god Wherefore there must needes be some sharpe medecine to teach them modesty humility and méekenes Kinges and Monarches at thys day do alwayes pretēd in theyr titles that they are Kinges Dukes and Earles by the grace of God but how many do falsely pretend that name to this end and purpose that they may chalenge to them selues authority ouer all For what meaneth that title by the grace of God but that they should knowledge no superior And in the meane season they would treade vnder foote God him selfe vnder whose shielde they mayntayne and defend them selues so farre are they from earnest consideration that they do reigne by hys benefit and goodnes Wherefore this is but a mockery that they boast them selues to haue theyr authority by the grace of god Seing it is so we may easely iudge how proudly prophane kinges do despise God although they do not pretend the name of God deceaueably as these vayne tatlers do which mocke God openly and so prophane and pollute the name of grace 23 Where as they sayd that they should leaue the stumple of the tree rootes thy kingdome shall remayne vnto thee after that thou shalt know that the heauens haue the rule Here Daniel doth end the interpretation of the dreame and teacheth that God will not so seuerely deale wyth the king Nebuchadnezer but that he will leaue some place for hys mercy Therefore he doth mitigate the great rigor of the punishment that Nebuchadnezer hoping for pardon might call vpon God and repent as there shall folow afterward a more euident exhortation But now Daniel doth prepare hym to repentance when he sayth that the kingdome shall remayne vnto hym For God could haue cast hym out of mans company so that he might alway haue remayned with the wilde beastes He might also haue cast hym streight way out of the world but thys is a signe of clemency that he will restore hym not onely vnto some meane state but to hys owne dignitie as though hee had bene alway vpright Therfore we sée that this dreame had bene profitable to kyng Nebuchadnezer if he had not despised the admonition of the holy Propeht yea if he had not bene vnthākefull vnto god For Daniel did not onely forewarne him of the calamitie which hāged ouer his head but also he brought the message of reconciliation God therfore had taught him profitably had he not bene stubburne and despised to learne as the most part of men commonly do But hereof many we gather a generall doctrine that when God doth appointe an end for his punishmentes we are moued to repentaunce because God geueth some taste his mercy that we may hope to obteine pardon of at hys hand if we flye vnto him vnfeinedly and in sinceritie This also is to be noted that Daniel addeth in the second parte of the verse After that thou shalt know that the heauens haue the rule For vnder these wordes is the promise of the spirituall grace included that God would not onely punish the kyng of Babylon to humble him but also would inwardly worke and chaunge the hart like as at the length though long first it came to passe I haue sayd that the grace of Gods spirite is here promised for we do know how smally men do profite without it although God correct them an hundreth tymes For the stubburnes and rebellion of our hartes is so great that we are rather more and more hardened when God calleth vs to repentance And doubtles Nebuchadnezer had bene like vnto Pharao saue that God did not onely humble him with outward punishmentes but also did geue him the inward motion of his spirite that he suffered him selfe to be taught and did submit him selfe to the power and iudgement of god This meaneth Daniel when hee sayth After that thou shalt know For Nebuchadnezer would neuer of his owne minde haue come downe to such a knowledge vnles he had bene touched with some secrete motion of the spirite He addeth That it is the power of heauen that is to say that God gouerneth the world and hath the whole rule For here he setteth the heauens as it were contrary to the earth and to all mortall creatures Now the kynges when they sée all thinges quiet about them if no man feare them they thinke that they are safe enough and whiles they will make them selues sure they looke round about them hether thether but they neuer lift vp their eyes to the heauens as though this perteined nothyng vnto God to mainteine kyngdomes to raise vp whom he will and to cast downe all the proud As though then that this were not in Gods hand the Princes of this world do neuer consider that the heauens haue the authoritie and rule but as I haue sayd they looke this away and that way before and behind euen euery way saue onely to the heauēs This is the cause that Daniel affirmeth that the heauens beare the rule He setteth God as it were agaynst all mortall men as is before 24 Wherfore O king let my counsaile be acceptable vnto thee and breake of thy sinnes by rightuousnes and thine iniquities by mercy toward the poore Lo let there bee an healyng of thyne errour As though he should say take my counsaile breake of thy sinnes cease from thy wickednes enter into a new trade of life that is turne thy crueltie into humanitie and mercy and thy tyranny into pityfull compassion of the poore thus let the errour
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
he was a valiant warrior and was in great estimation yet is there no mention made of hym in thys place But whereas Xenophon doth rehearse that Cyaxares who is here called Darius was the father in law of Cyrus and that he was in great honor and authority it is no meruaile though Daniel do name the kyng himselfe because Cyrus was content wyth the power the prayse and the renowme of the victory and he was well cōtent that his father in law should haue the title whom he saw to be aged and worne But thys is vncertayne whether thys were the sonne of Astyages and so the vncle of Cyrus or no. For many historiographers consent together in thys that Astiages was the Grādfather of Cyrus that he maried his daughter to Cambyses because he had learned of the Astrologians that the childe that should be borne of her should be the Lord of all Asia And they tell many things beside how he commaunded Cyrus in hys infancy to be slayne but because these things are vncertayne I do passe ouer them Me thinke this is like to be true that Darius was both vncle and father in law to Cyrus Although if we do beleue Xenophon he was not yet maryed when Babylon was woonne For this hys father in law or vncle being vnable to deale wyth the Babylonians and Assyrians called Cyrus to ayde hym Howsoeuer it is thys that the Prophet sayth may agrée well enough that Darius the kyng of the Medes receaued the kyngdome because that Cyrus although he was more mighty and of greater authority yet wyllingly yelded vnto hym to be the kyng of Babylon and so was he kyng but by title onely ouer the Chaldees ¶ The Prayer GRaūt almighty God that that example of thy wrath which thou hast once shewed against all the proude may be profitable vnto vs at this day and that we being admonished by the punishment of thys one man may learne humbly and modestly to behaue our selues and neuer to desire any such dignity as may displease thee but that we may so cōtinue in our owne state as we may serue thee and may sanctify and glorify thy holy name that we desire nothing separate frō thee that we may so beare thy yoke in this world suffer our selues to be gouerned of thee that we may come in the end to that blessed rest and enheritaunce of thy heauēly kingdome which thou hast prepared for vs and which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thyne onely begotten Sonne Amen Chap. 6. The Text. IT pleased Darius to set ouer the kingdome an hundreth and twenty gouernors which should be ouer the whole kingdome 2 And ouer these three rulers of whom Daniell was one that the gouernors myght geue accomptes vnto them and the kyng should haue no domage HEre may we beholde agayne how God alway cared for hys Prophet and that not so much for his owne sake onely or any priuate respect as for that some comfort might come to the miserable exiles and captiues by hys meanes and diligence For God purposed to reach forth his hand by Daniel And we may call hym worthely the hand of God that strēgthned the Iewes For it is certayne that the Persians as they were a barbarous people of their own nature would haue bene no more gentle Lordes vnto the Iewes had not God set vp his seruaunt Daniel as a meane to succour them Thys then is to be noted that Daniel was chosen one of the thrée gouerners by Darius He had bene now the third vnder king Beltsazar though it were but for a moment yet thys myght haue brought hym into hatred wyth the new kyng because he had such honour geuen him But it is very probable that Darius was admonished of those matters which Daniel hath declared before that is to say that a hand did appeare vpon the wall that Daniel did declare the writing and that he was as an Herald sent from the heauēs to pronounce the destruction of kyng Beltsazar For vnlesse thys report had bene brought to Darius he could neuer haue gotten such authority with Darius For Darius had in hys army very many and we know that when one is a cōquerour by the sword he hath many hungery men about hym for all men are desirous of the spoyle Wherefore Darius would neuer haue taken vnto hym thys man beyng a straunger and a captiue to set hym vp in such honour and power vnlesse he had knowne hym assuredly to be the Prophet of God and hys Heralde in declaring the destruction of the Monarchy of Babylon And hereby we gather that this was the worke of God that he should be amongest the chiefe gouerners and the third in the kyngdome whereby he myght be more easily knowē vnto Darius For if Daniel had bene cast down by kyng Beltsazar he had layne vnknowne at home but whē he séeth him in princely apparell he enquireth who he is Thē he heareth by what meanes he came to so great honor so knoweth him to be the Prophet of God appointeth him to be one of the thrée gouerners Thus do we sée Gods prouidēce wherby he doth not onely preserue hys seruaunt wythout daunger but also prouideth for the wealth of the Church lest that the Iewes should haue bene oppressed more and more by this alteration 3 Now this Daniel was preferred aboue the rulers and gouerners because the spirite was excellent in hym and the king thought to set hym ouer the whole realme 4 Wherefore the rulers and gouerners sought an occasion agaynst Daniel concerning the kingdome but they could finde none occasion nor fault for he was so faythfull that there was no blame nor fault found in hym 5 Then sayd these men we shall not finde an occasion agaynst thys Daniel except we finde it agaynst hym concerning the law of hys God. Now the Prophet setteth forth the tentation that dyd arise sodainly which might haue driuen both hymselfe and the elect people to despayre but that God worketh miraculously For although onely Daniel was cast into the denne of the Lyons as foloweth yet vnlesse he had bene deliuered the condition of the whole people had bene more greuous and rigorous For we know how impudently wicked men do rayle against miserable innocentes when they do sée any aduersity towardes them If Daniel therefore had bene deuoured by the Lyons all men would haue raged against the Iewes wyth all their power God therefore did not onely herein exercise the fayth and patience of hys seruaunt but also he proued the Iewes by the same trial because they did sée themselues ready to suffer all extremity in the person of one man vnlesse God had sodenly holpen them as he did First of all Daniel sayth That he was preferred aboue all others because a more excellent spirite was in hym This doth not alwayes come to passe that they which are excellēt in wisdome or other such giftes haue also more authoritie and fauour For in kinges courtes
wee sée very beastes in the chiefe offices And at this day to leaue of old histories as all kinges almost are foolish and bruttsh so also are they the horses and asses of brute beastes Wherefore the more proude and dissolute euery man is the more authoritie hath hee in Princes courtes But when Daniel sayth that he was excellent he commendeth two benefites of God the one that he was endued with more aboundaunce of Gods spirite the other that Darius did knowledge this and therefore set hym in honour when he did sée hym to be a man of great vertue wisdome We perceaue then that which the Prophet would here teach that he was endued from heauen with wisdome and other giftes and also that king Darius iudged a right in weighing hys wysdome and other vertues and therefore set him in honour Because then a more aboundaunt spirite was in hym therfore did he excell all others Yea the king minded to set hym aboue all his kyngdome euen aboue those thrée gouerners Now although this was a singular priuiledge which God did thē vouchsafe to bestow vpō his people his Prophet yet haue we great cause at thys day to lament that kynges do so proudly contemne the giftes of God in all the best men which might be most profitable rulers of the people and in the meane season set so much by blockeheades like themselues and mē that are geuen to couetousnes and extortion yea most cruell and dissolute in all wickednes Seyng then we sée that there is no wisdome or discretion in kynges to discerne who are worthy of rule and authority we may worthely bewayle the state of the world for thys is vnto vs a manifest spectacle of the vengeaunce of God when kinges are so destitute of wisdome But king Darius alone shal be sufficient at the great day to condemne them who had so great a iudgement that he doubted not to set ouer all hys officers a man that was a straunger and a captiue This was therefore a right princelike and heroicall vertue that Darius preferred one captiue before all his familiars But now kynges regard nothing els but to set in authority their baudes their iesters their flatterers So in the meane tyme they set none vp but euill men of no valewe and whom God hath marked wyth some note of ignominy who though they be vnworthy to be counted in the number of men yet are they kynges of kinges for kynges are at thys day for the most part but seruauntes And this commeth vpon them for their slouthfull negligence which refuse and cast away from them all cares and will take no paynes Therefore are they compelled to commit the gouernment vnto others retayning onely the title to themselues These things as I haue sayd are certayne tokens of Gods wrath because the world is vnworthy that God should stretch forth hys hand to gouerne it Now as concernyng the enuie of the nobles we sée that this vice hath reigned in all ages that they despise vertue which do ambitiously aspire to honour For seyng they are giltie in their owne consciences they can not but hate the vertue of others Yet this may be though nothyng straūge that the Persians which had susteined great labours and vndertaken great daungers could not suffer a base and an vnknowen man not onely to be made a companiō vnto them but also to be set ouer thē as a superiour Their enuy therfore séemed to haue some grounde or at the least some colour But this is a thyng most worthy to be condemned that any man should so be addicted to his own commoditie that he should not regard the common profite For who so euer desireth authoritie and doth therein regarde his owne profite onely and not the commō commoditie of the people he must nedes be couetous a briber cruel vnfaithful do nothyng lesse then his office Seyng then that the nobles of the kyngdome enuie Daniel they bewray their wickednes therby that they haue no regard of the commō wealth but that they couet to scrape to catch all thinges to thē selues Now in this example we may sée what commeth of enuy And this is diligently to bee noted because there is nothyng more easie then to fall from one vice to an other He that enuieth an other can bee restreined by no equitie but that he will try all meanes possible how he may ouerthrow his aduersary These nobles do stomake the matter that Daniel should be preferred before them Now if they went no further yet that fault as I haue sayd were a signe of a wicked nature Howbeit they do burst forth further for they séeke some quarell or some crime in Daniel We may sée therfore how enuy doth styrre thē vp to search some crime So are all enuious men as it were in continuall watch and warde to catch them in a snare whose prosperitie they do enuy and to ouerthrow them by any meanes This is one point But when they finde no crime then tread they all equity vnder foote and without all shame and humanitie no lesse cruelly then traiterously they giue thē selues wholly to destroy their aduersary Daniel vttereth this of those that enuyed him He sayth first That they sought an occasion and founde none Then he sheweth the occasion which they tooke of no iust groūde but traiterously For there is no doubt but that they did know Daniel to bee an holy man and approued of god Wherfore when they lay snares for this holy Prophet they fight agaynst God as it were of set purpose but they are blinded with that wicked affection of enuy And whence commeth enuy but of ambition So do we sée ambition to be a most wicked poyson wherof springeth enuy and of this doth falshode and cruelty grow vp But Daniel doth admonish vs by hys example that we must labour to lyue vprightly that the occasion which the enuious and the wicked do séeke for may be takē away Wherfore there can be no better defense agaynst the enuious and the sclaunderers then to behaue our selues vprightly and innocently For how soeuer they lay snares agaynst vs they shall not preuaile for our innocency shall be like a shield to repulse all their malice Yet do we sée by the way that Daniel did not escape cleare for a quarell was sought agaynst hym in an other matter euen in the worshyp of god But here must we learne also that holynes and the care therof ought to be more estemed of vs then our owne lyues Daniel was faithfull and vpright in his gouernment he did execute his office so that he stopped the mouthes of hys enemyes and euilwyllers Wherfore vpright dealyng as I haue sayd is the best shield Agayne Daniel was in daunger because he would not forsake the pure worshyp of God and his profession Therfore must wee suffer daungers boldly and constantly when the question shal be touchyng the worshyp of god For this transitory lyfe ought not to be more deare
such a terror and trouble stricken into his hart that he was like a raging beast and that seyng these wicked men made themselues the interpreters of the Gods the king will herein try their great boastinges Wherefore this is a iust reward of their arrogancy that these vayne men puffed vp with a foolish pride of their wicked arte should thus come into daunger so that of their partes they had deserued death for the arte it selfe and the Lord also woulde haue them to be declared fooles to their perpetuall shame and confusion and so to suffer death for their wicked dealinges Though the kinges fact were outragious commaunding such a thyng vpon the payne of death as neuer was heard tell of and commaunding all to be killed without exception But here we do sée how farre the wicked do excéede in their kyndes that want the gouernement of Gods spirite and how the Lord doth punish one wicked by an other many tymes to both their confusions The Prayer GRaunt O Lord God seyng that we do so wander in this world that we alway stād in nede of knowledge and the gouernement of thy holy spirite that we may depend wholy of thy word and heauenly reuelation lest wee chalenge to much to our selues by any vayne knowledge but that we fully perceauing our owne blindnes and ignoraunce may alwayes flie vnto thee and not suffer our selues to be caried to and fro by the craft of Sathan and his wicked instrumentes but that we may remayne so firmely in thy truth that we neuer swarue therefrom whilest thou pleasest to direct vs in the whole course of our vocation and so we come into that heauenly glory of thy kingdome which is purchased vnto vs by the bloud of thine onely begotten sonne Iesus So be it 10 Then the Chaldeans aunswered before the kyng and sayd there is no man vpon earth that can declare the kinges matter yea there is neither Kyng nor Prince nor Lord that asked such thinges at an Inchaunter or Astrologian or Chaldean 11 For it is a rare thing that the king requireth and there is none other that can declare it before the kyng except the Gods whose dwelling is not with flesh They excuse themselues that this belongeth not to their arte neither that any king euer commaunded any such matter But the king receiueth none excuse for God had stirred hym to punish these Mages Chaldees and Coniurers as the most wicked deceauers of the people and by this meanes also he would haue the excellēt spirit that was in Daniel more known and regarded Where they say that it was a rare thing They do meane that this is straunge that the king should haue such a vision sent from heauen and that he should not remember it wherefore they thinke it some secret mistery and knowledge that passeth their capacitie onely perteining to the Angels which alway do sée Gods will and pleasure or to their Gods whom they did worship many in number For all the heathen Idolaters had alway this opiniō that there was one high God aboue all and that there was a number of lesser Gods which ruled vnder hym and so euery man after his owne fantasie fayned hym a God aboue in the ayer Wherefore they being men in the flesh can not enter into the heauens say they to sée all secretes This excuse will not serue for the king rageth more and more 12 Wherfore the king with great wrath and indignation commaunded that all the wise men of Babylon should be slayne We do not read of the like example in any history But the cause is to be noted that God had his secret iudgement against the Inchaunters and woulde set vp his seruaunt Daniel And it may be that the kyng did then first perceaue that which he neuer vnderstoode before that is to say that the boasting of their knowledge was nothing but lyes and that in all their foolish artes there was nothing but craft deceit We sée also them that are coūted deuoute in false religion when they perceaue that their fained holynes wyll not helpe them then they brast forth into madnes and rage against those Gods whom they haue worshipped And so may it be that Nebuchadnezer in this so earnest busines did espie the deceit of the Mages whom he neuer suspected before but now he séeth that he is deceaued and that he is destitute of their ayde and counsaile in this doubtfull matter of whom he thought that he should neuer haue bene forsaken and because he looked for all helpe at their hādes therefore doth he rage an hundreth folde more then if he had not put in them any confidence This is the maner of all the superstitious and idolatrous 13 And the decree was geuen and the wise men were slayne and they sought Daniel and his felowes to put hym to death ¶ The Meditation We sée here the singular prouidence of God for Daniel When the wyse Chaldees are killed God will not haue his sainctes mixed with them but so seperate from them that his glory may be the more set forth by them and they more gloriously preserued Yet sée we how the king despised Gods gift and would haue extinguished the light offered in that hee would haue Daniell killed in whom he had knowne such excellent wisedome as was before named But now through his rage all is forgotten and he will take no paynes in this doubtfull matter to consult with Daniell whom God had geuen him of great mercy if he would haue vsed him But thus many times they that be in authoritie runne to hastily after their owne lustes and will take no paynes to enquire for counsell neither at God nor at faythfull and godly men neither yet will they search for the innocent persons nor take leysure to try the iust causes Notwithstanding God doth meruelously deliuer his from death as we sée in Daniell And we sée the way that Daniel taketh after that he had opteyned a dayes respet of the king He and his fellowes fall to earnest prayer to finde mercy at Gods hand as we must do in all our necessities for it is only of Gods free mercy and fauour when he defendeth vs or geueth vs any thing that good is Forthermore we may learne how ready God is to graunt such prayers as are made of fayth and how neare GOD is vnto all them that call vppon him in truth And therefore because that Daniell brought fayth and a pure conscience he is heard streight wayes And this secret was opened vnto him in a vision by night and he prayseth God. The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that seing we are in daunger euery day and hower and we are not in ieopardy only by the rage of one cruell tyrant but the deuill stirreth all the world agaynst vs and armeth the princes of the world to destroy vs graunt wee beseech thee that we may feele in our hartes and that thou wilt declare in deede that our life is in thy hand
vpon thy bed is this 29 O king whē thou wast in thy bed thoughts came into thy minde what should come to passe hereafter and he that reueileth secretes telleth thee what shall come ¶ The Meditation Daniel still laboureth to cause the king and all others to geue all glory vnto god Therefore he affirmeth that none of those whom they counted wise men neither any man by arte and science is able to vnderstand Gods secretes but God who is in the heauens doth onely reueile them as he pleaseth And with this poynt he beginneth with the king to smite a reuerence and feare of Gods maiesty into the kinges hart that he might more diligently heare feare the wordes that should after follow and so be the more apte to receiue the mysteries that should be reueiled For this is it that wanteth amongst the worldlinges that they can not thinke that it commeth of God which Gods messengers do bringe vnto them Many now a dayes are willing to heare what can be sayd of the Gospell and what may be brought agaynst popishe supersticion and error but they are not inwardly touched nor moued therefore what so euer they conceiue doth but vanish without profite and goeth forth of theyr remembrance Wherefore this reuerence of God and his word is most necessary as the beginning of wisedome and the preparation of the minde to right vnderstanding So doth Daniel then prepare the kinges minde and abbaseth him selfe and his owne knowledge that God only may haue the glory ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing thou wilt haue vs to differ from the brute beastes and therefore hast grafted in our hartes the light of vnderstanding that we may learne to know this to be thy singular grace and gift and that we may reuerence and magnify thee for the same and that we may alwayes exercise our selues in the knowledge of those thinges which may bring vs reuerently to regard thy word and thy maiesty and also that we may put such difference betwixt the commō sense that thou hast geuen vs and the light of thy spirite that thou mayst be glorified and that we may alwayes especially praise thee for thy gift of faith wherby we are made thy childrē engrafted into the body of thy sonne and that we may continually craue encrease of the same fayth of thee whiles in the end thou do bring vs to that full reuelation of light when we being made like thee shall beholde thy glory face to face and shall haue the fruition therof through the same our Lord Iesus Christ Amen 30 As for me this secret is not shewed me for any wisedome that is in me more then in other but only to shew the king the interpretation and that thou mightest know the thoughtes of thy hart 31 O kyng thou sawest and beholde there was a great Image This image of excellent glory stoode before thee and the forme therof was terrible 32 This images head was of fine golde hys breast and armes of siluer his belly and thighes of brasse 33 His legges of yron and his feete were part of yron and part of clay 34 Thou beheldest it till a stone was cut without handes which smote the image vpon hys feete that were of yron and clay and brake them to peeces ¶ The Meditation vpon the .31 c. By this dreame of Nebuchadnezer Daniel as before declareth all the mutations of kynges kyngdomes to be done by Gods prouidence And though they be neuer so rich and pompous though they be neuer so proude fierce or terrible yet GOD by hys secrete counsell doth plucke them downe at hys tyme appoynted because they magnifie them selues agaynst the kyngdome of hys sonne Christ whom he hath determined without mans helpe in the myddes of his enemyes to rayse vp to hys great and eternall kyngdome Now these foure Monarchies the Babilonians or Chaldees the Medes or Persians the Macedonians or Greciās were destroyed one of an other and the last by the Romanes before the kyngdome of Christ was reueiled vnto the world Now the Romanes fell by ambition auarice crueltie and ciuill sedition And Christ who is the iust iudge of the world from all eternitie as he by hys diuine prouidence dyd iustly make the mutations of the other Monarchies so doth he in this last of all when he most euidently setteth vp hys spirituall kyngdome vpon the earth Christ is the eternall wisedome of his father by whom kyngs do raigne and haue their authoritie approued if they séeke that he may raigne amongest them but if they be opē enemyes to hys kyngdome and shew them selues cruell tyrauntes to hys people he then hath power with his yron scepter to breake them downe and destroy them And this dreame of Nebuchadnezer of the destruction of these Monarchies was sent especially for the comfort of Gods people that they should not dispayre when they dyd sée the glytteryng pompous kyngdome of the Chaldees after that of the Persians then of the Macedonians last of all of the Romanes ouerwhelmyng the whole earth but that they should still looke for the kyngdome of Iuda and of Christ which God had once promised to be performed how miserable ruines so euer in the meane space should appeare Therfore then was this dreame sent to the kyng with the interpretation by Daniel that all the East partes of the world might know it that the Iewes there dispersed might still norish their fayth and hope in Gods promises seyng all thynges done by hys appointement and that the same God which had tolde Nebuchadnezer before what should come afterward had also determined what he would do in tyme to come whose purpose could not be chaūged though it were long differred Whereas then the Iewes did know that the Chaldees dyd then raigne ouer them and all the world by the appointmēt of God and that after them there should come an other worse then they and thyrdly that vnder the Macedonians they should be still in troubles and that the Romanes also should be Lordes ouer all and kéepe the world in cruell subiection and last of all that their Messias whom they looked for should be the eternall kyng for euer and that none of the Monarchies had any assured stabilitie this was vnto them a singular comfort and confirmation Thus do we sée for what cause God would haue this thyng to be published euery where which was as then vnknowen that the Iewes might deliuer that from hand to hand vnto their childrē and posteritie which they heard of the mouth of Daniel and that hys prophecie might be extāt and remaine for them a continuall monument in all ages Wherfore when the Iewes that then were captiues dyd sée this terrible Image of their enemy in great admiration vnto all the world what could they then thinke but that they were as it were swallowed vp without recouery And so lykewise vnder the other mighty Monarchies Therefore God of hys great mercy doth offer them this consolation
that their redemer should come which should breake in péeces all these Empires and that without all helpe of mās hand or humane power for this stone of hym selfe and hys owne power should grow into such a kyngdome as should fill the whole earth ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng we wander so in this world that our myndes are easily encombred and troubled and our iudgemente darkened when wee do see the glystering power and prosperity of the wicked to be terrible both to vs and to all others Graunt we besech thee that we liftyng vp our eyes vnto the heauens may remember alwayes how great power thou hast bestowed vppon that thyne onely begotten sonne euen to this end that he should guyde vs and gouerne vs by the power of his spirite and should also defend vs through his fidelitie protectiō so that he shuld alter change and trāspose the whole world for our saluation that so we may quietly rest vnder his defence and fight forth our battaile boldly and constantly with such patience as he commaundeth and commendeth whiles that in the ende we may attaine that fruite of victory which thou hast promised vnto vs and the which also thou wilt shewe vnto vs in thy heauenly kyngdome So be it 36 This is the dreame and we will declare before the kyng the interpretation therof 37 O kyng thou art a kyng of kynges for God of heauen hath geuen thee a kyngdome power and strength and glory 38 And in all places where the children of men do dwell the beastes of the fieldes and foules of the heauen hath he geuen into thyne hand and hath made thee ruler ouer them all Thou art this head of God. 39 And after thee shall arise an other kingdome inferiour vnto thee of siluer And the thyrd kingdome shall be of brasse which shall beare rule ouer all the earth 40 And the fourth kyngdome shal be stronge as yron for as yrō breaketh in peeces and subdueth all thynges and as yron bruseth all so shall it do 41 Wheras thou sawest the feete and toes parte of potters clay and part of yron the kyngdome shal be deuided but there shal be in it of the strength of the yron ¶ The Meditation vpon the 36. c. Daniel describeth the golden head to be the kyng of Babylon because that in respect of the other thrée it was the best yet was it of it selfe wicked and cruell but the world euer waxeth worse and worse The which thyng as it was an admonition to the Iewes to be content with theyr state so is it vnto vs to take héede that we bee not caryed away with the long custome of sinne in these our wretched tymes Agayne he nameth the Persian kyngdome to be of siluer and so inferiour to the first Monarchie not that it was inferiour in power and dominion but because it was worse in ambition in crueltie in vice and corruption as Isay the 13. doth before prophecie And as the Monarchies dyd grow greater and greater so dyd their vices encrease that men might sée their madnes which desire to haue Princes of so great power and dominions As though any one mā were able to rule any one kyngdome and that this were not rather playne and euident that such excessiue dominions are lyke great ragyng riuers that runne ouer the bankes to the great dammage of their neighbours as Isay well noteth chapter 8. So is the thyrd named of brasse the Macedonian not so much for the strength as because it was worse to cause the Iewes still to wayte for the eternall kyngdome of Christ which is of mercy and iustice And the fourth of yron the Romane because it brake down all before it and was most cruell both to the Iewes and to other nations Yet the féete shal be parte of potters mettal parte of yron sayth Daniel which can not well be matched together but the one will breake the other which doth signifie the cruel murther that began betwixt the two first brethren and continued manifestly amongest them in their ciuill warres though they were ioyned in kynred to declare vnto the godly that that kyngdome of the Romanes was not it that they should stay vppon but that they should alwayes buyld theyr fayth and hope vpon this stone cut forth of the mountaine without hands and vpon that kyngdome which the God of heauen should rayse vp after these kynges which kyngdome should neuer be destroyed but shall destroy all these kyngdomes and it shall stand for euer Now this kyngdome of Christ doth not destroy the kyngdomes of the world for any other cause but because that they are enemyes to his kyngdome Therfore Daniel speaking of this matter doth treate of a thyng thē knowne and afterwardes euidētly felt of the Iewes from time to time that is to say that these Monarchies are enemyes to the kyngdome of god For the Chaldees had throwen downe the temple of God and as much as in them lay they endeuoured them selues to destroy all his true worshyp As for the Medes and Persians although by Cyrus and Darius at the first libertie to returne from the captiuitie was graunted yet were the Iewes so miserably handled by the kinges folowyng and by their officers and deputies that the most of them dyd rather chuse to lyue in exile then to returne into their countrey Thirdly though Alexander of Macedony one tyme spared them yet the kynges that succeded him most cruelly vexed them spoiled and slue the most true worshippers of God and burned Gods holy Testament so that it is no maruaile though Daniel set the kyngdome of Christ agaynst such Monarchies As for the Romanes we knew how proudly they despised the God of Israel and though they had Pantheon wherin they worshipped all the Idols and Gods of all the nations that they Conquered yet would they not geue any honor or place to hym at all Agayne how they hated Christes Gospell how cruelly they murthered the Christians and labored by all meanes to diffame and banish forth of the world the doctrine of saluation the matter is most manifest Therfore Daniel to admonish the faithful what should be their condition and state to the comming of Christ doth pronounce all those Monarchies and kyngdomes to be so many enemyes to God and to the kyngdome of his sonne Christ and that therfore they must be destroyed And hereby he doth exhorte to patience that the faithfull do not faint in so great miseries and persecutions as the proude tyrauntes should styrre vp agaynst them so oft and many tymes And Daniel sayth that this stone is hewen forth of the mountaine without handes to signifie his diuine byrth sending frō the heauens so that his dominion kyngdome must be separate frō all earthly Empyre because it is immediatly from God and heauenly ✿ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that we may remember our selues so to be pilgrimes straungers in this world that no glistering shew of any riches or
did yet holde this principle that God vseth the ministery of his Angels to saue hys And thys moued Nebuchadnezer to say that an Angell was sent from God to delyuer hys seruauntes Then he addeth Which trusted in hym Which is also to be noted for it is added as the cause why these thrée were so meruelously deliuered because they put their trust in god And although Nebuchadnezer was but almost like a stock or a blocke concerning the doctrine of fayth yet God would teach vs by this stone or blocke and make vs ashamed and lay vnto our charge the want of fayth which causeth that we can not commit our liues to Gods will and boldly vndertake all daungers whē néede requireth For if we were fully perswaded that God is the kéeper of our life surely no manaces no threatninges no terrours no nor finally any deathes could stoppe vs from goyng forward in our office But infidelitie and distrust in God is the cause of our slouthfulnes and so often as we turne forth of the way so often as we defraude God of hys honor so often as we faile traiterously the want of our fayth doth vtter it selfe and may as it were be palpably felt and séene Let vs learne thē if we wil haue our life defended with the hand of God to geue our selues wholy vnto him for he wyll neuer deceaue vs if that we rest in him We do sée that Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were vncertaine of the end yet this could not diminish nor abate their hope and confidence in God for they vsed this Dilemna standing of two partes either God will deliuer vs from the fiery fornace or if we die he wyll saue vs after a farre better sorte for he will gather vs into hys kingdome Although then they durst not promise themselues the thing that they knew not yet they layd vp their liues in the hand and protection of god Wherefore they are worthely commended by Nebuchadnezer that they trusted in theyr God. Afterward he sayth that they chaunged the kinges decree that is to say that they did not regard it but rather did disanull it as hauing greater authoritie For who so setleth hymself vpō God he easely despiseth all mortall mē and all the glory hautines in all the world And this sentence is worthy to be noted that fayth is first layd for the foundation thē the magnanimitie boldnes constancy wherewith Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were endued because that whosoeuer resteth vpon God he can neuer be turned away from doyng his office and though neuer so many daungers be offered yet shall he be caried a loft thorow all by the wynges of hys fayth So that he which knoweth that God standeth of his side is aboue all the world that he neyther is astonished at the scepters and crownes of kings nor feareth their power but ouercommeth all hautines in the earth that shall stand against him and will neuer turne backe from hys right course He sayth afterward that they gaue theyr bodyes lest they should worship any but theyr owne God. Many that boast thēselues Christians now a dayes would ouerthrow and disalow that thing which thys wicked king is compelled to prayse in these thrée persons For they do imagine that fayth cā be buried in the hart and bring forth no fruit of confession There is no doubt but that God wyll haue al these thynges rehearsed by hys Prophet that theyr craftines may be detestable vnto vs which would defraud God of his lawfull honor and yet would as it were stoppe hys eyes that he should not espy the iniury that is done vnto hym Such are vnworthy to be reproued by the wrod of God and Nebuchadnezer is here set theyr mayster theyr correcter and theyr iudge Thys also must be noted that Nebuchadnezer doth prayse these thrée men because they refused to worship any God but theyr owne god And why then did he mingle his multitudes of God for he departed not from hys errors to geue hymselfe wholy to the God of Israell and to embrace hys true worship Why doth he prayse that in others which he himselfe doth not folow But this is a thyng ouer common For we sée that vertue is praysed and yet goeth coldly forward For many thinke it sufficient with theyr lyppes and toungs to do their office Howbeit though Nebuchadnezer dyd séeme to hymselfe to speake earnestly yet dyd he not consider hymself and so thys tooke away the whole pretence of all excuse For he could not afterward pretend ignoraunce and error when he wyth hys owne mouth had affirmed that none other God was to be worshipped Let them therefore now be ashamed which will be called Christians vnles they be frée from all wicked superstitions and consecrate themselues wholy vnto God and retayne hys pure worship Thys is also to be considered that the kyng Nebuchadnezer did not simply prayse the constancy of these thrée men because they do not worship euery God but also do acknowledge the God of Israell to be the true god Whereupon it followeth that all other were fayned and mere vanity But he spake thys wythout aduisement for God had not lyuely touched hys hart as he vseth to worke in hys elect whom he doth regenerate 29 Therefore I make a decree that euery people nation and language which speake any blasphemy agaynst the God of Sadrach Mesach and Abednego shal be drawen in peeces and their houses shal be made a iakes because there is no God that can deliuer after this sorte Here Nebuchadnezer is pushed further forward for I must use thys worde because he doth not receaue the worship of the true God in hys hart to forsake his errors as I haue sayd It is therefore as though God did thrust hym forth by force to publish thys decrée The decrée in déede of it selfe is commendable and Godly but Nebuchadnezer was caryed wyth a blynde and suddayne motion because Godlines had taken no roote in hys hart Therefore is he alway onely beholding the miracle So is hys fayth partilar and also the feare of God in hym was fruitles Why then doth Nebuchadnezer séeme to be a patrone of Gods glory Verely because he was afraid by the miracle Wherefore beyng not otherwayse moued he could not be retayned in the reuerence of one god Finally thys zeale that he pretendeth is nothyng els but a motion that easely vanisheth And thys is profitable to be noted For we sée many caried wyth a vehement zeale to set forth Gods glory but because they want knowledge and iudgement thys can not be counted prayse worthy And many also do much more wickedly as we sée in Popery where many proclamations of kynges and Princes flie abroad If a man aske thē what maketh them so hote and feruent that they spare not mans bloud forsooth they pretēd a zeale of God but it is a mere raging madnes where true knowledge doth not guide it We must consider therefore that no law can be made nor
any decrée published of religion and of the worship of God except the true knowledge of God confirme it and be sene in it Nebuchadnezer verely in thys decrée had a good ground but as I haue sayd it was onely a particular motion in hym But they that wyll now bée counted Christian Princes do onely rage vnder the pretence of a zeale and so lyke cruell beastes do shee l innocent bloud Wherefore Because they do not discerne betwixt the true God and the Idols But this shal be touched afterward Nebuchadnezer doth extol the God of Israel But how doth he know that he is the high God Verely by one token of hys power onely But he despised that which was the principall to vnderstand by the law and the Prophetes who that God was and what was hys wyll So do we sée the glory of God to be maintayned but in one part only and in the meane season that which was the chife in hys worship and in true holynes to be despised and left out The punishment is great that he should be cut in péeces and hys his house made a Iakes which speaketh blasphemy against the God of Israell Where we note that seuerity is not to be condemned where the true worship of God is maintayned euen wyth sleit punishmētes But we must be assured of a true iudgement in the cause But of this also I wyll speake afterward As for that which followeth that there is none other God which can deliuer after this maner it doth confirme that which I touched before that this king did not regard in hys decrée eyther the law of God or any other part of religion but onely that he was moued by this miracle so that he neither could nor would suffer any thing to be spoken in reproch agaynst the God of Israell Wherfore thys onely thyng is worthy blame in this decrée that he doth not enquire nor search who is that God that he may be drawen by a sure perswasion to publish the decrée 30 Then the king promoted Sadrach Mesach and Abednego in the prouince of Babell Thys séemeth to be of small importance yet is it not written in vayne but for thys purpose that we may know that thys miracle was ratified through the whole prouince and countrey when all the Chaldees did know that these thrée men were cast into the fiery fornace which afterward had agayne the kynges power and were restored to theyr former dignitie Seyng thys was done the power of God could not be vnknowen For it was like as if God had sent forth thrée preachers throughout the countrey which should proclaime in euery place how meruelously God had deliuered thē frō death by hys singular benefite Whereby also it myght be vnderstand that all the Gods which were thē worshipped in Chaldea were of no value seyng that great God whose Image the kyng had set vp was despised and yet that thys cōstancy was allowed of the true God which had deliuered hys seruauntes from death ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thou art knowen vnto vs by the doctrine both of the law and the Gospell and doest vouchsafe dayly to open thy wyll familiarly vnto vs that we may remayne stable and stedfast in the true obedience of that doctrine wherein perfect iustice is manifested vnto vs and that we neuer be moued frō thy worship nor turned away from thy seruice and whatsoeuer commeth vnto vs that we may be ready rather to die a hundreth deathes then to turne from the true profession of thy religion in the which we know that our saluation consisteth that so we may glorifie thy name that we may be partakers of that glory which is purchased vnto vs by the bloud of thyne only begotten Sonne Amen ¶ Chapt. 4. by true diuision for here beginneth the preface to the proclamation 31 Nebuchadnezer king vnto all people nations and languages that dwell in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 32 I thought it good to declare the signes and wonders that the hye God hath wrought toward me 33 How great are his signes and how mighty are his wonders his kingdome is an euerlasting kingdome and his dominion is from generation to generation Daniel doth first speake here in the kinges person afterward he declareth what came to the king But it may seme strange that Daniel sometimes bringeth in the king of Babylon speaking then speaketh he in his owne person and afterward bringeth in the king speaking him selfe Howbeit seing this varietie doth neither obscure the sense nor make it doubtfull we ought not to be troubled therewith The summe of this chapter is Because that Nebuchadnezer was playnly taught that the only God of Israell was to be worshipped and he was compelled to confesse this for a space yet because he departed not from hys supersticions yea and what so euer he had conceiued of the true God it rested not in his hart but vanished away by and by therefore is he worthely punished like a beast for so great ingratitude God would haue him to be more and more blinded as he vseth to doo with the reprobate and sometimes with the elect also When they will runne from sinne to sinne God lowseth them the reyne till they cast them selues down headlong Afterward eyther he reacheth them his hand or he draweth them backe with hys secret power or bringeth them into order by hys rods and corrections and so humbleth them Thus dyd he with the king of Babylon We will consider the dreame afterward but here we briefely note that the king was admonished that he might perceiue in the end that he had no excuse of his stubbernes and contempt God might worthely in déede haue stricken hym as soone as hee dyd sée that he was not truely conuerted but before God would punish hym so seuerely as we shall sée afterward he would monish hym to proue if there were any hope of repentance And although he dyd séeme to receiue that thing with great modesty that God declared by the dreame and Daniel dyd interpretate vnto hym yet dyd he professe with hys toung that which he had not in his hart And thys thing is manifest because that where he ought to haue trembled to haue bene carefull and to take héede vnto him selfe yet ceased he not from hys pride but boasted him selfe to be a king of kinges Babylon to be the quéene of all the world Because therefore he dyd speake so proudly after he was admonished by the prophet we perceiue that the dreame dyd nothing profit hym But God by this meanes would make hym more inexcusable Agayne although no fruite therof did straight wayes appeare yet by long processe of time when God touched his hart he did know more playnely that this punishment was sent vnto him of god Therefore was this dreame an entrey and as it were a preparatiue to repentance And lyke as the séede semeth to putrify in the earth before it bring forth his fruite so also
because he coulde not expresse that which he had in his hart Chap. 4. The Texte 1I Nebuchadnezer beyng at rest in myne house and flourishyng in my palace 2 Saw a dreame which made me afrayde and thoughtes vppon my bed and the visions of myne head troubled me 3 Therefore made I a decree that they should bryng all the wise men of Babel before me that they might declare vnto me the interpretation of the dreame HEre doth Nebuchadnezer declare how hée did know the hye God at length He doth not shew what lessons he had receaued before but because his pride was tamed at lēgth by this dreame therfore doth he onely make mention thereof Yet there is no doubt but he called into memory also his former dreames and condemned him selfe of ingratitude that he had buried so great power of God and that he had blotted out with wicked obliuion so great benefites as God had geuen him Here then onely he speaketh of the last dreame as we shall sée afterward But before he come to the dreame he sayth that he was quiet Whereby he noteth the circumstance of the tyme that we may know that hee was corrected of God because prosperitie had made him dronken and as it were brought him in sléepe It is no maruell though it were so with him for it is an old prouerbe that fulnes engendreth fiercenes as we do sée horses when they are much pampered to kicke to be fierce and not to abide the rider The same also is séene amongest men For if God treat them fauourably and bountifully they waxe fiece they are outragious agaynst all men they shake of the yoke of God him selfe and in the end they forget that they are men And seyng Dauid did so what will prophane men do or such as are ouer much addicted to the word For Dauid doth confesse that he was deceiued with hys quietnes and felicitie that he thought nothyng was more to be feared I sayd in my felicitie or in my quiet state J shall not bee moued And afterward he sayth O Lord thou hast chastised me and J was amased Seyng that Dauid then promised vnto him selfe perpetuall quietnes in the world because God had spared him for a time how ought our tranquillitie to be suspected lest we settle in our dregges Nebuchadnezer therefore doth not recite in vayne that he was quiet in his house and florishyng in his palace for this was the cause of his boldenes and pride that caused him to despise God so carelesly Afterward he addeth that he saw a dreame and that he was troubled He would here without doubt distinguish his dreame from common dreames which do often rise either of the troubling of the braine or of cogitations in the day or of other causes euen as it hath bene seene in an other place Neither is it nedeful here to repeate those things which we haue largely spoken of before Let this be sufficient to perceiue briefly how the dreame may be descerned whereby GOD did admonish him of the punishment to come from other dreames which are either of troubles or vayne or without effect Therfore he sayth that he saw a dreame and yet he was waken For he addeth that he had thoughtes vppon hys bed and then he was troubled wyth the visions of hys head This heape of words doth tēde none other way but that that vision was an heauenly oracle of the which we will speake agayne more largely It foloweth that he made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be called which myght expounde or make open the interpretation of the dreame The kyng no doubt did dreame often neither yet did he cal vnto him euery day the Mages Southsayers and Astrologians and others which excelled in the science of prophecying or at the least did professe it He did not aske thē of al his dreames but because God grafted in his hart a sure note wherby he marked this dreame therefore the kyng could not rest vntill he heard the interpretatiō therof So we haue séene before that the authoritie of the first dreame of the foure Monarchies and of the euerlastyng kingdome of Christ was established so that the kyng perceaued that it came from heauen And there is some differēce betwixt this dreame and that which we expounded before For God did blot out of the remembraunce of kyng Nebuchadnezer the dreame of the foure Monarchies so that it was necessary that Daniel should bryng before the kyng the very dreame and also should interprete it for thē Daniel was more vnknowen For although he had profited so much that he excelled amōg all the Chaldees yet Nebuchadnezer the kyng would lesse haue marueiled at him if he had bene onely an interpreter of the dreame Therfore God would get the greater reuerence to his Prophet and his doctrine when he gaue him two partes that is that hee should foresée what the dreame was and then expound the sense and the end of it In the other dreame Daniel was onely the interpreter But now God did sufficiently proue that he was indued with a heauenly spirite so that Nebuchadnezer should call him no more as one of the Mages but should discerne him from all the residue 4 So came the enchaunters the Astrologians the Chaldeans and the Southsayers to whom I told the dreame but they could not shew me the interpretation therof Here Nebuchadnezer doth confesse that the Mages were called in vayne Whereby it appeareth that all their knowledge was deceiuable or at the least that Daniel could expounde the dreame that came not by mans study or industry but by an heauenly reuelation And I do embrace this sentence that Nebuchadnezer would expresse plainly that Daniel was taught by God to interprete dreames that this was a singular gift of his spirite For he doubted not but that if there were any arte of diuination his Mages enchaunters and Chaldees which boasted vpon the title of perfect knowledge had it This then was without controuersie with him that they knew all thinges that man could know and seyng they could not know this thyng it appeared that Daniel was taught of God and so Nebuchadnezer did extoll him aboue all the Mages as though he should say that he was a Prophet from heauen as appeareth afterward 5 Till at the last Daniel came before me whose name was Beltsazar according to the name of my God which hath the spirite of the holy Gods in him and before him I told the dreame saying 6 O Beltsazar chief of the enchaunters because I know that the spirite of the holy Gods is in thee and no secrete troubleth thee tell me the visions of my dreame that I haue sene and the interpretation therof Here doth the kyng of Babylon speake gently vnto Daniel because hee perceaueth him selfe destitute of his owne Doctours And hereby we perceaue that hee neuer came to the true God but when he was compelled by necessitie Daniel was not vnknowē vnto him neither was
reached vnto heauen and the sight thereof to the endes of all the earth 9 The boughes thereof were fayre and the fruit thereof much and it was meate for all it made a shadaw vnder it for the beastes of the fielde and the foules of the heauen dwelt in the boughes thereof and all flesh fed of it 10 I saw in the visions of my head vpon my bed and behold a watchman an holy one came downe from the heauens 11 And cryed aloud and sayd thus hew downe the tree and breake of hys braunches shake of hys leaues and scatter hys fruite that the beastes may flye from vnder it and the foules from hys braunches 12 Neuertheles leaue the stump of hys rootes in the earth and wyth a baud of yron and brasse bynde it among the grasse of the fielde and let it be wet with the dew and let hys portion be with the beastes among the the grasse of the field 13 Let hys hart be chaunged frō mans nature and let a beastes hart be geuen vnto hym and let seuen tymes be passed ouer hym Nebuchadnezer doth here tell hys dreame the interpretation whereof shall follow afterward Yet because the bare narration should be vnprofitable vnles we speake somthing of the matter it is necessary that we touch somewhat thereof and the rest shal be differred Now first of all vnder the figure of a tree was Nebuchadnezer described not that he did performe the full office of a kyng but because God hath appointed kyngdomes and dominions in the world to thys end that they should be like trées of whose fruite all mortall mē should tast and eate and vnder whose shadow they should also finde rest and comfort And this ordinance of God is of such force that the very tyrantes although they be very farre from right and true gouernment by moderation yet whether they wyll or no they are compelled to be trées for it is better to liue vnder a most cruell tyraunt thē to liue without any regiment Let vs imagine that all were of like authority what wyll such a disorder bring in the end No man will geue place to an other euery man will try what hee were able to do so shall there be all licencious liberty to rob and to steale to begile to kill one an other finally all mens lustes shall bee set at liberty Therefore haue I said that tyrāny may better be borne then a dissolute disorder where there is no gouernment at all where there is none that hath power ouer others to kéepe them in order Wherefore they dispute ouer subtilly which thinke that a king is here described which had great vertues for there was no such excellency of iustice and equity in king Nebuchadnezer But first of al God would declare vnder this figure how he would haue the world gouerned by a politike order and therefore appoynteth kynges and Monarches and other magistrates Secondly he would declare that although tyrantes and other Princes which forget their duties do not performe that which is appoynted vnto them by God yet the grace of God is alwayes euident in all empires and dominions The tyrantes go about to extinguish all comfort of iustice and equity and to confound all things together but God in the meane season doth restraine them by a secret and incomprehensible maner that they are compelled to be profitable to mankinde wyll they nyll they Thys then is to be learned by the figure or the Image of the trée And where it is added That the byrdes of heauen dwelt in the braunches and the beastes dyd feede of the fruite therof this must be referred vnto men For although the beastes of the fielde haue some commoditie by politicke gouernement yet we know that God did appoynt it for mans sake He sayth then that the beastes of the fielde were shadowed vnder it because we are defended vnder the shadow and defence of the Magistrates for els there is no such burning heate of the Sunne that can so broyle or scorch miserable men as if they were spoyled of thys shield and shadow vnder the which God would haue them to finde rest Also the foules of heauen make their nestes in the boughes Some do make a difference betwixt the birdes and the beastes ouer subtilly but I am cōtent to learne thus much by the Prophet that men of all states and condition do féele and perceaue no small vtility by the protection of Princes For if they were destitute of thys ayde and comfort it were better for thē to liue amonges wilde beastes then one to kil an other And this should be of necessity if we consider how great a pride is ingendred in vs all and how blinde loue euery one of vs haue towardes our selues and how raging our lustes are Seing it is so then God declareth by thys dreame that of what state so euer we are yet stād we in néede of the helpe of the Maiestrates And by meat féeding and by the shadow of the trée he doth signifie the manifolde cōmodities which come vnto vs by politicke order Some mā myght obiect that he néedeth not the Magistrate in this or in that poynt but if we try all the necessities of our lyfe we shall finde that thys benefite of God is very necessary Now it followeth That the height thereof was great and that it grew vp vnto the heauens and that the sight of it was extended to the endes of the earth This is restrayned to the Monarchie of Babylon For there were at that tyme other kingdomes in the world but theyr condition was but poore and slender and the Chaldees had such a dominion that none of those Princes came to such power and authoritie Seyng then there was such excellency in kyng Nebuchadnezer it is no meruell though he be described by the trée that reacheth to the heauen and spreadeth to the endes of the earth And where some of the Rabbines will haue Babylō to stād in the middest of the earth because it is vnder the same line wyth Ierusalem it is to foolish And they that say that Ierusalem is in the middest of the earth are in a childish error as Hierome and Origene and other of the auncient writers which holde thys principle But they are worthy to be mocked wyth that aunswere of Diogines who when he was required to poynt the middest of the earth he touched the earth that was vnder hys féete wyth hys staffe Then when an other obiected that it was not the midle of the earth he sayd measure thou the earth and thou shalt sée Where it is sayd That the boughes thereof were beautitifull and the fruite was plentyfull thys may bee referred to the commō opinion of the multitude for we know how their eyes are daseled wyth the glory of Princes For if any be farre more excellent then other by the greatnes of his power all do worship and reuerence hym and are rauished as it were into an admiration so that they
the beastes of the fielde that is to say let hym haue some portion of meat to sustaine hys lyfe and let hym be washed wyth the rayne of heauen God doth signifie the though he would punish this kyng and shew an horrible tokē of hys wrath yet doth he regarde what he is able to beare and doth so temper the payne that there remayneth hope in the end This is the cause that he hath meate wyth the beastes of the fielde and hath also comfort of the heauenly dew The Prayer GRraunt almighty God that whereas we see how hard a thing it is for vs to beare prosperity and not to be demēted therewith to forget that we are mortall that our frailty and wretchednes may euermore be before our eyes which may retaine vs in true humility whereby we may glorifie thee and beyng admonished by thee may learne to walke wyth carefulnes and feare and submit our selues vnto thee and that we may liue modestly wyth our brethren that none of vs despise an other but study by all meanes to do hys office and duty whyles at the length thou gather vs vnto that glory which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thyne onely begotten Sonne Amen 14 In the decree of the watchmen is the sentence and in the word of the holy ones is the request to the intent that the liuing mē may know that the most hygh hath power ouer the kingdome of men and geueth it to whom so euer he will and appoynteth ouer it the most abiect among men God doth confirme by this verse that which he had shewed in a dreame to Nebuchadnezer Daniel therfore sayth that the king was certified of a matter of truth because it was decréed before God and his Angels The purpose is that Nebuchadnezer should know that he could not escape that punishment whereof he did sée the figure in his dreame There is some darkenes in the wordes but we perceaue the minde of the Prophet Yet is here a doubt for it semeth an absurditie to geue vnto the Angells thys power and authority for this is to make them equall with god We know that God is the only iudge and therefore that it pertayneth to him alone to decrée and to pronounce what sentence he pleaseth If this be attributed to the Angels so much séemeth to be taken away from Gods hygh dignity for it is not méete for hys maiesty to admit any companions But we know by the scripture that it is no strange thing that God taketh hys Angels vnto hym not as equals but as ministers to whom yet he geueth so much honor that he will admit them to hys counsaile And so are the Angels called Gods counsellers Wherfore they are named in this place to decrée with God not of them selues at theyr own pleasure but because they doo subscribe vnto Gods iudgement And here must we note two persons to be attributed vnto them For in the first place Daniel maketh them to subscribe vnto Gods decrée afterward he sayth that they require or demaunde And thys may well be that the Angels doo require in theyr peticions that all mortall creatures may be abased that God alone may haue the preeminence and that al things may thus be brought downe that obscure the glory of god It is méete and right that the Angels require thys continually seing we know that there is nothing that they doo more desire then that they them selues should worshyp God and all creatures with them And when they do sée Gods authoritie to be diminished by mans pride and arrogancy then doubtles they require thys that God would bring downe vnder his obedience and yoke those proude men that set vp theyr creastes agaynst hym Now do we sée why Daniel sayth that thys sentence is in the decrée of the watchmen and in theyr word a request as though he should say thou hast all the Angels thine aduersaries For with one consent and as it were with one mouth they do accuse thee before God that thou doest obscure his glory as much as in thee lyeth and God agreing to theyr requestes hath decreed to cast thee away and to make thee contemptible shamefull before al the world and thys decree is ratified by all the Angels as it were common with him and them For their consent and subscription might haue some authority with this prophane king And doubtles God as he doth many tymes doth now accommodate the vision to this mans capacitie who was neuer taught in the law but had only a confused knowlege of the diuinity so that he dyd not discerne betwix God and the Angels And yet thys sentence is also true that the sentence was published by the common decree of al the heauenly army and that together by supplication and request because doubtles the Angels did take it greuously that any thing should be withdrawne from Gods glory that there should be such madnes in men that they would draw and catch to them selues that which is proper and peculiar to God alone This seemeth to be the true sense And so that which followeth dependeth well hereof that mortall men may know that God hath power ouer the kingdomes of men For Daniel doth note the end of theyr request that the Angels would haue Gods authoritie to remayne wholly to himselfe and that nothing should be taken away therefrom by mans churlish ingratitude For man can chalenge to him selfe neuer so little but he robbeth God of hys due prayse and glory Therefore do the Angels craue of God continually that he would cast downe all the proud and that he would not suffer hym selfe to be defrauded of hys authority but that all power may remayne with hym wholly And this is diligently to be noted that all mortall men may know that the most high doth beare rule in the kingdoms of men For the most wicked will graunt that God hath the chiefe power and authoritie for they dare not draw him downe from his heauēly throne with theyr blasphemies but in the meane season they imagine that they can both get and defend kingdomes in this world either by theyr owne power or riches or other meanes Therefore the vnbeleuers would gladly shut vp God in heauen euen as the Epicure fayneth that God vseth his delicates in idlenes Therfore Daniel sheweth that God is spoyled of his right except he be acknowledged to be the ruler in the kingdome of men that is in the earth that he may humble whō he pleaseth So is it also sayd in the Psalme Power is neither from the east nor from the west but from the heauen And in an other place also It is God that lifteth vp the poore from the doung Agayne in the song of the holy virgin He casteth downe the proude from their throne and exalteth the humble and abiectes They all do confesse this thing but yet scarcely the hundreth man doth thorowly féele in his mynde that God doth rule in this world so that
band of yron brasse bynde it among the grasse of the fielde and let it bee wet with the dew of heauen and let his portion be with the beastes of the field till seuen tymes passe ouer him 21 This is the interpretation O kyng and it is the decree of the most hye which is come vppon my Lord the kyng Daniel here prosecuteth the matter that hee began with great libertie and constancy saying that the kyng of Babylon this great trée must be cut down He calleth him Lord and that vnfainedly but because he was the Ambassadour of the high kyng he doubteth not to lift vp his wordes and to set out his message committed vnto him with a more hye stile For this is the common vse of all the Prophetes to rise vp stoutely agaynst the mountaines and the hilles as is sayd in Ieremy J haue set thee this day ouer kingdomes and ouer nations to plucke vp and to roote out and to destroy and to throw downe to build and to plante God therfore will chalēge so great reuerence to his word that nothyng shal be so hye or excellent in the world which shall not geue place vnto it Daniel therefore concernyng men and the politike order confesseth the kyng to be his Lord notwithstandyng hée goeth forward with his Ambassage as he was appoynted That the king sayth he dyd see a watchman come downe from the heauens which sayd cut downe the tree and scatter it vntill seuen tymes passe ouer He repeteth that he which he spake before that the tyme of the punishment should haue an ende For God might haue abolished the kyng of Babylon and his whole memory and posteritie but hee would mitigate the punishment Albeit he would not for a short time punish this kyng Nebuchadnezer lest it should be neglected as an vsuall thyng but because it was his will to set forth a notorious example for all ages therefore would he prolong his punishment for a long tyme To this end therfore perteineth the nomber of seuen yeares For we know in the Scriptures that a long tyme is signified by the nomber of seuen because that nomber signifieth perfection The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that so oft as thou settest our sinnes before vs and doest pronounce thy iudgementes agaynst vs we do not abuse thy long sufferance and so heape vppon vs the store and treasure of greater vengeaunce thorow our slothfulnes and dulnes but let vs feare betymes and tremble at thy iudgementes and so take carefull heede vnto our selues that we may tast the comfort of thy swetenes and thereby be allured to submit our selues willingly vnto thee that we may desire nothyng more then to geue our selues wholly vnto thy seruice that thy name may bee glorified by vs in Christ Iesus our lord Amen 22 They shall driue thee from men thy dwellyng place shal be with the beastes of the field They shall make thee to eate grasse as the oxen and they shall wet thee with the dew of heauē and seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee till thou know that the most hye beareth rule ouer the kyngdome of men The verse that went before did say that this dreame did belong to the kyng Nebuchadnezer And it was méete so to be expressed for this was a heauy and a sharpe message to the kyng And we know how hardely kynges can beare not onely to be brought into order but also to be sommoned before Gods iudgement seat there to be beatē downe with shame reproch For we know that prosperitie doth make euen common persons dronken What can come vnto kynges then but that they forgettyng them selues to be mē should exempt them selues from all incommodities and griefes because they do not thinke that they are of the common condition with men Wherfore because Nebuchadnezer could hardely beare this message therfore did the Prophet admonish him in few wordes that the cuttyng downe of the trée was but a figure of that ruine and fall which he shortly should haue This doth he prosecute with moe wordes and sayth They shall cast thee from among men and thy dwellyng shal be with the wilde beastes Whereas Daniel did treate before of the fower Monarchies there is no doubt but that the kinges minde was at the first time stirred and sore gréeued but this was much more sharpe and much more intolerable to the kinges minde that he is compared to the brute beastes that he is cut of from the company of men and sent into the fieldes and woodes to féede with the beastes If Daniel had sayd onely that he should haue bene spoyled of his prnicely dignitie he would haue bene greatly offended with that abasement but when he is cast downe into this so great ignominie shame there is no doubt but he was raging madde inwardly Notwithstanding God dyd bridle his fury that he dyd not couet to auenge hym selfe of thys which he thought to be an iniury done vnto him For we shall see by the text afterward that he did not rightly repēt amend his life Seing then that he fostered the same pride still in his hart there is no doubt also but he was cruell for these two vices do alway go together But God restrained his rage so that he spared this holy Prophet By the way we may note the constancie of the seruaunt of God in that he doth not insinuate vnto the king by subtle meanes what should come vpon him but openly declareth with many wordes how fowle and shamefull a condition was appoynted for hym They shall cast thee out saith he from among men If he had sayd thou shalt be as a common person among men and shalt nothing differ from the base people now that had bene very greuous vnto a king But when the king is cast out of all humane society that he may not haue one corner amongest them neither is it graunted that he may lead his life with the Neatherdes and Swinherdes how greauous and horrible this was euery man may coniecture by his owne minde Yet doth not Daniel here doubt to pronounce this sore iudgement And the wordes that folow are of the same importance Thou shalt feede of the grasse thou shalt be watred with the dew of heauen and thy dwelling shal be with the wilde beastes Where the prophet teacheth that this punishment is at hand vnto the king of Babylon that he shal be brought to extreame ignominy and shame that he shall differ nothing from brute beastes Thys liberty then as I haue sayd is worthy to be noted that we may know that the seruauntes of God which haue the charge to teach and to preach vnto others can not execute theyr offices faythfully vnlesse with close eyes they passe by and despise all the hautines of the world Agayne by the example of the king we may learne that it is in vayne for vs to be stubborne and froward when God by his messengers threatneth vs For although Nebuchadnezer dyd not rightly repent
this can not be drawen to the workes of satisfaction and that the Papistes are foolish and filthy herein But although we graunt vnto thē this thyng yet it doth not folow that the sinnes are redemed before God therby as though the workes could recompence either for the punishmēt or for the crime They confesse that the crime is not redemed with satisfactions but the punishment they say is redemed But sée how thys agréeth wyth the mynde of the Prophet I do not striue wyth them now for the word of redemyng but I would haue them to regard whether thys redemption be in the iudgement of God or before men It is certaine that Daniel here did regarde how wickedly and cruelty Nebuchadnezer had behaued hymselfe how tyrannously he had vexed hys subiectes how proudly he despised the poore and miserable that were vnder hym Because then he had geuen hym selfe so dissolutly to all wickednes Daniel declareth the remedy And though this remedy be taken for a redemption or deliueraunce there is no absurditie for we redeme our sinnes wyth men when we satisfie for them I do redeme my fault at my neighbours hand when I do labour to reconcile my selfe vnto hym after I haue offended hym knowledging my crime and asking forgeuenes And if I haue diminished hys goods I restore that which was vniustly taken Thus do I redeme my crime But it doth not follow therefore that my sinnes are purged before the iudgement seat of God as though thys which I do vnto my neighbour were any kynde of recompence before god We sée therefore how foolish the Papistes are to abuse the Prophetes wordes Here they vse to demaund a question to what purpose Daniel doth exhort the king Nebuchadnezer to breake of hys sinne or to redeme hys sinne For eyther it was a thyng depending of chaunce which were a great absurdity to graunt or els it was an heauēly decrée like as the dreame of the kyng was a publication of Gods decrée as we did sée before If thys were determined with God it could by no meanes be chaunged Therefore it was in vayne to redeme hys sinne If we follow the other exposition of breaking of thys sinne there remayneth no doubt But although we cōfesse that the Prophet here doth speake of the redeming of sinnes yet is the exhortatiō not vnprofitable For although kyng Nebuchadnezer should haue prepared hymselfe to beare Gods correction yet was it not vnprofitable to know God to be mercifull And the tyme also myght haue bene shortened which was prolonged by his ostinate malice not that God at any tyme chaungeth hys decrée but because he often tymes preacheth threatningly vnto mē to cause them to repēt that he may deale more mercifully wyth them and restraine the rigour of hys vengeaunce as we sée by manifolde examples Thys had not bene then vnprofitable nor fruitles that Daniel exhorted the kyng to redeme or breake of hys sinne if the king had considered it for he myght haue found fauour in some poynt although he had bene punished Yea though there had not bene one day shortened of vij yeares yet was this no small profite if the kyng had humbled hym self betymes before God that yet he might be capable of that mercy in the end which was promised For because the tyme was named by the Prophet therfore had it bene profitable for the kyng if he had prepared hymselfe to receiue that mercy by humble prayer vnto hys iudge Wherefore this dictrine was profitable many wayes lyke as it is vnto vs at thys day For although we must be ready to receiue Gods corrections yet is thys no small comfort in our miseries when we do so submit ourselues vnto God that we are perswaded of the contrary part that he wyll be mercifull vnto vs because he seeth vs displeased wyth our sinnes and hartely abhorre them ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that we may learne paciently to beare all manner of aduersities and that we may know that thou doest exercise towardes vs the office of a iudge as often as we are afflicted in thys world that we may by thys meanes preuent thy vengeaunce and may wyth true humilitie so condemne our selues that we yet trusting vnto thy mercy may alwayes flie vnto thee by the cōfort that we haue in the mediator whom thou hast geuen vnto vs thyne onely begotten Sonne and that we may so craue pardō of thee that we may in the meane seasō meditate true repētaūce not by vayne and vnprofitable inuentions of men but wyth true and earnest tryals of our selues that is that we may exercise true charitie and fidelitie one toward an other and may thus testify vnto the world the feare of thy name that thou mayst be truely glorified amongest vs by the same Iesus Christ our lord Amen 25 All these thynges did come vpon the kyng Nebuchadnezer 26 At the end of twelue monthes he walked in the royall palace of Babell 27 And the kyng spake and sayd Is not thys great Babell that I haue built for the house of the kingdome by the might of my power and for the honor of my maiestie 28 While the word was in the kinges mouth a voyce came downe from heauen saying O kyng Nebuchadnezer to thee be it spoken thy kingdome is departed from thee 29 And they shall driue thee from men and thy dwelling shal be wyth the beastes of the field they shall make thee to eate grasse as the Oxen and seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee vntill thou know that the most high beareth rule ouer the kingdome of men geueth it to whomsoeuer he wyll After that Nebuchadnezer hath declared that Daniel was the preacher of Gods iudgement vnto him which was at hand now he addeth how and after what sort God dyd execute that iudgement which he had pronounced by hys Prophet He speaketh in the third person but we know how often the chaunging of the person is vsed wyth the Hebrues and Chaldees Furthermore Daniel did not write the saying of the kyng but did onely cōprehend the summe So it commeth to passe that sometymes he bringeth in the kyng to speake sometymes he speaketh in his owne person There is no cause therefore why this diuersitie should trouble vs for it doth nothing obscure the sense In the first verse Nebuchadnezer teacheth that that dreame which Daniel expounded was not in vayne So he admonisheth by the effect that followed that it was a heauenly oracle for other dreames as we do know do vanish away But because God did accomplish at hys due tyme that which he had shewed to the kyng of Babylon by dreame hereby it appeareth that it was no trifling dreame but a certayne and sure reuelation of the punishment which should shortly come vpon the kyng And the manner also is expressed Daniel saith that after a yeare was ended the king did walke in hys palace boasted of hys glory maiestie the same moment a voyce came downe frō heauē wherby
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
him selfe For God would terrify him as we shall sée afterward therefore dyd he set before hym such a spectacle The king then saw peraduenture not the nobles we shall sée afterward that the king was only smittē with feare sauing that other begā to tremble with him For whē they saw hys face changed and that he was ouercome with sorrow they began also to feare although they all studyed to geue some comforth Therefore God would after a sort sommon the wicked king to his iudgement seat when the hand of a man which wrote appeared in his sight ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing we are so prone to forgetfulnes that we do ouer gredely folow our lustes and pleasures of the fleshe graunt we besech thee that often times euery one of vs may call hym selfe backe to consider thy iudgementes that we may alwayes walke carefully and warely as in thy sight and that we may so be affrayd of thy iust vengeance that we do not prouoke it by our stubbernes and other vices but that we may so submit and subiect our selues vnto thee that we being raysed vp with thy hand and confirmed may go forward in the holy course of thy vocation whiles at the length thou do rayse vs agayne vnto that heauenly kingdome which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thyne onely begotten sonne Amen 6 Then the kinges countenance was changed and his thoghts troubled him so that the ioyntes of hys loines were loosed and hys knees smote one agaynst the other Here Daniel declareth that the kinges minde was stricken with feare lest any man should suppose that the feare was conceaued without cause And he doth also expresse by many circumstances how the the king was troubled that it might be euident that the cause was not small And it was necessary that he should thus be stricken that all men might vnderstand that God did sit in hys throne as iudge and sommon the king as gilty We haue spokē before and Daniel hath also declared the great pride of the king and hys carelesse securitie hath bene a playne and cleare proofe of the same For whereas the long continued séege ought to haue made him careful he maketh a great feast as if he had had no warre at all Whereby it appeareth that he was ouercome with a dronkenes of mynde that he could not féele hys owne miseries This was the cause therfore why God would waken him and rayse hym out of his deadly dreame because he could not returne neither be called home to a sober mynde by any vsuall meanes Now that he was thus terrified it might séeme to be a good preparation to repentance But the same is set forth vnto vs in hys person which is set forth in Esau For Esau was not onely stricken with sorrow when he saw him selfe refused but he also asked the blessing of hys father with great mourning and lamentation but ouer late The same is now set forth in king Beltsazar But all thinges are to be noted in order Daniel sayth that the kinges countenance was changed furthermore the ioyntes of hys loynes were loosed and he was troubled or terrified in his thoughtes Last of all he addeth that his knees smote one agaynst the other for the word doth properly signifie to rush agaynst The prophet declareth the matter by the signes that is to say that the king Beltsazar was affrayd at the vision whereof mention was made There is no doubt as I sayd before but that he was thus terrified by Gods apoyntment For we know that the reprobate although God doo openly declare that he calleth them to his iudgement seate yet doo they remayne senseles and are nothing affrayd But God would strike the hart of this wicked kyng so that there should be no excuse of ignoraunce And here we may note that God doth by diuerse meanes touch mēs harts I speake not onely of the reprobate but also of the elect For we sée euen very good men to be slacke and slow when God doth sommon them to his iudgement seat Therfore is it necessary that they be compelled with chastisementes for they would neuer come willingly vnto god He can moue their mindes without any violence but he will set forth vnto vs as it were in a glasse how great our slownes and slacknes is for we neuer obey his word but agaynst our willes Wherfore he bringeth downe his owne children by correction when he doth not preuaile by his word alone But as concernyng the reprobate he doth oftē disclose their contumacy For he doth entise them by fayre meanes before hee take vppon him the office of a iudge and when he preuaileth not hereby he threatneth and when threatnynges auayle not or can take no place then doth he sommon them to his iudgement seat As concernyng the kyng of Babylon God had suffered Daniel to kepe silence For the kyngs ingratitude and pride had stopped the way that Daniel could not do the office and part of a teacher as he was willyng The kyng of Babylon therfore lacked a teacher But God sodenly appeared as a iudge by this writyng of the which some thyng is lightly touched and more shal be sayd in place conuenient Howsoeuer it is we do sée that kyng Beltsazar was not onely admonished by an outward signe of his destruction that was at hand but that he was also wakened inwardly to know that he had to do with god For the reprobate do flatter thē selues often times although God shew him selfe to be their iudge But he hath dealt otherwyse with kyng Beltsazar for he would haue him to bee terrified that he might be the more attentiue to read the writyng This terror as I sayd before was a preparation to repentaunce but he fayled in the mid way as we sée many do which tremble at the voyce of God or at the signes of his vengeance as soone as he admonisheth them but they vanish away straight wayes so that they are not taught as they should be Like vnto this is the example of Esau for he despised the grace of God when he heard that hee was depriued of the heritage that was promised from god He counted the blessing therfore but as a fable vntill he perceaued that the matter was executed in dede then began he to lament but altogether in vayne Such was the trouble of kyng Beltsazar For as we shall sée afterward euen when Daniel did expound vnto him the writyng yet was he nothyng moued with this matter but adorned Daniel with royall ornamentes But this was for an other end and purpose For whiles his nobles were moued and the thyng was made open God by this meanes dyd declare his glory and Darius also which tooke the Citie with Cyrus his sonne in law vnderstoode that he got not the victory by his owne power or industry neither that he was so holpen of the two Princes Gobria and Gabatha but all the thyng was done by the prouidēce of god
So then doth God shew as it were in a glasse that he is the reuenger of hys people as he had promised seuenty yeares before 7 Wherefore the kyng cryed loude that they should bring the Astrologians the Chaldeans and the soothsayers And the king sayd to the wise men of Babel Whosoeuer can read this writing and declare me the interpretation therof shal be clothed with purple and shall haue a chayne of gold about his necke and shal be the third ruler in the kyngdome The Prophet declareth that there was a redemy sought of kyng Beltsazar for his sorow And hereby we gather agayne that his minde was so depely wounded that he perceaued that he could not escape the hand of God for hée would not els haue called the wise men so sodenly in the mids of the feast Furthermore when the Prophet sayth that he cryed loude hereby it appeareth that he was so astonished that he forgot that he was a kyng for it was not agreyng to his dignitie to cry so loude at the table But God had shakē of all his pride therfore was he cōpelled to burst forth in an outcry as though he were a mad man. But now let vs sée what was his remedy He commaunded that the Chaldeans soothsayers and Astrologians should be called Hereby we gather how ready the wits of men are to vanitie lyes and deceites Daniel should haue bene the first among the Chaldeans and that aunswere was worthy to be remembred when hee shewed to the grandfather of kyng Beltsazar before that he should be lyke the wilde beastes Seyng then that this prophecy was thus approued by the successe the authoritie therof ought to haue stand in force euē aboue a thousand yeares He was also dayly in the kyngs sight yet was hee despised and the kyng called for all the Chaldeans Astrologiās Sothsayers and Mages In déede the Sothsayers Astrologiās and Chaldeans were in such high estimation that they might easely darken the fame of Daniel For they counted it an vnworthy thyng that a prisoner should be preferred before their Doctours whē they now knew that they did excell in this glory amongest all people that they were onely wyse Seyng then they would kéepe that estimation that they were as it were the counsellers of God it is no meruell though they despised a straunger Howbeit this thyng hath no colour before god For what can bee alledged for the defence of the wicked kyng His grandfather was set forth as a spectacle of Gods vengeance neuer to be forgotten when he was cast forth of the company of men when hee dwelt with the brute beastes yea with the wilde beastes of the forest And this could not seme to come by chaunce For God had admonished hym hereof in a dreame and also made his Prophet an interpreter of the oracle and vision wherefore the fame of this matter ought to haue bene in perpetuall remembrance amongest the Chaldees The Nephue of king Nebuchadnezer forgetting thys example doth rage agaynst the God of Israell doth pollute the vessels of the temple and maketh a triumph wyth hys Idols But when God setteth forth a signe of his iudgemēt he calleth for the Chaldees and Mages and forgetteth Da niel Can thys be excused by any meanes We sée therefore that mens myndes are ouer prone to the craftes of Sathan and this prouerbe is true the world would be deceaued And thys is worthy to be noted because that many men now a dayes would gladly pretend ignoraunce in the stead of a shield in doubtful matters But they may easely be answered that they are willingly blinded yea that they shut their eyes agaynst the manifest light For if God did count king Beltsazar inexcusable because he had a Prophet once offered vnto hym what shall it auayle vs at thys day to pretend these colourable excuses Oh if I knew certainely which were the will of God I would straight wayes obey For God dayly cryeth openly and calleth vs vnto hym and sheweth the way but there is none that answereth or followeth or at the least very feawe Therefore we ought diligently to consider the example of the kyng of Babylon when we sée that he is very diligēt yet in the meane season doth not séeke God as he ought Wherefore He wandreth about the bush he séeth that he is taken and that he can not escape Gods iudgement but in the meane tyme he séeketh comfort at the Mages and Chaldees that is to say at the deceauers For they had bene already found so to be once or twise as we haue séene before and thys ought to haue bene published and knowen vnto all We sée then that king Beltsazar was blynde because he shut hys eyes against the light offered as all the world is blind at this day almost because it doth not wāder in darknes but when the lyght is offered it shutteth the eyes as though it refused the grace of God and would cast it selfe downe wilfully And this is ouer common Now whereas the Prophet sayth that the king promised to the wise mē that whoseuer could read the writing should haue a golden chayne furthermore he should be clothed with purple and should be the third ruler in the kingdome hereby it appeareth that he was not sincerely touched with the feare of god And this resisting is worthy to be marked in the reprobate because they feare the iudgement of God and yet in the meane season the pride which is in their hartes is not corrected but it bursteth forth euen as we sée in thys king For his knees did smite one an other Furthermore the ioyntes of his loynes were loosed and to conclude there was no part of hys body which did not tremble Therefore the king was as it were dead because that feare had oppressed all hys senses Yet sée we in the meane tyme a secret pride lying hyd in hys hart which burst forth afterward when he promised that he should be the third in hys kingdome whosoeuer should interprete the writing God had now cast hym downe from the dignity of a king yet wil he set vp others in dignity fighting as it were agaynst god What meaneth thys We sée hereby that whensoeuer the wicked are terrified yet do they cherish wythin themselues a secret pride and stubbernes so that God can neuer bring thē vnder They do shew many signes of repentaunce but in the meane space if any mā do wisely cōsider all theyr déedes wordes he shal finde that which the Prophet here speaketh of kyng Beltsazar that they do euē rage against God and that they will neyther learne nor be obediēt although they be vtterly astonished We haue séene thys thyng partly in this verse we shall sée it more manifestly in the end of the chapter Now forasmuch as belongeth to the end of the verse where he sayth he shall rule as the third in the kingdome it is not sure whether he promise the third part of the kingdome or whether he
sayth that he should be the third for many thinke that the Quéene of whō there shal be mention made hereafter was the wife of king Nebuchadnezer and the Grandmother of king Beltsazar 8 Then came all the kinges wysemen but they coulde not read the writing nor shew the kyng the interpretation 9 Then was king Beltsazar greatly troubled and hys countenaunce was changed in him and hys Princes were astonied Here Daniel declareth that the king was deceaued in hys opinion because he trusted that there should be some interpretation of that writing amongst the Mages Astrologiās Chaldees Soothsayers but there was none which could read it Therefore here he is punished for hys ingratitude because hee counted the Prophet of God nothyng whē yet he knew that it was foretold vnto his grandfather that came to passe afterward and that Daniel did alwayes excell in wisedome so that there were proofes both many sure enough of hys calling Because then he had so contemned the incomparable benefite of God here he is destitute of counsayle and he séeth that he called all the Chaldeans and Astrologians in vaine And Daniel sayth that there was none which coulde read the writing or shew the interpretation thereof to the king Because thys séemeth absurde the Hebrue Doctours do labour much herein Other thinke that the letters were set out of order and other thinke that the letters were chaunged and other do suppose that the characters or forme of the letters were chaunged But we haue sayd in an other place that the Iewes are bolde in their diuinations as oft as they haue not a sure reason And we haue no néede of those coniectures for it is probable that the writing was eyther onely set forth to the kyng and was hid from all the Chaldees or els they were so blinded that in séeing they should not sée as God doth also often times shew such astonishment euen vnto the Iewes We sée what he did pronounce by Esay your law shal be as a booke that is shut vp If any man say read thys he will say the booke is sealed I can not or let the booke be opened all ye shal be as it were blynde yea they which do séeme most expert aboue other shall say they are idiots and not to be learned men Therefore that which God threatned to the Iewes and we know was fulfilled in them and is fulfilled at this day because there is a couering cast ouer their eyes as Paul sayth that they should be blinde in the most cleare light what maruell thē is it if the same happē to the Chaldees that they can not read the writing Therefore what nede is there now to cōiecture that the letters were set out of order or written in an other order or some put vnder other that the word Tekel should goe before and then Mene Mene These things bee to vayne Thys is certaine that God would admonish the king of his destruction now at hand also that his minde was troubled not that he would repent but that hys carelesnes should be inexcusable and that whether he would or not he should call for some remedy because he knew he had to do with God. Now as concerning the writing God should not haue bene frée except it had bene in hys wyll to speake sometime with one man alone sometime with more Therefore he would that king Beltsazar should know thys writing In the meane season all the Mages as though they had bene blynd could not read the writing As concerning the interpretation it is no meruaile if they were doubtfull in it For God spake darkly whē he sayth Mene Mene then Tekel that is weighed Peres it is diuided Although those Mages had read these foure wordes an hundreth tymes yet they could neither coniecture nor comprehend in reason what they ment For that was an allegoricall prophecy vntill there was an interpreter ordayned from heauen But forasmuch as belōgeth to those letters there is no meruaile though the eyes of the Mages were shut and closed vp because it pleased God so which would sommon the kyng to hys iudgement as we haue sayd The Prophet sayth that the king was astonished his countenaūce was chaunged hys Princes were also troubled The féeling of the iudgement of God must of necessity encrease lest the thyng should haue bene hid For as we shall sée afterward king Beltsazar hymselfe was slayne in that same night Cyrus entred when the Babylonians feasted and were carelesly geuen to their daintyes and delicates In that same dronkenes thys so notable an example of the iudgement of God might haue bene straight way buryed except it had bene made manifest by many circumstances Therefore the second tyme Daniel repeateth that the king was troubled after that hée saw that there was no counsayle nor helpe in the Mages and Astrologians Also he sayth that hys Princes were astonished because it was not méete that the kyng onely should haue bene troubled but also the whole Court that the fame might not onely spread thorow the Citie but also to other Countreyes because there is no doubt but Cyrus was afterward taught of this prophecy neither would he haue so loued Daniel or treated hym so honorably but that he knew thys thyng 10 Now the Queene by reason of the talke of the kyng and hys Princes came into the banket house and the Queene spake and sayd O kyng lyue for euer let not thy thoughtes trouble thee nor let thy countenaunce be chaunged 11 There is a man in thy kingdome in whom is the spirit of the holy Gods and in the dayes of thy father light and vnderstanding and wisedome lyke the wisedome of the Gods was found in hym whom the kyng Nebuchadnezer thy father the kyng I say thy father made chiefe of the Enchaunters Astrologians Chaldees and Soothsayers Here Daniel declareth by what occasiō he was brought before the kyng that he myght read and interprete the writing He sayth that thys was done by the Quéene Men doubt whether it was the wyfe of kyng Beltsazar or hys grandmother but it is probable that the woman was now olde which speaketh of the tyme of kyng Nebuchadnezer Albeit thys coniecture peraduenture is not very certayne therefore it is better here to suspend the iudgement hereof then to iudge any thyng rashly but that we saw before that hys wyfe satte at the table with him But we must diligently note that which we may surely gather by the wordes of the Prophet that is that the kinges ingratitude is cast him in the téeth that he did not send for Daniel among the Mages Chaldees and Astrologians The holy man would not be counted in that order and he were worthy that God should spoyle hym of his prophetical spirit if he had ioyned him selfe with these deceauers and it easily appeareth that hee was separated from them The kyng Nebuchadnezer had made him ruler ouer all the Mages but he would not vse this honor because
as I haue sayd he should haue depriued him selfe of the gift of prophecy For we must sée what is lawful for vs to do We know that we are prone to nothyng more then to be drawē away with the entisementes of the world especially with ambition which blindeth vs and troubleth all our senses and there is no greater pestilence For when any man séeth that he can either get some honour or some gayne he doth not consider what is lawfull or what God permitteth but is caryed away as it were with a blynd madnes The same thyng might haue come vnto Daniel if hee had not bene holden backe through a hartie zele of true pietie But he refused that honour offered vnto hym of kyng Nebuchadnezer Therfore would he neuer be counted amōg the Sooth-sayes Astrologians and such lyke deceauers which did delude that nation with their enchauntmentes Hereof commeth it that now the Quéene sayth that there is a certaine man named Daniel But the kyng was not blameles by this pretence because as we haue sayd Daniel had gotten him a famous name for many yeares and God would note him forth with a sure note that mēs mindes should be bent vpon hym as vpon an heauenly Angell For as much then as kyng Beltsazar knew not that there was such a Prophet in his kyngdome it is the signe of a shamefull beastly carelesnes Therfore God would cast this in the téeth of kyng Beltsazar by a womā when she sayth Let not thy thoughtes trouble thee She calleth vpon him gently because she saw hym to be afrayd But in the meane season she sheweth that he erreth ouer grossely because he wandereth about the bush and yet might soone come to hys purpose for as much as God had geuen to his Prophet a light in his hand to lighten hym except hee desired willyngly to wander in darkenes as all the reprobate do Furthermore we may sée in this kyng the common vice of all mankind that is that none doth runne out of the way but he which either flattereth him selfe in ignoraūce or els that would haue all light extinguished Now whereas the Quéene sayth That the spirite of the holy Gods is in Daniell we haue declared in an other place what is men therby For it is no marueile though prophane mē do speake so because they are not able to discerne betwixt the onely God the Angels Wherfore they called Gods indifferētly what so euer came from God or from the heauens Hereby it commeth then that the Quéene calleth the Angels holy Gods in the meane season she setteth God but amongest the commō sort Howbeit it is our part so to knowledge the onely God that hée alone should haue the préeminence and that the very Angels be brought vnder him and that there is no excellency neither in heauen nor in earth which can obscure hys glory For the Scripture laboureth to this end to set God in most high degrée and also that nothyng should be of such excellency which should not geue place to his Maiesty But here we sée how necessary it is that we be taught of the one onely essence of God because from the begynnyng of the world men were alwayes persuaded of this that there was some one most hye power but afterward they all vanished away in their owne cogitations so that they dyd forget God moreouer did ioyne him with the Angels so that all thynges were confounded Seyng then we sée this let vs know that we haue néede that the Scripture should be our guide and teacher to shine before vs to geue vs light that we imagine nothyng of God but so farre as he calleth vs vnto him by his word doth willingly opē him selfe vnto vs. ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thou doest continually call vpon vs by thy Prophetes and doest not suffer vs to wander in the darkenes of errours graunt we besech thee that we may diligently hearken to thy voyce and that we may shew our selues willyng to learne and to be obedient especially seyng thou doest set forth vnto vs such a master and teacher in whom all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge are enclosed Graunt O Lord that we may so submit our selues to thyne onely begotten sonnne that we may continue in the right course of our holy vocation and that wee may alway bend our selues to that marke vnto the which thou doest call vs whiles that we hauyng ouercome all the battailes of this life may in the end attaine to that blessed rest which is purchased for vs with the bloud of the same thy sonne So be it We haue sayd before that the kyng was admonished by the Quéene and that he was conuinced of ingratitude so playnly as might be in that hee had suffered that excellent Prophet of God to be despised whereas that worthy prophecy wherof we haue treated ought to haue bene renowmed and published amongest all mē to mainteine a perpetuall authoritie to this holy man Now that Daniel sayth that the Quéene entred into the house of the banket hereby we may take a probable coniecture that she was not the kynges wife but rather his grandmother I sayd that I wil not contend about that matter because in doubtfull thyngs euery man may fréely vse his owne iudgement But these thinges séeme not to agrée betwixt thē selues that the king did banket with his wife and concubines and also that the Quéene entred into the banket house Therefore here we gather that she was called Quéene for honour sake who though she had no power yet was she in authoritie and fauour And the testimonie of Herodotus doth also confirme this which prayseth the wife of kyng Nebuchadnezer whom he calleth Labynetus He prayseth her for her singular prudence and he calleth her Nitocris Therfore these thynges will agrée well enough that this matrone was absent from the feast because it was not mete for her age and grauitie to feast with others which did delight in riotousnes She then entred into the banket house and admonished the kyng of Daniel now she addeth the cause wherfore Daniel was ruler ouer the Mages Soothsayers Diuiners and all the Chaldees 12 Because a more excellent spirite and knowledge and vnderstandyng for hee did expounde dreames and declare hard sentences and dissolued doubtes were found in him euen in Daniel whom the kyng named Beltsazar now let Daniel be called he will declare the interpretation The Quéene doth here shew the cause wherfore Daniel gotte that dignitie that he might be counted the prince and master of all the wise men Because sayth she the excellency of the spirite was founde in him so that he did interpret dreames and declare secretes and open doubtfull matters Here she reckeneth thrée giftes wherin Daniel was excellent and so she proueth that he passed all the Mages and that none was able to bee compared vnto him The Mages in déede did boast that they were interpreters of dreames that they could
disclose all doubtes and declare darke matters but their vanitie and foolish boastyng was now already twise tryed out The Quéene therfore doth worthely attribute these thrée thynges vnto Daniel to declare that he excelleth all others Agayne she reasoneth of his authoritie when she sayth that he had a name geuen him of the kyng We haue spoken of this name Beltsazar before but for this purpose did the Quéene say that this name was geuen him that kyng Beltsazar might know that hee was had in great estimation and honor with his grandfather and therfore is he named because Beltsazar might haue despised foreners but reason compelled him to yelde somewhat to the iudgement of his grandfather whom all men did know to haue bene an excellent man although God for a tyme did abase hym as we haue séene and Daniel doth agayne repete it 13 Then was Daniel brought before the kyng and the kyng spake and sayd vnto Daniel art thou that Daniel which art of the children of the captiuitie of Iudah whom my father the kyng brought out of Iewry 14 Now I haue heard of thee that the spirite of the holy Gods is in thee and that light and vnderstandyng and excellent wisedome is founde in thee 15 Now therefore wise men and Astrologians haue bene brought before me that they should read this writyng and shew me the interpretation therof but they could not declare the interpretation of the thyng 16 Thē heard I of thee that thou couldest shew interpretations and dissolue doubtes Now if thou canst read the writyng and shew me the interpretation thereof thou shalt be clothed with purple and shall haue a chayne of gold about thy necke shalt be the thyrd ruler in the kyngdome Here the kyng doth not acknowledge his carelesnes but doth aske Daniel without shame and doth aske him as a captiue Art thou that Daniel of the captiuitie of Iudah whō my father caryed away He semeth here to speake contēptuously that he might briue Daniel to flatter him like a bond slaue Although we may read this sentence as though Beltsazar should enquyre by maner of admiration art thou that Daniel J haue in deede heard of thee He had heard of late and regarded him not but now when extreme necessitie presseth him hee geueth some honour to Daniel I haue heard therfore sayth hee that the spirite of the Gods is in thee that thou canst dissolue doubtes and disclose secrete thinges As concernyng the spirite of the Gods we haue sayd before that kyng Beltsazar after the commō maner of the heathen maketh no difference betwixt God and the Angels for those miserable men could not extoll God as it was conuenient so that the Angels should be as it were vnder his féete But yet this maner of speach doth shew that men were neuer so brutish but they did ascribe vnto God euery thyng that was excellent like as we sée euen of prophane writers all such thynges to be called the good giftes of the Gods which did serue for the commoditie of men or had in them selues any excellency or worthynes Thus the Chaldees called the gift of vnderstandyng or knowledge which was rare and excellent the spirite of the Gods because they did know that men did not atteine nor get vnto them selues the gift of prophecy by their owne industry and diligence but that this is a heauenly gift Therefore they are compelled to geue God his prayse But because the true God was vnknowne vnto them they spake intricatly and as I sayd they called the Angels Gods because in the darkenes of theyr ignoraunce they could not discerne who was the true god How soeuer it be Beltsazar here declareth in what estimation he had Daniel But he affirmeth that he hath thys thing onely of other mens report whereby hys dulnes is agayne declared For he ought to haue knowledge of the Prophet by trial and experience but when he is content onely wyth the bare rumor hereby doth it appeare how proudly he despised the teacher that God offered and yet would neither consider nor acknowledge hys owne wickednes Howbeit God doth thus oftentymes wring out a confession from the wicked whereby they should condemne themselues although they would most gladly anoyde it To the same effect also tendeth that which he sayth all the wyse men and Southsayers and Enchaunters were brought forth before me which should read the writing vnto me and open the interpretation but sayth he they could not For God did punish hym when in hys extreme necessity he shewed that all the Chaldees and Soothsayers in whom yet he put his whole trust did nothing profit hym Seyng then hys hope fayled hym hereby he acknowledgeth that he was deceaued when he nourished the Mages Soothsayers and thouht that he was well defended wyth counsayle so that he had them with him In the meane season that the holy Prophet was reiected it was intolerable vnto God that worthely Beltsazar doth cōfesse thys although he doth not thinke it Therfore haue I sayd that the cōfession was not frée nor voluntarily but violently extorted and wrong forth by the secret power of God. And he doth promise also vnto Daniel the same which he had promised before vnto the Mages Thou shalt be clothed with purple sayth he if thou read this writing and thou shalt haue a chaine of golde about thy necke and thou shalt be the third in my kingdome But euen then was hys kyngdome at an end and yet doth he offer thys dignitie vnto Daniel wythout all care Wherby it appeareth that the terrour which God had stricken hys hart wythall was gone and vanished like as men takē wyth a phrenesy are meruelously vnquiet and so can haue nothyng certayne and they wyll so leap vp in the midest of their feare as though they would clime to the heauen or flie in the ayre Euen so thys tyrant although he tremble at the iudgement of God yet doth he retayne a secret pride in hys hart and imagineth that he shall be a kyng for euer whiles he doth thus promise vnto others both riches and honours 17 Then Daniel aunswered and said before the kyng keepe thy giftes to thy selfe and geue thy rewardes to an other notwithstanding I wyll read the scripture to the kyng and open the interpretation thereof vnto hym Here Daniel doth first of all refuse the rewards offered We do not read that he did so before no he séemed to embrace that which was geuen him of the king Nebuchadnezer What is the cause of this diuersity for it is not lyke that the Prophete chaunged hys mynde or purpose What is the cause then that he was content heretofore to receiue honour of the kyng Nebuchadnezer and now refuseth the honour offered Agayne here is an other doubt For in the end of the chapter we shall sée that he was clothed wyth purple and also it was publikely proclamed by decrée that he should be third in the kyngdome Wherefore it séemeth that eyther
the Prophet had forgotten hymselfe when he did receiue the purple which he had so boldly refused or els what is the cause why he did so and did not deny afterward to weare thys princely apparell For the first I doubt not but that he would speake more roughly to that wicked and desperate Beltsazar but because that there remayned yet some goodnes in kyng Nebuchadnezer and he had good hope of hym therefore did he treate hym more gently As for kyng Beltsazar it was of necessity that he should be more roughly delt withall because he was come to all extremities I doubt not but that thys was the cause of the difference For the Prophet went forward cōstantly in hys course but it was hys dutie to put a difference betwixt the diuersitie of the persons and because there was greater pride obstinacy and stubbornes in the king Beltsazar therfore he declareth that he geueth vnto hym lesse honor then he did vnto hys Grandfather Furthermore the tyme of the captiuitie subiection was now at an end in respect wherof he did before reuerence the Monarchy of the Chaldees As concerning the contrariety which appeareth betwixt hys aunswere and hys fact whereof we shall speake afterward it ought not to séeme straunge vnto vs if the Prophet did at the first testify that he did not regard the kynges rewardes and yet did not contend ouer behemently in the refusall lest he myght séeme to do it craftely for the auoyding of present perill He would shew therfore a great boldnes in both twaine That he beginneth hys preface wyth the refusall of the kynges giftes he knoweth that the kingdome is but for a moment Agayne that he receiueth the purple and other honours he doth it because he might haue suffered blame if he had vtterly refused it for it had bene a signe of fearefulnes which myght also haue bene suspected of treason The Prophet therefore declareth that he doth boldly despise all that dignity that kyng Beltsazar offered hym for he was now as a mā halfe dead and doth in the meane season shew hymselfe not to feare any perill at all For the kings destruction was at hand and the City either the same houre or within few houres after was taken Daniel therefore doth not refuse this purple to declare that he feared not death if néede so constrayned He myght haue bene more safe in hys secret places if he had bene amongest the common people and without the Court Againe if he had bene coūted as one of the seruaūts he myght haue bene in lesse daunger When he then doubteth not to receaue the purple he sheweth hymselfe to be wythout all feare In the meane time there is no doubt but that he would beat downe the foolish arrogancy of the king when he sayth take thy giftes to thy selfe geue thy rewardes vnto others I care not for them When he despiseth the kynges liberalitie in such sort he doth it doubtles to correct the kynges pride wherewyth he was puffed or at the least he would wound and pricke hys conscience that he myght féele Gods iudgement whereof Daniel should afterward be both a preacher and a witnes 18 O king heare thou The most high God gaue vnto Nebuchadnezer thy father a kingdome and maiestie and honour and glory 19 And for the maiestie that he gaue hym all people nations and languages trembled and feared before hym he put to death whom he would he smote whom he would whom he would he set vp and whom he would he put downe 20 But when hys hart was puft vp and hys mynde hardened in pryde he was deposed from hys kyngly throne and they tooke hys honour from hym Before that Daniel doth rehearse the writing and before he geueth the interpretatiō therof he admonisheth the kyng of the cause of thys wonder For it had not bene mete to haue begonne with the reading to haue sayd mene mene as we shall sée in the end of the Chapter the king could not so haue profited by such a short maner of speach But here he declareth that it is no maruaile though God did stretch forth hys hand or put forth the likenes of a hand which did write the kynges destruction because the kyng had obstinatly prouoked Gods wrath We sée then why Daniel beginneth wyth thys history that Nebuchadnezer was a great Monarch that he had subdued the whole world vnto hym that all men feared hys countenaunce agayne that he was cast downe from the throne af hys kingdome euen for thys purpose to make it more playne that Beltsazar did not trespasse of ignoraunce because that he ought soberly and modestly to haue behaued himself considering that notable and meruelous example of hys Grandfather But because thys domesticall admonition did nothing profit hym Daniel declareth that the tyme is now at hand when God wyll shew his wrath vpon him euen by a fearefull wonder Thys is the summe But as touching the wordes he sayth first of all that there was geuen to king Nebuchadnezer from God an Empire a maiestie honor and glory as if he should say he was magnified and adorned of God that he should be the Monarch of the whole world We haue sayd before and Daniel wyll repete it agayne in many places that kyngdomes do not come vnto men by chaunce and fortune but from God as Paul sayth that there is no power but of God. And God wyll haue hys prouidence to appeare after a speciall maner in the distribution of kyngdomes For although God gouerne the whole world and thynges which séeme most small in the gouernment of mankinde are ruled by hys hand yet hys speciall prouidēce doth appeare most euidently in kingdomes and Empires And Daniel to confirme thys doctrine addeth that for the gaeat authority that God gaue hym all men did tremble before hym Whereby he signifieth that the glory of God is imprinted in kynges persones so long as he wyll haue thē to raigne Thys can not be outwardly séene but the matter it selfe declareth it playnely that kynges are armed wyth authority from God in that they are able thus to retayne vnder their hand and at their appointment great multitudes of men for amongest mortall men euery one desireth to be the chiefe How doth it then come to passe seyng ambition is so fixed in all mēs harts that many thousands wyll submit thēselues vnto one and suffer thēselues to be ruled yea that they can suffer at the handes of such many iniuries What is the cause hereof but that God doth arme wyth the sword and power whom he wyll haue to be excellent in the world This reason therefore is diligently to be noted that the prophet saith that all did tremble at the sight of king Nebuchadnezer because God had made hym great that is to say because God would haue hym excellent aboue others in the world God hath many causes and those many tymes most secret why he doth extoll him and cast downe an other Howbeit this
must we know without all doubt that no kyngs come to authority vnles GOD lend them hys hand and styll stablishe them therein and when hee wyll take away their power they fall spedely not that there commeth anything by chaunce in these mutations and chaunges but because that God as is written in the booke of Iob doth loose their girdles whom he had before girded Then it followeth whom he would kill he killed whom he would he did smite Some thinke that the abuse of the kinges power is here noted But I had rather take it simply that Nebuchadnezer had authority to cast downe whom he would and to exalt whom he would that it was in hys power to geue lyfe and to take away lyfe I do not therefore referre these wordes to tyrannicall lust as though Nebuchadnezer had murthered many innocentes had shed mās bloud without reason or had spoyled many of their possessions and had made other rich or raysed them to honours I do not take it so but that it was in hys power either to kill or to geue life to set vp or to cast downe To be short me thinke that Daniel doth here describe what power kynges haue which may thus fréely deale wyth their subiectes not because it is lawfull but because none dare speake agaynst it For whatsoeuer pleaseth the king all mē are compelled to agrée thereunto or at the least no man dare stirre against it Seing that kynges then haue such liberty Daniel declareth that this kyng Nebuchadnezer was not raysed hereunto by hys owne industry wisdome or counsayle or by hys good fortune but he saith that he gate thys great Empire and that he was terrible vnto all because God had adorned hym wyth that glory In the meane tyme yet it behoueth all kynges to regard what is lawfull and what GOD permitteth them to do For as they are kynges so must they consider also that they must once geue accomptes to the most high kyng We can not gather hereby then that kinges are constitute of God to be lawles to liue without order and to do what they list But the Prophet as I haue sayd speaketh of the power that they haue And seing that kinges haue power of death and life ouer their subiectes he saith that the life of them al was in king Nebuchadnezers hand Then he sayth VVhen his heart was lifted vp then was he cast downe from the throne of his kingdome and they spoyled him of his dignitie He prosecuteth that which he began His purpose is to declare to kyng Beltsazar that GOD for a space doth suffer their pride which do forget hym when they haue gotten high authoritie Therfore sayth he kyng Nebuchadnezer thy grandfather was an hye Monarch this did hée not atteine of himselfe neither yet did hée reteine the Empire and cōtinue therein but as he was stayd vpholden by the hand of god Now the trāsformation of him into a boast was a notable document that their pryde can not alwayes bee suffered which are vnthankefull vnto God and do not acknowledge that they do reigne by hys benefite VVhen his hart therfore was lifted vp sayth he and his mynde was set vpon pride there came a sodaine chaunge Hereby shouldest thou haue learned O kyng and all his posteritie to deceiue your selues no longer with pride but rather the exāple of this thy forefather should strike thy hart Wherfore this writyng is set before thyne eyes whereby thou mayst vnderstand that both thy kyngdome and thy life are euen now at an end And this sentence is to be noted that Daniel sayth That his heart was hardned in pride For he geueth vs to vnderstād that he was not puffed vp sodainly with a light folie as vayne men many tymes vse to bee when there is no cause and no inward motion of the minde goeth before but hée would vtter vnto vs a greater matter that this pride had now bene nourished in his hart along tyme as though hée should say that he was not taken with a sodaine vayne motion but that hée had so long bent him selfe vpon pride that he was obstinate and hardened therin The Prayer GRaūt almighty God that seing euery one of vs haue our state limited we may be well contented with our place and condition and that when thou wilt humble vs we may willingly submit our selues vnto thee and suffer our selues to be gouerned by thee that we may neuer desire that height that should cast vs down headlong to destruction Agayne we besech thee to graunt that euery one of vs in our vocation may behaue our selues so modestly that thou mayst alwayes haue thyne high authoritie amongest vs Furthermore that we may seeke nothyng but to bestow our labour and trauayle to serue thee and our brethren to whom we are ioyned that thy name may thus be glorified in vs all through Iesus Christ our lord Amen 21 And he was driuen from the sonnes of men and his heart was made like the beastes and his dwelling was with the wilde Asses they fed him with grasse like Oxen his body was wet with the dew of heauen till he knew that the most hye God did rule ouer the kingdome of mē and that he appointeth ouer it whom so euer he pleaseth This verse nedeth no long exposition because Daniel doth repete onely that which hee had written before that hys grandfather Nebuchadnezer though hee were not chaunged into a beast yet at the least he was cast forth of mās company that hee was deformed throughout all his body that he him selfe abhorred mans cōpany would rather dwell with brute beastes This was a horrible exāple especially in such a great monarch and worthy to be left in memory to the posteritie frō hand to hād euen to a thousand generatiōs if that Monarch had endured so long But that his nephew had so soone forgotten this lesson hereby is hee worthely reproued of shamefull securitie and carelesnes This then is the cause why Daniel doth agayne rehearse the history He was cast forth from the sonnes of men sayth he and his hart was lyke the beastes that is to say he was destitute of reason and iudgement for a tyme And we know that this is the chief difference betwixt men and beastes that men do vnderstand and iudge but the brute beastes are onely caryed by their senses God therfore shewed a terrible example vpon this kyng when he thus spoyled him of reason and vnderstandyng He sayth That his habitation was with the wilde Asses which before had dwelt in that palace which was knowne to all the world from whence all the people of the East did at that tyme receiue their lawes Therefore seyng he was wont to be worshipped for a God this was a terrible iudgemēt that afterward he dwelt with the wilde beastes And whereas now they fed him with grasse like a bullocke which before had all maner of delicates at his pleasure and was wont to be fed
so dayntely as the aboundance of hys kyngdome would beare especially seyng the East partes are more delicate then all other and that Babylon was also the mother of all riotousnes seyng the condition of the kyng was so chaunged all men might know that this was not done by fortune but by the rare and the singular iudgement of god Afterward he addeth that which he spake before That his body was watered with the rayne of heauen vntill he knew that the hygh God dyd rule in the kingdome of men Here is agayne expressed the end of his punishment that Nebuchadnezer should know that he was made kyng by Gods appointment that no earthly kings cāst and but as God stayeth them by his hand power But they do thinke them selues to be set safe and sure from all chaunges and misfortunes And though they set forth for a shew in theyr titles these wordes that they do reigne by the grace of God yet do they despise all that is of God and God him selfe for they take vnto them selues the glory of god This is the madnes of all kynges as may be gathered of these wordes For if kyng Nebuchadnezer had bene persuaded of this that kinges are set in place by God and that they do depend onely of hys good pleasure and that they stand or faull as he decréeth there had bene no nede of this punishment as is plainely expressed in these wordes Therfore he shut forth God from the gouernement of the world And this is the commune maner of all earthly kynges as I haue sayd before They will all I graūt professe otherwise but the holy ghost doth not regard such feyned protestations as they tearme them Wherfore in the person of kyng Nebuchadnezer the dronken presumption of all kynges is set forth vnto vs as in a glasse that they thinke in dede that they stand by theyr own power and they exempt them selues from the gouernment of God as though he did not sit as iudge in the heauens It was necessary therefore that Nebuchadnezer should be humbled vntill that he did know that God reigneth vpon the earth because that by commune opinion they do shut him vp in the heauen as though he were contented with his rest and had no care for mankynd In the end is added and whom he pleaseth he setteth ouer it Which expresseth more playnely that which he had spoken darkly how that Nebuchadnezer beyng daunted tamed and brought down by seuere punishment did know that God raigneth in the earth For when earthly Princes behold them selues so defended with their Gardes so to abound with riches that they can with a word gather great armies when they sée also that all men are afrayde of them they thinke that God hath no more authoritie ouer them and they can not perceiue how any chaunge can come vnto thē as it is spoken of all the proude persons in the Psalme as Isaiah sayth to the same purpose Though the scourge passeouer or the floude ouerflow the whole earth yet shall none euill touch vs As though they should say all though God should thunder and lighten from the heauen yet shall we be safe and sure from all discommoditie daunger Thus do kyngs persuade them selues Wherefore then do they begyn to know God to be the kyng of the earth when they do perceiue that it standeth in his hand and pleasure to cast down whom he hath before raised and agayne to exalte the humble and the abiect so that this is the explication of the former sentence 22 And thou his sonne Beltsazar hast not humbled thy hart though thou haue knowne all this Here Daniel declareth to what end he hath rehearsed that which we haue heard hitherto of the punishment of king Nebuchadnezer Beltsazar ought to haue bene so moued with that example in his owne familie that he should haue submitted him selfe vnto god Now it is credible that his father Euilmerodah had also forgotten that punishment yet because hee did not deale so dissolutly agaynst God neither did he reproch the true and sincere Religion God dyd spare the miserable tyraunt which did reteyne hym selfe in some mediocritie But as concernyng his nephew Beltsazar he was altogether intolerable therefore God striketh kim This is it that the Prophet now teacheth Thou art his sonne sayth he He vrgeth him with this circumstance because he neded not to fetch an example farre from straunge nations when he might know at home that thyng which was mete and necessary to bee knowen And he doth also amplifie the crime after an other sort when he sayth Thou diddest know all this For men vse to pretend ignoraunce for a shielde whē they extenuate their faultes and excuse their crimes but they which wittingly and willingly do offende want all excuse The Prophet therfore cōuinceth this kyng of manifest contumacy as though he should say that he had prouoked Gods wroth of set purpose because he was not ignoraunt how great and how horrible a iudgement doth belong to all proude persons in that he hath such a wonder full notable example in his grandfather which should alwayes haue bene in his remembraunce 23 But hast lift thy selfe vp agaynst the Lord of heauen and they haue brought the vessels of his house before thee and thou and thy princes thy wiues and thy concubines haue dronke wine in them and thou hast praysed the Gods of siluer and gold of brasse yron wood and stone which neither see neither heare neither vnderstand and the God in whose hand thy breath is and all thy wayes him hast thou not glorified The Prophet doth prosecute his purpose and confirmeth that which I haue spoken that kyng Betsazar would receiue no doctrine but was willyngly blynded at Gods iudgement Thou hast lifted thy selfe vp sayth he agaynst the Lord of heauen If he had proudly raised him selfe vp against men that had bene a fault worthy of punishment but whē he prouoketh God of set purpose this arrogancy could in no wise be suffered And he expresseth the maner of his pride when he sayth that he commaunded the vessels of the tēple to be brought forth and that he did drinke in them Now the pollution was a wicked sacrilege But Beltsazar was not content with that wickednes that hee had abused the holy vessels to his rioteousnes and filthy dronkenes and that he had set them before his concubines and harlots but hee addeth a more horrible reproch and despite agaynst God for he praysed his Gods of siluer of gold and of brasse of yron of wood and of stone which haue no sense at all This was not spoken of before but because Daniel doth here beare the person of a teacher he doth not speake it so shortly as he did before For when he sayd in the begynnyng of this chapter that Beltsazar celebrated this filthy feast hee was an historiographer but now is hee a doctour and a teacher Thou sayth he hast praysed the Gods made of corruptible
vnto vs then the most holy and precious thyng of all that is to say that God may haue his due honour We sée then that we are taught to deale vprightly of the one part because we can not bée more safe by any meanes then by a safe conscience as Peter doth exhorte vs by the same reason in his first Epistle But what soeuer we feare and what ende soeuer may folow although an hundreth deathes be offered vs yet may we in no wise fayle from the pure worshyp of god For Daniel doubted not to enter into death and to go downe into the denne of Lyons that hée might declare that he worshypped the GOD of Israel Now that the nobles do fall to that barbarous and cruell counsaile that is that they might oppresse Daniel by the pretence of Religion hereby we gather how blinde the rage is whē ambition and enuy do possesse mens mindes for they do nothyng feare at all to fight manifestly agaynst god For they do not assayle Daniel as a man but they breake forth most wickedly and outragiously agaynst God when they would extinguish the worship of God to satisfie their lust Wherefore I say that we are admonished by this example how carefully wee ought to fly ambition and to take héede of it and also of enuy which spryngeth thereof What crime they committed agaynst the law of God it foloweth 6 Therfore the rulers these gouernours went together to the kyng and sayd thus vnto hym kyng Darius liue for euer 7 All the rulers of thy kingdome the officers and gouernours the counsellers and dukes haue consulted together to make a decree for the king and to establishe a statute that who soeuer shall aske a petition of any God or mā for thirty dayes saue of thee O kyng hee shal be cast into the denne of Lyons The rulers of the kyngdome went about by this policie to ouerthrow the holy Prophet of God that either he beyng cast into the denne of Lyons should perish or els that hée should forsake the outward profession of the worshyp of god But they thought that he was more constant and of greater courage then that hee would redeme his lyfe with such wickednes Therfore they thought that they were sure that he should dye They thinke thē selues very subtill but God setteth him selfe agaynst thē and helpeth hys seruant as we shall sée Yet this was a detestable malice that they go about to destroy Daniel vnder this pretēce For though they did not worshyp the God of Israel yet did they know that the minde of the Prophet was right and good and also they had proued by experience the power of that GOD which was vnknowne vnto them They dyd not cōdemne Daniel therefore in that conscience neither yet were they able to finde fault with that Religiō which he vsed Wherfore I say that they were so caryed by the hatred of the person vnto this cruelty that they set them selues against god For they could not be ignoraunt of this that God must be worshypped They them selues worshypped vnknowne Gods and they durst not condemne the worship of the God of Israel We sée therefore how the deuill bewitcheth them that they durst lay this crime agaynst the holy Prophet Howbeit it is vnknowen what occasion they abused to this their wicked purpose Some suppose that this was done because Darius could not well beare the glory of hys sonne in law For where he was old and the other was of a florishyng age he thought hym selfe contemned Some thinke therefore that Darius him selfe was pricked with some secrete enuy and that his nobles had therby an entry to deceaue this miserable old man ouer light of belief and so blynde his eyes But this coniecture doth not seme vnto me of any great weight neither yet do I much trauaile about this matter For it may be that they would gratifie their kyng in the begynnyng of this new kingdome and therfore that they would decrée some new and straunge thyng the which thyng we do sée often tymes to be done by such as do flatter kynges and princes Wherefore this old man might be deceiued herein now when his Monarchy was so lately encreased He ruled onely ouer the Medes before now came the Chaldees the Assiriās and many other nations vnder his Empire Such an encrease of dominion might make him dronken with vaine glory and the nobles thought that they had a plausible matter in hand to decrée diuine honours vnto their kyng Me thinke this one cause may suffice Wherfore I am not to much carefull to search any further for I do take that which offereth it selfe and is most probable We sayd before that the nobles which layd snares for Daniel were stricken with a maruelous ragyng madnes when they durst publish this decrée vnto the kyng which Daniel reciteth For that was an intolerable sacrilege that the kyng spoyled all the Gods of their honour yet dyd he signe and subscribe the decrée as foloweth to the intent that he might hereby try the obediēce of his people whom he lately brought into subiection by the helpe of his sonne in law For there is no doubt but that he ment to hold vnder the Chaldees who had bene Lordes vntill this presēt time For we know how that pride of hart is engendred by power authoritie When as the Chaldees therfore did reigne before this tyme so farre and so wyde it was hard to bryng them downe and to make them ready to all obedience especially when they dyd sée them selues to be their seruauntes whose equals they were before For we know that they had often tymes encountered in battaile with the Medes Although therfore they were now ouercome by the sword yet were not their hartes conquered Therfore would Darius proue their obedience This semeth to be the cause For hée doth not of set purpose prouoke the wrath of the Gods agaynst hym selfe but whiles he regarded men he forgate God set hym selfe in the place of the Gods as though he had authoritie to plucke downe the power of the heauēs to him selfe This was an horrible sacrilege as I haue sayd But if any man could try the hartes of kynges scarsely the hundreth man of thē could be found which doth not after the same sort despise all diuine power For although they cōfesse them selues to reigne by the grace of God yet will they be worshipped in Gods stead And heare we sée how easily flatterers can persuade princes any thyng that may seme to set out their honors and maiesties The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that as thou hast gouerned thy seruaunt Daniel when honours were offered aboundantly and when he was set vp in most high dignity that he yet alwayes continued in integrity and lyued innocently where all liberty was geuen vnto all euill graund we beseech thee that we may learne to reteyne our selues in that meane state whereunto thou doest restrayne vs and that we being contēt with our pouerty may
purchased wyth hys bloud Amen We beganne to declare the false accusation of Daniel wherewith he was accused vnto king Darius The nobles of the kingdome as I haue sayd came craftely vnto the king For if they had begonne wih Daniel the king might haue broken of their communication but they speake of the kinges decrées they declare what daunger may come vnlesse all the kinges proceedinges be obeyed and by this subtilty we perceaue that they obtayned their purpose For the king confirmeth that which they had spokē to wit that it was not lawfull to disanull any thing which was published in the kinges name For kinges flatter themselues in their dignity and whatsoeuer pleaseth them they will haue it to be coūted for an heauenly oracle That decree was wicked and detestable wherein Darius did forbid any thing to be asked of God yet will hee haue this to remayne stable lest his maiestie should decay amongest his subiectes In the meane season he doth not consider what may folow thereof Wherefore we are taught by this example that there is no vertue so rare in kynges as modesty and yet that no vertue is more necessary For the more authority that they haue the more it becommeth them to take héede that they folow not their owne lust and pride neither that they thinke it lawfull whatsoeuer it pleaseth them to decrée 13 Then aūswered they and sayd vnto the king this Daniel which is of the children of the captiuity of Iudah regardeth not thee O king nor the decree that thou hast sealed but maketh hys petition three tymes a day Now whē these false accusers do sée that the kyng is not at liberty to defend Daniels cause they open more plainely that which they kept close before For if they had begonne at Daniel their accusation might straight way either haue bene reproued or aunswered But after that thys sentence was gotten out of the kinges mouth that the word should stand stable that the kinges decrees according to the law of the Persians and Medes should haue theyr force whē thys is done then come they to the person himselfe Daniel say they who is one of the captiues of Iuda doth not care for thee nor for the law that thou hast made When they say that Daniel is one of the captiues of Iuda there is no doubt but that they do it in despite thereby to amplify the crime For if any of the Chaldees durst haue despised the kinges decrée hys rash boldnes could not haue bene excused But now whē Daniel who was of late a seruaunt and a captiue amongest the Chaldees dare despise the kynges commaundement who by right of armes and cōquest was Lord ouer all Chaldea that séemeth to be more intolerable It is therfore as if they should say thys felow was of late a captiue vnto thy seruauntes thou art now the Lord ouer these countreyes and the Lordes vnto whom he was subiect are now vnder thy bōdage because thou art a conqueror ouer them and sée thys captiue thys straunger thys aliant thys slaue by condition sheweth hys pride agaynst thée We sée then how they laboured to stirre vp the kynges mynde by thys circumstance when they say that he is one of the captiues Now their oration is not simple but they labour by all meanes to stirre the king and kindle his wrath against Daniel He regarded not thee O king that is to say he did not regard who thou wast so thy maiesty was despised of him Nor the decree which thou hast sealed Thys is an other amplification Therefore Daniel did neither regard thee nor thy law and wilt thou suffer thys At the length they rehearse the very fact that is that he prayeth thrise euery day Thys had bene the simple and playne declaratiō of the matter Daniel did not obey thy commaundemēt for he prayed vnto his god But as I haue sayd they amplify the crime whiles they accuse hym of pride contempt and stubberne obstinacy We sée then by what crafty fetches Daniel was oppressed by his aduersaries 14 When the kyng heard these wordes he was sore displeased wyth hymselfe and set hys hart on Daniel to deliuer hym and he laboured til the sunne went downe to deliuer him 15 Then these men assembled vnto the king and sayd vnto the king vnderstand O king that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute which the kyng confirmeth may be altered Daniel doth rehearse first that the king was troubled when he knew the malice of his nobles which before he knew not For he did not consider what their purpose was or what they went about Now he séeth that he is deceaued and intāgled therfore is he troubled Hereby we are taught agayne how much kinges ought to take héede of wicked counsayle because they are set about on euery side by wicked men who purpose no other thing thē eyther to get gaine by false accusations or els to oppresse sometymes their enemyes sometime those of whom they looke for some pray and sometyme to fauour wicked causes Seyng then that kings are compassed about with so many traines they must be so much the more diligent to take héede of their subtilties For in the end they know that they are deceaued whē now there is no remedy partly because they feare their owne estate partly because they haue such regard to their honor and credit and had rather offend GOD then that men should note them of any lightnes or vnconstancy Because therefore that kynges haue such regard to their honor it commeth thus to passe that they will go forward with thinges euill begonne although their owne conscience reproue them and although equitie and iustice stand neuer so cleare before their eyes yet this can not be a bridle strong enough when ambition doth cary them a contrary way and they cā not abide their name to be any whit impared before men Such an example is set forth here vnto vs in Darius For first it is sayd that he was heauy when he heard the matter and that he was carefull vnto the setting of the Sunne how he might deliuer Daniel from death He was desirous of thys in déede if his honor and estimation might haue stand safe sound and also if the nobles had bene pleased But whereas of the one side he feared daunger lest the conspiracy of the Princes might bréede some trouble and of the other side he was moued wyth a foolish shamefastnes because he could not abide the reproch of inconstancy which he feared this is the cause that he being ouercome did obey the lustes of the wicked Although then he laboured vntill the going downe of the Sunne to deliuer Daniel yet that peruerse shamefastnes which I haue spokē of and the feare of daunger preuailed For whensoeuer we do not rest vpon the helpe of God we must of necessity alwayes wauer although otherwise we be well affected and disposed Thus Pilate would haue deliuered
Christ but he was afrayd of the threatnings of the people whē they pronounced that Cesar would be offended And it is no meruaile though there be such wauering where there is no beliefe nor resting vpon God For faith onely is the stable and sure stay wherupon whē we rest we may do our office without feare and may ouercome all terrors But where fayth fayleth doubtfull wauering carieth vs to fro And hereof cōmeth it that Darius feareth the conspiracy of his nobles and geueth vp innocent Daniel to their cruelty There was also in him a shamefastnes which I haue spoken of that he would not séeme vnaduised or vnconstāt which should sodainly call backe his decrée seyng that it was a law amongest the Medes and the Persians that that which procéeded from the king myght not be repealed And Daniel speaketh furthermore of this saying that those men gathered themselues together when they sée that the kyng waxeth doubtfull and is ready to chaunge his purpose they rage and are ready as it were to fight with him Wheras they are named to haue assembled themselues it was to this purpose to make king Darius afrayd Know thou O king say they He knew it well enough neyther do they teach hym a thing vnknowne but they propound this as a threatning What doest thou not sée that the kynges name shal be of no authority hereafter if this man shall violate thy commaundement vnpunished Wilt thou suffer thy selfe so to be mocked To conclude they signifie that he shal not be king except he reuenge the iniury done against hym by Daniel which had despised the kinges commaundement Know thou therfore O king that to the Medes and the Persiās He was the king of the Medes but it is as much as to say what a rumor will be spred throughout all thy coastes For thou knowest that this hath bene hetherto amongest the Medes and Persians that the king should not chaunge his statutes If thou then shew such an example wyll not all thy subiectes straight way rise agaynst thee shalt not thou be contemned of them We sée then how the Princes rage against theyr kyng and do feare hym from the chaunging of his counsell And they do ioyne the decrée to the statute that the king had established to the entent that they may moue him the more that he should not suffer that to be contemned that he had decréed and agayne established 16 Then the king commaunded they brought Daniel and cast him into the dēne of the Lyons Now the kyng spake and sayd vnto Daniel thy God whom thou alway worshippest euen he wil deliuer thee The king as I haue sayd beyng affrayd by the threatnyng and manacing of his nobles doth appoint Daniel to die And hereby we gather that the kinges themselues haue that reward which their pride deserueth when they are cōpelled to obey like slaues vnto their flatterers How was Darius deceaued by the craft of the Princes euen because he supposed that his Empire should be now established if he could thus trye the obedience of all men that no man should pray to any God for a whole moneth long Therfore he thought that he should be both aboue God and man if he had tryed such an obedience in all his subiectes Now we sée how Princes do stubbernly rise agaynst God when they dare threaten death except men be obeyed We sée then when kinges do extoll them selues ouer much they set them selues forth to open shame in so much that they be the slaues of their seruauntes And this is ouer common in earthly princes They which get great authoritie and fauour at their handes do flatter them in all things and they worship thē as Gods. There is no kinde of flattery which they do not inuēt to bring thēselues into fauour But in the meane season what libertie is there in those Idoles For they are suffred to do nothing no they can not be familiare euen with their best and most faithful frendes whiles they are obserued and watched of their kepers To conclude if they be compared with those miserable persons which are kept in most strayte prison there is none shut vp in so déepe a dongeon although he haue thrée or foure kepers which hath not more libertie then these kynges But as I haue sayd this is the most iust iudgement and vengeance of god For seyng they can not conteine them selues in the order degrée of men but will pearce euen aboue the cloudes and be equall with God it is necessary that they be made a mocking stocke Hereof it commeth that they are seruaunts to their seruauntes and dare speake nothing fréely neither haue they any man their frende neither dare they call this or that man vnto them nor graunt vnto this man or that man what they would Thus they rule therfore as seruauntes in earthly kingdomes because they remember not that they are of the nomber of mortall men This came vpon king Darius because he called Daniel and by his commaundement was he cast into the denne of Lyons and his nobles do compell him to this wicked fact and he obeyeth them agaynst his will. But the cause hereof is to be noted that whiles he forgot that he was a mortall man and would extorte from God his dominion as though he would plucke him downe from heauen For if God be in heauen he must be prayed vnto But Darius did forbid that any man should be so bold as to pray and this was to make God of no power as much as lay in him But now is he compelled to obey euen his subiectes although they exercise agaynst him despitefull tyranny Now Daniel addeth that the kyng spake thus to him Thy God whom thou seruest or whom thou worshippest hee will deliuer thee This may be read as it were a wish or desire and there is no doubt but Darius did so wish and desire but it may be taken also in this sense thy God whom thou worshyppest will deliuer thée As though he should say I haue no power now of my owne selfe I am herein caryed away as with a raging tempest my nobles compell me agaynst my will to this wicked fact Now therfore I resigne thée thy life into Gods hand because it is not in my power to deliuer thée as though he would now make his crime the lesse by this excuse because he leaueth it in Gods power to to preserue Daniel This reason moueth some mē to prayse the godlynes of the kyng But as I graunt his pitie and humanitie to be shewed by these wordes so is it plaine that there was not one crumme of godlynes in him when he would thus adorne him selfe with that which he robbeth from god For superstitious men although they do not feare God aright yet are they kept in some secrete feare of his maiestie but this man would haue brought to nothing all diuine power What godlynes call you this Wherfore pitie or compassion may be praysed
thou wilt be our deliuerer howsoeuer it be whether we do liue or die that yet we remayning in stedfast fayth and confession of thy name may be blessed whiles we be gathered in the end into thy heauenly kingdome which thou hast purchased with the bloud of thine onely begotten Sonne Amen We haue séene before how the enemyes of Daniel which had wickedly cruelly accused hym through enuy as soone as they were cast into the denne of Lyons were torne in péeces with their wiues and children whereby the miracle did more manifestly appeare as we haue sayd Now therefore let vs learne agayne that the Lyons are so gouerned by the power of God that they do not exercise their cruelty euery where nor against all men but when God armeth thē For as it is sayd in the Psalme thou shalt walke vpon the Lyon and Scorpion and tread vpon the Lyon and Dragon So also of the contrary part God doth pronounce vpon the wicked by the Prophet that the Lyons wyll come to méete them if they go out of their house We sée then how God doth swage the cruelty of the Lyons when it séemeth good vnto him but he stirreth them vp to rage when he wyll punish men And whereas the wiues and their children were cast into the denne we must not curiously dispute whether this was a iust punishmēt or no. For it séemeth that this is a certaine rule of equity that the punishment should not extend to the giltles especially when it standeth vpon the losse of life For although at all tymes this was receaued in well ordered Cities that many punishmentes were layd vpon the children together with the parentes like as in murther and in treason where all the goods were publikely sold also in criminall iudgementes the infamy of the parentes did redounde vnto their children yet this is more strait and seuere to kill the children together with their parents seyng they can not be gilty of the same crimes But although this be not very vsuall yet is it not lawfull for vs simply to condemne it We sée how God cōmaundeth whole families to be vtterly destroyed to shew how much sinne is to be detested and abhorred and God as he is a iust iudge doth alway kéepe a measure in his seuerity Therefore this example can not be precisely condemned but it is better to leaue this at liberty For we know that the kinges of the East part did exercise cruell and barbarous dominion or rather tyranny towards their subiectes Therefore there is no cause why any man should contend much about this question It greued king Darius that he was so deceaued Therefore he doth not execute punishment vpon the wicked accusers onely because Daniel was wickedly oppressed of them but because they did hym iniury He would therefore rather reuenge himself then Daniel and he was not content to recompence them with equall punishment but he punished euen their children also 25 Afterward king Darius wrote vnto all people nations and languages that dwelt in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 26 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdome men tremble and feare before the God of Daniell for he is the liuing God and remayneth for euer and his kingdome shall not perish and his dominion shal be euerlasting 27 He rescueth and deliuereth and he worketh signes and wonders in heauen and in earth who hath deliuered Daniel from the power of the Lyons Here Daniel addeth the decrée of the king which he caused to be published and by this decrée and proclamation he testifieth that he was so moued with the deliueraunce of Daniel that he gaue the most high glory to the God of Israel Yet do I not thinke that the king is sufficiently proued hereby to be of sound religion as many interpreters do here commend king Darius aboue measure as though he had bene wholy conuerted and had receaued the true worship prescribed in the law of Moses No such thing can be gathered of the wordes of the decrée and the matter it selfe doth declare that hys dominion and kingdome was neuer purged from superstitions For king Darius suffered hys subiectes to serue Idoles and he himselfe ceased not to be polluted with such filthines but he would place the God of Israel in the hiest degrée as though he could couple together fire and water of the which thing we haue spokē before For the prophane men thinke that they do their duty to the true God if they do not altogether contemne hym but appoynt him some place but especially when they preferre hym aboue all the Idols they thinke that they haue satisfied god But this is foolish For except all superstitions be abolished God hath not his right for he suffereth no cōpanions Therfore this place doth not shew that there was any true or sincere Religion in kyng Darius but we may onely gather hereby that hee was moued with this miracle to this ende that hee should celebrate throughout all nations that were subiect vnto him the glory and name of the God of Israel To conclude as it was but a particulare motion of kyng Darius so he went not beyond this particulare affectiō neither did he thoroughly acknowledge the power goodnes of God but tooke hold of that onely which was before his eyes Therfore he could not generally know the God of Israel that he might giue him self to true sincere pietie but as I haue sayd he would haue him to remaine amōg the other Gods and to be ouer them but so that he should not be alone But God doth refuse this halfe worship Therefore there is no cause why Darius should so much be praysed Yet shall he condemne all those by his example which at this day do professe them selues either Catholicke kynges or Christians or defenders of the faith and in the meane season do not onely oppresse true Religion but also as much as in them lyeth do ouerthrow the whole worship of God would willyngly abolish his name out of the world exercisyng tyranny agaynst all the godly and establishyng wicked superstitions thorough their crueltie Darius shal be a worthy iudge vnto them and this decrée which Daniel rehearseth shal suffice to condemne all such Now hee sayth That this decree was written to all people nations and languages that dwelled in all the earth We sée that Darius would not onely haue the power of GOD knowne to the people which were nere him but he did study to declare it farre and wyde Therfore hee did not onely publish it in writyng thoroughout all Asia and Chaldea but euen amongest the Medes and Persians Albeit he neuer reigned in Persia but because his sonne in law had taken him into the societie of the Empire his authoritie dyd also extend so farre And thus ought it to be vnderstand whē he sayth thorow the whole earth For it is not spoken of the whole world but of that Monarchy which was spread
not in vayne that Daniel sayth that he dyd fall vppon his knees as oft as hee would pray vnto God. Now where he sayth that hee prayed and confessed or praysed God this is diligently to be noted because many do murmure agaynst God in their prayers For although they pray for this or that earnestly yet are they caried with such immoderate vehemency that they murmure agaynst God as I haue said in their prayers vnlesse God straight wayes graunt their requestes This is the cause why Daniel ioyneth prayses or thankesgeuyng with prayer euen as Paul also doth exhort vs to both twaine Let your prayers sayth he be knowen vnto God with thankesgeuyng As though he should say that we cā not make prayers and petitions before God aright vnlesse we blesse his holy name although he do not geue vs straight wayes our requestes And the circumstance is to be noted in Daniel He had bene an exile a long tyme and had bene tossed with many and greuous stormes yet doth he celebrate the prayses of god Which of vs can be so armed with pacience that he will prayse God if he be vexed with great griefes and troubles but thrée or foure yeares Yea scarce one day passeth ouer wherin our desires do not so boyle that some murmuring breaketh forth agaynst god Seyng Daniel then could perseuere in praysing God whereas he was yet oppressed with so many griefes sorowes distresses this was a notable signe of inuincible patience And without doubt hee signifieth a continuall action where he putteth that pronowne demonstratiue dena which is referred to hys ordinary vsage as hee dyd before of old tyme. When he noteth the tyme he noteth as I haue sayd a continuance so that he vsed not to pray once or twise but continually euery day he exercised him self in this godly exercise 11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication vnto his God. Here do the nobles of Darius bewray their craft whiles they do watch Daniel and that with mutuall cōspiracy For they had none other cause that moued them to make that decrée but to draw Daniel vnto death Therfore they assemble them selues together and finde Daniel praying and makyng supplication before his god If Daniel had prayed priuely he had not bene in daunger of those traynes but he dyd not doubt to offer hym selfe vnto death for hee knew to what ende the decrée was made and he knew that the nobles would come We sée therfore how he went willyngly to death and that for none other cause but that he might reteine the true worshyp of God euen in outward profession Let them go now which will cloke their treason whyles they pretend that men may not rashly cast them selues into daunger and that seyng wicked men lye in wayte for them on euery side they are ware therfore that they do not vnaduisedly cast their lyues away For Daniel by their reason were to be blamed of to much simplicitie and foolishnes because he went into knowne daunger wittingly and willingly Howbeit as we haue sayd he could not haue escaped this daunger but he should after a sort haue fallen from god For straight way they would haue cast him in the téeth Wherfore doest thou leaue of from thy wōted maner why shuttest thou the wyndowes why darest thou not boldly pray to thy GOD It appeareth euidently that thou doest more esteme the kyng then the reuerence and feare of god Therfore Daniel because the honour of God should so haue bene diminished offereth him selfe as a sacrifice vnto death willingly as we haue sayd We are taught also by this exāple that there be traynes prepared for the children of God continually how circumspectly and modestly soeuer they behaue and order them selues But they must behaue them selues so wisely that in the meane season they be not ouer crafty or to much carefull that is that they do not so much prouide for their securitie that in the meane season they forget what God requireth and how precious his owne name is to him and how necessary the confession of fayth is in place and time 12 So they came and spake vnto the kyng concerning the kinges decree Hast thou not sealed the decree that euery man that shal make request to any God or man within thirty dayes saue to thee O king shal be cast into the denne of Lyōs The king aunswered and sayd the thing is true accordyng to the law of the Medes and Persiās that altereth not Now the nobles of Darius do come as conquerous vnto the kyng but they come vnto him craftely For they do not straight way make mention of Daniel who the knew was beloued of the king but they begin to repete agayne that which they had spoken that the decrée can not be chaunged because the law of the Medes and Persians is inuiolable and can not be altered Wherfore they ratifie this decrée agayne as much as in thē lyeth that the kyng should not afterward be at libertie to chaūge it or be bold to call backe that which he had cōmaunded Wherfore this craft is to be noted how cunningly they compasse the kyng and snare him that he should haue no libertie to call backe his word They come therfore and treate of the kinges decrée They speake neuer a word of Daniel but begin to talke of the kings decrée that they may haue yet more sure hold of the kyng It foloweth That the king aunswered the thyng is true Here do we sée how much kynges set by the prayse of constancy but they do not discerne betwixt constancy and obstinacy For kinges ought so to stand to their decrées that yet they should not be ashamed to retract and call backe that thyng which they haue vnaduisedly published If any thing therefore do escape them without aduisement wisedome and iustice doth require this that they should correct their errour But when as all regarde of iustice set apart they will haue all things to remaine inuiolable whatsoeuer they haue vnwisely decréed this is extreme foolishnes and they ought not in such case to pretend constancy for it is a proud obstinacy as we haue sayd ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing thou hast purchased vs by the precious bloud of thine owne sonne that we should not be in our owne power but that we should be geuen wholy vnto thy faythfull seruice that we may study and endeuour our selues to consecrate our selues wholy vnto thee and to offer our selues in body and soule so vnto thy seruice that we may be ready rather to suffer an hundreth deathes thē to fayle from the true and pure worship of thy maiesty and especially that we may so exercise our selues in prayer that we may flye vnto thee euery moment and yelde vp our selues vnto thy fatherly care that thou mayst gouerne vs by thy spirite defend vs and strengthen vs vnto the end whiles that we be gathered into that heauenly kyngdome which thy onely begotten sonne hath