doth more then sufficiently recompence all the griefes of the crosse And though many can feele no taste in this doctrine but thinke it vnsauery yet may not their dulnes or sluggishnes make vs the more slouthfull and therfore must we print deepely in our hartes that which the Prophet straight way pronounceth that the wicked shall do wickedly because they will vnderstand nothyng but the children of God shall be endued with the knowledge of God that they may kepe the right course of their godly vocation And it is necessary to consider the fountaine of that brutish blindnes that the heauenly doctrine may be sauery vnto vs For there is none other cause why the most part doth despise Christ and his Gospell but for that they carelesly flatter them selues in sinne and are neither wakened with any feare neither with the sense of their miseries neither with the terrour of Gods wrath to desire earnestly and feruently the redemption which onely doth deliuer vs from the bottomles depth of eternall destruction and in the meane tyme beyng snared with pleasures and other allurementes or rather betwitched thereby they are all together careles of the blessed eternity of the other lyfe And though there be many and sondry sectes of them that contempteously despise the doctrine of the Gospell and in some of them pride is more euidēt in some others tender weakenes in others a certaine dronkennes of the mynde in others a sleapy dulnes yet shall we finde that this contempt commeth of a prophane careles security because that no man doth enter into him selfe to examine his owne miseries to finde a remedy for them This is a monstrous madnes when Gods wrath and curse lyeth vpon vs and his iust vengeance doth presse vs that we should cast of all care and stand in our owne conceit as though nothyng were to be feared How be it this vice is to much commune that those that are gilty a thousand tymes and are worthy a thousand tymes of eternall death whē they haue sleighty done a few foolishe ceremonies vnto God they bryng them selues into a slepe or rather a deadly and senseles traunce But seyng that Paul doth pronounce that the sauour of the Gospell is deadly vnto all those whose myndes the deuill bewitcheth it is necessary for vs that will taste the sauour therof vnto lyfe to set our selues before Gods iudgement seat and often thether to sommon our consciences the which beyng wounded with an vnfeined feare the reconciliation which Christ hath purchased for vs with his bloud so precious may be estemed of vs accordyng to the price and worthynes Wherfore the aungell preacheth of the eternall iustice which Christ hath sealed with the sacrifice of his death to cause men to reuerence Christes doctrine to wynne authoritie vnto it and he expresseth also the maner and meane to obteine iustice because sayth he iniquity is done away and purged Therfore whiles the world doth run mad after theyr lustes and wantonnes let the consideration of the cōdemnation which we haue deserued make vs afrayde and hūble vs before god And whiles carnall men do glutte them selues with earthly pleasures delites let vs embrace with feruent desire this vncomparable treasure in the which an assured felicity and blessednes is layd vp for vs Let our enemies prate as they please that they also care how to haue God mercifull vnto thē seing they are of this opiniō that men must doubtfully call vpō God in prayer it is plaine that they ouerthrow the chief foundation of our saluation Let them taunt scoffe at our fayth as long as they list so that we feele assuredly that no man can attaine to this prerogatiue but by the benefite of fayth with a free and quiet conscience trustyng to the mediation of Christ to call God father But the study of Religion and care of godlines will neuer take force in vs as it ought to do vntil we do learne to lift vp our myndes which are alwayes ouer prone to the earth and exercise them in a continuall meditation of the heauenly lyfe In the which point the meruelous vanity of mankynd bewrayeth it selfe that whereas al men can speake plausibly as they were Philosophers of the shortnes of this life yet no man aspireth to that eternall and euerlastyng life Wherfore it was not without cause that Paul when he cōmēdeth the faith charity of the Collossians sayth that they are encouraged by that hope which was layd vp in the heauēs And speakyng in an other place of the end of the grace which is reueled vnto vs in Christ he sayth that we are taught therby to deny all vngodlynes and worldly desires and to lyue soberly and iustly and godly in this world waityng for that blessed hope glorious commyng of the great God euen our Sauiour Iesus Christ Let this hope then waityng for his cōmyng rauish vs vnto it and lose vs from all worldly impedimentes and the more that the world is infected and farced with the careles lyfe of the Epicures it becommeth vs to labour so much the more earnestly that this infection creepe not into vs also vntil we come to the marke appointed And although it is to be lamēted that such a multitude doth willyngly perish yet lest the wicked madnes of them which thus cast them selues downe purposely to their owne destruction should trouble vs let an other lesson of Daniel comforte vs that there is a sure saluation layd vp for all them that are found written in the booke And although our election be hyd in the secrete coūsell of God which is the first cause of our saluation yet seyng that the adoption of all that are grafted into the body of Christ by faith in the Gospell is nothing doubtfull be you content with this testimony go forward courageously in this that you haue blessedly begon And though you must yet fight a longer battaile as I pronounce vnto you that there are yet behynd sorer skyrmishes then you do looke for with what rage so euer the madnes of the wicked shall boyle forth and though they bryng all the deuils of hell to helpe them remember you that your full course is appointed by the heauenly moderator and ruler of the field whose lawes and orders you must obey the more willyngly because that he doth minister strength vnto his souldiours vnto the end Now because it is not lawfull for me to forsake the state place and office wherein God will haue me to remaine this my labour dedicate vnto you shal be a pledge of my carefull desire to helpe you whiles that my pilgrimage beyng ended the heauenly father of great mercy shall gather me together with you into his euerlastyng heritage The Lord gouerne you with his holy spirite my deare beloued brethren and defend you with his protection agaynst all the enterprises of the enemyes and strengthen you with an inuincible power At Geneua 14. Calend of September 1561. ⧠The
and that thou art such a faythfull keeper thereof that thou wilt not suffer one heare to fall from our heads but that thou wilt so defend vs that the wicked also may know that we boast not in vayne of thy holy name neither that our prayers vnto thee are fruteles and when we haue felt thy fatherly goodnes and care all the course of our life in the ende receiue vs to that blessed immortalitie which thou hast promised vnto vs and layd vp for vs in the heauen through Iesus Christ our lord Amen 20 The name of God be praysed for euer and euer for wisdome and strength are his 21 And he changeth the times and seasons hee taketh away kynges and he setteth vp kynges he geueth wisedome vnto the wise and vnderstanding to those that vnderstand 22 He discouereth the deepe and secret thinges he knoweth what is in darkenes c. Now Daniel prayseth God as we ought dayly to wish hys name to be sanctified but especially as Daniell doth here when he worketh any strange worke and sheweth any token of his fauour amongst vs Wherupon sayth Dauid Thou hast put a new song into my mouth And Isay sayth that God hath geuen the matter of a new song because he hath dealt meruelously with his Church So doth Daniell here prayse God with most vehement affection geuing vnto him only the prayse of power and of wisedome and so separating him from all false Gods and all creatures in that as he knoweth all thinges by his wisedome so doth he rule and gouerne all thinges by his power so that nothing is done but by his appointment and also that he hath not only this fountaine of all wisedome and power in him selfe but that he spreadeth forth the same to be séene both in heauen and in earth So that what wisdome or power so euer appeareth in any creature in the world it is but a signe testimony and declaration of Gods wisedome and power that God may be magnified So that the change and alteration of times of states of kingdomes and of all artes and sciences are but as it were glasses to cause man to beholde Gods power and wisedome by the which all thinges are gouerned Wherfore Daniell teacheth vs that we neede not to clime vp to the heauens to search out this wisedome and power for it is dayly practised amongst vs vpon the earth whiles we sée kinges and kingdomes altered and changed so farre aboue all compasse of mans wit and our capacities that we may alway haue our recourse vnto God and reuerence his maiestie in all thinges If all the yeares and dayes should runne after one course we would attribute it vnto nature But now when we sée how farre sommer doth differ from the winter and that we haue not yet alwayes the like sommer and the like winter no sometimes the spring time is hoote as the sommer sometime it is as cold as stormy and snowye as the winter and the sommers are sometimes so straunge and the yeares so diuerse one from an other all these alterations and changes are wrought by the wisdome of God to waken vs and to stirre our dull hartes to looke vp to the maker of all and not to sticke to the fond imagination of nature as do the philosophers and so robbe God of his honor And if in all these small mutations the power of God be so manifest how much more should God be magnified in these great transformations of the whole world which are now in our dayes most euidēt so that we may boldly say to the proude contēners with the prophet Dauid Lift not vp your hornes so high nor speake with stiffe neckes for to come to preferment is neither from the east nor from the west nor from the sowth but God is the iudge he maketh low and he maketh high Thus resting vpō Gods we may deride all vayne discourses of mans brayne wherewith they folishly trouble their heades that God commeth seldome or neuer into their remembrance the which fault Daniell noteth in this 21. verse like as he goeth farther in the 22. verse Wherby we learne to geue God his due prayse in all thinges which the world with open sacrilege doth vse to robbe from him that if we haue any vnderstanding or iudgement at all we must knowledge it to be Gods gift If we haue but one drop of common sense or wit we must prayse God for it For without his secret inspiration geuing vs this vnderstanding we should haue bene like stones and stockes Now he that hath more knowledge is more bounden vnto God because he hath receiued more For who is it that maketh this diuersity but only God But aboue all the knowledge of spirituall thinges is the rare and singular gift of the holy ghost and therefore the manifest token of Gods power Let vs therfore beware of that deuelish pride wherewith the word is bewitched boasting in their giftes as though they came of them selues let vs prayse God for that he hath not only geuen vs the cōmune gift of wit and vnderstandyng to put a difference betwixt good and euill which séemeth only naturall but that he hath so lightned our mindes that we do perceiue those spirituall thinges which els should farre passe our capacities and let vs pray continually that he would vouchsafe more and more to open to vs that light wherein he dwelleth that so we may féele the power of his spirite working in our darkenes and strengthening vs in his seruice ¶ The Prayer GRaunt O Lord God that where so many testimonies of thy wisedome power and glory are dayly before our eyes and yet we can not see them but bury thys cleare light with our ingratitude graunt we beseech thee that at the length we may learne to opē our eyes or rather that thou wouldest open them by thy spirite that we regarding with how many how great and how excellent benefites thou presentest thy selfe vnto vs and geuest testimony of thy wisedome thy power and diuine maiesty we mey so profite in this thy schole of holines that we may attribute all prayse of all power wisedome and knowledge vnto thee that we chalenge nothing at all vnto our selues but only extoll and magnify thee and the more liberall that thou pleasest to shew thy selfe vnto vs the more earnestly we may labour to serue thee and to geue our selues wholy vnto thee taking no peece of prayse to our selues but caring only for this one thing that to thee alone may all glory remayne and shine throughout the world through Iesus Christ our lord Amen 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king and sayd the secret which the king hath demaunded can neither the wise the astrologians the inchanters nor the southesayers declare vnto the king 28 But there is a God in heauen that reueileth secretes and sheweth the king Nebuchadnezer what shal be in the latter dayes Thy dreame and the thinges which thou hast sene in thine head
It was a thyng very daungerous so to cast down the Emperour of the whole world as Daniel did Thou sayth he wilt not be counted amongest men but art now worshipped as it were a God thou shalt hereafter be a beast There is no man at this day that dare thus speake to Emperours and Kynges either yet that dare admonish them gently whē they trespas Seyng then that Daniel did forwarne the kyng boldly what great shame he should come vnto doubtles herein he did declare a rare and notable example of his constancy And thus was his vocatiō sealed vp and more plainly confirmed for this boldnes came of the spirite of god But we must rather stand of the second parte where we see Gods care towardes his Church The prouidence of God vndoubtedly is spread throughout the world For if a sparow do not fall vpon the earth without his permission we may be sure that he prouideth for mankind Therfore nothyng commeth vnto vs by chaunce But God in this booke doth set vs vp a light to see that the Church is so gouerned of him that he hath a singular care ouer it If euer thinges were so troubled and out of order in the world that men might coniecture that God dyd slepe in the heauens and forgate mankind no doubt such was the rollyng whele of those tymes yea there were so manifold and straunge alterations that he which was of the most hye courage might well faint seing there was none end of warres and sometymes the Aegyptians gate the victorie and sometymes there were other styrres and warres in Syria Seyng then that all thynges were turned vpside downe what could be iudged but that God contemned the world and that the miserable Iewes were deceiued of their hope when they thought that GOD which was their deliuerer would likewyse be their keper and Sauiour at all tymes For although all nations generally were then subiect to many calamities if yet the Syrians ouercame the Aegyptians then dyd they abuse their power agaynst the Iewes and Ierusalem was sayd open to the spoyle as though it had bene the wages of the victory If other had ouercome in battaile they aduenged their iniuries vpon the poore Iewes and there they sought their recompense Thus were those miserable men spoyled that their conditiō was much worse after their captiuitie when they were returned into their countrey then if they had alway bene exiles and straungers in other countreys And when they were admonished of thinges to come this was their chief stay wherupon to rest But the vse of the same doctrine must be applied vnto vs at this day For we do see as it were in a glasse or lyuely image that God was carefull of his Church euen then when he semed to haue cast of all care therof Agayne that it was not without his diuine counsaile that the Iewes were thus exposed to the iniuries of their enemyes But of the other part we do acknowledge that they were meruailously perserued euen with a greater and more maruelous power of God then if they had liued quietly and none had molested them These things are to be learned from the vij Chapter to the ix Now when Daniel doth nomber the yeares vntill the commyng of Christ how cleare and euident a testimony is this which we may set agaynst Sathan and all the scoffes of the wicked seyng it is certaine that the booke of Daniel was in mens handes before this came to passe Where he thē reckeneth 70. Weekes and affirmeth that then Christ shall come let all prophane persones come now and prate and with open mouthes declare their obstinacy yet shall they be ouerthrowen in the end and be conuinced that Christ is that true redemer whom God had promised from the begynnyng of the world because he would haue him manifest with so sure a demonstration as no Astrologians haue the lyke This then is well worthy to be obserued and marked that after that Daniel hath treated of diuerse calamities of the Church he appointeth the tyme wherin God would reuele his Sonne vnto the world and that he treateth of the office of Christ This is one of the chief Articles of our fayth And he doth not onely speake of his commyng but Prophecieth that the shadowes of the law shall then be abolished because that Christ will bryng the accomplishment therof with him And where he speaketh of the death of Christ he also teacheth to what end he shall suffer death euen that he may abolishe sinne by his sacrifice and may geue eternall iustice To conclude this is to be noted that euen as he had instructed hys auncient people to patient sufferyng of afflictions so doth he also admonish that the state of the Church shall not be quyet when Christ shall be geuen vnto the world but that the children of God must haue a continuall battaile vnto the end and that the fruition of the victory is not to be hoped for whiles that the dead shall arise and Christ shall gather vs into his heauenly kyngdome Thus do we comprehend briefly or rather do tast how profitable and fruitfull this booke is Now come I to the wordes how that Nebuchadnezar either the father or the sonne for they both reigned together came in the thyrd yeare of Iehoiakim and tooke away Daniel and the first captiues of whom Ieremy speaketh afterward Iehoiakim rebelled in the fourth yeare and was worse handled ⧠Meditations vpon the booke of Daniel the Prophet with certaine Prayers collected forth of the Lessons of that diuine Caluine rather for the comfort of the conscience then orderly translated in the two first Chapters but afterward you haue the whole Commentary Chap. 1. The Texte IN the thyrd yeare of the reigne of Iehoiakim kyng of Iuda came Nebuchadnezer kyng of Babel vnto Ierusalē and besieged it 2 And the Lord gaue Iehoiakim the kyng into hys hand with part of the vessels of the house of GOD which he caried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God and brought thē into his Gods treasurie 3 And the kyng spake vnto Ashpenaz the master of his Eunuches that he should bryng certaine of the children of Israel of the kynges seede and of the Princes 4 Children in whom there was no blemish c. ¶ The Meditation GOds diuine prouidence and his profound iudgementes do maruelously appeare in the captiuitie of Daniel in the whole order of Gods workes in deliueryng that kyng of Iudah and his owne people into the handes of Nebuchadnezer the kyng of Babylon an heathen tyraunt Daniel as appeareth was one of the first captiues that were led from Iudah of whom Ieremy speaketh that they were very good figs pleasant to the Lords tast which were first caryed captiue For God promiseth to giue thē heartes to know hym and that they shall be hys people and that he will be theyr god Ier. 24. throughout the Chapter Agayn the kyng was ruled by the counsell of the
though they rage neuer so much may yet be turned toward vs And so by the example of Daniel let vs learne constantly to go forward in our course appointed and not to turne backe though all the world be agaynst vs for God is able easily to remoue all impedimentes And this may we sée by Gods mercy that God causeth our enemyes to thinke well of vs in those thynges which yet they do not allow in them selues For he thought well of Daniel that hee dyd well to worshyp hys God after the Iewish maner but he thought his Babilonicall Religion to be the best As many prophane men now a dayes are content to graunt that we do well which cast away Popish superstitions yet do they sléepe still in this errour that they may lyue still after their old customes because they were so brought vp and so taught by their forefathers So doth this Eunuch make his excuse by the kyng and findeth no fault with Daniel Yet doth Daniel with a singular constancy go forward with hys purpose and proueth the Eunuches seruaunt And hereby we may learne to go forward with good things and know that the cōmaundemēt of a kyng in externall matters can not binde our cōsciēces And this is a true triall of our fayth whē we are not wearied in séekyng to do well neither steppe backe for a litle trouble or thinke that the doore which is shut can not be opened Wherfore if we do not turne backe from our good purpose but proue all other meanes conuenient then is it euident that godlynes hath taken some roote in our hartes Wherfore he biddeth the seruaunt proue if God do not preserue hym and hys felowes as well lykyng as others And hereby we may perceiue that Daniel was moued by Gods spirite to require this so earnestly seing that God dyd as it were miraculously preserue them It is most sure that man lyueth not by bread onely but by the word and decrée of God that is to say because God hath decréed and appoynted bread and such other of hys creatures to be mans sustenaunce Now God had taught Daniel by hys spirite that hee could not remaine pure amongest the Babylonians vnles he refused their delicates Whereby we may learne to beware that we giue not our selues to serue our glotonous lustes for then shall we easely be drawen from the feare of God our duetie towardes others and consider this general doctrine that what soeuer meat we lyue withall it is not by the power of the meat which is dead in it selfe but by the singular blessyng of our God. And we must despise the daynties of Aegypt as Moses did chusing to suffer aduersitie with the people of God rather thē to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season with the wicked Agayne let vs learne hereby that if we should haue nothyng but rootes and hearbes in Gods seruice yea though the earth do altogether fayle vs and bryng vs no fruite at all yet God can so blesse vs that we shall be well lykyng as were the children of Israel 40. yeares long in the wildernes The Prayer GRaunt O Lord God that seing wee do liue now amongest so many enemies and the Deuill neuer ceaseth to stirre agaynst vs new troubles so that all the world is enraged agaynst those that transforme themselues from the vanities of this world that they may the better serue thee Graunt we beseech thee that we may perceaue both the deuill himselfe and all his wicked powers to be so brideled and subiect vnto thee that thou canst turne them and direct their hartes which way thou thinkest best that we learning by experience that we shall alway be safe and sure vnder thy protection as thou hast promised vs may continually go forward in our vocation despising the pleasures and not fearing any terrors whiles at the length we may come to that blessed rest which is laid vp for vs in the heauens through Iesus Christ our Lord. 17 As for these fower children God gaue them knowledge and vnderstanding in all wisedome also he gaue Daniell vnderstanding of all visions and dreames 18 Now when the time was expired that the king had appointed to bring them in the chiefe of the Eunuches brought thē before Nebuchadnezer And the king communed with them and among them all was found none like Daniel c. ¶ The Meditation Wheras the other thrée companions of Daniell were singular in all liberall sciences and learning Daniell onely was authorised for the prophet of God to declare darke visions the which thing is written to confirme his doctrine both vnto the Iewes and the Gentiles And the Lord gaue this excellency of learning and knowledge vnto these that were strangers to stirre vp the king and his people to reuerence his maiesty in the presence of his seruauntes that they should be compelled to acknowledge Gods grace whom they worshipped to be the cause of their excellent wits and great knowledge seing no man by nature is excellent in such thinges but onely as God geueth and his countrey men were as diligently instructed as these strangers God therefore did this for his owne glory when he made Daniell and his fellowes so excellent by tenfolde aboue all the learned of his whole kingdome And thus God vseth to rauish his enemies into the admiration of his power euen when they woulde most fly from it For what sought Nebuchadnezer but only to extinguish the memory of God by bringing vp these of the noble families in the sciences of the Chaldees that they might oppugne the Religion of God wherein they were borne The king purposed this but God caused the kinges counsaill to set forth his glory and made Daniell to be knowne for an excellent prophet all the dayes of this kinges life and long after euen vnto the first yeare of king Cyrus as appeareth in the fift chapt and the eleuenth verse The Prayer GRaūt O most mercifull father seing that euery good gift proceedeth from thee and though one do excel an other in qicknes of wit wisedome and vnderstāding yet no mā hath any thing of his owne but as thou doost vouchsafe to distribute to euery man after the measure of thy free liberalitie that we may apply all our vnderstanding and learning to the glory of thy name Agayne that with all humblenes and modesty we may acknowledge all to be thine that thou hast lent vs and that we labour to keepe our selues in such sobrietie that we search nothing curiously neither yet corrupt the true and naturall knowledge of the creatures which should moue vs to magnify the creator but that we remaine in that simplicitie wherunto he calleth vs Furthermore that we stay not in these earthly thinges but that we may rather learne to lift vp our mindes to the true wisedome that is to say to know thee to be the very God and so geue our selues to obey thy iustice and that this be our onely wisedome to obey thee and
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
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
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
the instinction of the spirite that they are nothyng that is before God because it commeth to passe none otherwyse that they should extoll them selues so much but that they are blinded in theyr owne darkenes But when they shal be drawne vnto the light they shall know that they are altogether nothing And what so euer we be it hangeth altogether of the grace of God which doth kéepe vs euery moment and doth ioyne vnto vs a new strength Therefore our part is nothing els but to rest and stand stedfast in God because as soone as he draweth backe his hād and the power of his spirite we fade away Therefore we are something that is in the Lord God but we are nothing in our selues Now it followeth that God worketh according to hys will in the army of heauen and in the dwellers vpon earth This might séeme absurde that God is sayd to do as he will as though he had neither moderation nor equity nor rule of iustice But we must marke that which we haue spoken in an other place that men are gouerned by lawes because their willes are peruerse and are caryed hither and thether after their owne lustes without measure but God is a law vnto him selfe because his wil is most perfect iustice Therfore as oft as the Scripture setteth forth vnto vs the power of God and doth commaunde vs to be content therewith it doth not attribute vnto God a tyrannicall Empire as the wicked do falsely imagine But because we do not leaue of to speake agaynst God and do set our reason agaynst his secrete counsailes and so striue with him as though he dyd not that iustly and wisely which is not allowed of vs therfore that the holy ghost might bridle this presūption he doth pronoūce that God doth all things after his owne will. Let vs then remember that when we heare mētion made of God there cā no peruerse nor vniust thyng be layd vnto him his will is not chaunged by any lust but is great iustice Seyng then it is so let vs also remember how great how stubburne and how proude our rashnes is which dare cast and obiect this or that agaynst god Whereof it foloweth that this doctrine is necessary to cast vpon vs a bridle of modestie that God doth all thynges after his owne will as it is sayd in the Psalme our God is in heauen he hath done what soeuer he would Now we do gather by this sentence that nothyng commeth by chaunce but what soeuer commeth to passe in the world commeth by the secrete prouidence of god Neither ought here to be admitted that vnsauery distinction betwixt the sufferaunce of God and his wil. For we sée that the holy ghost which is the best master to teach vs to speake doth here playnly expresse two thinges that is the God worketh he worketh after his owne will. And sufferance as also these curious searchers do say differeth frō wil as though God did graunt as it were agaynst his will that which yet he would not haue done There is nothing more worthy to be laughed at thē to imagine this weakenes to be in god Furthermore the very force of doing is added Therefore saith Nebuchadnezer God doth what he will. And he doth not speake accordyng to the sense of the flesh but by the instinction of the spirite as hath bene sayd He should therfore as well be heard as if a Prophet were sent from heauen Now then we sée that the world is so gouerned by the secrete prouidence of God that nothyng commeth to passe but that which he hath commaunded and decréed and furthermore that hee should also worthily be counted the author of all thynges Where some do obiect a kinde of absurditie that God is therfore the author of sinne if nothing be but by his will yea if he worke it this cauillation is easily put away because there is a diuersitie betwixt the doing of God and the workyng of men For when any man sinneth God after his maner doth worke there but in the meane season he farre differreth from man because he exerciseth his iudgement euen as he is sayd to blinde and to harden When then God doth commaunde the reprobate or the deuil those doth he geue vp to be cast into all kindes of lustes When God then doth so he doth exercise his iudgementes And he which sinneth is worthely giltie neither can he intāgle God in the societie of his wickednes Why For God hath nothyng common with him as concernyng the action of sinne Therefore we see that these thynges which many would haue to disagrée betwixt them selues do well agrée that is that God doth rule by his will what soeuer is done in the world and yet he is not the author of sinne Why For he so vseth the deuill and all the reprobate that he is alway a iust iudge The cause doth not alway appeare vnto vs but we must marke this principle because that with God is all power therfore it is not right to speake agaynst his iudgements what shew of absurditie soeuer they haue And therfore it foloweth in the text There is none that can stay his hand or can say vnto him why hast thou thus done When Nebuchadnezer sayth that the hand of God can not be stayed hereby he derideth the madnes of men which yet do not doubt to rise agaynst god Now let them lift vp their finger if they can to stay his hand and yet beyng ouercome of their infirmitie they go forward in that their rage Therfore Nebuchadnezer doth worthely shew their foolish madnes whiles they lift vp them selues so presumpteously that they would put God to silence or shut him vp in their cages or make some chaynes wherby they may binde hym Seyng then that men do burst forth into such outragious fury they are worthily laughed at And hereto belong the wordes which we read in Daniel Afterward he addeth that none sayth VVhy hast thou done so We know that mens tounges are losed to all wickednes of talke because scarce the hūdreth part of mē doth conteine them selues in this sobrietie to geue the glory vnto God and to confesse that he is iust in hys workes But here Nebuchadnezer did not looke what men were wont to do but what was lawfull Therfore he sayth that God can not be corrected that is by right seyng how soeuer the reprobate do talke yet their vayne talkyng doth fall by it selfe because it hath no ground neither yet any colour The summe is that the will of God should be a law vnto vs because we striue agaynst him in vayne and furthermore because if we permit vnto our selues so much lust if our madnes also do brust forth so farre that we will braul with God this shal be without successe For God hym selfe shal be iustified in his iudgements and so all mens mouthes shal be stopped This is the summe But we must marke that which is added That the will of God is done
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
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
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
Lectures and readynges of Iohn Caluine vpon Daniel ¶ The first Prayer that he continually vsed before the same ¶ The Lord God graunt vs to be exercised in the mysteries of his heauenly wisedome with true encrease of Godlines vnto his glory and our edification Amen HEre foloweth the boke of Daniel the Prophet the vtility commoditie wherof how great it is may more easily bee vnderstand by the goyng forward in the same then aptly in fewe wordes be declared But I will now giue some tast yet therof which may the better prepare vs to the readyng make vs more attentiue And before I do come so farre I will briefly comprehend the summe of the boke and so diuide it as may best further vs Wherfore we will diuide it into two partes First Daniel rehearseth how he atteined authoritie euen amongest the infidels For it was necessarie that he should be raysed vp to his propheticall office after a straunge rare maner All thinges as is well knowne were so cōfused and so farre out of order amongest the Iewes that scarcely could any man beleue that there remained yet any Prophet Hieremias was a lyue in the begynnyng and Ezekiel afterward Also the Iewes had their Prophetes after their returne but Hieremias Ezekiel had almost ended their course when Daniel began to Prophecy Others as Haggaei Zakari and Malachi were created Prophets to exhort the people so that their office seemed to be limited As concernyng Daniel he could scarcely be counted for a Prophet vnles God had set hym vp after a maruelous maner as I haue sayd This shall we see to the end of the vj. chapter that he was adourned of God with speciall notes and tokens that the Iewes might fully be assured that God had geuē hym vnto them for a Prophet vnles they would condemne them selues of filthy ingratitude agaynst god His name was famous amongest the Babilonians and much honored If the Iewes had despised hym that was had in admiratiō euē of the prophane Gentiles was not this as it were of set purpose to quench to tread vnder foote the grace of God Daniel therfore had certaine notes and tokens wherby he might be knowen the Prophet of God wherby his vocation might be ratified The second part is ioyned afterward wherby God forwarneth by him what soeuer should shortly come to the elect people The visions therfore from the vij chapter to the end of the booke do peculiarly belong to the Church of god For there God declareth what is to come which was a thyng very necessary It was a sore tentation when the Iewes must suffer captiuitie 70. yeares and yet after that they should returne into their countrey for those 70. yeares God did differre the full deliuerance vnto 70. times seuē yeares Their mindes might haue fayled and they all haue dispayred a thousand tymes For the Prophetes had spoken so gloriously of the redemption that the Iewes did hope for an happy and most blessed state so soone as they should be deliuered from the Babilonicall bondage But when they are oppressed agayne with so many afflictions and that not for a short tyme but aboue foure hundreth yeares where as they were in captiuitie but 70. yeares the deliuerance might seme but a mockery And there is no doubt but that Sathan dyd tempt the myndes of many to fall away from God as though God had deluded them when he brought them forth of Chaldea into their countrey For these causes God declared by a vision vnto hys seruaunt how many and how great afflictions did remaine for the people of god Howbeit Daniel doth so Prophetie that he doth almost lyke an Historiographer describe all those thyngs which then were secrete And this was very necessarie because that in so troublesome alterations the people had neuer tasted that these thynges were reueled vnto Daniel by God if the successe had not approued the heauenly testimonie Therfore was it mete that this holy man should thus speake and Prophecie of thynges to come as though he had declared thynges already performed But this shall we speake of in place I returne to the begynnyng to declare how profitable this booke of Daniel is to the Church of Christ And first the matter it selfe declareth that Daniel did not speake of his own head but that what soeuer he did speake it was taught hym by the holy ghost For how could he haue coniectured these thynges that we shall see afterward if he had folowed nothyng but mās wisedome that is to say that other Monarchies should grow vp which should destroy the Empire of Babylon which had thē the greatest power in all the world Agayne how could he coniecture of the commyng of great Alexander and of his successors Long before Alexander was borne Daniel dyd Prophecie what he should do Also he declareth that his kingdome should not be lōg because it should straight wayes be diuided into foure hornes Other thynges that he speaketh also do manifestly proue that he spake by the holy Ghost Howbeit this may be more euidently proued by his other Prophecies whē he admonisheth with what great miseries the Church shall be vexed betwixt those two most cruell enemies the kyng of Syria and the kyng of Aegypt There doth he rehearse their leagues and then reciteth theyr cruell warres one agaynst an other and afterward all the alterations and he doth so point out euery thyng with the finger and prosecute the whole matter that it may appeare that God speaketh by his mouth This is then a great thyng and very profitable to know assuredly that Daniel was the instrument of the holy Ghost and that he dyd speake nothyng of his owne brayne Now that he was in such authoritie to the end that he might be in more credite with the Iewes concernyng his doctrine that is extended vnto vs For how foule and shamefull ingratitude is this if we do not embrace the Prophet of God whom the Chaldees were compelled to honour whom we know both to haue bene superstitious and full of pompe and pride Those two nations of the Aegyptians and Chaldees stode most in their owne conceit of all others For the Chaldees thought that they onely had the Vniuersitie of all wisedome Wherfore they would neuer haue bene very ready to receiue Daniel vnles the truth had compelled them and that this confession had bene violently wrasted forth of them that Daniel was the very Prophet of God. Now when the authoritie of Daniel is thus confirmed somethyng must be spoken of the matters that he treateth And concernyng interpretations of dreames the first dreame of Nebuchadnezar doth conteine as we shall see a thyng of most great importance that is to say that all the glory the power of the world must vanish away and that the kingdome of Christ onely shall remaine stable and that there is none other perpetuitie As concernyng the second dreame of Nebuchadnezar therin doubtles the meruelous constancy of Daniel is euident
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