THE FALL OF King Nabuchadnezzer. Dan. 4. 28. 29. 30. By Henry Smith. printer's or publisher's device Printed by Thomas Scarlet, 1591. Dan. 4. 28. 28 While the word was in his mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying. O King Nabuchadnezzer, to thee be it spoken, thy kingdom is departed from thee. 29 And they shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, they shall make thee to eat grass with the Oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou knowest that the most highest God beareth rule over the kingdoms of men, and giveth to whomsoever he will. 30 The very same hour was this thing fulfilled upon Nabuchadnezzer, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as the Oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown as eagle's feathers, and his nails as birds claws. FRom the 26. verse, to the end of this chapter, is laid down the pride, fall, and restitution of Nabuchadnezzer. The two first verses are like a banner of his pride, which show him in his ruffeling as it were in the air, before he knew God, or himself. The three next verses are the discovery of his shame, which show him in his misery, as it were groveling on the ground, after God had cooled his courage. The four last verses are the celebration of his recovery, which show him in holiness as it were rapt into heaven, & singing with the saints for joy, that God had brought him unto his knowledge, though it were through shame and trouble, and loss of all that he had seven years together. Of his pride we have heard already: yet because we are friends to vices, as we are to men, so long as they prosper and flourish, but when they decay and fall, than we shrink away, and are ashamed of them: so it may be, if ye could see pride take a fall, though ye love her well yet ye would forsake her, like a bankrupt, when ye see that she can pleasure you no longer. Therefore ye shall see Nabuchadnezzer upon his feet again: before you beheld him upon his knees, that when ye see what a king he was in his galleries, and after find his servants in his palace, and his subjects in his throne, & himself like a beast in the wilderness, God may give you hearts to think a little of this sin, what it is which cost so dear, and is as common now in every house, as it was then in the King's court. After twelve months (saith Daniel) that is, twelve months after GOD had warned this king by dreams and by Daniel, to repent his sins, he was strutting in his galleries, and thought what sin should be next, as though he had never heard of dream or Prophet. By this computation of sin, wherein the months are observed so exactly, how long Nabuchadnezzer rebelled after he was warned, Daniel shows what a reckoning God keeps of our months, and weeks and days, which he gives us to repent, as he did to Nabuchadnezzer, & what an account we shall make of them, as Nabuchadnezzer did, though we count no more of our age then the child doth of his youth, & have done no more of our task at twenty then when we were but ten, nor at thirty then when we were but twenty, nor at forty then when we were thirty, yet we shall give account of more hours in the day of judgement, & it shall be heavier to the old than to the young, to you which have the word, then to them which want it: and there is great odds between Nabuchadnezzer and us, for he which challenged Nabuchadnezzer for twelve months since he was warned, may challenge us of twelve years since we were warned, and yet we look not for so great punishment as fell upon Nabuchadnezzer for twelve months. Daniel names three twelve months, as though he would speak of a great matter, and shows how worthy Nabuchadnezzer was to be punished, because he might have reform his life since he was warned: for there were twelve months between his dreams and his banishment. But that year wherein he had so many warnings and teachings, was as vain as the rest, and vainer than the years before: for now he should have been a mourner like the king of Niniveh, when jonas threatened destruction unto them. But like a victor of a country returned from battle, to solemnize his triumph, first he decked his palace as brave as himself, and then he walks his stations in it, and when he hath set all things before him, which might make him forget God, and hoist himself in pride, like a serpent that would burst unless he discharged some of his poison, he breaketh out and saith, Is not this great Babel, which I have built by the might of my power, for the honour of my majesty? Wherein observe first what a glorious opinion this vain king had of his vain buildings. Secondly, how that he names himself the founder of them, as though he had done all without an help. Thirdly, that in all his works he sought nothing but vainglory, as he witnesseth against himself, saying: which I have built for the honour of my majesty, not for the honour of God's majesty, but for the honour of my majesty. So first that which he should have contemned, as Christ did the beauty of the temple, he admired it, Math. 24 2 and nothing seemed so glorious to him, as that which made him shameful to God. Secondly, that City which was built by Semiramis, he arrogateth to himself, and never joined the chief workmaster with him, but saith which I have built by the might of my power, when he should have said, by the might of God's power. ●sal. 127. 1. For unless God build the house, the builders (saith David) buildeth but in vain. Kin. 4 10. Lastly, that which he should have built for the honour of God, as the man built a chamber for the Prophet, he builded for his own honour, as our Nabuchadnezzar's do. Therefore when all his pleasures were prepared like a feast, and he came to sit down at the banquet, it happened to him as to the churl in the Gospel, after he had filled his barns, when he came to sing in his heart, be merry my soul, that night his soul was taken from him and the devils made merry with it in hell: so he had feathered his nest, and began to crow upon his roof, Is not this great Babel, etc. As if he should say, Now Nabuchadnezzer, make thee merry, that hour his honour was taken from him, for a voice came down from heaven like the terrible hand which wrote upon the wall, when Balthasar sat at his banquet, and dashed his pride upon such a rock, that within an hour all his pomp and pleasures and treasures, suffered such a shipwreck, that his that his fall was more admired of all, than his glory and buildings were admired of himself. Thus all the joy, and pleasures, and glory of pride are spoken with a breath, and stopped with another. Yo● have heard what the voice spoke from earth, now you shall hear what the voice sounds from heaven. These three verses following declare this kings fall, when and how, and from whom it was. While the words were yet, etc. there is the time. A voice, etc. there is the judge. O king, etc. there is the arraignment, Thy kingdom, etc. there is the judgement, He was driven from men, & lived with beasts in the wilderness, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers. There is the execution and manner of his punishment. First of time, While, etc. As Daniel observed the time when Nabuchadnezzer sinned, so he observeth the time when Nabuchadnezzer is punished, as if God had lain in wait to catch him in his words, & take him at the trip: even as he watched Lot's wife, when she looked back, Goe 14 and transformed her into a pillar of Salt, so soon as she looked behind. So now the Lord lay as it were in the scout, to watch when Nabuchadnezzer spoke treason, and to apprehend him upon it. O Nabuchadnezzer, thou hast vaunted these twelve months, since I warned thee, and I made as though I heard not, but suffered thee to do and speak thy pleasure, and vauntest thou still? Surely, thou shalt scape me no longer, I will not hear a word more against mine honour: so he cut cut him off while the words were in his mouth, and propundeth the words of judgement against him. If you mark the time when the voice spoke from heaven, you may see three wisdoms of God, first God takes him in his fault, that he might see his fault, ●. Kin. 13 4. as jeroboam was strooken when he struck the Prophet, that he might know why he was strooken. Then he takes him suddenly, because he contemneth his warning, as the fire came upon Sodom while they contemned Lot's warning. Gen. 19 24 Thirdly, God takes him where he is pleasantest, & lustiest, & safest, in his palace, which was like a castle, as he took Herod, when his guard stood by him, Acts. 12. 23. that he might see that nothing can guard him from God, but God must guard him from danger, or else Princes be not safer than subjects: so though a man sin often, and steal his sins as it were without punishment, yet at the last he is took napping while the wickedness is in his hand: as the jews were, Num while the quails were in their mouths, and his day is set when he shall pay for all, whether it be after twelve months, or twelve years, whensoever it cometh, it will seem to soon. Vengeance doth stay till sin be ripe, & watch the time when they are most occupied: then judgement steps forth, like the Angel to stop Balaam in his way. Num Because the punishment is more terrible and grievous when they look not for it (for the worst that is, wish like Balaam to die the death of the righteous) therefore God will cross them in that: though they prosper always before, yet their ends shall be a kind of judgement upon all their life, and a prophesy of torment, for all men to see what becomes of the wicked after death, that they may fear to be like unto them. As when we see some stricken dead while they forswear themselves at the bar: some fall down under the table, while they sit swilling at the wine: some stricken dumb in the pulpit, while they preach untruths: even as the Philistines were slain while they feasted: and as Herod was shamed while he vaunted: Act. 12 23 and as jeroboam was stricken while he struck. 1. Kin 13. 4 What doth this teach us, but that our sins depart from us, so soon as they are done, unto the judge, and there they accuse us, as cain's murder cried out against him, so soon as he slew his brother, Gen. 4 I know thy words, saith God: Reu. 3 15 he may say, I know thy words and thy thoughts too. For judas could not go so closely about his treachery, Mat. 26 14 15, 16 but that Christ did know when his thought entered into his heart, and heard when he conferred also with the Scribes, and saw likewise when he took the bribe, though he kept a time to punish him, as he saith in the seven and thirty Psalm the second verse: When I see a convenient time, then will I execute judgement. Now the time was come, when this king should be made an example unto all other kings after him, to amend their lives and reform their realm. When the Prophet cometh from God unto them, to tell them what they should do, when dream & Daniel had done what they could: now God calls forth his judgements and bids them see what they can do, & commands them to chase Nabuchadnezzer, until he have lost his kingdom, until he be driven out of his palace, until he be fled into the wilderness, until he be degenerate like a beast, until his subjects & servants, and pages, make their sport, & gaze and wonder at him, like a fool which goeth unto the stocks, or a trespasser, which is gazed at upon the pillory: So this king was debased, when God heard him but vaunt of his buildings. Therefore let us take heed, and be careful, after what sort we speak, and what words slip from us, lest God take us in our lies, or oaths, or slanders, or ribaldry, as he took Nabuchadnezzer, when his tongue walked without a bit: for if he had supposed that God had been so near, and that he would have answered him as he did, he would have held his peace, and laid his hand upon his mouth, rather than pay so dear fo● a vain word, which did him no good when it was spoken. The second note is of the judge. A voice came down from heaven: the controlling voice came down from heaven▪ God is most offended with our sin: for Nabuchadnezzer might have spoken more than this, before any other man: and no man could control him, because he was a king: and kings delight in greater vanities than buildings, yet no man saith, why dost thou so: because Solomon saith: Pro He which repeateth a matter, separateth the Prince, that is, he which tells Princes their fault, maketh them his enemies: therefore since john Baptist died, only God is left to reprove almost all that sin by authority, yet one is in heaven hath an ear & a tongue, and cheeketh the king as boldly as ever the king checketh his subjects. When the voice from earth spoke vainly, the voice from heaven spoke judgement. Hear is the king of heaven against the king of earth, the voice of God against the voice of man: a divine wrath, warring with a human pride: the fire is kindled, woe to the stubble. The Lord of hosts is in arms against the Lord of Babel, and gins to lay hands on him, and to thrust him out of his throne. First he rattles him like a thunder, O king Nubuchadnezzer, as if he should say▪ for all thou art a king, thou shalt see whether another be above thee. Now guard thy person, now defend thy honour: for he whom thou hast despised, threateneth to take thy kingdom from thee: go now & walk in thy gallery, fetch one turn more before thou be turned out of door, and walk with the beasts in the forest. Now he comes to the arraignment, & calls him to the bar, O king Nab. to thee be it spoken: he was never called king with less reverence, nor had such pay for sin in all his reign. God gives him his title, but he tells him his lot, he calls him king, but without a kingdom, as if he said, late king of Babel, hold up thy hand, here a king is arraigned in his own kingdom, & no evidence given against him, but as though he had witnessed against himself, as all sinners do, God condemneth him out of his own mouth, and to open his ears, he calleth him by his own name, O king Nabuchadnezzer, as the prisoner is called when he holds up his hand at the bar. Then he pronounceth the judgement, To thee be it spoken, to thee which advancest thyself like God, to thee which wouldst not take heed by the dream, to thee which wouldst not be warned by the prophet, to thee which didst all for thine own honour. Now hearken to thy judgement, Thy kingdom is departed from thee, thou shalt be driven out of thy palace, they which should honour thee shall expulse thee, thou shalt reign with the beasts in the desert, there shallbe thy dwelling seven years, go now and stalk in the woods, as thou didst in thy palaces, and when thou art among the lions and wolves, and Bears, look unto Babel which thou hast built. How doth this speech differ from nabuchadnezzer's speech? his words were but words, but God's words were, He spoke, and it was done. Genes 〈…〉 For in the same hour that which was spoken was done (saith Daniel) and whatsoever the same voice threateneth unto our sins or unto the sinner, shall be done at first or at last. To Nabuchadnezzer it was said, Thy kingdom shallbe taken from thee: to us it is said, Thy life shallbe taken from thee: to him it was said, Thou shalt be thrust forth into the desert: to us it is said, Thou shalt be thrown forth into darkness: to him it was said, Thou shalt be like beasts: to us it is said, Thou shalt be like the damned. Shall not the voice spoken to us be remembered with God, aswell as the threatening menaced to him? This voice came from heaven, and therefore it spoke home, not like them which glide by the faults of Princes, and whisper behind their backs, as though they would reprove them if they durst, but for fear lest the Prince, or councillor, or judge, or Magistrate, should take it as he means it, and think that he aims at them, which makes them speak in parables, as though they would cast a vail over their reproof, and eat their message before they have spoken it. The holy ghost teacheth us here to reprove, so that whosoever sinneth, may know, that thou speakest to him. He which speaketh from heaven (as this voice did) must speak like john Baptist among the Publicans and harlots, and soldiers, as though he went from one to another, and said, this is spoken to thee, this is spoken to thee, this is spoken to thee. For unless we come near this mortal Gods and proud Nabuchadnezzar's, as near as Elias came to Achab, when he said, It is thou that troublest Israel, 1. Kin. 〈…〉 they will post it over, and think that thou speakest not to them, until thou speakest plainly, as the voice spoke from heaven, To thee be it spoken. And then they will reform the matter, or else God show some judgement upon them, as he did here upon this great King Nabuchadnezzer. Now the decree goeth forth, that Nabuchadnezzer shall be king no more. Thy kingdom is departed from thee. This is such a saying, as if Nabuchadnezzer had thought of it before, he would have wept when he vaunted, to think that his honour was going from him, when he thought it was coming to him: yet his kingdom was not departed from him, & yet God saith, Thy kingdom is departed from thee, because thy decree was past, which should as surely come to pass, as if it were passed already, Therefore because we care not so long as the Prophet saith, we shall die, we shall suffer, we shall answer, he leaveth Shall, and saith Now, as God said to Abimelec: Thou art a dead man, e'en. 20 3 not thou shalt die, but thou art dead, which roused him more, then if he had threatened him an hundred deaths, because he thought that he should die presently: so the holy Ghost is forced as it were to exceed, and speak more than we think he should speak, for the hardness of our hearts, which hear like stones, and go like snails. If we have but a week to repent, we will defer it to the last day, that we may sin all the rest. Therefore it was meet to say, Thy kingdom is departed from thee. That seeing his judgement should not stay, he should not stay his repentance. If this voice had said, Thy Babel shall sink, as Nimrod's Babel did, it seemeth he would have thought his honour buried, but when he was stripped, not only of his palace, but also of his kingdom, what heavy news was this unto him, which thought himself equal with God, and now may not be a king. But when he was thrust among beasts to eat grass with oxen, what a downful was this to be brought under all his subjects, which spoke even now as though there none but he: and now his servants servant would not be like unto him? So the king of kings will be honoured of kings, as they are of their subjects, or else he will tread upon their crowns, and they shall hear the same at last, Thy kingdom shall departed from thee. Now followeth the execution of this judgement, for Daniel saith, The same hour all this was fulfilled. So he showeth the order of it: as a prisoner is brought to the bar, and lead to gibbet, so this king was drawn from his throne, and turned into the wilderness, where he abode among wild beasts so long, Till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like Birds claws. When God began, he made haste, it was long before he spoke, but when he spoke, he did it, and effected in an hour all that the dream, and the Prophet had foretold. Then was fulfilled, The pride of man shall bring him low: Even in that hour that Nabuchadnezzer advanced himself more than before, in the same hour he was brought under all his subjects, all his servants and pages: so he which setteth up can pull down, he which gave can take, he which made can destroy. Therefore let no man vaunt though he were a king of his house or land, or farm or children, but know that he should have nothing, if God did not regard him more than other: and think when thou dost read this story, whether thou be not as proud of thy wealth, as Nabuchad. was of his palace: whether thou be not as proud of thy children, as Nabuchadnezzer was of his kingdom: whether thou be not as proud of thy parentage, as Nabuchadnezzer was of his honour: whether thou be not so proud of thy learning, as Nabuchadnezzer was of his train. If thou be not so proud, than God doth say no more, O king, to thee be it spoken, O subject to thee be it spoken, these blessings shall be taken from thee, For, hath God taken no man's kingdom from him but Nabuchadnezzar's? Hath he taken no man's office from him but judas? hath he taken no man's riches from him but jobs? how did Antiochus and julian, and Herod, and Saul, and Athalia, and jezabel, and Richard the third go from their thrones, as if God had pulled them out by the ears: he had no respect unto their persons, but used them like beasts, as he did Nabuchadnezzer, & fulfilled his threatening. The candle of the wicked shall be put out. Therefore as Christ saith unto them which turn back, Remember Lot's wife: so I say to them which bear high minds, & proud looks, and stout words, remember king Nabuchadnezzer, how God resisteth the proud. Now if any man long to be resolved, how this king was changed to a beast, he must not imagine any strange metamorphosis, or popish transubstantiation, as though his shape were altered, or his manhood removed, or that he put on horns & hoof, as the Poets feign of Actaeon, for the voice doth not say that he should become a beast, but that he should dwell with the beasts. Daniel doth not say that his head or arms, or legs were transformed, but that the hair of his head & the nails of his fingers did grow like eagle's feathers, & like birds claws, as every man's hair and nails will if he do not pair them. Lastly, Nabuchadnezzer saith not, that his shape was restored unto him, but that his understanding was restored unto him: all which declare that he was not changed in body, but in mind: not in shape, but in quality. A savage mind came on him, Genes. 4 12 like that which drove Cain from the company of men, and he became like a Satire or wild man, which differeth not from a beast but in shape: though he was not turned to a beast, yet this was a strange alteration, to be so changed in an hour, that his nobles abhorred him, his subjects despised him, his servants forsook him, none would company with him but the beasts. Consider this all that advance themselves against God and despise his word, as Nabuchadnezzer did. Take warning by a king, which even now walked in his galleries, and his nobles served him in his palace, with all dishes that the air, or sea, or land could afford: now he is turned to graze and feed like an ox with the beasts in the wilderness. This was to show that God maketh no more account of the wicked then of beasts, and therefore the holy Ghost calleth them often by the name of beasts: showing how that sin and pleasure make men like beasts, when they have abused their wits often, and perverted their reason, at last God taketh their understanding from them, and they become like beasts, loathsome to themselves and others: many such beasts we have still like Nabuchadnezzer, who were fit to live in the desert among lions, where they might not annoy others, then in towns amongst men, where they infect more than the plague. Thus if you have not considered the beastliness of sin, look upon Nabuchadnezzer, Genes. 4 12 like a beast. If you would see the guilt of it, look upon wandering Cain, 1. Sa. 16. 14 If thou wouldest see the frenzy of it, look upon frantic Saul. If thou wouldst see the fear of it, look upon trembling Balthasar. Dan. 3. 〈…〉 If thou wilt see the shame of it, Hester. 〈…〉 1 look upon Haman hanging upon his own gallows. If thou wilt see the end of it, look upon the glutton frying in hell. Luke. 1 〈…〉 2 These are the pictures of sin, which God hath set for a terror before us: like the pillar of salt, Gene. 1 〈…〉 2 or achan's sepulchre to speak to us. Take heed by those, josua. 〈…〉 2 when I have warned you, as I warned them, I will punish you, as I punished them. This is the Epitaph, as it were, which God engraveth upon nabuchadnezzer's sepulchre. Be thou an example to kings and rulers, for all the children of pride to beware how they set themselves against him who advanced them. Thus he which sets up, can pull down. Did not I send thee dreams to warn thee? Did not I send a Prophet to warn thee? If either of them would have served, thou mightest have ruled still, and walked in thy galleries, and feasted in thy palace, and judged upon thy throne, and died a king: but now thy kingdom is departed from thee, who would be like Nabuchadnezzer, now the king is like a beast? If this heathen was thus challenged for his warning, which had heard but one Prophet, we may tremble to think what we shall answer for our warnings, which have been threatened as often as the Israelites, & yet provoke the Lord while he serveth us, like those which curse the sun while it shineth upon them. Thus have you seen the fall of pride. Even now he said, Is not this great Babel? Now he may say: Is not this unhappy Babel? even now he said, Which I have built by the might of my power: and now he may say, which I have built by the vanity of my pride: even now he said, for the honour of my majesty: now he may say,, for the ruin of my kingdom: yet after this he rose again, and came to himself, and received his kingdom, and honoured him which punished him so: but the time will prevent me to speak of his restitution, therefore here I end. FINIS.