vpon thy bed is this 29 O king whē thou wast in thy bed thoughts came into thy minde what should come to passe hereafter and he that reueileth secretes telleth thee what shall come ¶ The Meditation Daniel still laboureth to cause the king and all others to geue all glory vnto god Therefore he affirmeth that none of those whom they counted wise men neither any man by arte and science is able to vnderstand Gods secretes but God who is in the heauens doth onely reueile them as he pleaseth And with this poynt he beginneth with the king to smite a reuerence and feare of Gods maiesty into the kinges hart that he might more diligently heare feare the wordes that should after follow and so be the more apte to receiue the mysteries that should be reueiled For this is it that wanteth amongst the worldlinges that they can not thinke that it commeth of God which Gods messengers do bringe vnto them Many now a dayes are willing to heare what can be sayd of the Gospell and what may be brought agaynst popishe supersticion and error but they are not inwardly touched nor moued therefore what so euer they conceiue doth but vanish without profite and goeth forth of theyr remembrance Wherefore this reuerence of God and his word is most necessary as the beginning of wisedome and the preparation of the minde to right vnderstanding So doth Daniel then prepare the kinges minde and abbaseth him selfe and his owne knowledge that God only may haue the glory ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing thou wilt haue vs to differ from the brute beastes and therefore hast grafted in our hartes the light of vnderstanding that we may learne to know this to be thy singular grace and gift and that we may reuerence and magnify thee for the same and that we may alwayes exercise our selues in the knowledge of those thinges which may bring vs reuerently to regard thy word and thy maiesty and also that we may put such difference betwixt the commō sense that thou hast geuen vs and the light of thy spirite that thou mayst be glorified and that we may alwayes especially praise thee for thy gift of faith wherby we are made thy childrē engrafted into the body of thy sonne and that we may continually craue encrease of the same fayth of thee whiles in the end thou do bring vs to that full reuelation of light when we being made like thee shall beholde thy glory face to face and shall haue the fruition therof through the same our Lord Iesus Christ Amen 30 As for me this secret is not shewed me for any wisedome that is in me more then in other but only to shew the king the interpretation and that thou mightest know the thoughtes of thy hart 31 O kyng thou sawest and beholde there was a great Image This image of excellent glory stoode before thee and the forme therof was terrible 32 This images head was of fine golde hys breast and armes of siluer his belly and thighes of brasse 33 His legges of yron and his feete were part of yron and part of clay 34 Thou beheldest it till a stone was cut without handes which smote the image vpon hys feete that were of yron and clay and brake them to peeces ¶ The Meditation vpon the .31 c. By this dreame of Nebuchadnezer Daniel as before declareth all the mutations of kynges kyngdomes to be done by Gods prouidence And though they be neuer so rich and pompous though they be neuer so proude fierce or terrible yet GOD by hys secrete counsell doth plucke them downe at hys tyme appoynted because they magnifie them selues agaynst the kyngdome of hys sonne Christ whom he hath determined without mans helpe in the myddes of his enemyes to rayse vp to hys great and eternall kyngdome Now these foure Monarchies the Babilonians or Chaldees the Medes or Persians the Macedonians or Greciās were destroyed one of an other and the last by the Romanes before the kyngdome of Christ was reueiled vnto the world Now the Romanes fell by ambition auarice crueltie and ciuill sedition And Christ who is the iust iudge of the world from all eternitie as he by hys diuine prouidence dyd iustly make the mutations of the other Monarchies so doth he in this last of all when he most euidently setteth vp hys spirituall kyngdome vpon the earth Christ is the eternall wisedome of his father by whom kyngs do raigne and haue their authoritie approued if they séeke that he may raigne amongest them but if they be opē enemyes to hys kyngdome and shew them selues cruell tyrauntes to hys people he then hath power with his yron scepter to breake them downe and destroy them And this dreame of Nebuchadnezer of the destruction of these Monarchies was sent especially for the comfort of Gods people that they should not dispayre when they dyd sée the glytteryng pompous kyngdome of the Chaldees after that of the Persians then of the Macedonians last of all of the Romanes ouerwhelmyng the whole earth but that they should still looke for the kyngdome of Iuda and of Christ which God had once promised to be performed how miserable ruines so euer in the meane space should appeare Therfore then was this dreame sent to the kyng with the interpretation by Daniel that all the East partes of the world might know it that the Iewes there dispersed might still norish their fayth and hope in Gods promises seyng all thynges done by hys appointement and that the same God which had tolde Nebuchadnezer before what should come afterward had also determined what he would do in tyme to come whose purpose could not be chaūged though it were long differred Whereas then the Iewes did know that the Chaldees dyd then raigne ouer them and all the world by the appointmēt of God and that after them there should come an other worse then they and thyrdly that vnder the Macedonians they should be still in troubles and that the Romanes also should be Lordes ouer all and kéepe the world in cruell subiection and last of all that their Messias whom they looked for should be the eternall kyng for euer and that none of the Monarchies had any assured stabilitie this was vnto them a singular comfort and confirmation Thus do we sée for what cause God would haue this thyng to be published euery where which was as then vnknowen that the Iewes might deliuer that from hand to hand vnto their childrē and posteritie which they heard of the mouth of Daniel and that hys prophecie might be extāt and remaine for them a continuall monument in all ages Wherfore when the Iewes that then were captiues dyd sée this terrible Image of their enemy in great admiration vnto all the world what could they then thinke but that they were as it were swallowed vp without recouery And so lykewise vnder the other mighty Monarchies Therefore God of hys great mercy doth offer them this consolation
they did know that he was the executor of Gods iust iudgement and also that he was their gouernour and must be holden in the stead of their lawfull kyng Seyng then that Daniel was gently intreated of the king and was by the law of warre made an exile it was his part to kepe fidelitie vnto his kyng although he did exercise tyranny agaynst the people of god This was the cause why he conceiued such sorow by the grysely vision Some thinke that hee was rauished in spirite but me thinke that this doth better agrée For he doth not simply say that he was astonished but also that he was troubled afrayde in his owne cogitations Yet this is to be noted that the Prophetes were straungely moued when God did pronounce his iudgementes by them Therfore so oft as God ordeined his Prophetes to publish great calamities they were moued with diuerse affections For of the one part they pitied mans miseries whose destructions they did sée draw neare yet did they pronoūce boldly that which was commaunded them of God so that sorow did neuer let them but that they did their office boldely and constantly And we may sée both these thinges in Daniel Wherfore this was of good affection that he so sorowed for the kyng that he was speachles almost an houre And whereas the kyng biddeth him be of good courage and forbiddeth him to feare here do we sée painted the careles security of thē which haue not yet perceaued Gods iudgement and vengeance The Prophet is afraide and yet is he without all daunger For God doth not manace him in any pointe but contrary the punishment which hee séeth appointed for the kyng geueth him some hope of the deliueraunce to draw neare Why is he thē afrayde Forsoth the faithfull euen whē God spareth thē and sheweth him selfe mercyfull vnto thē yet can they not consider his iudgementes without feare because they do know that they are also gilty of the same and worthy of the same punishmentes but that God dealeth more mercyfully with them Agayny they neuer put of mās affections and so pitie compelleth them to lament whē they sée the wicked destroyed or their vengeance draw neare For these two causes are they in heauines and sorow But the wicked although God do openly sommon them and set his punishmentes before them are nothing moued but stand amased and either do deride his power openly or count his threatnynges fables whiles they be clapt in the neckes Such an example the Prophete setteth vs forth to be séene in the king of Babylon who saith Beltsazar be not afrayde Let neither the dreame nor the interpretation thereof feare thee Yet Daniel was afrayde for his sake But as I sayd before the faithfull although they perceiue God to be mercyfull yet do they feare the wicked so long as they rest in their securitie are not moued nor troubled with any threatnynges Daniel adioyneth the cause of his sorow My Lord sayth he let this dreame be to thyne enemyes and the interpretation therof to thyne aduersaries Here Daniel declareth why he was amased euen because he desired such a horrible punishment to be turned away from the kinges person For although he might worthyly haue abhorred him yet he did reuerence the power that was geuen him of god Let vs learne then by the example of this Prophet to pray for our enemies and chiefly to pray for kynges though they be tyrantes if God hath geuen vs into their handes For although they be vnworthy of any prayer or any office of humanitie yet because they are set ouer vs not without Gods expresse pleasure let vs beare their yoke patiently not onely for wrath as Paul admonisheth but euen for conscience sake Otherwyse we are not onely rebellious vnto them but vnto god Howbeit of the contrary part Daniel declareth that he is not so ouercome with any affectiō of pity but that he will go forward in his office and vocatiō and sayth 17 The tree that thou sawest which was great and mighty whose height reached vnto heauen and the sight therof through all the world 18 Whose leaues were fayre and the fruite therof much in it was meat for all vnder the which the beastes of the field dwelt and vppon whose braunches the foules of the heauen did sit 19 It is thou O kyng thou art great and mighty for thy greatnes is growen and reacheth vnto heauen and thy dominion to the endes of the earth Here we do sée as I haue touched that Daniel did sée his duety to the kyng that he dyd not forget his propheticall office but boldly executed Gods commaundement And this diuersitie is to be noted for there is nothyng more hard to the Ministers of Gods word thē to kepe this mediocritie For some vnder the pretense of zele do thunder and forget that they are men breathyng forth nothyng but onely bitternes shewyng no signe of beneuolēce So commeth it to passe that their wordes are of none authoritie their admonitions are abhorred So make they the word of God to be lothed and euill spoken of when they go about to terrifie men so rigorously without any signe of compassion or sorow for them Others which are cowardly or rather which are deceitfull flatterers and bury with silēce most great and greuous sinnes do alwayes pretend that neither the Prophetes nor the Apostles were so feruent that they cast of all humane affections Thus do they delite miserable men and destroy them with their flatteries But our Prophet as all the others do the like sheweth here a meane way which the seruaunts of God must hold and kepe So Ieremy conceiueth sorow and grief of hart by his heauy and greuous prophecies and yet doth he not turne frō bold rebuking and most greuous threatnynges for both were godly So do all the rest for this many tymes is séene in the Prophetes Daniel therfore of the one part pitieth the kyng of the other because he knoweth that he is the preacher of Gods vēgeance he is not afrayde for any daunger but setteth forth boldly vnto the kyng that punishment that he had despised Hereby also do we collect that he was astonished because hee feared the tyraunt as many dare not mute nor once opē their lippes when a message that may bréede hatred is committed vnto them or that may styrre the wicked to rage But Daniel was not stricken with any such feare but onely because he desired that God would deale mercyfully with hys Prince For he sayth here Thou art that king He speaketh not doubtfully neither by circumstances neither doth hée bring it in obscurely and darkely nor yet vse many excuses but with open mouth he doth pronounce kyng Nebuchadnezer to be signified by that trée that he had séene 20 Whereas the kyng saw a watchman and an holy one that came downe from heauē and sayd Hew downe the tree and destroy it yet leaue the stumpe of the rootes therof in the earth and with a
Prophet Ieremy and so found fauour 2. Kyngs 25.27 Thus in the middes of Gods roddes and scourges our gratious God is myndfull of hys mercyes and alwayes sendeth comfort to all hys though by meanes farre contrary to mans reason much passing our capacities And hereby we may perceiue how incomprehensible Gods iudgementes are vnto man For Daniel was as an Aungell amongest men so that if there were any good amongest that people Daniel was as the principall For Ezechiel reckeneth Daniel amongest the thrée iust by whom it was most lyke amongest all mortall men that God would be pleased and pacified yet is Daniel caryed into captiuitie to be a slaue vnder this cruell king of Babylon other men most wicked prouokyng continually Gods wrath agaynst them did remayne quiet at home in their nestes God doth not depriue them of their naturall countrey neither cast them forth of that heritage which was a signe and pledge of his fatherly adoptiō Now if any man would take vpon him to determine the cause why Daniel was caryed away among the first shall not such one shew hys owne madnes Let vs therfore learne reuerently to haue in admiration the profound iudgementes of God which do so farre passe our capacities and in the meane season remember this sentence of Christ If they haue done this in a greene tree what shal be done to the dry Seyng this was done to Daniel what great mercy and long sufferance of God towardes vs is this to spare vs so long wallowyng in sinne For who dare compare hym selfe to Daniel Nay we are vnworthy to loose hys shoe latchets as is the old Prouerbe For all hys great tētations could not turne hym from the true seruice of hys God as foloweth But where he sayth that God deliuered Iehoiakim into the handes of Nebuchadnezer it is to our comfort that we may sée that Nebuchadnezer dyd not ouercome the kyng nor take away the captiues by hys owne power or counsaile or pollicy but because God would thus humble hys people the sede of Abraham to teach them to know hym lyke as also he setteth forth hys terrible iudgement in that he neither spareth the people whom he had chosen nor the temple which he had appointed for hys chief restyng place vpon the earth For the terrible punishment of such wicked hypocrites and Apostatas as bare onely the name of his people boasted of theyr temple and had nothyng but a vayne bragge of a formalitie and solemne shew of Religion which God rebuketh Isay 9.13 2. Tim. 3.5 ¶ A Prayer concernyng the same GRaunt almighty God and most mercifull father seyng thou doest set forth vnto vs so cleare and bright a glasse wherin we may both behold thy prouidēce and thy maruelous iudgementes that thou hast heretofore executed vpon thine old people that we also may fully persuade our selues that we are also vnder thy hand and protection wherby we may so rest and settle our selues alwayes that what soeuer commeth vnto vs we may still trust that thou wilt be our keper and defender alwayes carefull for our saluation so that we may safely and with quiet mindes call vpon thee and so cherefully wayte for all daungers in all maner of chaunges of this world that we may stand stable in thy word which neuer fayleth and cleauyng vnto thy faithful promises may nothyng doubt but that Christ to whom thou hast geuen vs whom also thou wilt haue to be the pastor of thy whole flocke is so careful ouer vs that he wil lead bring al through this brūt of our battaile how greuous and troublesome so euer whiles we attaine to that heauenly rest which by his bloud he hath purchased for vs. 5 And he appointed them prouision euery day of the kynges meate and of hys wyne which hee dranke so nourishyng them three yeares that at the end therof they might stand before the kyng 6 Now among these were certaine of the children of Iuda Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah 7 Vnto whom the chief of the Eunuches gaue other names For he called Daniel Belteshar Hananiah Shadrach and Mishael Meshach and Azariah Abednego ¶ The Meditation Here Daniel declareth that Nebuchadnezer commaūded those children of the kynges séede of Iuda to be fed from hys owne table of hys owne meate wyne that he might make them dronken with his delicates and thereby cause them to forget their own nation We know that if there be any craft in the world it is chiefly practised in kyngs Courts Nebuchadnezer therfore seyng that he had to do with a stubburne people as the Iewes were would by this practise wynne hym seruaunts which should fréely and willyngly serue hym and therfore doth he labour to ouercome thē by his dainty fare from his own table As this is the greatest honor that can be done to any in the Court at this day to be serued of the same seruice with the Prince But the kyng doth not this saue onely for hys owne purpose to make them lyke well the Chaldees maners and to renoūce theyr owne nation Howbeit God preserued Daniel and hys felowes with his spirite from this deuilish craft that they absteyne from the kynges meate and drinke lest they should be polluted For this cause also the kyng chaungeth the names of these young men to put away the memory of their kinred and original and that they should thus become altogether Chaldees The which thyng they could not withstand nor let though this were a great grief vnto thē therfore they suffer it and kepe them selues from all the pollutions that they can still desiryng to lyue in the feare of God and in the remembraunce of their countrey and captiuitie Therfore do they refuse those dayntyes of Babilon and chuse a spare and poore dyet that was more meete for mourners and prisoners Thus God kepeth Daniel from all pollution and therfore geueth hym sobrietie and wisedome to absteine from the kynges daynty dishes lest he should therby be ouercome to forget hys God and hys people and so degenerate into heathenish maners for this thyng hee perceaued to be sought of the kyng Therfore dyd he chuse rather pulse and most base dyet not that he thought it vnlawfull for him and hys felowes to eate of the kynges meate to drinke wyne but he dyd sée what a hard thyng it is to kepe a measure in full tables and dayntie fare and how soone we are deceyued when we are enterteyned and fed delicately This is a rare vertue to obserue sobrietie where dayntie meates and drinkes are offered in aboundance Therfore that he might remember his own state he doth absteine from courtly delicates Sathans subtill snares And this doth he not onely hymself but he also persuadeth his felowes so to do therfore is this named vpō Daniel alone because he is the principall And hereby we do learne that as euery one of vs is endued with a more excellent gift
to geue our selues wholly to glorify thy name all our life long through Iesus Christ our lord Amen Chap. 2. The Text. ANd in the second yeare of the raigne of Nebuchadnezer Nebuchadnezer dreamed dreames wherwith his spirit was troubled and hys sleepe was vpon hym 2 Then the king commaunded to call the Enchanters and the Astrologians and the Sorserers and the Chaldeans for to shew the king his dreames So they came stode before the king 3 And the king sayde vnto them I haue dreamed a dreame and my spirite was troubled to know the dreame 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the Sirians language O king liue for euer Shew thy seruaunts thy dreame and we shall shew the interpretation The meditation WHere Daniell saith that Nebuchadnezer had this dreame the second yeare of his Empire it semeth somthing contrary to the first Chapiter For if Nebuchadnezer did conquer Ierusalem the first yeare of his kingdome how can it be that Daniell was now counted amonges the wyse men and Astrologians for he was then a Scholer This seemeth not then to agree that Daniell with his companions were but Scholers the first yeare of Nebuchadnezer and that the second yeare he was in daunger of hys lyfe because he was of the number of the Mages Some say that the second yeare is to be counted from the captiuity and destruction of the Citie for they say that Nebuchadnezer was called kyng after that he had a quiet Monarchy and before he had destroyed the Temple and Citie he had not so But I do thinke otherwayes as it is more probable that this Nebuchadnezer raygned wyth hys father when he conquered Ierusalem in the tyme Ioachim and that he was then sent thether by hys father and after he had ended hys warres in Aegipt he returned into Chaldea to preuent seditions and innouations Wherefore herein there is no absurdity that Nebuchadnezer raigned before the death of hys father together wyth hym and afterward he raigned alone and that this thyng which is here spoken came to passe in the second yeare of his owne raigne He sayth that he dreamed dreames and yet there is but one dreame declared But because many thynges were wrapped vp in thys dreame he speaketh plurally as of many It is added that his spirit was troubled that we may know that it was no common dreame For this was not the first tyme that euer he dreamed neither was he so troubled euery night to call together all the Mages Wherefore Daniell woulde note that thys was an extraordinary dreame so that he beyng astonished did fall agayne into a dreame through the trouble of his mynde forgat what he had dreamed But he felt a burning in his cōscience because God would not suffer hym to rest but would haue hys mynde to be vnquiet whiles that he should haue the interpretation of the dreame Wherefore the prophane writers do not without cause place dreames amonges diuinations They speake in déede doubtfully of dreames because there can be no certainty in their writinges yet did they thinke that there was some kinde of diuination in their dreames How be it to extend this to all dreames were foolishe and childish For many tymes dreames do come of the affection of the mynde or of the disposition of the body but of the cōtrary part some dreames do come by Gods appointment for other purposes But concerning the dreame of Nebuchadnezer two thynges are to be noted First that the memory therof was lost and it was forgotten secondly that the meaning thereof was vnknowen We may sée in other places that the dreame was not forgotten and yet that the interpretation was vnknowen But here Nabuchadnezer was not only troubled for want of interpretation of the dreame but he was troubled agayne and was full of care and griefe because the vision was vanished forth of hys mynde As for the darknes of the dreames God vseth them so towardes his owne children For Ioseph when he dreamed that he was worshipped of the Sunne and the Moone knew not what the matter ment neither yet when he dreamed that his sheafe was worshipped of the sheaues of his brethren but he tolde it simply to his brethrē Thus doth God speake in dreames as it were by a darke ridle vntill the interpretation be annexed and so was the dreame of Nebuchadnezer Thus sometimes we sée that God doth open his wil to the vnbeleuers but not openly because they seyng should not sée and it is as if one should reach vnto them a booke that were shut as Isay sayth that God doth speake with the vnbeleuers in a straunge and a stamering toung So then was Gods will vttered to Nebuchadnezer that he did still remaine doubtfull and amazed wherefore hys dreame could nothing haue profited hym vnlesse God had geuen hym Daniell to be the interpreter thereof All hys cunning Astrologians and Chaldees could do nothing as all theyr sciences are vayne and foolish The Chaldeans who had taken to them the name of the Countrey as men most excellent could tell the king nothing at all Daniell and his fellowes in the meane tyme are forgotten of the king though he had good proofe of their wisdome before no doubt by the singular prouidence of God because God would not haue his seruauntes to be ioyned or coupled wyth the Enchanters Sorcerers and Mages but would haue his power to be made euident in Daniell after that all their vayne sciences had fayled and that the kyng by them could haue no comfort though they boasted much of their owne knowledge But it is to be noted that the dreames that God sendeth can not be expounded by any arte of man but by speciall reuelation from the almighty God. 5 And the king aunswered and sayd the thing is gone from me If ye will not make me vnderstand the dreame with the interpretation thereof ye shall be drawen in peeces and your houses shal be made a Iakes 6 But if ye declare the dreame and the interpretation thereof ye shall receaue of me giftes and rewardes and great honor therefore shew me the dreame and the interpretation of it 7 They aunswered agayne and sayd let the king shew his seruaunts the dreame and we wil declare the interpretation thereof 8 Then the king aunswered and sayd I know certainely that ye would gaine the time because ye see the thing is gone from me 9 But if ye will not declare me the dreame there is but one iudgement for you for ye haue prepared lying and corrupt wordes to speake before me till the tyme be chaunged therfore tell me the dreame that I may know if ye can declare me the interpretation thereof Here the king requireth more of the Chaldees thē they euer professed For although they boasted much of their art yet they did neuer promise to tel euery mā his dreame Wherfore it semeth that the king doth against iustice thus to charge them But we must note that the king had
that their redemer should come which should breake in péeces all these Empires and that without all helpe of mās hand or humane power for this stone of hym selfe and hys owne power should grow into such a kyngdome as should fill the whole earth ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng we wander so in this world that our myndes are easily encombred and troubled and our iudgemente darkened when wee do see the glystering power and prosperity of the wicked to be terrible both to vs and to all others Graunt we besech thee that we liftyng vp our eyes vnto the heauens may remember alwayes how great power thou hast bestowed vppon that thyne onely begotten sonne euen to this end that he should guyde vs and gouerne vs by the power of his spirite and should also defend vs through his fidelitie protectiō so that he shuld alter change and trāspose the whole world for our saluation that so we may quietly rest vnder his defence and fight forth our battaile boldly and constantly with such patience as he commaundeth and commendeth whiles that in the ende we may attaine that fruite of victory which thou hast promised vnto vs and the which also thou wilt shewe vnto vs in thy heauenly kyngdome So be it 36 This is the dreame and we will declare before the kyng the interpretation therof 37 O kyng thou art a kyng of kynges for God of heauen hath geuen thee a kyngdome power and strength and glory 38 And in all places where the children of men do dwell the beastes of the fieldes and foules of the heauen hath he geuen into thyne hand and hath made thee ruler ouer them all Thou art this head of God. 39 And after thee shall arise an other kingdome inferiour vnto thee of siluer And the thyrd kingdome shall be of brasse which shall beare rule ouer all the earth 40 And the fourth kyngdome shal be stronge as yron for as yrō breaketh in peeces and subdueth all thynges and as yron bruseth all so shall it do 41 Wheras thou sawest the feete and toes parte of potters clay and part of yron the kyngdome shal be deuided but there shal be in it of the strength of the yron ¶ The Meditation vpon the 36. c. Daniel describeth the golden head to be the kyng of Babylon because that in respect of the other thrée it was the best yet was it of it selfe wicked and cruell but the world euer waxeth worse and worse The which thyng as it was an admonition to the Iewes to be content with theyr state so is it vnto vs to take héede that we bee not caryed away with the long custome of sinne in these our wretched tymes Agayne he nameth the Persian kyngdome to be of siluer and so inferiour to the first Monarchie not that it was inferiour in power and dominion but because it was worse in ambition in crueltie in vice and corruption as Isay the 13. doth before prophecie And as the Monarchies dyd grow greater and greater so dyd their vices encrease that men might sée their madnes which desire to haue Princes of so great power and dominions As though any one mā were able to rule any one kyngdome and that this were not rather playne and euident that such excessiue dominions are lyke great ragyng riuers that runne ouer the bankes to the great dammage of their neighbours as Isay well noteth chapter 8. So is the thyrd named of brasse the Macedonian not so much for the strength as because it was worse to cause the Iewes still to wayte for the eternall kyngdome of Christ which is of mercy and iustice And the fourth of yron the Romane because it brake down all before it and was most cruell both to the Iewes and to other nations Yet the féete shal be parte of potters mettal parte of yron sayth Daniel which can not well be matched together but the one will breake the other which doth signifie the cruel murther that began betwixt the two first brethren and continued manifestly amongest them in their ciuill warres though they were ioyned in kynred to declare vnto the godly that that kyngdome of the Romanes was not it that they should stay vppon but that they should alwayes buyld theyr fayth and hope vpon this stone cut forth of the mountaine without hands and vpon that kyngdome which the God of heauen should rayse vp after these kynges which kyngdome should neuer be destroyed but shall destroy all these kyngdomes and it shall stand for euer Now this kyngdome of Christ doth not destroy the kyngdomes of the world for any other cause but because that they are enemyes to his kyngdome Therfore Daniel speaking of this matter doth treate of a thyng thē knowne and afterwardes euidētly felt of the Iewes from time to time that is to say that these Monarchies are enemyes to the kyngdome of god For the Chaldees had throwen downe the temple of God and as much as in them lay they endeuoured them selues to destroy all his true worshyp As for the Medes and Persians although by Cyrus and Darius at the first libertie to returne from the captiuitie was graunted yet were the Iewes so miserably handled by the kinges folowyng and by their officers and deputies that the most of them dyd rather chuse to lyue in exile then to returne into their countrey Thirdly though Alexander of Macedony one tyme spared them yet the kynges that succeded him most cruelly vexed them spoiled and slue the most true worshippers of God and burned Gods holy Testament so that it is no maruaile though Daniel set the kyngdome of Christ agaynst such Monarchies As for the Romanes we knew how proudly they despised the God of Israel and though they had Pantheon wherin they worshipped all the Idols and Gods of all the nations that they Conquered yet would they not geue any honor or place to hym at all Agayne how they hated Christes Gospell how cruelly they murthered the Christians and labored by all meanes to diffame and banish forth of the world the doctrine of saluation the matter is most manifest Therfore Daniel to admonish the faithful what should be their condition and state to the comming of Christ doth pronounce all those Monarchies and kyngdomes to be so many enemyes to God and to the kyngdome of his sonne Christ and that therfore they must be destroyed And hereby he doth exhorte to patience that the faithfull do not faint in so great miseries and persecutions as the proude tyrauntes should styrre vp agaynst them so oft and many tymes And Daniel sayth that this stone is hewen forth of the mountaine without handes to signifie his diuine byrth sending frō the heauens so that his dominion kyngdome must be separate frō all earthly Empyre because it is immediatly from God and heauenly ✿ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that we may remember our selues so to be pilgrimes straungers in this world that no glistering shew of any riches or
worshyp of God but also to offer our selues wholly vnto hym that we may be holy both in body and soule as Paul admonisheth vs And by the pronenes of this people to Idolatry we haue cause to consider our corrupt inclination how easily at the commaundement of authoritie we may bee ouerthrowen Which ought to admonish vs that we labour to know Gods word and to reteine our selues with in the boundes therof neuer to shrinke therefrom what so euer commaundement come to the contrary and though an hundreth deathes should folow it ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God because we wander alwayes so miserably in our owne cogitations that if we do attēpt to worship thee at any time by our own phantasies we do nothyng els but prophane and pollute the true and pure worship of thy maiesty agayne we are so easily drawne away to wicked superstitions as may be Graūt therfore that we may remaine in the pure obedience of thy word that we neuer turne this way nor that way therefrom And furnish thou vs we besech thee with the inuincible strēgth of thy spirit that we neuer geue place to any terrors or manaces of men but that we may remaine in the reuerence of thy name to the end and how soeuer the world do rage after their deuilish errors that yet we neuer faile frō the right way but cōtinue in the right course vnto the which thou callest vs whiles our race beyng ended wee may come to that blessed rest which is layd vp for vs in the heauens through Iesus Christ our Lord. 2 Then Nebuchadnezer the king sent forth to gather together the nobles the princes and the dukes the iudges the receiuers the counsellers the officers and all the gouerners of the prouinces that they should come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezer the king had set vp 3 So the nobles Princes and Dukes the Iudges the Receiuers the Counsellers the Officers and all the Gouerners of the Prouinces were assembled vnto the dedicatyng of the Image that Nebuchadnezer the kyng had set vp and they stode before the Image which Nebuchadnezer had set vp 4 Then an herald cryed aloud Be it knowne to you o people nations and langages 5 That when ye heare the sound of the cornet trumpet harpe sackebut psalteries dulcimer and all instrumentes of musicke ye fall downe and worship the golden image which Nebuchadnezer the king hath set vp 6 And who so euer falleth not downe and worshippeth shall the same houre be cast into the midest of an hote fiery fornace 7 Therefore assone as all the people heard the sound of the cornet trumpet harpe sackebut psalterie all instrumentes of musicke all the people nations and languages fell downe and worshypped the golden Image that Nebuchadnezer the kyng had set vp 8 By reason whereof at that same tyme came men of the Chaldeans and greuously accused the Iewes Although their purpose is not heare expressed that accused Sadrach Mesach and Abednego yet of the end by probable coniecture we do gather that this was done of a set purpose when the kyng set vp the golden Image For we do sée how they were obserued and marked amongest so great a multitude And as was sayd before it semeth that Nebuchadnezer dyd folow the commune policie of kyngs For though they presumptuously despise God yet do they arme them selues with Religion to establish their power and for this purpose onely do they dissemble some kynde of Religion to containe the people in obedience Whereas then the Iewes were mixed with the Chaldees and Assirians the kynges policie was to preuent all controuersies and therefore doth he set vp this Image in a famous place that it might bee a proufe and a triall whether the Iewes would ioyne them selues to the rites of the Babilonians And this place may minister some probable coniecture that the kyng was moued hereunto by his counsellers because they were not well content that straunge men of an other nation should be head officers of Babylon who yet were but as slaues for by the law of armes they were taken prisoners Wherefore seyng the Chaldees grudged at this their malice enuy moued them to geue the kyng this counsell For els how commeth it to passe that they so sodainly perceiue that the Iewes namely Sadrach Mesach and Abednego do no worship nor reuerence to the Image Surely it appeareth that they dyd as it were lye in wayt to espy what the Iewes would do and thereby may we gather that they imagined this crafty accusation at the first when as they counselled the kyng to make this Image And that with clamor and tumult they do accuse the Iewes hereby do we perceiue that their mindes were full of enuy and hatred It might be sayd that they were styrred with zele as superstitious men would haue all other bound to their madnes as also cruelty foloweth such foolish zele alwayes but here it is euident that enuy onely caryed away the Chaldees with such clamors to accuse the Iewes And it is vncertaine whether they speake of the whole nation that is to say of all the exiles generally or of these thrée onely This is probable and lykely that they dyd restrayne their accusation to these thrée For if these thrée had bene brought down they would easily haue conquered the rest For few would haue bene found so constant amongest all the people It is very lyke therfore that these outrageous cryers do assayle those whō they compted most bold constant and so labour to bryng them down from that hygh dignitie in the which they could not abide to behold them Here may it bee demaunded why they spared Daniel when it is not lyke that hee would dissemble any thyng at all when the kyng commaunded the Image to be worshypped which he had set vp It may be that they absteined frō Daniel for a tyme whom they knew to be in the kynges fauour that they dyd accuse these thrée which might more easily and with lesse labour be oppressed I suppose that this craft moued them that they dyd not name Daniel together with these thrée lest peraduenture the fauour that he was in should mitigate the kynges wrath Now foloweth the forme of their accusation O King Liue thou for euer That was their common salutation It is added afterward Thou O king for vehemency as though they should say thou of thy kyngly maiesty hast made a decree that who so euer should heare the voyce of the Trumpet Harpe Pipe and other instrumentes of musike hee should fall downe before the golden Image and who so euer refused thys should be cast into the fornace of flaming fire But here are Iewes whom thou hast set ouer the charge of the prouince of Babylon This they put to in despite to charge them with ingratitude that they being brought to so great honor by the king should despise the kinges commaundement and intice others by theyr ensample to like
disobedience We sée therfore that this was spoken to amplify the crime that the king had set them ouer the prouince of Babylon they did not worship the golden Image neither honor his Gods. We sée that the Chaldees in all this accusatiō haue onely this respect to condemne Shadrah Meshach and Abednego of this crime onely that they did not obey the kinges commaundemement For they doo not dispute of theyr religion because that was not profitable for them to call into question whether the Gods that they worshipped were worthy such worship or no. Therefore they passe with silence that thing which they thinke not to be expedient and they lay fast holde of this darte that the kinges maiesty is contemned because these thrée do not worship the Image which the king by his decrée had commaunded Here agayne doo we sée that supersticious persons doo not apply theyr minde nor care to search out the true or right worship of God but casting of this care they follow onely theyr foolishe boldenes and theyr owne lust Wherefore seing such foolishe temeritie is set foorth vnto vs by the holy ghost as it were in a glasse let vs learne that our religion and worshipping of God can not be allowed by God vnlesse it be grounded of the worde of God and that in this poynt therefore the authoritie of men is nothing to be regarded For except we be assured that the religion which we follow doth please God what so euer by mans authoritie can be brought to the confirmation thereof it is weake and nothing woorthe Forthermore seing we sée these holy men charged with the crime of vnthankefulnes and also of rebellion there is no cause why we shoulde thinke much to suffer the same at thys day Those that falsely accuse vs do lay rebellion to our charge because forsooth that we despise the decrées of princes which would binde vs to their errors and blindnes But as we shall sée afterwarde we haue an easy and ready defence yet must we suffer this reproch for a while before the worlde as though we were stubburne and rebellious And though the wicked do charge vs with ingratitude and a thousand reproches moe yet must we beare theyr sclaunders paciently for a season whiles the Lord come with hys brightnes and glory to mayntayne our innocency 13 Then Nebuchadnyzer in his anger wrath commaunded that they should bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego So these men were brought before the King. 14 And Nebuchadnezer spake and sayd vnto them what disorder Will not you Shadrach Meshach and Abednegoserue my god nor worship the golden image that I haue set vp 15 Now therefore are ye ready when ye heare the sound of the Cornet Trumpet Harpe Sackbut Psalterie and Dulcimer and all instrumēts of musicke to fall downe and worship the image which I haue made for if ye worship it not ye shal be cast immediatly into the midest of an hote fiery fornace for who is that God that can deliuer you out of my handes This hystory doth euidently declare vnto vs that Princes in dissembling some Religion haue onely regard to their owne authoritie that they may the better thrust in them selues into the place of the Gods. For this is a monstrous matter that kyng Nebuchadnezer doth here bragge agaynst all the Gods as though there were no power in heauen but that which he alloweth What God sayth he can deliuer you out of my hand And why then dyd be worshyp any other God For this cause verely to hold the people in with some bridle and so to establish his tyranny not that he had any care of holynes in his hart Daniel doth declare that the kyng was angry at the begynnyng For nothyng is more greuous to kynges then to sée their authoritie despised They wil be obeyed in all thinges though their commaundementes be most wicked Yet the kyng semeth afterward to temper hym selfe whē he asketh Sadrach Mesach and Abednego if they be not ready to worshyp his God and that Image of gold When therfore he speaketh vnto them doubtfully and doth yet propound vnto them frée choyce there is some moderation in these wordes For it semeth that he will not charge them with any crime so that they will suffer them selues to bée turned afterward But in the meane season the rage breaketh out vnder this deceaueable shew of moderation for he addeth straight wayes Vnles ye obey behold ye shal be cast into the fornace of burnyng fire And at the length he breaketh forth into that cursed sacriledge and horrible blasphemy that there is no God which can deliuer those holy men out of his handes We sée therfore in the person of Nebuchadnezer with what pride Princes do swell and are puffed vp euen where they pretend some zele of Religiō because they are not touched with any true reuerēce of the true God but will haue what soeuer they commaunde to be receiued of all men and so as I haue sayd they do rather thrust them selues into Gods place then study to worship God a right or to maintayne his glory To the same end tende the wordes which he vseth saying that he hath set vp the Image that he made As though he should say it is not now lawfull for you to consult whether the Image ought to be worshypped or no for my commaundement ought to be sufficient vnto you I haue set vp this Image not without consultatiō and reason therfore it were your duety simply to obey vnto me We sée therfore how he chalengeth most high authoritie euen in the makyng of a god For he doth not here treate of politike matters but he will haue this Image worshypped as God because he hath decréed so because he hath published his law And we must alway remember as I haue touched that this example of pride is set forth before vs that we may know how we ought to attempt nothyng rashly in Religion but that we must heare God speake so that we depend of his word and authoritie for if we sticke vnto men there wil be no end of errours Although therfore that Princes be proude and ragyng yet must we kéepe this rule that nothyng pleaseth God but that which he hath commaunded in his word and that the begynnyng of true Religion is the obediēce which we geue to God alone As concernyng the blasphemy it doth declare that which I haue spoken more playnely that is to say how soeuer they pretend Religion yet they despise all the power of God and they haue none other thyng in their harts but to set forth their authoritie and therfore they borow the name of God that they may be the more honored Howbeit in the meane tyme if it were profitable to chaunge theyr Gods a hundreth tymes euery day they would not care to do it Therfore is Religion for the most part but a pretence to earthly Princes and no true reuerence of God is in their hartes as in this prophane kyng is
euident For who is that God sayth he He excepteth no god If a man aunswere that he speaketh by comparison because he would defend the glory of his God that he worshypped yet when hée belcheth forth this blasphemy agaynst all Gods surely his arrogancy is intolerable yea it was a deuilish fury which droue him so farre Now let vs come to the chief point where Daniel declareth with how great constancy Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were endued 16 Sadrach Mesach and Abednego aunswered and sayd to the kyng O Nebuchadnezer we are not carefull to aunswere thee in this matter 17 Behold our God whom we serue is able to deliuer vs from the hoate fiery fornace and hee will deliuer vs out of thy hand O kyng 18 But if not be it knowne to thee O king that we will not serue thy Gods nor worshyp the golden Image which thou hast set vp This is the chief thyng to be considered in this hystory that these three holy men dyd remaine constant in the feare of God though they dyd know most present daunger of death to hang ouer their heades Wherefore when death was set before their eyes they turned not backe from their right course but they set more by the glory of God then by their owne life yea then by an hundreth lyues if it had bene nedefull to haue bestowed so many and that had bene graunted vnto them Daniel doth not rehearse all their wordes but gathereth a brief summe onely in the which yet that inuincible power of the holy ghost wherewith they were indued doth playnely appeare Surely this was an horrible threatnyng when the kyng sayd If ye be not ready to fall downe before the Image at the blast of the trumpet ye shall the same houre bee cast into the firy fornace When the kyng thundered after this maner they might be shaken as mē For we know how deare life is vnto vs how the feare of death smiteth all our senses But Daniel rehearseth all these circumstances that we may know that there is more strength in the seruauntes of God when they are led with his spirite thē that they should geue place to any threatninges or fall downe for any terror They aunswere the kyng that there nedeth no long consultation For in that they say that they are not carefull they signifie by this word that the matter is determined as that worthy saying of Cyprian is reported by Augustine Whē the Courtiours did counsell him that he should regard hys lyfe for the Emperour dyd agaynst his will iudge hym to torment whē flatterers dyd thus vrge him of euery side to saue his life by deniall of Religion he aūswered In a matter that is holy or of Religiō there nedeth no deliberation So do these holy men say We care not that is we neuer enter into consultation or deliberation what is expedient what is profitable No this is already concluded that we by no meanes will bee drawne from the pure worshyp of god If thou read it we ought not to aunswere thee it will be almost the same sense For they declare that the feare of death is in vayne set before them for they are vtterly determined and their hartes settled not to swarue one straw bread from the true and lawfull worship of God. And here they do vse two reasons to reiect that which the kyng propounded They say that God hath power and strength enough to deliuer thē Agayne though they should dye yet that they do not so much esteme lyfe that they will deny God to prolong it Therfore they declare them selues to be ready to dye if the kyng will so rigorously vrge them to worshyp the Image This place is worthy to be noted For first this aūswere is to be learned that when men are about to bryng vs to deny God we must shut our eares and take no farther aduisement For euen then begyn we to do great iniury vnto God when we dispute whether we may decline from hys pure worship or no what so euer cause may therunto moue vs And would to God this were well knowne to all men that the glory of God doth excell and surmount all thinges that all must be brought law when the diminishyng or obscuryng therof is intended But this craft beguileth many now a dayes that they thinke it lawful to way as it were in balance whether it be better for a tyme to turne from the true worshyp of God when any profite doth offer it selfe of the other side as we do sée at this day such dissemblers of whom the world is full to haue their colours to cloke their wickednes when either they worshyp the Idoles with the wicked or els they deny either priuely or openly the true Religion O what is to be done the man that is in any office will say I sée how much good I can do if I dissemble a little and do not shew my selfe what I am for this playnes would not onely hurte me priuately but all others If the kyng haue none that may sometymes pacifie his anger the wicked thereby shal be vnbridled and haue their will and libertie to driue hym vnto all cruelty It is better therfore that some kéepe a meane and so hearken and lye in wayte what the wicked do and so though they can not do it openly yet by some secret practises they may turne away the daunger from the heades of the godly When they obiect these Argumentes they thinke that God is aūswered As though Sadrach Mesach and Abednego could not haue pretēded the same or as though it had not come into their mindes thus to say behold we are now armed with some authoritie to helpe our brethrē and what a barbarous crueltie will be executed amongest them if the open enemyes of Religion come into our place for as much as lyeth in them they will dostroy and roote out of the earth our nation and all memory of true Religion Is it not better then that we for a tyme gyue place vnto tyranny and to this cruell commaundement of the kyng then to leaue our place destitute which straight wayes shall be occupyed with outrageous enemyes who will vtterly ouercome our miserable nation which is to much oppressed already I say they might haue gathered all these clokes and colours to excuse their infidelitie if for the auoydyng of daunger they had knéeled before that golden Image but they do not so Therfore as I haue already sayd thē hath God his due and true honor when his worship is determined with out all doubtyng and that we are fully persuaded in this that nothyng ought to be so deare vnto vs that we may thinke it lawfull to swarue though neuer so litle from that profession which hée commaundeth and requireth in hys word To be short here is that securitie which ought to confirme the true worshyppers of GOD set agaynst all the craftes and croked counsailes which they inuēt that do lose the cause of lyfe for the
clothed vpon this mortalitie Paul affirmeth that men naturally can not be brought willyngly to go out of the world except as is sayd before that fayth get the victory But whē we vnderstand that our inheritaunce is in the heauens that we are straungers in the earth thē do we put of the desire of this earthly lyfe whereunto we are to much addicted These two are the thynges then which do prepare the childrē of God vnto Martyrdome that they doubt nothyng to offer thē selues and theyr lyues into the handes of God for a sacrifice that is to say if they be persuaded that theyr lyfe is preserued of God and that he wil be an assured deliuerer if he sée it to be expedient Agayne when they clime vp aboue this world and aspire vnto the hope of that eternall and euerlastyng lyfe so be ready to forsake the world And in their wordes a great magnanimitie may bée noted when they say Be it knowen to thee O king that we worshyp not thy Gods neither the Image that thou hast erected for here they accuse the kyng after a sorte that he wil be so arrogant to appoint Religion at his pleasure Thou hast set vp an Image but thine authoritie is to vs of no valure for we know that it is a fayned God whom thou wilt haue to bée worshipped vnder this Image But the God whom we worshyp hath opened hym selfe vnto vs and declared that he will not be worshypped vnder any Image We know that he is the maker of heauen and earth and that he hath redemed our fathers forth of Aegypt that he would chasten vs whē he cast vs forth into this banishment Because therfore a sure stabilitie of our faith is manifest vnto vs we vtterly despise thy God thy commaundemēt in this point 19 Then was Nebuchadnezer full of rage and the forme of his visage was chaunged agaynst Sadrach Mesach and Abednego therfore hee charged and commaūded that they should heate the fornace at once seuen tymes more then it was wont to be heat 20 And hee charged the most valiant men of warre that were in his army to binde Sadrach Mesach and Abednego and to cast thē into the hote fiery fornace At the first sight God séemeth here to forsake hys seruantes because he doth not openly helpe them The kyng commaundeth them to be cast into a fiery fornace no helpe appeareth from the heauens Wherfore this was a full and perfect triall of their fayth They were now armed as we did sée before to suffer all things For they do not aunswere so constantly onely because they trusted in the present helpe of God but because they were determined to dye and a better life dyd so comfort their mindes that they were content to lose this present lyfe This was the cause that they were not afrayde for the terrible cōmaundement of the king but they followed theyr course euen to suffer death without all feare for the honor of god For there remayned no thyrd thing but eyther to chuse to dye or els to deny the worship of the true god By the which example we are taught to premeditate this immortall life in our quiet state that if it so please God we do not doubt to lay downe our liues for the testimony of the truth for this is one cause why we are so fearefull Agayne when we doo come into present daunger then doo we tremble and quake because whiles we are forth of danger we vaynely imagine to our selues a continuall securitiy So long therefore as God geueth vs quietnes we must apply our myndes to meditate the life to come that the worlde may waxe vile vnto vs and that we may be ready so oft as néede shal be to geue our bloude for the testimony of the truth For this history is not set forth vnto vs that we should onely commend and magnify the vertue and constancy of these thrée holy men but it is set forth for vs to imitate theyr constancy And concerning the king Nebuchadnezer here Daniel agayne as it were in a glasse doth shew vnto vs the pride and arrogancy of kinges when theyr commaundementes are not obeyed Surely a hart of yron should haue bene mollified with this answere that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did commit theyr liues vnto God and therfore could not for feare of death be drawn from theyr fayth But he is filled with anger Cōcerning this rage we ought to consider what power Sathan hath ouer mē whē he hath them in his clawes They haue no moderation nor rule of themselues although at other times they make a fayre shew of vertue As this king had many tokens of vertue as we haue sene before but because the deuill doth now styr hym there appeareth nothing in hym but crueltie and rage Forthermore let vs remember that our constancy doth please God although it doo not shew forth the fruite therof before the world For many vnder this colour spare themselues to liue in their pleasures because they thinke it a rashnes to offer themselues to death when there appeareth no profit And many excuse themselues vnder this pretence that they striue no more for the glory of God because they should lose their labour and theyr death should be fruitles But we doo heare Christ pronoūce this to be a pleasant sacrifice vnto God when we offer our liues for the testimony of the heauenly doctrine although the generation before whom we testify the name of God be crooked adultrous yea though it waxe the more stubbern at our constācy And such an example is here set forth vnto vs in these thrée holy persons For how so euer Nebuchadnezer waxed more more outragious with their bolde confession yet did that playne confession please God and they did not repent it although they did sée no such fruit of theyr constancy as they desired And the prophet doth expresse the circumstance to declare the kinges rage that he commaundid the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater then it was wont and chused of his strongest men to cast these into the fornace But as it appeareth by the successe all this was done by the secret prouidence of god For the deuill might els haue obscured the miracle if all doubtes had not bene remoued But when the king commaundeth the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater and did chuse out his strongest men to doo the execution God by deliuering his seruauntes tooke away all doubtfulnes that the more light should shine forth of that darkenes which Sathan thought to haue blinded men withall the kinges policy and his power Thus God vseth to disapoynt the wicked and the more witty that they be to obscure Gods glory the more doth God cause both his glory and his doctrine to shyne forth Like as here as it were in an image Daniel doth paynt vnto vs that the king Nebuchadnezer left nothing vndone whiles that he would thus smite a terror vnto all the Iewes with this
cruell punishment and yet atteyned he nothing with all his subtill fetches but that the power of God and his fauour should be more euidently opened towardes his seruaunte 21 So these men were bounde in their coates their hosen and their clokes with their other garmentes and cast into the midest of the hote firy fornace 22 And the kinges cōmaundement was straite that the fornace should be exceeding hote and so the flame of the fyre slew those men that brought forth Shadrach Mesach and Abednego 23 And these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell downe bounde in the midest of the hote fiery fornace Here Daniel declareth the miracle whereby God deliuered his seruauntes Whereof there be two partes One that those thrée men walked safe in the midst of the fire an other that the flame burnt vp the kinges Garde that cast them into the fire And the prophet doth diligently rehearse the circumstances to set forth the power of God as that the king gaue a straite charge and with so great anger caused the fornace to be heated and that his strong men were consumed with the vtmost flame where as they thrée walked in the coales in the fire and the flame And this is as much as if the prophet had sayd that the fire had no force at all vpon the holy seruauntes of God and that the smoke had killed the kinges seruauntes Therfore sayth he that those thrée did fall downe in the fire Then surely they could not helpe themselues nor finde any shift to escape Further he sayth that they fell downe bound wherfore naturally they should at the first brunt haue bene choked and smothered and afterward haue bene consumed yet doo they remayne safe and walke vp and downe lose in the fornace We sée then that the power of God is so euident that the diuell coulde darken it with no lyes And that the vtmost flame doth deuourethe kinges Garde of the other part God doth approue this to be his worke And this is the end of the history that these thrée men were preserued miraculously and aboue their hope Now by this example we may learne that there is nothing better nor more safe for vs then to make God the kéeper and defender of our life Yet may we not precisely looke alwayes to be defended and deliuered from all perill For we doo sée both these thinges to be in the harts of these thrée holy men first to hope for deliueraunce if God sée it good secondly that they doubted not to dye with out feare if it so pleased god Howbeit this must we gather of this present history that there is helpe enough for vs in God if he will prolong our life And we know that our life is deare vnto him Therefore let vs leaue it vnto his pleasure either to deliuer vs from the presēt perill or to take vs to a better life as he thinketh best For in Peter we haue both these examples Peter was deliuered forth of prison when as a litle after he must dye Then God declared that he had a care ouer the life of his seruaunt Afterward Peter dyed then was there no miracle Why so because Peter had accomplished the end of his vocation Thus the Lord as oft as is expedient will shew his power to preserue vs but if he will haue vs go vnto death let vs surely thinke that there is no better thing for vs then to dye and that it is hurtfull vnto vs to go about to prolong our life any longer 24 Then Nebuchadnezer the king was astonied and rose vp in hast and spake and sayd vnto his counsellers did not we cast three men bound into the midest of the fire Who answered and sayd vnto the king It is true o king Daniel doth declare that the power of God was manifest to the heathen men both to the king himselfe and to his courtyers who had conspired vnto the death of these holy persons He sayth therefore that the king trembled at this msracle like as God many times compelleth the wicked to acknowledge his power How so euer they do amase themselues and harden all their senses yet will they nill they they are compelled to féele Gods power Daniel declareth that this came to passe to king Nebuchadnezer He trembled therefore and did arise hastely and spake vnto hys counsellers saying Haue wee not cast three men bounde into the fornace And they answered it is so Where it is no doubt but that both Nebuchadnezer was compelled by Gods secret inspiration thus to demaunde and they also thus to confesse For Nebuchadnezer might haue come streight way to the fornace but God would wring this confession out of his enemies mouthes that they together with their king should graunt that Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were deliuered by no earthly meanes but by a rare and meruelous power of god Let vs note therfore that the wicked were witnesses of Gods power not willingly but because God dyd put into the kinges mouth this question and also because he did not suffer them to speake any thing but the truth 25 And he answered and sayd Lo I see foure men loose walking in the middes of the fire and they haue no hurt and the forme of the fourth is like the sonne of God. There is no doubt but that God sent one of his Angels who by his presence might comfort the mindes of these holy men that they should not faynt for this was a fearefull spectacle when they did sée the fornace so flaming and them selues cast therin God therefore would thus comfort their carefulnes and mitigate their sorow when he sendeth an Angell to be their companion We know sometimes that many Angells haue bene sent for the comfort of one man as we reade of Elizeus And this is a generall rule He hath geuen his Angels charge ouer thee that they may keepe thee in all thy wayes Agayne The Angels pitch their tentes round about those that feare God. The which sentences doo chiefely belong vnto Christ but they are extended to the whole body of the Church and to euery member therof Wherefore God hath his armies in redines by whom he can preserue his And we reade sometimes that one Angell is sent to a whole nation For God néedeth not his Angels when he vseth their ministry but he thus relieueth our infirmity And when we doo not attribute vnto hys power so much as we should he sendeth his Angels to correct our doubtfulnes as we haue sayd that there was one Angell geuen to these thrée men whom Nebuchadnezer calleth the sonne of God not that he thought that he was Christ but we know that that was commonly receaued among all people that the Angels were called the sonnes of God because there appeared in them a certayne diuinity Therefore they did commonly call all the Angels the sonnes of god And according to this vsuall custome Nebuchadnezer sayth that the fourth man was like the sonne of god For he coulde
not know the onely begotten sonne of God which was blinded with so many wicked errors as we haue seene before Let this simplicity therfore suffice vs that king Nebuchadnezer doth speake after the common maner meaning that some one Angell was sent vnto these thrée men because it was vsuall as I haue sayd to call the Angels the sonnes of god The scripture speaketh so God would neuer leaue the world so brutish but that he would haue some séede of true doctrine to remayne for a testimony agaynst the wicked The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng our lyfe is but a minute yea it is nothing but vanitie and smoke that we may learne to cast all our cares vpon thee and so to depēd of of thee that we doubt nothyng but thou wilt deliuer vs from all perils that may come vnto vs when it shal be so profitable for vs Also graunt we beseech thee that we learne to despise and set nothyng by our lyfe for the testimony of thy glory that so we may be ready to depart forth of this lyfe when thou wilt call vs and that the hope of the heauēly life may be so fastened in our harts that we may willyngly leaue the world and that we may desire withall our hart that blessed eternitie which thou hast witnessed by thy Gospell to be layd vp for vs in the heauens which thine onely begottē sonne hath purchased for vs with his bloud Amen 26 Thē the kyng Nebuchadnezer came nere to the mouth of the hote fiery fornace spake and sayd Sadrach Mesach and Abednego the seruauntes of the hygh God go forth and come hether Sadrach Mesach Abednego came forth of the middes of the fire Here is described a sodeine chaūge in a kyng no lesse cruell thē proude We haue sene before how proudly he required that wicked worshyp of the seruauntes of God and when he did sée that they dyd not obey his commaundemēt how fierce he was agaynst thē And now Daniel declareth how soone hys pride was brought downe and his cruelty qualed But it is to be noted that the king was not so chaūged that hee did cast of wholly his old nature and maners For when he was touched with this present miracle hée did in déede geue glory vnto God but it was for a moment he did not earnestly repent And such examples are diligently to be noted for many men by one fact will iudge of euery man Howbeit the most wicked contemners of God may for a tyme submit them selues vnto hym and shall not dissemble it in the sight of men but shal do it earnestly because that GOD verely doth compell them thereunto with hys power yet in the meane season they kepe within their hartes both pride and cruelty Such was the turnyng of kyng Nebuchadnezer For he being amased with the miracle could resist God no longer yet he was not constant in his conuersion as we shall sée afterward Let vs know therfore that the wicked which are not regenerate with the spirite of God are driuen many times to worshyp God but this is onely a particulare motion in thē and the rest of their lyfe doth not aunswere vnto it But whē God reformeth his seruaunts he also taketh in hand to gouerne them vnto the end and doth encorage them to perseuerance and confirmeth them with his spirite Yet is it to be marked that the glory of God is set forth by this temporall and chaungeable conuersion of the wicked because will they nill they they are compelled to geue place vnto God for a tyme wherby the greatnes of his power is knowen God doth therfore cause that to serue to his glory which doth nothyng profite the reprobate but rather turneth vnto them to a greater iudgement For Nebuchadnezer was lesse to be excused after that he knowledged the God of Israel to be the most high and onely God and afterward straight wayes returned to his superstitions Daniel sayth that hee came neare to the mouth of the fornace and that he said Sadrach Mesach and Abednego the seruauntes of the hie God go forth and come hether A little before he would haue had his Image worshypped and that to be counted the onely God in heauen and in earth onely because it was his pleasure For we sée that he did chalenge so much to hym selfe that he would haue all Religion and worshyp of God subiect to his lust and pleasure but now as though he were a new man he calleth Sadrach Mesach and Abednego the seruaūtes of the high god What place then doth he put him selfe in and all the Chaldees Verely that they do worshyp fayned Gods and Idols which they haue forged for them selues But God dyd wryng out this word from the cruell and proud kyng like as wicked men are compelled by tormentes to speake that they would not Thus therfore doth Nebuchadnezer confesse the God of Israel to be the hye God as though he had bene vpō the racke but not willyngly neither of a well disposed minde He doth not dissemble this before men as I haue sayd but his minde was neither pure nor vpright but onely boyled out with a particular motiō so that we may say that this was rather a violent then a voluntary motion After Daniel sayth that his companions came forth of the middes of the fire By the which wordes he confirmeth agayne this miracle For God might haue quenched the fire of the fornace but he would haue it burne in the sight of all men that thereby the power of this deliueraunce might be more euident And by the way this is to be noted that these thrée men walked in the fornace whiles the kyng commaūded them to come forth because God had geuen them none other commaundement They dyd sée that they remayned safe and sound in the middes of the fornace They were cōtent with that present benefite of God and they thought not them selues at libertie whiles that by the kynges voyce they were called forth Like as when Noah was in the Arke he did sée his health and life to lye as it were in the graue therfore did he attempt nothyng whiles he was commaunded to go forth Euen so sayth Daniel that his companions went not forth of the fornace whiles the kyng commaunded it For then they vnderstode that they pleased God whē they had heard it at the kyngs mouth not that he was a Prophet or a preacher but because they were cast into the fornace by his commaundement and so now when he calleth them out they know that the end is appointed of theyr torment so they come forth as it were from death vnto life 27 Then the nobles Princes and Dukes and the Kyngs counsellers came together to see these men because the fire had no power ouer their bodyes for not an heare of their head was burnt neither were theyr coates chaunged nor any smell of fire came vpon them Daniel sayth that the nobles Princes and Dukes and the
Kynges counsellers came together meaning that they came to consult of this great miracle and when they had consulted of this matter hee sayth that they came to behold that manifest signe of the incredible power of god And he nombreth certaine partes which do more clearely proue that these thrée were saued by none other meanes but by the singular benefite of god For he sayth that the fire had no power in their bodyes agayne that there was not one heare of their head burnt thirdly that their garment was not chaunged last of all that there was not any smell of fire vpō them For he expresseth more by this word of smel then if he had simply sayd that the fire had not pearced thē For it may be that the fire doth not consume the body and yet may burne it and scorch it but when no smell of the fire did once come vpon them the miracle is most euidēt This is the minde of the Prophet Finally hee sheweth that this miraculous deliueraunce was manifest because these thrée come forth of the fornace and the Princes Dukes nobles were witnesses of Gods power And their testimony might be of more authoritie then if all the Iewes had beholden this grace of God for men would not haue beleued the Iewes But when it is manifest that these are sworne enemies to true Religion surely they would gladly haue buried this miracle with silence if it had bene in their power But God draweth them agaynst their wils and compelleth them to sée it with their eyes and afterward to confesse it to put away all doubt for euer 28 Nebuchadnezer spake and sayd Blessed is the God of Sadrach Mesach and Abednego who hath sent his Angell and deliuered his seruauntes that put their trust in hym and haue chaunged the kynges commaundement and yelded their bodyes rather then they would worshyp or serue any God saue theyr owne God. This is a rare confession of a kyng but it will appeare by processe that he was caried with a sodaine vehemency and that there was no liuely roote of the feare of God in his hart And I do repete this agayne that we may know that true repentaunce doth not consist in one worke or twaine but in perseuerance continuance as Paul sayth If you do lyue in the spirite walke ye in the spirite Where he requireth constancy of the faithfull that they may shew them selues to be truly regenerate by the spirite of God. Nebuchadnezer therefore as one rauished in spirite magnifieth the God of Israel but in the meane time he mingleth his Idoles with the true god So was there nothyng pure in his facte Euē so the wicked whē they haue felt Gods power they dare not go forward stubbornly agaynst him but they will please and pacifie him with some fayned repētance yet do they neuer put of their old corruption as is plaine in Nebuchadnezer that he was alway one though God at the sodaine caused him thus to confesse that the God of Sadrach was blessed But why calleth he him not his God This might be excused if he had verely geuen him selfe to the God of Israel and cast away all superstitiōs Howbeit he doth not so therfore was his confession but feined not that he went about to dissemble with men to get their fauour but he deceiued him selfe as hypocrites vse to do He pronounceth the God of Sadrach Mesach and Abednego to be blessed If he had done this purely he should haue cursed all his Idols For the glory of the true and onely God can not be extolled magnified vnles all the Idols be brought to nought For wherin standeth the prayse of God but that he alone haue the preeminence If any other God be set by him then is hys Maiestie darkened as it were with cloudes Hereby then may we gather that Nebuchadnezer was not touched with true repentance when he blessed the God of Israel He addeth Which sent his angell and deliuered his seruaūts Here Daniel more plainely declareth that Nebuchadnezer was not cōuerted to receiue the God of Israel to worship him truely with a pure affection of his hart Why so For true holines is alway grounded in the knowledge of the true God which requireth doctrine Nebuchadnezer did know that the God of Israel was the hye god Wherby Verely by his power for he had a spectacle set before his eyes which he could not contemne though he would Thus then doth he graunt the God of Israel to be the hye God taught by this miracle But this is not sufficient vnto true holynes as I haue admonished except also doctrine be ioyned vnto it yea haue the chief partes I do graūt very well that men are prepared vnto faith by miracles but if nothing saue bare miracles appeare and no knowledge be ioyned out of the very word of God it wil be but a shadow of faith as we haue here a most manifest example Let vs know then that this was a particular fayth in king Nebuchadnezer For he had all his minde bent vpon the miracle and beyng content with that spectacle he did not inquire who was that God of Israel or what his law did comprehend neither yet was be carefull for the Mediator Finally he neglected and despised the whole substaunce of true holines and tooke hold vnaduisedly but of one part onely This do we sée dayly in many prophane men For God many tymes doth humble them and causeth them to flye vnto him for succour but in the meane season they remaine wrapped in their owne wittes and do not renounce their superstitions neither regarde which is the true worship of god For to approue our seruice vnto God this principle must be remembred that nothing doth please him which is not of faith and that faith can not be conceaued by any miracle or by any sense of diuine power but that it must haue doctrine also For miracles are of force onely to prepare the minde or to confirme Religion but of them selues they can not bryng men to the true worship of God. And this is merueilous that this prophane kyng sayth that an Angell was sent from God saue that it is euident in the prophane writers that there was alway some thyng knowne of the angels This was a certaine before conceiued persuasion of the angels lyke as also amongest all people there is some tast that there is a god And where Daniel sayd before that the fourth which was in the fornace was called the sonne of God by the kyng of Babel euē thē as I haue sayd Nebuchadnezer professed hymselfe that he vnderstode something of the Angels but now he speaketh more plainly that God hath sent his Angell And how the Angels do helpe the elect and the faythfull I there touched briefly and I do not vse to stād long vpon cōmon places For thys place it is enough to note that the wicked which neuer heard any thing of God or of true holines
did yet holde this principle that God vseth the ministery of his Angels to saue hys And thys moued Nebuchadnezer to say that an Angell was sent from God to delyuer hys seruauntes Then he addeth Which trusted in hym Which is also to be noted for it is added as the cause why these thrée were so meruelously deliuered because they put their trust in god And although Nebuchadnezer was but almost like a stock or a blocke concerning the doctrine of fayth yet God would teach vs by this stone or blocke and make vs ashamed and lay vnto our charge the want of fayth which causeth that we can not commit our liues to Gods will and boldly vndertake all daungers whē néede requireth For if we were fully perswaded that God is the kéeper of our life surely no manaces no threatninges no terrours no nor finally any deathes could stoppe vs from goyng forward in our office But infidelitie and distrust in God is the cause of our slouthfulnes and so often as we turne forth of the way so often as we defraude God of hys honor so often as we faile traiterously the want of our fayth doth vtter it selfe and may as it were be palpably felt and séene Let vs learne thē if we wil haue our life defended with the hand of God to geue our selues wholy vnto him for he wyll neuer deceaue vs if that we rest in him We do sée that Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were vncertaine of the end yet this could not diminish nor abate their hope and confidence in God for they vsed this Dilemna standing of two partes either God will deliuer vs from the fiery fornace or if we die he wyll saue vs after a farre better sorte for he will gather vs into hys kingdome Although then they durst not promise themselues the thing that they knew not yet they layd vp their liues in the hand and protection of god Wherefore they are worthely commended by Nebuchadnezer that they trusted in theyr God. Afterward he sayth that they chaunged the kinges decree that is to say that they did not regard it but rather did disanull it as hauing greater authoritie For who so setleth hymself vpō God he easely despiseth all mortall mē and all the glory hautines in all the world And this sentence is worthy to be noted that fayth is first layd for the foundation thē the magnanimitie boldnes constancy wherewith Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were endued because that whosoeuer resteth vpon God he can neuer be turned away from doyng his office and though neuer so many daungers be offered yet shall he be caried a loft thorow all by the wynges of hys fayth So that he which knoweth that God standeth of his side is aboue all the world that he neyther is astonished at the scepters and crownes of kings nor feareth their power but ouercommeth all hautines in the earth that shall stand against him and will neuer turne backe from hys right course He sayth afterward that they gaue theyr bodyes lest they should worship any but theyr owne God. Many that boast thēselues Christians now a dayes would ouerthrow and disalow that thing which thys wicked king is compelled to prayse in these thrée persons For they do imagine that fayth cā be buried in the hart and bring forth no fruit of confession There is no doubt but that God wyll haue al these thynges rehearsed by hys Prophet that theyr craftines may be detestable vnto vs which would defraud God of his lawfull honor and yet would as it were stoppe hys eyes that he should not espy the iniury that is done vnto hym Such are vnworthy to be reproued by the wrod of God and Nebuchadnezer is here set theyr mayster theyr correcter and theyr iudge Thys also must be noted that Nebuchadnezer doth prayse these thrée men because they refused to worship any God but theyr owne god And why then did he mingle his multitudes of God for he departed not from hys errors to geue hymselfe wholy to the God of Israell and to embrace hys true worship Why doth he prayse that in others which he himselfe doth not folow But this is a thyng ouer common For we sée that vertue is praysed and yet goeth coldly forward For many thinke it sufficient with theyr lyppes and toungs to do their office Howbeit though Nebuchadnezer dyd séeme to hymselfe to speake earnestly yet dyd he not consider hymself and so thys tooke away the whole pretence of all excuse For he could not afterward pretend ignoraunce and error when he wyth hys owne mouth had affirmed that none other God was to be worshipped Let them therefore now be ashamed which will be called Christians vnles they be frée from all wicked superstitions and consecrate themselues wholy vnto God and retayne hys pure worship Thys is also to be considered that the kyng Nebuchadnezer did not simply prayse the constancy of these thrée men because they do not worship euery God but also do acknowledge the God of Israell to be the true god Whereupon it followeth that all other were fayned and mere vanity But he spake thys wythout aduisement for God had not lyuely touched hys hart as he vseth to worke in hys elect whom he doth regenerate 29 Therefore I make a decree that euery people nation and language which speake any blasphemy agaynst the God of Sadrach Mesach and Abednego shal be drawen in peeces and their houses shal be made a iakes because there is no God that can deliuer after this sorte Here Nebuchadnezer is pushed further forward for I must use thys worde because he doth not receaue the worship of the true God in hys hart to forsake his errors as I haue sayd It is therefore as though God did thrust hym forth by force to publish thys decrée The decrée in déede of it selfe is commendable and Godly but Nebuchadnezer was caryed wyth a blynde and suddayne motion because Godlines had taken no roote in hys hart Therefore is he alway onely beholding the miracle So is hys fayth partilar and also the feare of God in hym was fruitles Why then doth Nebuchadnezer séeme to be a patrone of Gods glory Verely because he was afraid by the miracle Wherefore beyng not otherwayse moued he could not be retayned in the reuerence of one god Finally thys zeale that he pretendeth is nothyng els but a motion that easely vanisheth And thys is profitable to be noted For we sée many caried wyth a vehement zeale to set forth Gods glory but because they want knowledge and iudgement thys can not be counted prayse worthy And many also do much more wickedly as we sée in Popery where many proclamations of kynges and Princes flie abroad If a man aske thē what maketh them so hote and feruent that they spare not mans bloud forsooth they pretēd a zeale of God but it is a mere raging madnes where true knowledge doth not guide it We must consider therefore that no law can be made nor
any decrée published of religion and of the worship of God except the true knowledge of God confirme it and be sene in it Nebuchadnezer verely in thys decrée had a good ground but as I haue sayd it was onely a particular motion in hym But they that wyll now bée counted Christian Princes do onely rage vnder the pretence of a zeale and so lyke cruell beastes do shee l innocent bloud Wherefore Because they do not discerne betwixt the true God and the Idols But this shal be touched afterward Nebuchadnezer doth extol the God of Israel But how doth he know that he is the high God Verely by one token of hys power onely But he despised that which was the principall to vnderstand by the law and the Prophetes who that God was and what was hys wyll So do we sée the glory of God to be maintayned but in one part only and in the meane season that which was the chife in hys worship and in true holynes to be despised and left out The punishment is great that he should be cut in péeces and hys his house made a Iakes which speaketh blasphemy against the God of Israell Where we note that seuerity is not to be condemned where the true worship of God is maintayned euen wyth sleit punishmētes But we must be assured of a true iudgement in the cause But of this also I wyll speake afterward As for that which followeth that there is none other God which can deliuer after this maner it doth confirme that which I touched before that this king did not regard in hys decrée eyther the law of God or any other part of religion but onely that he was moued by this miracle so that he neither could nor would suffer any thing to be spoken in reproch agaynst the God of Israell Wherfore thys onely thyng is worthy blame in this decrée that he doth not enquire nor search who is that God that he may be drawen by a sure perswasion to publish the decrée 30 Then the king promoted Sadrach Mesach and Abednego in the prouince of Babell Thys séemeth to be of small importance yet is it not written in vayne but for thys purpose that we may know that thys miracle was ratified through the whole prouince and countrey when all the Chaldees did know that these thrée men were cast into the fiery fornace which afterward had agayne the kynges power and were restored to theyr former dignitie Seyng thys was done the power of God could not be vnknowen For it was like as if God had sent forth thrée preachers throughout the countrey which should proclaime in euery place how meruelously God had deliuered thē frō death by hys singular benefite Whereby also it myght be vnderstand that all the Gods which were thē worshipped in Chaldea were of no value seyng that great God whose Image the kyng had set vp was despised and yet that thys cōstancy was allowed of the true God which had deliuered hys seruauntes from death ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thou art knowen vnto vs by the doctrine both of the law and the Gospell and doest vouchsafe dayly to open thy wyll familiarly vnto vs that we may remayne stable and stedfast in the true obedience of that doctrine wherein perfect iustice is manifested vnto vs and that we neuer be moued frō thy worship nor turned away from thy seruice and whatsoeuer commeth vnto vs that we may be ready rather to die a hundreth deathes then to turne from the true profession of thy religion in the which we know that our saluation consisteth that so we may glorifie thy name that we may be partakers of that glory which is purchased vnto vs by the bloud of thyne only begotten Sonne Amen ¶ Chapt. 4. by true diuision for here beginneth the preface to the proclamation 31 Nebuchadnezer king vnto all people nations and languages that dwell in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 32 I thought it good to declare the signes and wonders that the hye God hath wrought toward me 33 How great are his signes and how mighty are his wonders his kingdome is an euerlasting kingdome and his dominion is from generation to generation Daniel doth first speake here in the kinges person afterward he declareth what came to the king But it may seme strange that Daniel sometimes bringeth in the king of Babylon speaking then speaketh he in his owne person and afterward bringeth in the king speaking him selfe Howbeit seing this varietie doth neither obscure the sense nor make it doubtfull we ought not to be troubled therewith The summe of this chapter is Because that Nebuchadnezer was playnly taught that the only God of Israell was to be worshipped and he was compelled to confesse this for a space yet because he departed not from hys supersticions yea and what so euer he had conceiued of the true God it rested not in his hart but vanished away by and by therefore is he worthely punished like a beast for so great ingratitude God would haue him to be more and more blinded as he vseth to doo with the reprobate and sometimes with the elect also When they will runne from sinne to sinne God lowseth them the reyne till they cast them selues down headlong Afterward eyther he reacheth them his hand or he draweth them backe with hys secret power or bringeth them into order by hys rods and corrections and so humbleth them Thus dyd he with the king of Babylon We will consider the dreame afterward but here we briefely note that the king was admonished that he might perceiue in the end that he had no excuse of his stubbernes and contempt God might worthely in déede haue stricken hym as soone as hee dyd sée that he was not truely conuerted but before God would punish hym so seuerely as we shall sée afterward he would monish hym to proue if there were any hope of repentance And although he dyd séeme to receiue that thing with great modesty that God declared by the dreame and Daniel dyd interpretate vnto hym yet dyd he professe with hys toung that which he had not in his hart And thys thing is manifest because that where he ought to haue trembled to haue bene carefull and to take héede vnto him selfe yet ceased he not from hys pride but boasted him selfe to be a king of kinges Babylon to be the quéene of all the world Because therefore he dyd speake so proudly after he was admonished by the prophet we perceiue that the dreame dyd nothing profit hym But God by this meanes would make hym more inexcusable Agayne although no fruite therof did straight wayes appeare yet by long processe of time when God touched his hart he did know more playnely that this punishment was sent vnto him of god Therefore was this dreame an entrey and as it were a preparatiue to repentance And lyke as the séede semeth to putrify in the earth before it bring forth his fruite so also
sometymes God worketh leysurely causeth that his doctrine which semed vnprofitable a long time becommeth at the length fruitefull and of force Now come I to the wordes The preface of the decrée is Nebuchadnezer the king to all people nations and langages which dwell in all the world that is vnder his dominion For he would not haue this vnderstād of Scithia or Fraunce or other farre countreys but because his dominion stretched farre and wide he spake proudly as we sée the Romanes call theyr Rome the imperiall sea of all the world yet were they not lordes ouer all Nebuchadnezer therefore doth here proudly set forth the largenes of his Monarchy when he sendeth forth his decrée to all people and nations vpon the whole earth Afterward he ioyneth this I thought it good to declare the signes wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me There is no doubt but that at length he perceiued that he was punished for his ingratitude because that he had geuen glory vnto the one and true God onely by toung and outward shew and afterward fell agayne to his olde superstitions yea he would neuer cast them of at all Therefore do we sée that this king was oft chastised before he would take profit of Gods correction Let vs not merueile then if God doo often smite vs with his hand for dayly experience doth try vs to be slouthfull and very sluggardes at Gods admonitions When God therefore will bring vs to repentance he must of necessity beate vs oftentimes because either we are nothing moued when we are chastised by his hand or if that we doo seme for one time wakened yet doo we returne agayne by and by to our olde sinfull slumber It is of necessitie therefore that the scourges be doubled This do we sée in this present history as in a glasse How be it this was a singular benefit of God that Nebuchadnezer did geue place at the length after that God had chastised him many times Yet know we not whether this confession came forth of a true and vnfeyned repentance I do leaue that in doubt Yet I doo nothing doubt but that Daniel doth rehearse this decrée to declare that the king was in the end compelled to confesse the God of Israell to be the onely God and to publish the same to all people and nations vnder his dominion In the meane ceason this is to be noted that this decrée of the king is praysed by the spirite of god For Daniell doth rehearse it for none other purpose but to declare the fruite of the conuersion in the king Wherefore thys is with out al controuersy that king Nebuchadnezer hath testified his repentance when he magnified the God of Israell before all the world and appoynted a penalty for all them which spake blasphemously agaynst that god Therfore is this place oft cited by Augustine agaynst the Donatistes for they would haue bene suffered still vnpunished when they maliciously troubled the Church when they corrupted the pure doctrine yea when they tooke vpon them to robbe like theues and rage like murtherers For it was manifest that diuerse were then murthered by them and others maymed When these men liued so wickedly yet would they haue their wickednes to go vnpunished thys they helde for a principle that no man ought to be punished for holding a contrary religion For the which thing some at this day are to much bent to contention It is euident what they séeke For if a man marke them they are wicked contemners of God at the least they would haue nothing to be certayne in religion Therefore doo they labour to ouerthrow and as much as in them lyeth to destroy all the principles of religion Therefore that they may poure forth theyr poyson they striue thus stoutly for impunity deny that heretikes and blasphemers ought to be punished That impudent Castalio is one of them and his felowes and other such like Such were then the Donatistes And therefore as I haue sayd Augustine doth often times cite thys place and declareth that it is shamefull slackenes when Christian princes doo not by punishing the heretikes and blasphemers maintayne Gods glory considering that Nebuchadnezer which was neuer truely conuerted yet by a certayne secret instigation published this decree How so euer it is it is euident enohgh to such as are modest and voyd of contention that this decree of Nebuchadnezer is commended by the testimony of the spirite If it be so it foloweth consequently that it is the duety of kinges to defend Gods true worship to punish seuerely prophane contemners who labour either to make nothing of true religiō or adulterate and corrupt the true doctrine with their errors and so dissipate the vnity of fayth and trouble the concord of the Church This is playne by the text of the prophet Nebuchadnezer sayth first It is good for me to declare the signes and the wonders which God hath wrought with me At the first he began to declare what God had done but it vanished away Therefore after that God had twise or thrise chastised him at the length he confesseth that it is good and glorious for him to declare the wonderfull workes of god And he breaketh forth into an exclamation how great are his signes how wonderfull are his mighty workes his kingdome is an eternall kingdome and his dominion for euer It is no doubt but Nebuchadnezer would stirre vp his subiectes to reade this decrée more diligently and to know the greatnes thereof that they might geue them selues to serue that true and only god He calleth the hygh God the God of Israell vndoubtedly Yet doo we not know whether he had cast away his supersticions or no. And I do rather thinke the contrary that he had not cast of his errors but that he was compelled thus to geue glory vnto the true god He dyd then so knowledge the God of Israell to be the hygh God that he dyd ioyne vnto hym the inferior Gods as companions and mates as all the faythles haue perceiued that there was one hygh God but they imagined therewith an heape of other Gods. So then dyd Nebuchadnezer confesse the God of Israell to be the hye God yet dyd he not correct the Idolatry that was vnder his dominion yea he mingled altogether his false Gods with the God of Israell and so left not hys corruption He doth greatly celebrate Gods glory but that is not enough vnles all superstions be abolished that that only religion which is prescribed in the word of God may haue place and the pure and perfit worshyp of God may only florish To be short this preface may be some token of a notable conuersion But we shall sée streight wayes that Nebuchadnezer was not wholly pourged from his errors Wherefore we ought to be the more moued where we sée the king wrapped in many errors to be so rauished with the admiration of Gods power that he exclameth cryeth out
are able to iudge nothing Whē the imperiall Maiesty or the kinges highnes is shewed they are all amased and astonied For they thinke that it is not lawfull for them to beholde what is in those Princes Seyng then there was so great riches power in king Nebuchadnezer it is no meruaile though the Prophet do say that his boughes were beautifull and hys fruite plentifull But in the meane season we must remēber that which I haue lately spoken that is to say that the blessing of God doth shine in the Princes although they be farre from doyng theyr offices for God doth not suffer hys grace to be vtterly taken from them therefore they are compelled to bring forth some fruite It is much better therefore to sée some kynde of dominion then one equall condition where euery one woulde plucke forth hys neighboures eyes And thys is ment by the meate for euery one The second part of the dreame followeth Hetherto Nebuchadnezer hath described the beauty and excellency of his state by the figure of a high trée which shadowed the beastes and fed them wyth fruite and gaue quiet nestes to the foules of heauen in his braunches Now followeth the cutting downe of the trée I haue seene sayth he in the visions of my head vpon my bed and beholde a watch man and a holy one came downe from the heauens There is no doubt but by the watchman he meaneth an angell He is also called holy for a further declaration And the Angells are so called worthely because they watch continually to execute Gods cōmaundemēts For they are not subiect vnto sléepe because they are not nourished with meate nor drinke but liue a spirituall lyfe therfore also they haue no néede of sléepe for we fall into sléepe by meat and drinke Finally because the Angels haue no bodyes therefore they watch alwayes by their spirituall nature Howbeit not onely their nature but their office is also here expressed Therfore because God hath them alwayes ready at hys appoyntment and he doth send them to execute hys commaundementes therefore are they called watchmē It is read in the Psalme Ye Angeles which performe his wyll because they go to and fro by an incomparable swiftnes and flye straight wayes from the heauen vnto the earth and frō the vttermost part of the earth vnto the contrary from the east vnto the west Because therefore that the Angels are so ready to accomplish that which God commaundeth they may well be called watchmen They are also called Saintes or holy because they are not infected wyth mans filthynes For we are stuffed full of vices and sinnes not onely because we dwell vppon the earth but because we haue gathered corruption of our first parentes which haue poluted all the partes both of body and soule Wherefore Nebuchadnezer doth descerne the Angels from mortall men by thys title For though God doth here sanctifie his elect yet so long as they dwell in the prison of theyr flesh they neuer come to the perfection of Angels So is here noted the difference betwixt men and Angels Nebuchadnezer colde not perceaue this of hymselfe but that he was taught of God that he might vnderstand the cutting downe of this trée not to come by man but by Gods appointment Afterward he sayth that the Angell cryed wyth a loude voyce Cut downe the tree beat downe the leaues breake of the braunches scatter abroad the fruite and let the beasts flye frō the shadow thereof and let not the foules of the ayre breede in the braunches God would expresse by thys figure that the kyng Nebuchadnezer should for a tyme become lyke a beast Neyther may we thinke it any absurdity although it be somethyng straungely spoken that the trée is named to be spoyled of mans hart for Daniel doth now turne frō the alligory Yea Nebuchadnezer himselfe had the dreame so in an alligory that God yet mixed something whereby he might gather some other thing to be noted vnder the figure of the trée The Angell therefore commaundeth mans hart to be taken from the trée after it was cut downe and hys boughes and fruites spoyled Then doth he commaund the hart of a beast to be geuen vnto it that hys portion may be wyth the wylde beastes of the fielde But because this must be repeated agayne I passe it now the more lightly Thys is the summe that the king Nebuchadnezer should for a tyme not onely be spoyled of hys empire dominion but also of all humane vnderstanding that he should nothing differ from a beast because he was vnworthy to be in the lowest place of the common people though he séemed to hym selfe farre to excéede all mankinde in dignitie yet he should be cast downe and abased that he should not haue the lowest place amongst men Then followeth the order of this punishment when it is sayd Let seuen tymes passe ouer hym Agayne Cut not downe hys whole roote but let hym be watred with the rayne of heauen Agayne let hys portion be with the wilde beastes Although thys be a seuere and horrible chastisement when Nebuchadnezer is cast forth of mans company and made like the wylde beastes yet thys is somewhat that God doth not plucke him vp by the roots but wyll haue hys roote to remayne that it may grow and be a trée yea that it may be grafted in the owne place and gather new strength out of the roote Daniel hath respect vnto thys that God layd such a punishment vpon king Nebuchadnezer in the which yet he shewed some token of hys mercy because he spared hym and cut hym not of wholy but suffered some roote to remayne Where some do here dispute of the mitigation of the payne when God séeth men repent I know not whether thys be a place for it or no. For thys conuersion of the king was not perfect as we haue séene playnely before Therefore where God would presse hym no more this ought to be attributed to hys onely mercy because euen when he semeth to punish mans sinne most sore yet in all hys temporall punishmentes he leaueth some tast of hys mercy that the reprobate may remayne inexcusable For where they bring thys that the punishment is not mitigated vnles the fault be forgeuen it is false as we sée in the example of Achab For God did not forgeue the fault vnto that wicked kyng but because he did séeme to shew some tokens of repentance God did absteine from sharper punishment So also may we perceaue the same in king Nebuchadnezer God would not plucke hym vp by the rootes this is referred to the metaphore of the trée but would haue seuen times to passe Some do vnderstand seuen wéekes others seuen yeares but we shall treat thys at large afterward Now this is last of all to be noted that euen in the middest of the vengeaunce of God towardes this miserable king yet were Gods benefites mixed as appeareth in these wordes Let hys portion be wyth
this can not be drawen to the workes of satisfaction and that the Papistes are foolish and filthy herein But although we graunt vnto thē this thyng yet it doth not folow that the sinnes are redemed before God therby as though the workes could recompence either for the punishmēt or for the crime They confesse that the crime is not redemed with satisfactions but the punishment they say is redemed But sée how thys agréeth wyth the mynde of the Prophet I do not striue wyth them now for the word of redemyng but I would haue them to regard whether thys redemption be in the iudgement of God or before men It is certaine that Daniel here did regarde how wickedly and cruelty Nebuchadnezer had behaued hymselfe how tyrannously he had vexed hys subiectes how proudly he despised the poore and miserable that were vnder hym Because then he had geuen hym selfe so dissolutly to all wickednes Daniel declareth the remedy And though this remedy be taken for a redemption or deliueraunce there is no absurditie for we redeme our sinnes wyth men when we satisfie for them I do redeme my fault at my neighbours hand when I do labour to reconcile my selfe vnto hym after I haue offended hym knowledging my crime and asking forgeuenes And if I haue diminished hys goods I restore that which was vniustly taken Thus do I redeme my crime But it doth not follow therefore that my sinnes are purged before the iudgement seat of God as though thys which I do vnto my neighbour were any kynde of recompence before god We sée therefore how foolish the Papistes are to abuse the Prophetes wordes Here they vse to demaund a question to what purpose Daniel doth exhort the king Nebuchadnezer to breake of hys sinne or to redeme hys sinne For eyther it was a thyng depending of chaunce which were a great absurdity to graunt or els it was an heauēly decrée like as the dreame of the kyng was a publication of Gods decrée as we did sée before If thys were determined with God it could by no meanes be chaunged Therefore it was in vayne to redeme hys sinne If we follow the other exposition of breaking of thys sinne there remayneth no doubt But although we cōfesse that the Prophet here doth speake of the redeming of sinnes yet is the exhortatiō not vnprofitable For although kyng Nebuchadnezer should haue prepared hymselfe to beare Gods correction yet was it not vnprofitable to know God to be mercifull And the tyme also myght haue bene shortened which was prolonged by his ostinate malice not that God at any tyme chaungeth hys decrée but because he often tymes preacheth threatningly vnto mē to cause them to repēt that he may deale more mercifully wyth them and restraine the rigour of hys vengeaunce as we sée by manifolde examples Thys had not bene then vnprofitable nor fruitles that Daniel exhorted the kyng to redeme or breake of hys sinne if the king had considered it for he myght haue found fauour in some poynt although he had bene punished Yea though there had not bene one day shortened of vij yeares yet was this no small profite if the kyng had humbled hym self betymes before God that yet he might be capable of that mercy in the end which was promised For because the tyme was named by the Prophet therfore had it bene profitable for the kyng if he had prepared hymselfe to receiue that mercy by humble prayer vnto hys iudge Wherefore this dictrine was profitable many wayes lyke as it is vnto vs at thys day For although we must be ready to receiue Gods corrections yet is thys no small comfort in our miseries when we do so submit ourselues vnto God that we are perswaded of the contrary part that he wyll be mercifull vnto vs because he seeth vs displeased wyth our sinnes and hartely abhorre them ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that we may learne paciently to beare all manner of aduersities and that we may know that thou doest exercise towardes vs the office of a iudge as often as we are afflicted in thys world that we may by thys meanes preuent thy vengeaunce and may wyth true humilitie so condemne our selues that we yet trusting vnto thy mercy may alwayes flie vnto thee by the cōfort that we haue in the mediator whom thou hast geuen vnto vs thyne onely begotten Sonne and that we may so craue pardō of thee that we may in the meane seasō meditate true repētaūce not by vayne and vnprofitable inuentions of men but wyth true and earnest tryals of our selues that is that we may exercise true charitie and fidelitie one toward an other and may thus testify vnto the world the feare of thy name that thou mayst be truely glorified amongest vs by the same Iesus Christ our lord Amen 25 All these thynges did come vpon the kyng Nebuchadnezer 26 At the end of twelue monthes he walked in the royall palace of Babell 27 And the kyng spake and sayd Is not thys great Babell that I haue built for the house of the kingdome by the might of my power and for the honor of my maiestie 28 While the word was in the kinges mouth a voyce came downe from heauen saying O kyng Nebuchadnezer to thee be it spoken thy kingdome is departed from thee 29 And they shall driue thee from men and thy dwelling shal be wyth the beastes of the field they shall make thee to eate grasse as the Oxen and seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee vntill thou know that the most high beareth rule ouer the kingdome of men geueth it to whomsoeuer he wyll After that Nebuchadnezer hath declared that Daniel was the preacher of Gods iudgement vnto him which was at hand now he addeth how and after what sort God dyd execute that iudgement which he had pronounced by hys Prophet He speaketh in the third person but we know how often the chaunging of the person is vsed wyth the Hebrues and Chaldees Furthermore Daniel did not write the saying of the kyng but did onely cōprehend the summe So it commeth to passe that sometymes he bringeth in the kyng to speake sometymes he speaketh in his owne person There is no cause therefore why this diuersitie should trouble vs for it doth nothing obscure the sense In the first verse Nebuchadnezer teacheth that that dreame which Daniel expounded was not in vayne So he admonisheth by the effect that followed that it was a heauenly oracle for other dreames as we do know do vanish away But because God did accomplish at hys due tyme that which he had shewed to the kyng of Babylon by dreame hereby it appeareth that it was no trifling dreame but a certayne and sure reuelation of the punishment which should shortly come vpon the kyng And the manner also is expressed Daniel saith that after a yeare was ended the king did walke in hys palace boasted of hys glory maiestie the same moment a voyce came downe frō heauē wherby
thys was repeted which he heard before in the dreame Afterward he declareth how he was cast forth from the company of men and remayned a long tyme wyth brute beastes so that he differed nothing from the beastes Some do thinke that Nebuchadnezer was strickē wyth repentance when he was admonished of the wrath of God and that for thys cause the tyme of hys punishment was deferred But I thinke not so I thinke rather that God stayed hys hand vnto the end of the yeare that the pride of the kyng myght be more inexcusable For he ought to haue bene afrayd by that voyce of the Prophet as though God hymself had thundred and lightned from the heauen Now it appeareth that he was alwayes one I do not deny in déede but that he myght be afrayd at the first message and I will not dispute of that matter Howsoeuer it is I do not thinke that God spared hym for a tyme because he did shew any token of repentaunce I graunt that God doth sometimes spare the reprobate if he sée thē humbled as we haue a most playne example in king Achab. For Achab dyd neuer repent hartely but God would shew how much repentance pleased hym whiles he pardoned the wicked and obstinate king in hys malice for some small signe of repētaunce The same might be spoken of kyng Nebuchadnezer if the Scripture did teach it But as may be gathered by the wordes of the Prophet Nebuchadnezer went forward in his pride vntill his careles negligence came to the highest For thys was intolerable that after God had threatned so sore the king remained yet in hys pride It is a monstrous dulnes that he could remaine careles although he had liued a hūdreth yeares after that threatning Finally I do thinke that although Nebuchadnezer dyd vnderstand that a sore and horrible punishment was prepared for hym yet though he were afrayd for a tyme he dyd not lay downe hys pride and hye mynde In the meane season that prophecy might séeme vayne it is probable that the thing which he had heard was now a long time gone out of hys mynde Like as the wicked are wont to abuse the long sufferaunce of God and so heape vnto themselues the treasure of greater vēgeaunce as Paule sayth Rom. 2. Wherefore it may be that he derided thys prophecy and so was more and more hardened Howsoeuer it is there can none other thing be gathered by the text of the Prophet then that the admonition of the Prophet was then in vayne yea that the oracle it selfe was of no force whereby he was called to repentaunce If there had bene any droppe of a Godly mynde in hym truely he should haue fled to the mercy of God he should haue weighed with hymselfe by how many wayes he had prouoked hys wrath he should haue geuen hymselfe wholy to the workes of charity as he had executed greuous tyranny agaynst all so should he haue geuen hymselfe to humanity and mercy as the Prophet had exhorted hym but he is so farre from doing thys that he doth vomit out vayne boastinges which do shew that hys mynde doth swell with disdainfulnes and also with the contempt of god Because therefore here is noted the space of the tyme hereby it appeareth that God will sometymes deferre hys iudgements if paraduenture they wyll repent euen which séeme altogether desperate But the reprobate do abuse that humanity and mercy of God because they do more hardē theyr harts by thys occasion whiles they suppose that God ceaseth frō doyng the office of a iudge when he suffereth for a season At the end then of twelue monthes the king walked in hys palace and spake and sayd Thys doubling of the word doth expresse that the kyng spake of a purposed pryde The Prophet myght haue sayd more simply the kyng spake but he sayth that he spake and sayd Wherby I suppose that the Prophet meaneth that the king did as it were vomite forth that which he had before conceaued and purposed in his heart Is not this that great Babylon which I haue builte for my kingly pallace by the might of my power and for the honor of my maiesty In these wordes we see no open blasphemye which should offend God so greatly but we must consider that the king did speake thus to challenge vnto him selfe all thinges as though he were in the place of god And thys may be gathered by the words Is not this Babylon the great He boasteth of the greatnes of hys citie as though he would set it against the heauens as the olde Gyants did Which saith he This Pronowne doth seme also to be put for vehemency Which I sayth he haue builte and that with the might of my power We see how he spoyleth God of hys honour challenging all thinges vnto him selfe Yet before I go any further wee must see wherefore he sayth that Babylon was builte of him For all the Historiographers do agrée in this that that citie was built of Semiramis Now a great whyle after Nebuchadnezer doth declare it for hys prayse and glory that he hath built that citie But the aunswere is easie For we know how earthly kynges do study by all meanes possible to throw downe the glory of others that onely they myght excell and get to them selues a perpetuall name especially where they chaunge some thyng in buildinges or in palacies or in Cityes they would séeme to be the first builders and so blot them out of memory of whom the foundations were layd So it may be that Babylon was beautified of the king Nebuchadnezer therefore doth he translate all the glory vnto himselfe whereas the greater part should haue bene ascribed to Semiramis and Ninus Wherefore it is a tyrannicall kynde of speach that is which the tyrauntes do often vsurpe and commōly whiles they draw to them selues other mens praises Therefore sayth he I haue built it wyth the strength of my power Now we may easely sée what did displease God in thys boasting of the king of Babylon euē his sacrilegious boldnes when he sayth that the Citie was built by hys owne myght or power But God sheweth that that prayse is due vnto hym and worthely For except God builde the City they watch in vayne c. Therefore how strongly soeuer men labour in building Cityes yet they profite nothing except God hymselfe rule the worke Where as then Nebuchadnezer doth magnify hymselfe and doth set forth the strēgth of hys power agaynst God and hys grace thys arrogant boasting was intolerable And thys was the cause that God was so angry wyth hym Therefore let vs learne that thys is tryed true by this example which the Scripture doth so oftentymes inculcate that is to say that God resisteth the proud that he plucketh downe their hauty lookes and countenaunces and that he can not abyde their arrogancy Where as God therefore in euery place doth pronounce that he is an enemy to the proud it is
confirmed by this example as if God did hereby set forth vnto vs the Image of his iudgement as in a glasse This is one lesson Also the cause is to be noted why God maketh opē warre agaynst all the proud because we can lift vp our heades neuer so little but we fight agaynst god For all rule and power is in hys hand yea our life is in hys hand Neyther are we any thing neyther can we do any thing but onely of hym and by hym Who soeuer chalengeth therefore thys or that be it neuer so little to hymselfe he withdraweth so much from god Wherefore it is no maruaile though God do testify that he can not abyde the hygh countenaunces of men for they do wilfully prouoke him to anger when they vsurpe the least thing that can be vnto themselues It is true that Cities are built by the industry and labour of men and that those kynges are worthy commendation that eyther built Cities or fortifie them so that due prayse remayne vnto God and nothing be taken therefrom But when men extoll and magnify themselues and wyll haue their power séene they bury the blessing of God as much as in them lyeth Then is it necessary as we haue sayd that their sacrilegious temerity robbing God of his honor be called to accompt Also the kyng sheweth hys vanity when he sayth I haue built it for my princely palace and for the excellency of my maiestie By these wordes he doth not dissemble but that he regarded hys owne glory in all hys buildinges to the entent that hys name myght be aduaunced amongest hys posterity To be short therefore would he both in his lyfe and after hys death be thus renowmed in the world that God should be nothing in respect of hym and so all the proud shoote at this marke that they may set themselues in Gods place It followeth The word was yet in the kinges mouth when a voyce was heard from heauen Here we sée how soone God can euen in a moment represse the madnes of them that do outragiously extoll thēselues And it is no maruaile though this voyce was heard sodainly seing there had bene a space for repentaunce geuen before vnto the kyng Nebuchadnezer Now in thys kynde of speach They say vnto thee we néede not to be curious to know who spake The name of the kyng is not geuen hym for honor but in derision as though he should say thou art dronken wyth thy present dignity for whyles all men do honor thée as a God thou doost forget thyne owne fraility howbeit this princely Maiestie and power can not let but that God can cast thée downe because thou wilt not humble thy self willingly thy kingdome is departed from thée Thys was incredible then for Nebuchadnezer was in a quiet possession of the kyngdome No man did shew hymselfe an enemy his Monarchy was terrible to all nations yet doth God pronounce at that present that the kyngdome was departed from hym And thys maketh for the certainty of the oracle that Nebuchadnezer may know that the tyme is now fulfilled and the punishment can no longer be deferred because he had so abused Gods mercy and mocked hys clemency It followeth And they shall driue thee from amongest mē and thy dwelling shal be wyth the beastes of the fielde and they shall make thee eate grasse like the oxen That some mē thinke that Nebuchadnezer was transformed into a beast it is to great an absurdity Therefore we néede not to imagine any such metamorphosis but that he was so cast forth of mans company that except onely mans shape he differed nothing from brute beastes Yea there came such a deformity vpon hym in that exile that he was horrible to looke vpon as we shall sée afterward that all the heares of hys body did grow as the fethers grow vpon the Egles and hys nayles did grow like birdes clawes Thys had he common wyth the beastes and birdes in the rest he was lyke a man For we know not whether God did strike this kyng with madnes so that he ranne away and hid hymselfe for a space or whether he were cast forth by tumult and the conspiracy of hys nobles or by the consent of the whole people Thys we do not know because the histories of those times are vnknowen vnto vs. Now whether he were enraged and so ranne forth of mans company or he were cast forth as tyrantes are many times or not this example is very notable that he remayned with beastes for a seasō Yet is it probable that he was so beside hymselfe that God yet left hym the forme of man and tooke away his reason as shall better appeare by the texte They shall cast thee forth of mans company and thy dwelling shall be wyth wilde beastes and they shall make thee eate grasse like the bullockes That is to say thou shalt be depriued of all thy princely delicates yea of all the commō diet of the vulgare people thou shalt haue none other meat then brute beastes haue And seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee Of thys we haue spoken before Some do restreine it to vij dayes which neither hath reasō nor colour Neither do I expound it of monethes for that had bene a short tyme Wherefore their sentence is more probable which do extend it to seuen yeares For if Nebuchadnezer were cast forth by any tumult he could not be so shortly called in agayne Furthermore because that God would shew in his person an example the remēbraunce whereof might continue many ages I doubt not but that he was seperated from the commō state of men for a long season If it had bene but for seuen dayes or monthes we sée how little Gods iudgementes vnles they be seuere are regarded in the world Wherefore that God myght print thys punishment in the hartes of all he continueth it for a long space I do not say vij yeares precisely for as I sayd the certaine number is put for the vncertayne but I do say that it was a long space Seuen yeares sayth he shall passe ouer thee whiles that thou know that the most high is the ruler in the kingdome of men This is the ende of the punishment Wherein we note that God doth mitigate the bitternes of the payne because he doth limite it vnto a certaine tyme and also had his ende determined that Nebuchadnezer should repent in the end because hee could none other wayes waxe wise but by punishment as the prouerbe is of the foolish So was it of necessitie that kyng Nebuchadnezer must bee compelled by scourges to submit him selfe vnto God because nothyng could be done with him by admonitions neither yet before by heauenly visions God dealeth not thus with all Wherfore we haue here a speciall example of hys clemency and mercy which caused that this punishment which was layd vpon Nebuchadnezer tooke place and was profitable The reprobate do more and more harden their hartes agaynst God yea
they are more and more enraged and waxe furious That Nebuchadnezer was chastened for a space by the hand of God and afterward repented to perceiue that God beareth the whole rule in all the world this was of speciall grace He sayth that God is the ruler in the kyngdome of men because that tyrauntes will be persuaded of nothyng more hardly then that they are vnder the power of god They will confesse in one word that they reigne by his grace but in the meane seasō they suppose that they are come to their authoritie either by their power or by fortune and that they are mainteined therein either by their power their wisedome or by their riches Wherfore they shut forth as much as in them lyeth God from the gouernement of the world whiles they are puffed vp with this fonde opinion that they remaine in their state and dignitie by their own power or wisedome This was no small profite then that Nebuchadnezer began to perceiue that God is the gouernour in the kyngdome of men for the kyngs would set him in a meane state betwixt them and the people They graunt in dede that the people must be in obedience vnto God but they thinke thē selues to be exempted from the common order and they imagine after their lustes that they haue a priuiledge that they nede not to be vnder the hand gouernment of god So was this as I haue sayd no vulgare nor cōmon lesson the Nebuchadnezer learned at the last that God doth raigne in the earth For kyngs do cōmonly shut him vp in the heauēs and imagine that he doth content him with hys owne glory so that he doth not intermedle with mens matters Afterward hee addeth what kinde of gouernment God hath euen that he raiseth vp whom he pleaseth and casteth downe others God is not the gouernour then onely in this respect that he susteineth the world by his vniuersall prouidence but because no man commeth to any authoritie but at his pleasure He gyrdeth some with a gyrdle he vngyrdeth others he powreth contempt vpon Princes and maketh the mighty weake as it is written in the booke of Iob. We may not imagine then any power of God that is idle but we must ioyne it with the present acte Whether then that tyrauntes haue the gouernment or good and godly kynges altogether is gouerned by the secret counsaile of God for other wayes he could not be the kyng and gouernour of the world 30 At that same houre was this thing fulfilled vpon Nebuchadnezer and hee was driuen from men and did eat grasse as the bullockes and his body was wet with the dew of heauen till hys heares were growne like Egles fethers and hys nayles like byrdes clawes The Prophet doth conclude that which he had spoken before that is as soone as the voyce came from heauē Nebuchadnezer was cast forth of mens company It may be that they had some occasion to dryue hym forth But because the coniecture is doubtfull I had rather leaue it indifferent which the holy ghost hath not reueiled I will onely touch this briefly that when he boasted that Babylon was built by the strength of his power it might be that euē the nobles also did disdayne whiles they saw him puffed vp with so great arrogancy or it may be also that he spake after this maner when he thought that they lay in wayt for him or when he perceaued that troubles were moued agaynst him How soeuer it is God sent forth his voyce and droue forth of the company of mē the kyng Nebuchadnezer in the same moment Therfore In that houre sayth he was the word fulfilled If it had bene a long space afterward the cause might haue bene ascribed to fortune or other lower meanes but where there is such copulation of the word with the worke the iudgement is more manifest then can be darkned by mās malignitie Therfore he sayth that he was cast forth and did eate grasse so that he differred not from the oxen that his body was watered with rayne because he did lye without the house For we oftentymes are watred with rayne and there is none which can escape that necessitie in the fieldes and often tymes the trauellers do come wette to their Inne But here the Prophet doth speake of the continuall iudgement of God that he had no house to go into but did lye in the fieldes So he sayth He was watered with the dew of heauen vntill sayth hee his nailes did grow lyke byrdes clawes and his heares lyke Egles fethers This place doth more confirme that which was spoken before that seuen tymes should bee expounded of a long time because his heares would not haue so growē in seuē monethes neither would there haue bene such a deformitie and so great in this space Therfore thys chaungyng which is described of the Prophet doth sufficiētly declare that the kyng Nebuchadnezer was punished with a longer tyme Neither could he so quickly be humbled because arrogancie is vntameable euen in a meane man how much more in such a great mighty Monarche 31 And at the end of these dayes I Nebuchadnezer lift vp myne eyes vnto heauen and myne vnderstādyng was restored vnto me and I gaue thankes vnto the most high and I praysed and honored him that liueth for euer whose power is an euerlastyng power and his kingdome is from generation to generation Now the Prophet doth bryng in the kyng speakyng agayne Therfore he sayth After that tyme was passed he lift vp his eyes vnto heauen There is no doubt but he doth meane of those seuen yeares And seyng he began at the length to lift vp his eyes vnto heauen hereby it appeareth how lōg the healing of his disease that is of his pride was For euen as where there is some liuyng part corrupted and almost consumed the remedy is hard and long euen so because pride is altogether fastened in mens hartes and doth occupy euen the very marow and doth infect what soeuer is in the soule therefore is it not so easily plucked away And this is worthy to be noted Furthermore we are also taught by this word that God did so worke in the kyng Nebuchadnezer that he did not forth with bring forth the effect of his grace opēly It was profitable for Nebuchadnezer to be so shamefully handled for the space of seuen yeares or such a tyme and to bee banished from the company of men but he could not so soone perceiue this vntill God had opened his eyes So then God doth often times chastise vs and calleth vs by litle and litle and also doth prepare vs to repentaunce but his grace is not straight way knowne ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng that although we are nothyng yet we do neuer cease to stand in our owne conceite and also are blinded by the vayne cōfidence of our selues and furthermore do vaynely boast of our vertues and powers which are nothyng that we may learne to put of
this peruerse affection and so to be subiect to thee that we may hange of thy mere grace and fauour that we may know that we stand and are susteine by thy onely power and so may learne to glorifie thy name that we do not onely obey thy word in true and pure humilitie but also may cōtinually desire and seeke for thy helpe and mistrustyng our selues may rest in that grace and fauour which is our onely stay vntill at the length thou gather vs into thy heauenly kyngdome where we may obteine that blessed eternitie which is gotten for vs by thy onely begotten sonne Amen For as much as Nebuchadnezer sayth that hée lift vp his eyes vnto heauen and his vnderstandyng was geuen him agayne hereby we gather that he was a space without his minde Neither yet was he so without his minde in my iudgement but he knew his miserie but in the meane season he dyd byte the bridle and was like a brayneséeke man Other say that he was altogether mad I will not contend of this matter but this is sufficient for me that he was without his minde so that he had some part of a beast But it is probable that he had some intelligence left that he perceiued some punishment by his miserie In the meane season he did not lift vp his eyes into heauen vntill God drew him to him For the rods of God do nothyng profite vs except he worke within vs by his spirite as we sayd before The speach is as much as if he should say he began to thinke that God was a iust iudge For although his shame did trouble him for a while yet he did not looke vnto the hand of the smiter euē as is sayd in an other place Therfore he begā to acknowledge that God is the reuenger of pride after that tyme which was appointed before was past of that which we haue spoken And they do lift their eyes into heauen which do also cast thē downe to the earth Because Nebuchadnezer should haue risen vp vnto God whom before he had forgotten as wakened from his déepe dreame hée should also haue throwen downe him selfe to the earth because now he had receiued the reward of his arrogācy For he durst lift vp his head aboue mans state when he tooke to him self those things which were due vnto god Therfore he dyd not now lift vp his eyes vnto heauē by a vayne confidence as before whē he was made drōken with the beautie of his Monarchie but he did so looke vpon God that he was cast down protestrate in his minde Afterwardes he addeth And J blessed the most highe and I praysed and glorified hym that liueth for euer This chaungyng doth shew that the punishment was layd vppon kyng Nebuchadnezer especially for this cause because he spoyled God of hys iust honour Here he doth describe the fruite of his repentaunce If this affection dyd spryng of repentaunce that Nebuchadnezer should blesse God it foloweth then that first hee was a sacrilegious person which tooke from God hys lawfull honour and would set hym selfe in hys place euen as hath bene sayd before And here also we may learne what it is to prayse God truly that is when we beyng brought to nothyng do acknowledge and determine with our selues that all thinges are vnder his gouernment and as we shall sée afterward that he is the gouernour of heauē earth that his will should stand both for law and reason and for the chief rule of iustice For otherwyse we may celebrate the prayses of God with open mouth but it shal be a mere dissimulation because no man can prayse him sincerely and purely but he which doth ascribe vnto hym all these thynges which we will speake after And first Nebuchadnezer sayth because his power is the euerlasting power and his kingdome from generation to generation In the first place here he confesseth that God is the eternall king which is a great thing For there is set agaynst thys perpetuitie the weakenes which is in men seing that all the chiefe Monarches which excell with greatest power haue nothing safe or certayne not onely because they are subiect to the chaunges of fortune as the prophane men doo commonly iudge or rather they hang on the gouernment of God but because they fade away for the most part by theyr owne vanitie We sée the whole world as it were tossed and to be like the troubled sea If there be any quietnes in one part or moe yet in euery moment there may some new and soddayne thing come to passe which was not looked for As in a quiet and bright heauen a tempest will soddaynely rise euen so we sée it come to passe in mens affayres Seing then it is so there is no firme nor stable state in the earth and especially Monarches doo shake them selues with theyr stormy stirres This is then the perpetuitie which is here declared of the king Nebuchadnezer that God is a Monarche which by hym selfe reteyneth and gouerneth hys empire and therefore he is without all daunger and perill of changing 32 And all the inhabitantes of the earth are reputed as nothing and according to his will he worketh in the army of heauen and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand nor say vnto hym what doest thou Now is added the contrary member that the Antithesis might bee full For although it followeth that among men there is nothyng sure or sound where that principle is of force that God is the euerlastyng kyng yet few do so reason because all men doo graunt vnto God with one worde a sure and perpetuall state but in the meane season they do not descēde into themselues that they might earnestly wey and consider theyr owne weakenes but being vnmindefull of theyr state they rage euen agaynst God himselfe Therfore thys explication was necessary which is set forth that is after that Nebuchadnezer praysed God because his power is euerlastyng he addeth of the contrary part that all the inhabitors of the earth are reputed as nothing Kela which some do thinke to be one word and take it for a thing that endeth For Kala signifieth to finish or to fulfill and some tymes it signifieth to consume wherof they thinke the name is deriued because that men are reputed in theyr owne measure but God is vnmeasurable But that is a hard interpretation and this opinion is more receaued that He should bee put for Aleph and so sayth Nebuchadnezer that men are reputed as nothing before God. Now therefore we sée how aptly these two members do agrée betwixt themselues that is that God is the euerlasting king and men are nothing For if any thing be geuen vnto mē so much is diminished from the power and high empire of god Therefore it followeth that Gods right can not stand whole vntill all mortall men are brought to nothing And although men do set much by them selues yet Nebuchadnezer doth pronounce by
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
as I haue sayd he should haue depriued him selfe of the gift of prophecy For we must sée what is lawful for vs to do We know that we are prone to nothyng more then to be drawē away with the entisementes of the world especially with ambition which blindeth vs and troubleth all our senses and there is no greater pestilence For when any man séeth that he can either get some honour or some gayne he doth not consider what is lawfull or what God permitteth but is caryed away as it were with a blynd madnes The same thyng might haue come vnto Daniel if hee had not bene holden backe through a hartie zele of true pietie But he refused that honour offered vnto hym of kyng Nebuchadnezer Therfore would he neuer be counted amōg the Sooth-sayes Astrologians and such lyke deceauers which did delude that nation with their enchauntmentes Hereof commeth it that now the Quéene sayth that there is a certaine man named Daniel But the kyng was not blameles by this pretence because as we haue sayd Daniel had gotten him a famous name for many yeares and God would note him forth with a sure note that mēs mindes should be bent vpon hym as vpon an heauenly Angell For as much then as kyng Beltsazar knew not that there was such a Prophet in his kyngdome it is the signe of a shamefull beastly carelesnes Therfore God would cast this in the téeth of kyng Beltsazar by a womā when she sayth Let not thy thoughtes trouble thee She calleth vpon him gently because she saw hym to be afrayd But in the meane season she sheweth that he erreth ouer grossely because he wandereth about the bush and yet might soone come to hys purpose for as much as God had geuen to his Prophet a light in his hand to lighten hym except hee desired willyngly to wander in darkenes as all the reprobate do Furthermore we may sée in this kyng the common vice of all mankind that is that none doth runne out of the way but he which either flattereth him selfe in ignoraūce or els that would haue all light extinguished Now whereas the Quéene sayth That the spirite of the holy Gods is in Daniell we haue declared in an other place what is men therby For it is no marueile though prophane mē do speake so because they are not able to discerne betwixt the onely God the Angels Wherfore they called Gods indifferētly what so euer came from God or from the heauens Hereby it commeth then that the Quéene calleth the Angels holy Gods in the meane season she setteth God but amongest the commō sort Howbeit it is our part so to knowledge the onely God that hée alone should haue the préeminence and that the very Angels be brought vnder him and that there is no excellency neither in heauen nor in earth which can obscure hys glory For the Scripture laboureth to this end to set God in most high degrée and also that nothyng should be of such excellency which should not geue place to his Maiesty But here we sée how necessary it is that we be taught of the one onely essence of God because from the begynnyng of the world men were alwayes persuaded of this that there was some one most hye power but afterward they all vanished away in their owne cogitations so that they dyd forget God moreouer did ioyne him with the Angels so that all thynges were confounded Seyng then we sée this let vs know that we haue néede that the Scripture should be our guide and teacher to shine before vs to geue vs light that we imagine nothyng of God but so farre as he calleth vs vnto him by his word doth willingly opē him selfe vnto vs. ¶ The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seyng thou doest continually call vpon vs by thy Prophetes and doest not suffer vs to wander in the darkenes of errours graunt we besech thee that we may diligently hearken to thy voyce and that we may shew our selues willyng to learne and to be obedient especially seyng thou doest set forth vnto vs such a master and teacher in whom all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge are enclosed Graunt O Lord that we may so submit our selues to thyne onely begotten sonnne that we may continue in the right course of our holy vocation and that wee may alway bend our selues to that marke vnto the which thou doest call vs whiles that we hauyng ouercome all the battailes of this life may in the end attaine to that blessed rest which is purchased for vs with the bloud of the same thy sonne So be it We haue sayd before that the kyng was admonished by the Quéene and that he was conuinced of ingratitude so playnly as might be in that hee had suffered that excellent Prophet of God to be despised whereas that worthy prophecy wherof we haue treated ought to haue bene renowmed and published amongest all mē to mainteine a perpetuall authoritie to this holy man Now that Daniel sayth that the Quéene entred into the house of the banket hereby we may take a probable coniecture that she was not the kynges wife but rather his grandmother I sayd that I wil not contend about that matter because in doubtfull thyngs euery man may fréely vse his owne iudgement But these thinges séeme not to agrée betwixt thē selues that the king did banket with his wife and concubines and also that the Quéene entred into the banket house Therefore here we gather that she was called Quéene for honour sake who though she had no power yet was she in authoritie and fauour And the testimonie of Herodotus doth also confirme this which prayseth the wife of kyng Nebuchadnezer whom he calleth Labynetus He prayseth her for her singular prudence and he calleth her Nitocris Therfore these thynges will agrée well enough that this matrone was absent from the feast because it was not mete for her age and grauitie to feast with others which did delight in riotousnes She then entred into the banket house and admonished the kyng of Daniel now she addeth the cause wherfore Daniel was ruler ouer the Mages Soothsayers Diuiners and all the Chaldees 12 Because a more excellent spirite and knowledge and vnderstandyng for hee did expounde dreames and declare hard sentences and dissolued doubtes were found in him euen in Daniel whom the kyng named Beltsazar now let Daniel be called he will declare the interpretation The Quéene doth here shew the cause wherfore Daniel gotte that dignitie that he might be counted the prince and master of all the wise men Because sayth she the excellency of the spirite was founde in him so that he did interpret dreames and declare secretes and open doubtfull matters Here she reckeneth thrée giftes wherin Daniel was excellent and so she proueth that he passed all the Mages and that none was able to bee compared vnto him The Mages in déede did boast that they were interpreters of dreames that they could
must we know without all doubt that no kyngs come to authority vnles GOD lend them hys hand and styll stablishe them therein and when hee wyll take away their power they fall spedely not that there commeth anything by chaunce in these mutations and chaunges but because that God as is written in the booke of Iob doth loose their girdles whom he had before girded Then it followeth whom he would kill he killed whom he would he did smite Some thinke that the abuse of the kinges power is here noted But I had rather take it simply that Nebuchadnezer had authority to cast downe whom he would and to exalt whom he would that it was in hys power to geue lyfe and to take away lyfe I do not therefore referre these wordes to tyrannicall lust as though Nebuchadnezer had murthered many innocentes had shed mās bloud without reason or had spoyled many of their possessions and had made other rich or raysed them to honours I do not take it so but that it was in hys power either to kill or to geue life to set vp or to cast downe To be short me thinke that Daniel doth here describe what power kynges haue which may thus fréely deale wyth their subiectes not because it is lawfull but because none dare speake agaynst it For whatsoeuer pleaseth the king all mē are compelled to agrée thereunto or at the least no man dare stirre against it Seing that kynges then haue such liberty Daniel declareth that this kyng Nebuchadnezer was not raysed hereunto by hys owne industry wisdome or counsayle or by hys good fortune but he saith that he gate thys great Empire and that he was terrible vnto all because God had adorned hym wyth that glory In the meane tyme yet it behoueth all kynges to regard what is lawfull and what GOD permitteth them to do For as they are kynges so must they consider also that they must once geue accomptes to the most high kyng We can not gather hereby then that kinges are constitute of God to be lawles to liue without order and to do what they list But the Prophet as I haue sayd speaketh of the power that they haue And seing that kinges haue power of death and life ouer their subiectes he saith that the life of them al was in king Nebuchadnezers hand Then he sayth VVhen his heart was lifted vp then was he cast downe from the throne of his kingdome and they spoyled him of his dignitie He prosecuteth that which he began His purpose is to declare to kyng Beltsazar that GOD for a space doth suffer their pride which do forget hym when they haue gotten high authoritie Therfore sayth he kyng Nebuchadnezer thy grandfather was an hye Monarch this did hée not atteine of himselfe neither yet did hée reteine the Empire and cōtinue therein but as he was stayd vpholden by the hand of god Now the trāsformation of him into a boast was a notable document that their pryde can not alwayes bee suffered which are vnthankefull vnto God and do not acknowledge that they do reigne by hys benefite VVhen his hart therfore was lifted vp sayth he and his mynde was set vpon pride there came a sodaine chaunge Hereby shouldest thou haue learned O kyng and all his posteritie to deceiue your selues no longer with pride but rather the exāple of this thy forefather should strike thy hart Wherfore this writyng is set before thyne eyes whereby thou mayst vnderstand that both thy kyngdome and thy life are euen now at an end And this sentence is to be noted that Daniel sayth That his heart was hardned in pride For he geueth vs to vnderstād that he was not puffed vp sodainly with a light folie as vayne men many tymes vse to bee when there is no cause and no inward motion of the minde goeth before but hée would vtter vnto vs a greater matter that this pride had now bene nourished in his hart along tyme as though hée should say that he was not taken with a sodaine vayne motion but that hée had so long bent him selfe vpon pride that he was obstinate and hardened therin The Prayer GRaūt almighty God that seing euery one of vs haue our state limited we may be well contented with our place and condition and that when thou wilt humble vs we may willingly submit our selues vnto thee and suffer our selues to be gouerned by thee that we may neuer desire that height that should cast vs down headlong to destruction Agayne we besech thee to graunt that euery one of vs in our vocation may behaue our selues so modestly that thou mayst alwayes haue thyne high authoritie amongest vs Furthermore that we may seeke nothyng but to bestow our labour and trauayle to serue thee and our brethren to whom we are ioyned that thy name may thus be glorified in vs all through Iesus Christ our lord Amen 21 And he was driuen from the sonnes of men and his heart was made like the beastes and his dwelling was with the wilde Asses they fed him with grasse like Oxen his body was wet with the dew of heauen till he knew that the most hye God did rule ouer the kingdome of mē and that he appointeth ouer it whom so euer he pleaseth This verse nedeth no long exposition because Daniel doth repete onely that which hee had written before that hys grandfather Nebuchadnezer though hee were not chaunged into a beast yet at the least he was cast forth of mās company that hee was deformed throughout all his body that he him selfe abhorred mans cōpany would rather dwell with brute beastes This was a horrible exāple especially in such a great monarch and worthy to be left in memory to the posteritie frō hand to hād euen to a thousand generatiōs if that Monarch had endured so long But that his nephew had so soone forgotten this lesson hereby is hee worthely reproued of shamefull securitie and carelesnes This then is the cause why Daniel doth agayne rehearse the history He was cast forth from the sonnes of men sayth he and his hart was lyke the beastes that is to say he was destitute of reason and iudgement for a tyme And we know that this is the chief difference betwixt men and beastes that men do vnderstand and iudge but the brute beastes are onely caryed by their senses God therfore shewed a terrible example vpon this kyng when he thus spoyled him of reason and vnderstandyng He sayth That his habitation was with the wilde Asses which before had dwelt in that palace which was knowne to all the world from whence all the people of the East did at that tyme receiue their lawes Therefore seyng he was wont to be worshipped for a God this was a terrible iudgemēt that afterward he dwelt with the wilde beastes And whereas now they fed him with grasse like a bullocke which before had all maner of delicates at his pleasure and was wont to be fed
so dayntely as the aboundance of hys kyngdome would beare especially seyng the East partes are more delicate then all other and that Babylon was also the mother of all riotousnes seyng the condition of the kyng was so chaunged all men might know that this was not done by fortune but by the rare and the singular iudgement of god Afterward he addeth that which he spake before That his body was watered with the rayne of heauen vntill he knew that the hygh God dyd rule in the kingdome of men Here is agayne expressed the end of his punishment that Nebuchadnezer should know that he was made kyng by Gods appointment that no earthly kings cāst and but as God stayeth them by his hand power But they do thinke them selues to be set safe and sure from all chaunges and misfortunes And though they set forth for a shew in theyr titles these wordes that they do reigne by the grace of God yet do they despise all that is of God and God him selfe for they take vnto them selues the glory of god This is the madnes of all kynges as may be gathered of these wordes For if kyng Nebuchadnezer had bene persuaded of this that kinges are set in place by God and that they do depend onely of hys good pleasure and that they stand or faull as he decréeth there had bene no nede of this punishment as is plainely expressed in these wordes Therfore he shut forth God from the gouernement of the world And this is the commune maner of all earthly kynges as I haue sayd before They will all I graūt professe otherwise but the holy ghost doth not regard such feyned protestations as they tearme them Wherfore in the person of kyng Nebuchadnezer the dronken presumption of all kynges is set forth vnto vs as in a glasse that they thinke in dede that they stand by theyr own power and they exempt them selues from the gouernment of God as though he did not sit as iudge in the heauens It was necessary therefore that Nebuchadnezer should be humbled vntill that he did know that God reigneth vpon the earth because that by commune opinion they do shut him vp in the heauen as though he were contented with his rest and had no care for mankynd In the end is added and whom he pleaseth he setteth ouer it Which expresseth more playnely that which he had spoken darkly how that Nebuchadnezer beyng daunted tamed and brought down by seuere punishment did know that God raigneth in the earth For when earthly Princes behold them selues so defended with their Gardes so to abound with riches that they can with a word gather great armies when they sée also that all men are afrayde of them they thinke that God hath no more authoritie ouer them and they can not perceiue how any chaunge can come vnto thē as it is spoken of all the proude persons in the Psalme as Isaiah sayth to the same purpose Though the scourge passeouer or the floude ouerflow the whole earth yet shall none euill touch vs As though they should say all though God should thunder and lighten from the heauen yet shall we be safe and sure from all discommoditie daunger Thus do kyngs persuade them selues Wherefore then do they begyn to know God to be the kyng of the earth when they do perceiue that it standeth in his hand and pleasure to cast down whom he hath before raised and agayne to exalte the humble and the abiect so that this is the explication of the former sentence 22 And thou his sonne Beltsazar hast not humbled thy hart though thou haue knowne all this Here Daniel declareth to what end he hath rehearsed that which we haue heard hitherto of the punishment of king Nebuchadnezer Beltsazar ought to haue bene so moued with that example in his owne familie that he should haue submitted him selfe vnto god Now it is credible that his father Euilmerodah had also forgotten that punishment yet because hee did not deale so dissolutly agaynst God neither did he reproch the true and sincere Religion God dyd spare the miserable tyraunt which did reteyne hym selfe in some mediocritie But as concernyng his nephew Beltsazar he was altogether intolerable therefore God striketh kim This is it that the Prophet now teacheth Thou art his sonne sayth he He vrgeth him with this circumstance because he neded not to fetch an example farre from straunge nations when he might know at home that thyng which was mete and necessary to bee knowen And he doth also amplifie the crime after an other sort when he sayth Thou diddest know all this For men vse to pretend ignoraunce for a shielde whē they extenuate their faultes and excuse their crimes but they which wittingly and willingly do offende want all excuse The Prophet therfore cōuinceth this kyng of manifest contumacy as though he should say that he had prouoked Gods wroth of set purpose because he was not ignoraunt how great and how horrible a iudgement doth belong to all proude persons in that he hath such a wonder full notable example in his grandfather which should alwayes haue bene in his remembraunce 23 But hast lift thy selfe vp agaynst the Lord of heauen and they haue brought the vessels of his house before thee and thou and thy princes thy wiues and thy concubines haue dronke wine in them and thou hast praysed the Gods of siluer and gold of brasse yron wood and stone which neither see neither heare neither vnderstand and the God in whose hand thy breath is and all thy wayes him hast thou not glorified The Prophet doth prosecute his purpose and confirmeth that which I haue spoken that kyng Betsazar would receiue no doctrine but was willyngly blynded at Gods iudgement Thou hast lifted thy selfe vp sayth he agaynst the Lord of heauen If he had proudly raised him selfe vp against men that had bene a fault worthy of punishment but whē he prouoketh God of set purpose this arrogancy could in no wise be suffered And he expresseth the maner of his pride when he sayth that he commaunded the vessels of the tēple to be brought forth and that he did drinke in them Now the pollution was a wicked sacrilege But Beltsazar was not content with that wickednes that hee had abused the holy vessels to his rioteousnes and filthy dronkenes and that he had set them before his concubines and harlots but hee addeth a more horrible reproch and despite agaynst God for he praysed his Gods of siluer of gold and of brasse of yron of wood and of stone which haue no sense at all This was not spoken of before but because Daniel doth here beare the person of a teacher he doth not speake it so shortly as he did before For when he sayd in the begynnyng of this chapter that Beltsazar celebrated this filthy feast hee was an historiographer but now is hee a doctour and a teacher Thou sayth he hast praysed the Gods made of corruptible
the tyraūt was greatly moued with these wordes but because hys end was come he was forced to suffer the voyce of the preacher And vndoubtedly God dyd bridle hys rage because he should not ryse vp agaynst Daniel In the end is added this word Peres for the word Vpharsin that his kingdome is diuided that is to say by the Medes and the Persians I doubt not but that God did signify by that word the destruction of the Monarchy which was at hand When he sayth therefore Vpharsin and they shall diuide he meaneth that this Monarchy can continue no longer because he will diuide it and breake it asunder But the Prophet doth allude very aptly to the diuision which was made betwixt the Medes the Persians and so was their shame encreased for the Babylonians were compelled to serue two sundry Lordes It is a great griefe whē any people hath gottē dominion farre and large and beyng afterward ouercome should be cōpelled to beare the yoke of one Lord but when there be two Lordes this increaseth the griefe So therefore Daniel doth shew that the vengeaunce of God shall not be simple when the Monarchy of Babylon is scattered abroad and this shal also encrease the greatnes of the punishment that the Medes and the Persians shall rule ouer them But true it is that the Citie was taken by the strength and industry of Cyrus but because Cyrus did geue so great honor to hys father in law that he did willingly admit hym to the society of the kyngdome therefore the Medes and the Persians are sayd to haue diuided betwixt them that kyngdome although there was properly no diuision of the kingdome Cyrus afterward as he was rauished wyth an insatiable ambition and couetousnes was drawen forth into other warres But Darius who was aboue 60. yeares old as we shal sée afterward did remaine quietly at home He was of the Medes as is well knowne For if we shall beleue many historiographers his sister the mother of Cyrus was as it were banished into Persia because there was a prophecy of the greatnes of Cyrus Who because his Grādfather had geuen hym out to be destroyed did afterward reuenge this iniury yet not so cruelly but that he spared his life He was cōtent that he should remayne in some honor and made hym a gouernor And after this hys sonne raygned ouer the Medes and Cyrus suffered it willingly Then Cyrus maried hys daughter So what for kinred and what for the loue of thys new affinity he was wylling to haue hym pertaker of hys Empire In thys sēse doth Daniel speake of the diuisiō of the Monarchy to be at hand because the Medes and the Persians should diuide it betwixt them 29 Then at the commaundement of Beltsazar they cloched Daniel wyth purple put a chaine of golde about hys necke and made a proclamation concerning hym that he should be the third ruler in the kingdome It is meruaile that the king gaue such commaundement when he was thus roughly handled of the Prophet It appeareth that hys hart did then fayle hym For before he would haue raged wythout measure and would haue commaunded thys holy Prophyt of God to haue bene put to death How then doth it come to passe that he commaundeth hym to be appareled like a kyng and causeth hym to be proclamed the third in the kingdome Some thinke that thys was done because the lawes of the kinges of Babylon were in great reuerence yea their wordes were sure and whatsoeuer they spake was vnchaungeable inmoueable They thinke therefore that this came of the regard of hys honor that king Beltsazar did performe his promise But I suppose that he was first astonished when he heard the Prophet and so became like a blocke or a stone howbeit I thinke that he did thys for his owne safety For he myght haue bene brought into contempt with his nobles if he had not shewed some courage Wherefore that he myght shew hymselfe not to be moued he commaunded Daniel thus to be adorned as though that threatning had bene of no force He did not despise that which had bene spoken by the Prophet but he would haue hys Princes perswaded and all them which were at the feast that God did threaten onely to make thē afrayde but not to execute so greuous punishment And the kynges when they are most afrayde are yet very ware of this alwayes that they shew no signe of their feare for they thinke that their authority should therby decay Wherefore that he may kéepe hys authority wyth hys subiectes he would séeme altogether careles and wythout all feare I doubt not but that thys was the deuise of thys tyraunt when he commaunded Daniel to be adorned with purple and princely ornamentes 30 The same night was Beltsazar the king of the Chaldees slayne and Darius of the Medes receaued the kingdome when he was 52. yeares olde Here Daniel sheweth briefly that this prophecy was fulfilled the same night as we haue sayd before that there was then a solemne feast because it was a feastiuall day which the Babylonians did yearely kéepe and by thys occasion the Citie was betrayed by two gouerners Gobria and Gabatha for so they are named of Xenophon And in this place do the Hebrue rabbines vtter their impudēcy and ignoraunce as they are bolde to bable after their manner of thinges vnknowne For they say that the kyng was slaine because that one of the Garde heard the voyce of the Prophet and therefore would execute that iudgement of God as though forsooth that the iudgemēt of God should depend of one prophane mans wyll or pleasure Wherefore passing ouer such childish trifles we must remember the truth of the history that Beltsazar was taken in hys feast when he had made hymselfe dronken and rioted wyth his noble men and concubines In the meane time we may obserue the meruelous mercy of God toward the Prophet For it was not possible but that he was in daunger amongest the rest For he was clothed with purple wythin an houre after the Medes the Persians entred the Citie In that tumult he could not haue escaped if God had not couered him with the shadow of hys hand We sée therefore how God careth for hys and deliuereth them from most great daungers as though he did draw them forth of the graue And there is no doubt but that this holy Prophet was sore troubled in that tumult for he was no stocke But it was necessary that he should be thus exercised that he might know the God was the kéeper of hys lyfe and that he should therefore prepare himselfe more readily to serue hym because he dyd sée that there could be nothing better then to cast all hys cares vpon God. Daniel sayth further that this kingdome was translated vnto the king of the Medes whom he calleth Darius but Xenophon calleth hym Cyaxares Howbeit thys is certayne that Babylon was taken by the power and industry of Cyrus for
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
vnto vs then the most holy and precious thyng of all that is to say that God may haue his due honour We sée then that we are taught to deale vprightly of the one part because we can not bée more safe by any meanes then by a safe conscience as Peter doth exhorte vs by the same reason in his first Epistle But what soeuer we feare and what ende soeuer may folow although an hundreth deathes be offered vs yet may we in no wise fayle from the pure worshyp of god For Daniel doubted not to enter into death and to go downe into the denne of Lyons that hée might declare that he worshypped the GOD of Israel Now that the nobles do fall to that barbarous and cruell counsaile that is that they might oppresse Daniel by the pretence of Religion hereby we gather how blinde the rage is whē ambition and enuy do possesse mens mindes for they do nothyng feare at all to fight manifestly agaynst god For they do not assayle Daniel as a man but they breake forth most wickedly and outragiously agaynst God when they would extinguish the worship of God to satisfie their lust Wherefore I say that we are admonished by this example how carefully wee ought to fly ambition and to take héede of it and also of enuy which spryngeth thereof What crime they committed agaynst the law of God it foloweth 6 Therfore the rulers these gouernours went together to the kyng and sayd thus vnto hym kyng Darius liue for euer 7 All the rulers of thy kingdome the officers and gouernours the counsellers and dukes haue consulted together to make a decree for the king and to establishe a statute that who soeuer shall aske a petition of any God or mā for thirty dayes saue of thee O kyng hee shal be cast into the denne of Lyons The rulers of the kyngdome went about by this policie to ouerthrow the holy Prophet of God that either he beyng cast into the denne of Lyons should perish or els that hée should forsake the outward profession of the worshyp of god But they thought that he was more constant and of greater courage then that hee would redeme his lyfe with such wickednes Therfore they thought that they were sure that he should dye They thinke thē selues very subtill but God setteth him selfe agaynst thē and helpeth hys seruant as we shall sée Yet this was a detestable malice that they go about to destroy Daniel vnder this pretēce For though they did not worshyp the God of Israel yet did they know that the minde of the Prophet was right and good and also they had proued by experience the power of that GOD which was vnknowne vnto them They dyd not cōdemne Daniel therefore in that conscience neither yet were they able to finde fault with that Religiō which he vsed Wherfore I say that they were so caryed by the hatred of the person vnto this cruelty that they set them selues against god For they could not be ignoraunt of this that God must be worshypped They them selues worshypped vnknowne Gods and they durst not condemne the worship of the God of Israel We sée therefore how the deuill bewitcheth them that they durst lay this crime agaynst the holy Prophet Howbeit it is vnknowen what occasion they abused to this their wicked purpose Some suppose that this was done because Darius could not well beare the glory of hys sonne in law For where he was old and the other was of a florishyng age he thought hym selfe contemned Some thinke therefore that Darius him selfe was pricked with some secrete enuy and that his nobles had therby an entry to deceaue this miserable old man ouer light of belief and so blynde his eyes But this coniecture doth not seme vnto me of any great weight neither yet do I much trauaile about this matter For it may be that they would gratifie their kyng in the begynnyng of this new kingdome and therfore that they would decrée some new and straunge thyng the which thyng we do sée often tymes to be done by such as do flatter kynges and princes Wherefore this old man might be deceiued herein now when his Monarchy was so lately encreased He ruled onely ouer the Medes before now came the Chaldees the Assiriās and many other nations vnder his Empire Such an encrease of dominion might make him dronken with vaine glory and the nobles thought that they had a plausible matter in hand to decrée diuine honours vnto their kyng Me thinke this one cause may suffice Wherfore I am not to much carefull to search any further for I do take that which offereth it selfe and is most probable We sayd before that the nobles which layd snares for Daniel were stricken with a maruelous ragyng madnes when they durst publish this decrée vnto the kyng which Daniel reciteth For that was an intolerable sacrilege that the kyng spoyled all the Gods of their honour yet dyd he signe and subscribe the decrée as foloweth to the intent that he might hereby try the obediēce of his people whom he lately brought into subiection by the helpe of his sonne in law For there is no doubt but that he ment to hold vnder the Chaldees who had bene Lordes vntill this presēt time For we know how that pride of hart is engendred by power authoritie When as the Chaldees therfore did reigne before this tyme so farre and so wyde it was hard to bryng them downe and to make them ready to all obedience especially when they dyd sée them selues to be their seruauntes whose equals they were before For we know that they had often tymes encountered in battaile with the Medes Although therfore they were now ouercome by the sword yet were not their hartes conquered Therfore would Darius proue their obedience This semeth to be the cause For hée doth not of set purpose prouoke the wrath of the Gods agaynst hym selfe but whiles he regarded men he forgate God set hym selfe in the place of the Gods as though he had authoritie to plucke downe the power of the heauēs to him selfe This was an horrible sacrilege as I haue sayd But if any man could try the hartes of kynges scarsely the hundreth man of thē could be found which doth not after the same sort despise all diuine power For although they cōfesse them selues to reigne by the grace of God yet will they be worshipped in Gods stead And heare we sée how easily flatterers can persuade princes any thyng that may seme to set out their honors and maiesties The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that as thou hast gouerned thy seruaunt Daniel when honours were offered aboundantly and when he was set vp in most high dignity that he yet alwayes continued in integrity and lyued innocently where all liberty was geuen vnto all euill graund we beseech thee that we may learne to reteyne our selues in that meane state whereunto thou doest restrayne vs and that we being contēt with our pouerty may
in Darius but his cursed pride can by no meanes be excused Agayne why did he shew such humanitie toward Daniel Because he had proued him to be a faithfull seruaunt Wherfore this was a priuate loue which moued him to mercy He would not haue shewed him selfe so fauorable towardes others If an hundreth or a thousand Iewes had bene accused before him he would haue condēned them all without any care because they had not obeyed this decrée Therfore in that point he would haue shewed him selfe proude stubborne wicked and cruell But he spared Daniel for his owne priuate commoditie agayne because he had receaued him to his fauour But how soeuer his humanity is praised there appeareth no signe of godlynes in hym Yet he sayth Thy God whom thou doest worshyp he will deliuer thee euen because he had knowne before how Daniel had prophecyed of the destruction of the Monarchy of the Chaldees Hereby he is cōuinced that the God of Israel doth both know all things before and also that all thinges are at his appointement But in the meane season neither doth he worshyp him neither suffer him to be worshipped of others for he had robbed God of his authoritie as much as in him lay Although then he do attribute here vnto God the power to deliuer yet doth he it not from the bottome of his hart and though he should so do his wickednes is so much the worse when he depriueth him of his authoritie whom he perceaueth to be the true and onely God and of most high power and yet beyng but earth and ashes dare set him selfe vp in his place 17 And a stone was brought and layd vppon the mouth of the denne and the king sealed it with his owne signet and with the signet of his princes that the purpose might not be chaunged concerning Daniel There is no doubt but this was done by the counsell of God that the nobles should seale the stone with their signets wherby the mouth of the denne was shut to the intent that the miracle should be the more manifest For when on the next day the king came the seales were whole that is the signets did remaine perfect Hereby it appeareth that the seruaunt of God was saued not by mans cunning but by the helpe and power of god In the meane season we sée how boldely the nobles compelled the king to all their purposes For he might seme to haue done more then enough when he deliuered vnto them a faithfull man that was deare vnto him and whē he commaunded him to be cast into the denne of Lyons yet they be not content with this tractablenes of the king that is so easily entreated but they do force one thing further that is that the mouth of the denne should be shut then do they all seale the stone lest any man should take Daniel away We sée then when libertie is once taken away there is no end especially when any man is made a seruaunt or slaue by his owne fault or hath geuen him selfe vp to the will of wicked men For at the first so great a bondage shall not preuaile that he which semeth to be frée should be cōpelled to do this or that or what soeuer is commaunded but when he hath once geuen him selfe to bondage and slauery as I haue sayd euen now he is compelled to sinne agayne and agayne and without end and measure For example if any man haue declined and fallen from his dutie either by the feare of man or by flattery or any other corrupt affection he will agrée to this thing or that when he shall not be onely entreated but by importunitie compelled but when he hath once altogether abandoned his libertie as I haue sayd he shall be cōpelled euen to admitte most shamefull thinges at euery mans pleasure Let a man be a pastor or preacher in the Church let him once decline of the one side or the other through ambition or the like vice he that hath brought hym so farre will come to him the secōd tyme and say what darest thou deny me this haue not I obteined of thée yesterday and the other day this and that So shall he be cōpelled the second time to trespasse for his fauour to whom he hath bound him selfe and the third time shall he be compelled to do so and to the end yea without end So also princes which are not onely frée but rule ouer other if they suffer them selues to be ouercome with an euil conscience they geue away from them selues all authoritie and are drawen euery way as pleaseth their subiectes Therfore this example is set before vs in kyng Darius who after that he had appointed Daniel to vniust punishment he addeth this also that the denne might be shut and also that the stone might be sealed And to what end forsooth that the decree might not be chaunged that is that he might not be bold to attempt any thing about Daniel We sée therefore what great ignominy and shame the kyng bringeth him selfe vnto for that his nobles do first take from him all credite as though they did deny that they would beleue him although he commaunded Daniel to be cast into the denne of Lyons but did require an assuraunce that he should not take him away neither would they suffer any thing to be attempted of him in that point We sée therfore how shamefully they discredit their king Againe we sée how they chalenge authoritie ouer him that he should not take vpon him to lift vp the stone which was sealed vnlesse he would be counted a false man as one that breaketh publicke decrées and violateth publicke recordes and hath no truth in him This place therfore doth admonish vs that we geue not vp our selues to the lustes of men and vnto seruile bondage Let euery mā serue his neighbours as much as charitie bindeth him and as their necessitie requireth But in the meane season let no man by corrupt conscience be turned this way or that way for when he ceaseth to be at libertie hee shal be compelled to beare all maner of shame and ignominy to obey most filthy commaundements like as we sée it come to passe in baudes and other wicked persons which serue the lustes and couetousnes of their princes or their ambitiō and cruelty For when they are brought once into bondage they are most miserable slaues neither can they auoyde extreme vilanyes but they must serue with shame and prouoke both God and man a hundreth times agaynst them 18 Then the kyng went into his palace and remained fasting neither were the instrumentes of musike brought before him and his sleepe went from him Here Daniel declareth the ouer late repentaunce of the king because although he was in great mournyng yet he did not correct his fault And this commeth to passe in many which are not altogether hardened in the contempt of God and wickednes but are drawen thereunto by others who though they be sory for their
power of God were to be doubted of If he should haue sayd hath God deliuered thée this had bene tolerable For God is not bounde by any law to deliuer his seruaūtes alway frō death as it is well enough knowne but that is in his hād whether he will do it or no. Therfore whē he leaueth his seruaūtes to the lust of the wicked his power is not therfore diminished because it hangeth of his mere will whether he will deliuer them But as concerning his power it ought in no wise to bee called into doubt Therfore we sée that Darius was neuer truely conuerted for he knew nothing distinctly of the true and onely God but was taken with a blinde feare whereby whether he would or not he was compelled to geue the chief honour vnto the God of Israel But this was not a willyng confession but rather forced 21 Then said Daniel vnto the king O king liue for euer 22 My God hath sent his Angell and hath shut the Lyons mouthes that they haue not hurt me for my iustice was found out before him and vnto thee O kyng I haue done no hurt Here Daniel aunswereth the kyng modestly and gently and yet by hys commaundement hee was cast into the denne Hee might worthely haue bene angry and haue chidden with hym for that hee was so wickedly forsaken For kyng Darius had tried him a faithfull seruaunt he vsed his seruice profitably When hee saw him to be oppressed with vniust sclaunders he did not set him selfe so stoutely as he ought agaynst them yea at the length he beyng ouercome with the threatnynges of hys nobles commaunded Daniel to be cast into the denne Therfore Daniel might as I haue sayd complained of the cruelty and vnfaythfulnes of the king He doth not so but dissembleth this iniury because it was sufficient that the glory of God was made manifest by his deliueraunce For the holy Prophet did séeke no other thyng yea he prayeth for the kyng And although he vse the common maner of speach yet he speaketh with all his harte when he sayth O king liue for euer that is God prolōg thy life and blesse thee for euer Many do lightely vnaduisedly salute their kinges and also their felowes after that sort but there is no doubt but that Daniel wished with all his hart both a long and a happy life vnto the kyng Afterward sayth he My God hath sent his angell and hath shut the mouthes of the Lyons Here we sée playnly by Daniel that the office of helpyng is distributed to the angels but yet so that the whole power remaineth with god Therfore he sayth that he was deliuered by the hand and ministery of the angell but he expresseth that the angell was the minister of his deliueraunce not the author Therfore saith he Jt is God which hath sent his angell We haue sene before that the Chaldees haue spokē some time confusedly when there was any mention made of God for they referred it to many called them the holy Gods. But here Daniel doth ascribe to the onely God his whole and perfect glory neither doth hee set forth a company of Gods as the opinion hath bene alwayes amongest the heathen Therfore he first setteth forth the vnitie of God and afterward he addeth that the angels are ready to helpe his seruauntes but yet they so do it as they were commaunded So the whole prayse of all safetie doth belong to God alone because the angels do not helpe whom they will neither are they moued by their owne will but onely obey Gods commaundement We must note that thing also which foloweth That God dyd stop the mouthes of the Lyons For the Prophet teacheth by these wordes that both Lyons and the most cruell beastes are in Gods power are ruled by his secret bridle so that they do not rage nor do any harme but as God permitteth Let vs therfore know that cruell beastes are therfore hurtfull vnto vs because God would humble our pride In the meane season let vs also know that there is no beast so cruell which can hurt either with téeth or nayle but as farre as God looseth the bridle And this doctrine is very profitable to bee knowne because we tremble at euery light daunger yea at the noyse of the leafe that falleth And because we must needes behold many daungers on euery side for we are set about with an hūdreth deathes we should be vexed with most miserable vnquietnes if we had not this before our eyes that not onely our life is kept of God but that there is nothing that may hurt vs which he doth not direct after to his good will and pleasure And this must also be extended euen to the very deuils reprobrates and wicked persons For we know that the deuill alwayes is diligent to destroy vs and is like a roaryng Lyon. For hee runneth about and seketh for a pray which he may deuour as Peter sayth in his first Epistle We sée also how all the wicked do imagine our destructiō euery moment how furiously they rage against vs But God which can stop the mouthes of the Lyons will also bridle the deuill and all the wicked that they shall not in any wise hurt vs but by his permission Yea experience doth teach vs that the deuill and all the wicked are repressed by his hand For we should perish euery moment but that God by his power turneth away innumerable daungers which hang ouer our heades Let vs therfore know that it is by the singulare benefite of God that we remaine safe euen one day in so great rage and madnes of our enemyes Moreouer Daniel sayth that the Lyons did him no hurt at all because righteousnes before God was founde in him By the which wordes he signifieth that he was therfore preserued because God would maintaine his glory and worshyp which he had commaūded by his law Neither doth the Prophet here proudly extoll his iustice but rather sheweth that he was therefore deliuered because God would testifie by a certaine and euident declaration that that worshyp was allowed for the which Daniel did fight euen vnto death We sée therfore how Daniel referreth all thinges to the setting forth of the true worship of god The summe is that he was the patron of a holy and godly cause and that he was ready to suffer death not by any foolish imagination or sudden motion or confused zeale but because hee was surely persuaded that he worshipped the liuing god Therfore because he was the mainteiner of a holy and godly cause hee sayth that he was preserued This is the summe Hereby we may easily gather how foolish the Papistes are which by this place such like go about to set vp the iustice merites of workes Daniel say they was preserued because iustice was founde in him before God therfore God geueth to euery one according to the merites of his workes But first we must marke the purpose of Daniel For
he doth not boast of his merites as I haue sayd but he would that the deliueraunce offered him frō heauen should be a witnes of the true and pure worship of God that he might make king Darius ashamed and that he might shew that all superstitions are wicked especially that he might admonish him of that sacrilegious decrée wherby hee did arrogate vnto him selfe the highest dominion so that he abolished as much as lay in him the whole deitie Therefore that the Prophet might admonish the kyng hereof he saith that his cause was iust And that the solution may bee the more easie we must note that there is a difference betwixt eternall saluation and speciall deliueraunces God doth deliuer vs from eternall death and doth chuse vs vnto the hope of eternall life not because hee findeth any righteousnes in vs but because he hath chosen vs fréely and therfore doth he make perfect in vs his worke without any respect of workes Therefore for as much as belongeth to eternall saluation there can be no respect of iustice because when God will search vs he shall finde nothing but cause of damnation But as concernyng particulare deliueraunces there God can looke on euery mans iustice not that it is our owne but whom he gouerneth with his spirite that they may obey his vocation to thē also he reacheth forth his hand and if they be in ieoperdy for that they study to obey him he deliuereth thē This is as if a mā should say that God fauoreth good causes but this perteineth nothing to merites Therefore as concerning this place the Papistes dote ouer childishly which do thereby gather merites For Daniel meaneth no other thyng but to maintaine the pure worship of the onely God as though he should say that God did not onely make a counte of him but that there was an other cause of his deliueraunce that is because God would shew in dede and by experience that his cause was iust He addeth and also before thee O king I haue commited no wickednes It is certayne that the Prophet did violate the kynges commaundement Wherefore then doth he not willingly confesse this yea why doth he affirme that he had not trespassed against the king Verely because he had faithfully behaued himselfe and serued the king iustly and vprightly in all thinges he might purge himselfe of the sclaunder wherwith he was charged that he had despised the kinges commaundement For Daniel was not so bound vnto the kyng of the Persians but that God might chalenge vnto himselfe that which can not be taken from him We know that earthly Empires are ordayned of God but vnder this cōdition that he should lose nothing of his right but that hee alone should haue the preeminence aboue all other and that all Maiestrates and rulers and whatsoeuer is hygh in the world should bee brought vnder and be subiect to his glory Because therefore Daniel might not obey the kinges decrée vnlesse he denyed God as we haue séene before he trespassed not againct the kyng when he went forward constantly in that exercise of holynes whereunto hee had accustomed himselfe that is in praying vnto God thrise a day And that this may be more euident that sentence of Peter must be remembred feare God honour the king These two are ioyned together so that the one can not be separate from the other Wherefore the feare of God must go before that kinges may obtayne their authority For if any man beginne at the reuerence of an earthly prince setting God aside he doth wickedly for this were to peruert the whole order of nature Therefore let God be feared first of all thē let earthly Princes enioy their authority yet in such sort that God be preferred aboue all as I haue sayd Daniel therefore doth defend himselfe by Gods right that he had committed no trespasse against the king euen because he beyng compelled to obey the commaundement of God despised that which the king commaunded on the contrary For earthly Princes depriue themselues of all authority when they rise vp against God yea they are vnworthy to be counted amongest the company of men We ought rather to spit in their faces then to obey them when they deale so proudly and stubbernly that they will spoyle God of his right and as it were occupy hys throne as though they could plucke hym downe from heauen This is the sense of this place 23 Then was the kyng excedyng glad for hym and commaunded that they should take Daniel out of the denne so Daniel was brought out of the denne and no manner of hurt was found vpon him because he beleued vpon his God. Daniel confirmeth that which he spake before of the affection of king Darius Therefore as he returned sorowfull into his palace abstained from meat and drinke and cast away all pleasures and delicates so also hee reioyced when he heard that the holy seruaunt of God was so maruelously deliuered from death Afterward he addeth and by the commaundement of the king Daniel was brought out of the denne and no manner of hurt was found on hym This could not be ascribed to fortune Therefore God did declare his power that Daniel escaped so safe that the Lyōs did not touch him Doubtles he should haue bene torne in péeces if God had not shut the Lyons mouthes but this also did make very much for the amplifiyng of the miracle that no hurt was foūd vpon his body nor any signe that the Lyons had once touched him Therfore that the Lyons did so spare hym it was done by the secret counsel of god And this was also more manifestly knowne whē hys false accusers were cast into the denne because they were straight way torne in péeces and deuoured of the Lyons as we will shew hereafter But the reason is to be noted which is added that he was preserued because he did beleue in his God. For many tymes we sée that some man maintayneth a good cause and yet it hath very euill successe because he taketh in hand to do that by his owne wisdome policy and industry which otherwise were worthy some commendation It is no meruaile then though they be many times destitute of good successe which yet vndertake to mayntayne good causes as appeareth in al prophane persons For the histories of all ages do shew that often tymes euen they which haue taken in hand good quarels haue perished which came to passe by the wicked confidence that they had in themselues euen because they were not bent to serue God but rather sought prayse and worldly fame Wherefore as ambition caried them away so also they flattered themselues in their owne counsailes And hereof came that saying of Brutus that vertue was but a vayne thing because he thought that he was euill intreated when he had fought for the maintenaunce of the liberty of the people of Rome and yet found the Gods not fauourable but angry against hym As though forsooth that God were bound to
thou wilt be our deliuerer howsoeuer it be whether we do liue or die that yet we remayning in stedfast fayth and confession of thy name may be blessed whiles we be gathered in the end into thy heauenly kingdome which thou hast purchased with the bloud of thine onely begotten Sonne Amen We haue séene before how the enemyes of Daniel which had wickedly cruelly accused hym through enuy as soone as they were cast into the denne of Lyons were torne in péeces with their wiues and children whereby the miracle did more manifestly appeare as we haue sayd Now therefore let vs learne agayne that the Lyons are so gouerned by the power of God that they do not exercise their cruelty euery where nor against all men but when God armeth thē For as it is sayd in the Psalme thou shalt walke vpon the Lyon and Scorpion and tread vpon the Lyon and Dragon So also of the contrary part God doth pronounce vpon the wicked by the Prophet that the Lyons wyll come to méete them if they go out of their house We sée then how God doth swage the cruelty of the Lyons when it séemeth good vnto him but he stirreth them vp to rage when he wyll punish men And whereas the wiues and their children were cast into the denne we must not curiously dispute whether this was a iust punishmēt or no. For it séemeth that this is a certaine rule of equity that the punishment should not extend to the giltles especially when it standeth vpon the losse of life For although at all tymes this was receaued in well ordered Cities that many punishmentes were layd vpon the children together with the parentes like as in murther and in treason where all the goods were publikely sold also in criminall iudgementes the infamy of the parentes did redounde vnto their children yet this is more strait and seuere to kill the children together with their parents seyng they can not be gilty of the same crimes But although this be not very vsuall yet is it not lawfull for vs simply to condemne it We sée how God cōmaundeth whole families to be vtterly destroyed to shew how much sinne is to be detested and abhorred and God as he is a iust iudge doth alway kéepe a measure in his seuerity Therefore this example can not be precisely condemned but it is better to leaue this at liberty For we know that the kinges of the East part did exercise cruell and barbarous dominion or rather tyranny towards their subiectes Therefore there is no cause why any man should contend much about this question It greued king Darius that he was so deceaued Therefore he doth not execute punishment vpon the wicked accusers onely because Daniel was wickedly oppressed of them but because they did hym iniury He would therefore rather reuenge himself then Daniel and he was not content to recompence them with equall punishment but he punished euen their children also 25 Afterward king Darius wrote vnto all people nations and languages that dwelt in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 26 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdome men tremble and feare before the God of Daniell for he is the liuing God and remayneth for euer and his kingdome shall not perish and his dominion shal be euerlasting 27 He rescueth and deliuereth and he worketh signes and wonders in heauen and in earth who hath deliuered Daniel from the power of the Lyons Here Daniel addeth the decrée of the king which he caused to be published and by this decrée and proclamation he testifieth that he was so moued with the deliueraunce of Daniel that he gaue the most high glory to the God of Israel Yet do I not thinke that the king is sufficiently proued hereby to be of sound religion as many interpreters do here commend king Darius aboue measure as though he had bene wholy conuerted and had receaued the true worship prescribed in the law of Moses No such thing can be gathered of the wordes of the decrée and the matter it selfe doth declare that hys dominion and kingdome was neuer purged from superstitions For king Darius suffered hys subiectes to serue Idoles and he himselfe ceased not to be polluted with such filthines but he would place the God of Israel in the hiest degrée as though he could couple together fire and water of the which thing we haue spokē before For the prophane men thinke that they do their duty to the true God if they do not altogether contemne hym but appoynt him some place but especially when they preferre hym aboue all the Idols they thinke that they haue satisfied god But this is foolish For except all superstitions be abolished God hath not his right for he suffereth no cōpanions Therfore this place doth not shew that there was any true or sincere Religion in kyng Darius but we may onely gather hereby that hee was moued with this miracle to this ende that hee should celebrate throughout all nations that were subiect vnto him the glory and name of the God of Israel To conclude as it was but a particulare motion of kyng Darius so he went not beyond this particulare affectiō neither did he thoroughly acknowledge the power goodnes of God but tooke hold of that onely which was before his eyes Therfore he could not generally know the God of Israel that he might giue him self to true sincere pietie but as I haue sayd he would haue him to remaine amōg the other Gods and to be ouer them but so that he should not be alone But God doth refuse this halfe worship Therefore there is no cause why Darius should so much be praysed Yet shall he condemne all those by his example which at this day do professe them selues either Catholicke kynges or Christians or defenders of the faith and in the meane season do not onely oppresse true Religion but also as much as in them lyeth do ouerthrow the whole worship of God would willyngly abolish his name out of the world exercisyng tyranny agaynst all the godly and establishyng wicked superstitions thorough their crueltie Darius shal be a worthy iudge vnto them and this decrée which Daniel rehearseth shal suffice to condemne all such Now hee sayth That this decree was written to all people nations and languages that dwelled in all the earth We sée that Darius would not onely haue the power of GOD knowne to the people which were nere him but he did study to declare it farre and wyde Therfore hee did not onely publish it in writyng thoroughout all Asia and Chaldea but euen amongest the Medes and Persians Albeit he neuer reigned in Persia but because his sonne in law had taken him into the societie of the Empire his authoritie dyd also extend so farre And thus ought it to be vnderstand whē he sayth thorow the whole earth For it is not spoken of the whole world but of that Monarchy which was spread
God differre from all creatures that he suffreth no chaunge but is alway in one state He addeth That his kingdome is not corrupted and that hys domination is for euer Here doth hee more clearely expresse that which he spake before of the constant stabilitie of God that he doth not onely remaine in his owne essence but that he exerciseth his power throughout the world and that hee gouerneth the world by his power and susteineth all things For if hee had sayd no more but the God remaineth for euer as we are wicked and also weake of vnderstanding we should onely conceaue this opinion of God that in his owne essence he is subiect to no chaunge but his power which is spread in euery place we should not vnderstand This explication then is worthy to be noted when Darius doth plainely expresse that the kingdome of God is not corrupted but his dominion is for euer Agayne he calleth GOD the deliuerer They that take hold of this word as an excellent testimony of godlynes say that Darius spake like an Euangelist and that hee was a preacher of Gods mercy but as I haue sayd Darius neuer receaued generally that which the Scripture teacheth that is to say that God doth mercyfully cherish all his and helpeth them because he is mercyfull and because he bestoweth vpon them his fatherly fauour Kyng Darius vnderstode not this cause The deliueraunce of Daniel was knowne which was a particular document of Gods grace Thus did Darius onely perceaue in particular that God was mercifull to his seruauntes ready to saue to deliuer thē But this were but a slender matter vnlesse the cause were also adioyned that God is therefore a deliuerer because he hath vouchedsafe to chuse his seruauntes and because he hath testified that he wyll be a father vnto thē because he is fauourable and mercifull and pardoneth them when they haue sinned Vnlesse therefore that the hope of the deliueraunce be grounded in the frée adoption of God and in hys mercy it will be but a particular knowledge without force Darius then doth not here speake as one truely and purely instructed of the mercy of God but he onely sayth that he is the deliuerer of thē that be his In déede he rightly concludeth this generall sentence that God is a deliuerer because he hath deliuered Daniel from the power and rage of the Lyons For of one example he deriueth a more large doctrine that it is in Gods power to saue and to deliuer his as oft as he pleaseth and in the meane tyme he knowledgeth the visible power of God in one act and miracle but he knoweth not the principall cause nor the fountaine which was that God embraced Daniel like as the other children of Abraham and of his fatherly fauour preserued hym Wherefore that this doctrine may be profitable vnto vs and may moue our myndes effectually that God is the deliuerer first let vs firmely trust that we are receaued into hys fauour of this condition that he wyll pardon vs our faultes and not treat vs as we deserue but for his infinite mercy will fauour vs as children This thē must be remembred Last of all he saith that God doth worke miracles wonders in heauen and in earth This must be referred to the Empire and dominion whereof he spake a litle before But Darius alway doth remayne in the present miracle before hys eyes He had séene that Daniel remayned safe amongest the Lyōs he had séene al the other torne in péeces These were manifest tokens of Gods power He saith therfore not without cause that he wrought miracles wonders And there is no doubt but that Darius was admonished also of other signes and wonders which were done before that he obtayned that Monarchy For he had heard doubtles all that was done to the king Nebuchadnezer and to king Beltsazar whom Darius himself slue to haue his kingdome Wherefore he collecteth moe testimonies of Gods power by this occasion that he had set forth his glory in that worke when he deliuered Daniel To conclude if Darius had renounced his superstitions this had bene a pure true and also a full confession of true religion but because he ceased not to worship false Gods and did still sticke to his accustomed filthynes therefore can not his godlines be commended neither can a true and earnest conuersion be collected by this decrée This is the matter to be conshdered 28 But Daniel prospered in the kingdome of Darius and in the kingdome of Cyrus the Persian Here is an antithesis secretly touched betwixt the state of Daniel vnder the two Monarchies the Persians and the Chaldees For Daniel did sometymes rise vp vnder Nebuchadnezer and in the end when this Monarchy was at the point of destruction he began to be knowne agayne but all that tyme that the Chaldees raigned he was vnknowne and despised All men had heard that he was an excellent Prophet but he was cast forth of the Court and though he sometyme had sitten at the kynges gate and was in great dignity yet was he now and then sent away Wherefore so long as the Monarchy of the Chaldees endured Daniel was in no hie honour that lasted any space but vnder the Monarchy of the Persians and Medes he prospered was in continuall honor For Cyrus and Darius were not so negligent to forget how meruailously God had wrought by hym So was he in honour not onely wyth Darius but also wyth Cyrus And it is euident that he left Babylon went to some other place Although it is not like that he was long amongest the Medes for Darius or Cyaxeres died shortly after and because he wanted an heyre male all his authority came to Cyrus alone who was his nephew the sonne of his sister and also his sonne in law by the mariage of hys daughter There is no doubt but that Daniel here commendeth the grace of God and his fauour towardes him For thys was no small comfort in his banishment that he found such fauour amongest straunge and barbarous nations and that he was in such hie honour that all men did reuerence hym God did mitigate the sorow of his banishment and captiuity wyth thys comfort Agayne Daniel doth not here regard hymselfe onely as a priuate person but the end of his honor For God would haue his name to be renowned and praysed throughout all those countreyes where Daniel was wel knowne For no man could cast his eyes vpon Daniel but the glory and power of the God of Israel did appeare Thys would Daniel note In the meane tyme there is no doubt of the other side but that the want of his countrey was bitter and greuous vnto hym not as it is wont to be to others but because the land of Canaan was the peculiar heritage of the people of God. When Daniel therefore was caried away from thence and afterward was caried farther euen vnto the Medes and in the end to the
faultes yet go they forth in thē Would to God there were more rare examples of this kind of sinne but we sée it euery where before our eyes Wherefore Darius is set forth here vnto vs as one in a meane state betwixt the wicked reprobates and the vpright and constant worshippers of god The wicked doubt not to prouoke God against them and they are dissolute in their lustes and concupiscence casting of all shame and feare But they that are gouerned by the feare of God although they suffer great battayles with the flesh yet do they bridle themselues and restrayne their wicked lustes There be other of a meane state as I haue sayd which are not yet hardened in their malice neither do delite in their corruptions yet do they folow thē still as though they were bound with cordes Of this sort was Darius For where he ought constantly to haue reproued the false accusation of the nobles and should boldly haue withstand them and rebuked them that they so abused hys gentlenes when he saw himselfe entangled by them he was so farre from so doing that he rather obeyed their fury In the meane tyme he mourneth in his palace he abstayneth from meate and all delites Thus he vttereth that this wickednes did not please hym which yet he himselfe had taken vppon him do do We sée then that it is not sufficient that our conscience do bite vs and wring forth some sorow out of our harts whē we do sinne but we must go farther so that this sorow may bring vs to repentaunce as Paul teacheth But Darius did sticke as it were in the mire when he mourned he laboured not to amēd the fault that he had cōmitted He had the beginning of repentaunce but onely the beginning Wherfore we must endeuour our selues that he which is gilty in any fault do stirre vp himselfe to repentaunce when he féeleth any pricke of sorow let him quicken it and geue hymselfe no truce nor rest vntill he haue forsaken his sinne This is to be learned by this present example where Daniel sayth that Darius mourned all that night 19 Then the king arose early in the morning went in all hast vnto the denne of Lyons 20 And when he came to the denne he cryed wyth a lamemtable voyce vnto Daniel and the kyng spake and sayd to Daniel O Daniel the seruaūt of the lyuing God is not thy God whom thou alway seruest able to deliuer thee from the Lyons Here the king beginneth to deale more boldly when he commeth to the denne Before he was so afrayd that he gaue place to hys nobles and forgetting his kingly maiesty he yelded himselfe vnto them like a slaue but now doth he not so feare their malice and wicked wordes He commeth therfore to the denne of the Lyons in the morning early before the Sunne did rise and came in hast Thus do we sée that he was stricken wyth a meruailous sorow which ouercame all the former feare He might yet haue feared his state if he had not forgottē that most terrible threatning Thou canst not now enioy thine Empire vnlesse thou aduenge the contempt of thy decrée But as I haue sayd sorow ouercommeth that feare And yet can we neither commend in hym either godlynes or courage for although he come to the denne and call vpon Daniel wyth a lamentable voyce he is not yet angry wyth hys nobles vntill that he sée the seruaunt of God safely preserued Then doth he gather more courage and yet continueth he in his infirmity and is as it were in that meane degrée betwixt the wicked contemners and the constant worshippers of God which do folow that which they know to be iust with an vpright hart The Prayer GRaunt almighty God seing that thou hast shewed vs by the example of thy seruaunt Daniel with how great constācy we should perseuere in the pure worship of thy name that we may grow vp to the true strength of minde and that we may so geue our selues vnto thee that wee do not turne this way or that way for mens pleasures but that we may remayne in thy holy vocation and so ouercoming all perils in the end we may come to the fruite of our victory euen that blessed immortality which is layd vp for vs in the heauē through Iesus Christ our lord Amen The king came vnto the graue and sayth Daniel the seruaunt of the liuing God thy God whom thou alwayes worshippest can he not deliuer thee Darius nameth the God of Israel the liuing god But if there be one liuing God he shuteth out all the imagined and fayned Gods which men haue deuised by their owne brayne For of necessity there can be but one Godhead and this principle prophane mē also haue confessed And though euery one do fall afterward after hys owne dreames yet they all agrée in this that there can not be many Gods. They diuide God as it were into parts but they can not deny this that there is one onely god Darius therefore when he geueth this title to the God of Israel he confesseth all other Gods to be mere fantasies but he doth not vnderstand this point as I haue sayd that prophane do holde this principle but yet vanish away afterward in their owne imaginations Therefore this place doth not proue as some thinke that king Darius was truely cōuerted so that he receaued and embraced true piety and Godlynes For he alway worshipped his Idoles but he thought that this was sufficient that he left the highest place for the God of Israel But as we know God can suffer no companion for he is zelous of his glory It was a fond thyng therfore that Darius did acknowledge that God which Daniel did worship to excell all other Gods. For where God raigneth of necessity all Idols come to nought as it is sayd also in the Psalme God raigneth let all the Gods of the nations fall Therefore Darius had not so much profited that hee would geue himselfe to the true and onely God albeit he was compelled to geue the greatest honour to the God of Israell yet in the meane season he alwayes stoode drowned in his owne superstitions wherunto he was accustomed Afterward he addeth Thy God whom thou worshyppest alwayes could not he deliuer thee from the Lyons He speaketh here doubtfully as vnbeleuers are wont to do which seme to them selues to beleue but they haue nothing stable nor sounde in their mindes Prayer is naturall that I might so speake that is a certaine secret motion doth driue men naturally to fly vnto God but because scarce the hundreth mā doth rest vpō the word of God hereby it commeth that they call vpon God at aduenture Therefore they will try whether God will helpe them or ayde their necessities in the meane season as I haue sayd there is no sure persuasion in their hartes Such was the affectiō of kyng Darius Could not God deliuer thee saith he as though the