the space of seven years, when he should again be restored to his former state of magnificence and power. The Chaldean magicians being unable to interpret this dream, Daniel was sent for ; and he interpreted it to the king, in all its parts. The im- port of it was, that the king was to be reduced to the state of a beast for seven years ; and then, being brought to a just knowledge of the one true God, he was to be restored with augmented power and splendour to his throne. Whatever impression was made by the dream, and the interpretation of it, at the time, it soon wore off; and the haughty monarch swelled with pride as much as ever. At the end of twelve months, when walking in his palace and sur- veying the extent and grandeur of the city Babylon, he exclaimed, " Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my ma- jesty a ?" And instantly, while the words were yet in his mouth, the wrath of God fell upon him, and he was reduced to the state of a beast, according to the vision that he had before seen. At the end of seven years the vision was yet further verified, in his resto- ration : and, in the words which we have read, we see the improvement which he made of the dis- pensation.
I. He acknowledges God as the Sovereign Disposer of all events —
[He had throughout all his former life left out of his con- templation the thoughts of an over-ruling Providence, and had ascribed all. his victories to his own wisdom and prowess. If he had given any honour to another, it was to his idol, Bel. But now he saw, that Jehovah was the God of all the earth : that, however men might appear to effect great changes upon earth, they were in reality "nothing;" they were mere instru- ments in God's hands ; the axe, or saw, with which he executed his own designs11. This was clearly proved to him in the dispensation that had taken place ; for, both in the judg- ment that he had suffered, and in the mercy he had expe- rienced, God alone had wrought; "nor could any stay his hand, or -say unto him, What doest thou?"
a ver. 29, 30. ' b Isai. x. 15.
1125.1 Nebuchadnezzar's dream verified. 487
Now it would be well if all the professed worshippers of Jehovah acknowledged his uncontrollable sovereignty, and his universal agency, in like manner. But we, almost like the heathen themselves, are ready to ascribe every thing, whether great or small, to the wisdom and power of man. We lose sight of the first great cause, and fix our minds only on the second causes ; and rather than speak of Jehovah as deter- mining events, we will ascribe them to luck, or chance, or accident ; and will thus run into atheism itself, rather than give the glory to Him to whom it is due. But let it be remembered, that there is not any thing in the universe which is not done by the express permission of God, and in accord- ance with his eternal counsels. Men indeed are free agents in all that they do ; but still they " do only what God's hand and counsel have determined before to be done0:" not the falling of a sparrow takes place but " according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." This, whilst it does not in the least diminish the responsibility of men as moral agents d, tends greatly to compose the mind under all the variety of dispensations that succeed each other ; and to impress us with the idea, that whatever may be designed or done by men, God will " get himself honour," as he did on Pharaoh, and will eventually be glorified.]