+ Chald.
aoor.
Heart ro burn them. 5s A Divine, moſt Beautiful and Glorious Coun- tenance ; either ofa meer Angel, or rather of Jeſus Chriſt the Angel of the Covenant, who did ſometimes appear inthe Old Teſtament before his Incarnation, Gen. 12.7. and 18. 10, 13, 17, 20, &*c. Exod. $3.23. and 33. 2. Joſh. 5. 13,14, 15. Prov.8, 31. in all which Places it is Jehovah, Gen. 19. 24. Exod. 3.2. Afffs 7. 30, 32, 33, 38. 26 4 Then' Nebuchadnezzar came near * to the pl mouth of the burning firy furnace, ad ſpake « and aid, Shadrach, Meſhach, and Abed-nego, ye ſervants of the moſt high God, come forth, and come Hirher. Then Shadrach, Meſhach, and Abed-nego came forth of the midſt of the fire x.
* As near ashedurſt come within hearing. = With a milder Tone than before, God having abated the Fire of his Fury : Now he could at once confeſs and acknowledg the true God to be the moſt High above all Gods, andthe three Worthies to be his faitful Servants. x The went out upon the King's Call, without which they would not have ſtirred, ;
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the kings counſellours being gathered together , ſaw 3 theſe men, upon whoſe bodies the fire had no Power, nor was an hair of their - head ſinged , neither were their coats changed, nor the ſmell of fire had paſled on them. | y With great Admiration, for the Satisfa&ion of all by their Sight of them, and by their Smell: All the Works of God are perfe&, and there was nothing here wanting to make this wonderful Deliverance compleat ; Here was a pure A& of God's Omnipotence, to divide be. tween the Fireandits moſt intenſe Hear,and to maſter any Creature in
che
God in of was, that War bein
he had fini
be multiplied unto you 4.
The Prophet Daniel here ſets down another ſhed that of the three young Men : forth not in his own Words, clamation, that it mi
and queſtionleſs put into aSthe manner was. Theſe three mproperly annexed ro the end of
h and Happineſs, This was al ation among the Eaſtern Nations, with uninterrupted Joy and Felicityin
and from them it came Jerived down to
, and notes more, even Peace with
Jeſus Chriſt, Spiritual and Everlaſting : Now the Reaſon here | g the Root of all Miſery, eſpecially where al
Government was tyrannical, and when 8nce it brake forth, it mad*
Y | alldeſolate; therefore Peace was as of War, which made the the boſom of Peace.
2 + I thou
Heaven in compariſon of che Hell Heathens paint Platus the God of Riches 18
ght it good e to ſhew the ſigns and] wonders that the high God hath wrought toward; me f.
e Idid upon mature Thoughts judg it very becoming me,yea it #®
my Pleaſure to let all the World know it. f 1. Signs and Wonders 2. Wronght by the high God: 3. Toward me, wherein I was pe ſonally concerned, Thceſe were his Reaſo World.
3 How great are his ſigns ! and how mighty ®
his wonders g ! his kingdom & * an everl? 10g" kingdom
ns why he made it known
ſtrange. Story, after This the Prophet fets but in the Words of the King's own Pro- ght paſs with undoubted Credit, and withoutall Diſpute ; being ſent to all his vaſt Kingdoms, the King's Archives, and Court-rolls, firſt Verſes of this 4th Chapter, are i the foregoing third Chapter by ſome, ſeeing they are the Preface ofthe following Hiſtory. & 7.e. All Healt ways the Form of Greeting and Salut comprehending Peace, Plenty, all comfortable Enjoyments ; the Penmenof the New Teſtament
; thee 9, Ons of thereof
7 This he truly « with, anc ExpcQatiq
T0 Flow andthe | \ Beca tem Viſz Underſia It With hjs US that a ap. 31. t to huge ( Tx..3 thereof end of :
I2 ol the O8TA \. * Thig 1715 bette i3l
[] p. IV.
Kingdom , and his dominion # from generation to gene- Oo
ion Þ. os _ _— f two Words ſignify in their Roots, Admiration and Aſto, 04 = . ir ſzems theſe Works of God had that Impreflion upon this —__" -ear Cauie whereof was his Ignorance of the true God, to- King, _ his own exceſſive Pride and Epicuriſm, God by this fol- ger Dream, and Daziel's Inſtruftion, had told him his Fate, and rags Kingdom bur God's Kingdom was everlaſting, which he had ar” him once afore this, Dan. 2. 44- b This Confeſſion of the King fo on Convidtion, and it looks lomewhar like Repentance, bur the Sequel proves him to be no Changling, though God made prodigious Mutations in his Kingdom, and in the Form of his Perſon, as ye ſee, verſo 31, 32-7 Of this Chapter ; he was metamorphoz'd to a monſtrous Beaſt, and then to a Man again, and yet no Convert. : 47 | Nebuchadnezzar was at-reſt in mine houſez, and
| fourithing in my palace &.
- At reſt when his Wars were over, which were great, and he vifto- _—_ then I fat down quiet, enjoying the Spoils of my Enemies. ; Which was moſt Magnificent, there I lived in all Delights and
rrandeur. : . my ſw a dream which made me afraid /, and the
| thoughts upon my bed, and the viſions of my head trou-
led me. FE: b ID isno Felicity in this World Iafting; a black Cloud big with
> d T=<mpeſt ſpoils the faireſt Sun-ſhine day. They that fear Cod: ſhall - frighted by him. God doth juſtly make Epicures and T rants uneaſy in the midſt of their Fool's Paradiſe, where , if the Foo! Girh in bis Heart there is no God, he ſhall ſoon find in his Heart ro think otherwiſe.
6 Therefore made I a Decree, to bring in all the wiſe en of Babylon before me m7, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
» Though he had experienced before that theſe Wiſe-men were fool'd, and could do nothing either 1a telling or interpreting his <a chap. 2. yet he will cry them once again, poflibly becauſe : n freſh Credit with the King ; or he would hear what they could do, and if they failed him, he would then make uſe of Daniel whom he had in reſerve. Perhaps theſe Chaldean DoQors and Wizards ſhunned and ſcorned Daxi«''s Company, and he was as much fy of theirs; theretore they came not together : but God had difpo- ſed of this whole Scene, and for the Honour of his Name ſuffered Da- nel not to bs ſent for till the laſt,
- Then came in the magicians , the aſtrologers, the
chaideans, and the ſooth-ſayers: and Itold the dream before them ; hut they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof », |
And yetthis was it they ſtood upon before, that the King ſhould teli the Dream, and they would interpretit , which now they could
they might gal
nor do ; this ſkewsthem to be meer Impoſtors, and that neither their
vatural Skill, nor Diabolical Help could unfold God's Secrets.