The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 74

~is vineyard, and tested the fruitfulness of this royal tree. The patience of God waa nchly displayed. Ilut as ~unshine and rain and dew fall in vain upou the sandy deserts of Arabia, eo did God's alternalions of kindness and severity leave Jehoiakim unmoYed.. He prererred. the patronage of Pharaoh to the favour of the omnipotent God. III. THE IMPOTENCE OF MATERIAL DEFENCES. Material fortifications and material weapons have their use. Even David, notwithstanding his stalwart faith in God, did not confront the Philistine without his sling. Bars and ramparts, shield and sword, may be regarded as instruments by means of which faith exercises an active obedience; they are not to become objects to detain our faith or to supplant our dependence on God, else they become fetishes and idols. As fishermen of old bowed down to their net and burned incense to a drag, so many a warrior nowadays worships his artillery &nd his ironclads. " Some trust in chariots, and some in horses ; " but " God is our Refuge and Strength;"" In the Name of our God we will set up our banners." Heze- kiah's fervent prayer had proved, in former years, a better protection for the royal city than all its walls and towers. If God is on our side, weakness itself becomes for us a very " munition of rocks." But all the mountains e.nd natural bastions round about Jerusalem are no mightier than a spider's web if God be arrayed aaainst it. The crystal flakes of snow did more deadly work for Napoleon than all the thunders of Rulll!ia's artillery. "The Lord gave Jehoiakim King of Judah into his hand." IV. PARTIAL DISASTER SHOULD BE A PRACTICAL WARNING. An old Roman legend affirms that "the gods have feet of wool" They conjectured that, when their deities bestirred themselves to avenge injustice, they came silently and suddenly upon their victims. So does not our God deal with hi.s subjects. When the interests of righteous- 11ees demand that the scourge of judgment shall be inflicted, the God of heaven gives timely and repeated warning. " The axe ie laid at the root of the tree "-e. visible premonition that doom awaits unfruitfulness. One defeat in battle was not final over- throw. Honour, virtue, dignity, power, might still be saved. The favour of Jehovah might yet be regained. Repentance and reformation might even then have stayed the setting sun. What though some of the vessels of Jehovah's temple have become the spoil of the foe? Their loss can easily be repaired, if only the Lord of the temple be there in Pel'BOn. But if the real presence of the living God has been withdrawn, the symbols of heavenly things may as well follow his departure. The truths symbolized in this temple-furniture shall now proclaim, in silent eloquence, their pregnant message in heathen le.nds. The God of Israel, who aforetime gave the ark of the covenant into the hands of the Philistines, now gave the vessels of the s&nctuary into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.-D. Vera. 3-21.-.71raining for imperial ojfice and work. The name and the nature of a king are not e.lways yoked together. Jehoiakim. had been professedly a king, but was, in truth, a slave. Daniel and his companions, though led into exile as captives, had within them kingly qualities, which could not be degraded by strangers. As living water from the flinty rock will rise through every kind of strata, and find its way to the surface, so, through all adversities, innate nobleness will assert its imperial power. If a counterfeit king has become a captive, one from among the Jewish captives shall become a real king--a true man, whom all ages shell admire and follow. '!'here is set before ue in this paseag&- L A POLICY REALLY BOY.AL. This King of Babylon, unlike the majority of Eastern monarchs, did not abandon himself to voluptuous ease. It must have re_quired some force of character to withstand the customs, precedents, and temptations of the luxurious palace. Yet, Lowever stupendous the difficulty, Nebuchadnezzar rose above it. We can easily imagine the formidable array of prejudices which the Chaldean nobles would present to this new policy of the king. Was not such a. plan unheard of in the entire history of the empire? Wae it not a departure from the path of cautious JJrudence to introduce foreigners, and foreign captives, into the councils of the court? l. It was a policy characteriud by far-seeing wu.dom. Already the Che!deens had risen uut of a state of barbarism, and had begun to appreciate knowledge and 1Dtellectual 6kill. 'l'Lcy bad learnt to observe with accuracy the motions of the stare. '!'hey had attained to cuOBidcrable skill in architecture and sculpture, 'l'hey knew something of on. 1. 1~21.] THE BOOK OF DANIEL.