Vors. 19-23.-The brief reign of violence. It is only consistent with the sketches of N obucha<lnezzar'e character furnished us, to believe that he was not naturally a. cruel man; nor was he so rigid an i<lola.ter aa to oppose the worship of Jehovah. He was self-wille<l, excitable, easily inflamed; and wa.s too easily led away by the base designs of others, For the moment he yielded to the excitement of passion, His nutocratio pride ha.d been wounded, and he would tolerate no resista.nce. l. WE BEE VIOLENCE SUMMONING INTO TlIE Fll':LD ALL 1TB FORCES. The king is "full of fury," His inward c0rnposure is disturbecl. His very skin cbangeM its hue. 'l'he blood rises and recedes with strange rapidity. Every muscle and nerve are stretched to highest tension. A very madness has seized the man. Reason is overborne as by a sudden tempest. Wisdom, sagacity, judgment, dignity, are drowned in a flood of uncontrollable feeling. Poor man I what an object of pity I He is verily possessed by a demon-" set on fire of hell." II. WE BEE VIOLENCE OVERREACHING ITS OWN END. The king commanded that the furnace should be heated sevenfold, because of the independent boldness of the slandered Hebrews. This was a suggestion of wanton cruelty. But it wo11ld really benefit the innocent victims, inasmuch as it would shorten their sufferings. Yet rea,on had forsaken the king, and bad fled into humbler bosoms. Hie unrestrained violence was weakness itself. Physical force is destined to fail. III. WE BEE VIOLENCE INJURING ITS OWN FRIENDS. Ae the Midianites, when pul'sued by Gideon in the night, slew unwittingly their own comrades, so the weapons which Nebuchadnezzar's violence was sharpening were injuring those who bandied them. The command to execute the Hebrew heroes was assigned to Chaldea's mightiest veterans. Very likely they had egged the king on in this shameless course, aud were only too glad to do thoroughly the cruel deed. There is always weakness in ha.ate. Justice is ever calm, for time is on her side. She waits her conquests with sweet com- posure. But now this cruel eagerness to destroy, lest forsooth the king should relent- this eagerness, is fatal to the proud captains. Endeavouring to slay others, their sword turns into their own breast, 'fhe material flame is alive with judicial discernment- has learut from its Creator whom to slay and whom to save. "Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth I" IV. WE BEE VIOLENCE APPARENTLY TRIUMPHANT, God has not yet appeared on behalf of bis injured advocates. Lo I they are bound, and no angelic hands present I Lo I they are cast into the fiery oven; they fall down into the very midst of the glow- ing coals I Has not justice abandoned our earth? Now may Violence wag her head and shake her tongue I Now she is loud-voiced and jubilant indeed I How eloquent are her taunts I "Where is now their boasted God? What profit now in all their prayel's? 'l'hese paragons of piety-where are they now? Did we not predict their discomfiture? Ah I so would we have itl "-D.
Vera. 24-27.-The unexpected fruits of persecution. As soon as the fierce tempest in Nebuchadnezzar's mind had expended its little force, there succeeded the calm of exhaustion. The tyrant is transformed into a servant, and appears like a docile child. Something has produced a strange impression on him-perhaps the sudden burning of his own officers, perhaps the unbending fortitude of the three Hebrews, perhaps th11 natural reaction from high-wrought excitement. Abandoning royal pomp, he visits himself the fiery furnace, that he may discern the wreck of human life wrought by foolish violtnce. An une&pected sight awaits him. I. PERSECUTION IS HARMLESS TO THE SAINTS. Their experience is not always uniform. God seldom follows precisely the same course twice. The bodily life of the oppressed is not always preserved. Yet, in every case, it is true that no real harm is done to them. Often- "' Persecution has drugged them into fame1 And chl\Sed them up to heaven." On this occasion the material flame, though heated sevenfold, was not nearly so vindictive nnd deadly as the fiery rage of the king. He had su=oned into his service one of the most destructive elements of nature, but it would not obey him. The flamo did them no harm: it did them good, It consumecl their bonds; it did not singe DANlEL, & 130 rHE BOOK OF DANIEL. [OH, IIl, 1-30,