Dissertation

6.

CHAPTER IV.

AFTER Nebuchadnezzar had erected and consecrated the golden image in the plain of Dura, he again pursued his projects of conquest by war, and of glery by the arts of peace. Unsatisfied by the spoils of those countries which he had already desolated he laid siege to Tyre; hoping by its capture to gratify both his ambition and avarice. For thirteen years the city resisted his attacks: and when conquest crowned his exertions his hopes of plunder were disappointed; for the inhabitants had removed with all their treasures.

But though he obtained not the wealth of Tyre, yet the treasures of Egypt were destined to be his booty. The prophet Ezekiel says "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus, every head was made bald and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold! I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude,

b Ezekiel, C. xxix. Vs. 17-20.

and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God." Immediately after the conquest of Tyre this prediction received its accomplishment; for Nebuchadnezzar taking advantage of the intestine troubles which raged in Egypt at that time, marched his army into the country and laid it waste, and then returned to Babylon laden with plunder. After his return he applied his power and his wealth to adorn and beautify his city, and to complete those works which rendered Babylon the Queen of cities in extent, strength, and splendor.

But great prosperity and success, produce and foster pride and self sufficiency: they exalt men to an elevation which renders their fall more evident and conspicuous, and makes them an example to future ages. It is evidently the rule of providence to humble and abase those who exalt themselves; and the instances are numerous by which this is proved to be the conduct of God towards the proud and the haughty.

In addition to the instance of Nebuchadnezzar himself, which forms the subject of this dissertation, many others might be produced; but we shall content ourselves with two, as being very illustrative of the divine government. The death of Apries king of Egypt, the Pharaoh-Hophra of Scripture, and the miserable end of Herod, who was eaten up of worms, fully shew that God brings low the haughtiness of man. Apries Herodotus says, that he was said to be of opinion, that neither any of the Gods nor of men could take from him his kingdom, since he had so confirmed

c Herod. L, 2. C. 169.

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it to himself: And Ezekiel represents him as boasting; "the river is mine and I have made it." But Jeremiah thus denounces his fall-"Thus saith the Lord Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life" And how exactly this was accomplished is shewn by that passage in Herodotus to which we have already referred: For being taken prisoner by his rival Amasis, he was strangled by the Egyptians in what had formerly been his own royal residence. The miserable end of Herod, who killed James the brother of John, and put Peter in prison, and gave not glory to God, corresponds with the example of Apries: For after he had received the vain applause of the multitude, who said, "it is the voice of a God and not of a man; and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the Ghost,"

But the madness inflicted upon Nebuchadnezzar is a still more expressive proof of the vanity of human greatness, and of the divine displeasure against pride; because it exhibits human nature, not reduced to death, which is common to all men, but degraded to the lowest state of brutality: a state, in which very few have ever been found. Seventeen years after he had gratified his pride by the erection of the golden image in the plain of Du ra, and during his exertions to make Babylon the chief of cities, God was pleased to reveal to him by a dream that severe misfortune, which was soon to befall him: And as he had formerly given him an outline of the history of the world, by the vision of the great image; so now, by the vision of a tree, whose height reached

unto heaven, but which was hewn down, and his branches cut off, his own reverse of power and greatness was depicted.

"Thus," says he, (v. 10-17) "were the visions of mine head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong; and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much; And in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow uuder it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.-I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; he cried aloud and said thus: Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches; shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven; and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seventimes pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."

The tree, which Nebuchadnezzar saw, was a fit emblem of his mighty and extensive empire, and of his own personal power and extensive dominion. For as its height was great, reaching unto heaven; its leaves

fair; its fruit much, affording meat for all; and as its shadow gave a retreat to the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in its boughs: So his sway extended over a large proportion of the world as known at that time: the numbers of his armies were like the leaves; and his revenues were vast; And so, also, numbers of people obtained power, dignity, and wealth, by the offices of state, the increase of commerce, and the great stupendous works which he erected.

A tree indeed seems to have been a common emblem for an empire; for under a form of this kind, Xerxes had a vision representing his present glory and future disgrace. He dreamt that he was crowned with the twigs of an olive, whose branches spread over the whole earth: but that the crown upon his head vanished away. This dream his flattering Magi interpreted as portending universal empire: but future events soon taught him, that though his empire was then vast, yet his power would vanish away. Under the same emblem Ezekiel (xxxi. 3-6 ) describes the Assyrian empire. "Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and with a shadow ing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.-His height was exalted above all the trees of the field; and his boughs were multiplied; and his branches became long, because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth. the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations." In the Eightieth Psalm the kingdom of Israel is most beautifully exhibited by the same metaphor. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt -Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it

g Herod. L. 7. S. 19.

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