Daniel 2

AND in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Heb. In the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar, for this was properly in the fifth year of that Kings Reign, and of Daniels Captivity, and the ninth year of Iehojakim, but in the second year after Daniel had by his three years preparation, been brought before the King and approved, then the King dreamed., Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams It was one dream, but of many parts, therefore called dreams; chiefly for what follows., wherewith his spirit was troubled By reason of the strangeness of it, he was terrified and in great consternation, and this made him awake., and his sleep brake from him.

Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers These words signifie Astrologers or those that ca Nativities, that pretended great skill in natural, and supernatural things, and the, and the sorcerers Sorcerers, or Necromancers, who used diabolical Arts. See Exod. 7.11. and 22.18. Deut. 18.10 tho Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar made use of these as their great Counsellors, yet God baffled them by Moses and Daniel: and forbad his people the use or toleration of them, because they are an abomination to him, God will have his people ask counsel of him, and his words, and not of the devils Oracles., and the Chaldeans This name the Magicians assumed as being national, and most noble, and whatever these Wise men or Wizards said, it was as if Iupiter himself had spoken it as the Roman Satyrist said of them, Iuv. Sat 6., for to show the king his dreams: so they came, and stood before the king Daniel was not called among them. Why? because the King confided more in these his own old standers, but chiefly God had thus ordered by his wise Providence that Daniel should not be in their number, for if he had, the interpretation would have been attributed to Astrology and Magick: and not to God as now it was..

And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream He remembred the fact in general but could not repeat it perfectly, much less know the meaning of it, yet it had left such impression on him, as put him into great perplexity. The Lord has wayes to afright the greatest men in the World, in the midst of their security and jo lity..

Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack That is in the Chaldee Tongue for Syria or Aram is taken in a large sense sometimes, containing Assyria, Babylon, Mesopotamia, Phaenicia, Palestine, 2 King. 18.26. and from hence all is written in the Chaldee Language, and not Hebrew, because it most concerned that people, to the 8th. Chapter, and from thence in Hebrew again., O king, live for ever This was a salutation to Princes of old, 1 Sam. 10.24. 1 King. 1.25. their meaning was, let him live a long happy Life, for thus the word live is often taken, Psal. 34.12. for this is agreeable to the desires of all Worldly men in their prosperity.: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation It is observed of old to this day, that there is not any sort of men who are such flatterers, as are impostors, so confident and arrogant are these Fortune-Tellers, that they promise to interpret a dream, which they never knew; this was boldly said of them, seeing the Egyptian Magicians could not interpret Pharaohs dream though he told it them, Gen. 41.8..

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me This was of God that these impostors should be made infamous, by detecting their ignorance, and their arrogance, and that this should be a step to Daniels honour for knowing the Kings dream, and interpreting of it, neither of which the Chaldeans could do.: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof If they do not both says the King., ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill This was a usual punishment in those parts of the World, thus Samuel cut Agag in pieces, 1 Sam. 15.33. 1 Chron. 20.3. Thus David dealt with the Ammonites. And the like was in making houses a dunghill, the like we have chap. 3.29. and thus they did to the house of Baal, made it a draught house to this day by Iehu's Command, 2 Kings 10.27. The like did Darius threaten to them that would alter his decree for building the house of God. Ezra 6.11. This commination argued the Kings wrath to be excessive and furious in punishing for not doing what was above their humane strength, and which the Chaldeans never arrogated to themselves, yet was this a just reward to these men, that were so presumptuous..

But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts, and rewards, and great honour As I threatned you with death for not doing, I promise you rewards and honour if ye perform it. This is in the power of Princes as they think, but all this would not do, therefore they are still where they were, they answered the King again.: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

They answered again, and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream and we will show the interpretation of it But this the King could not do, they could not tell the dream, nor the King could not, yet both require impossibilities..

The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time This ye do in policy, to escape punishment when taken up with other affairs, I may forget to make further enquiry after this thing, but it shall not serve your turn., because ye see the thing is gone from me.

But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you That is, I will not retract my sentence, ye shall surely dyes you are upon tricks, ye have prepared corrupt and lying words, for he that can interpret a dream can tell the dream, both come from a divine inspiration, which ye pretend to, but, I say, ye have it not.: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.

¶ The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the kings matter; therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh The Chaldeans bring three arguments to convince the King. 1. There is not a man upon Earth can show the Kings matter. 2. There is no King requires such a thing of any Magician. 3. None but the gods can do this. The Chaldeans with other Gentiles did believe more gods then one, and the supream Deity or Deities did not meddle with the affairs of men, but had the cognisance by inferiour or intermediate Demons. So Plato and many of them held, the meaning then is this, seeing there are some things that God who knoweth all things will not communicate the knowledge of to men, and has not done it to us, it is therefore a singular and unreasonable thing the King should require it of us, and that so suddenly, and upon such penalties..

For this cause the king was angry, and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon Tyrants are inexorable, and they rule according to their will, and being crost they are furious, and that brings forth death, the wrath of such is the roaring of a Lion..

And the decree went forth, that the wise men should be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain This was unjust, that Daniel and his Fellows should have their share in the punishment, and yet be excluded from the other part which was the reward; the reason why they were not called was because of their youth, which the Chaldeans despised, wherein we have these three things observable. 1. The Magicians confessed this, that knowledge, and Revelation must come from God, and therefore what Daniel did was not by any humane strength, but divine only. 2, That the Lord held the Governours hands, so that he did not slay Daniel presently with the first, 3. That Daniel by his prudence and piety, saved all the Magicians lives..

¶ Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the kings guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

He answered and said to Arioch the kings captain, Why is the decree, so hasty from the king So precipitate to slay the innocent who were never called, who knew nothing of it, this appears plainly from these words then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel, ver. 15. which was this, that the King had dreamed a strange dream that troubled him, that he had forgotten it, that he called all his wise men to show both the dream and interpretation, but they could not therefore the King decreed the death of all the wise men in Babylon, and Daniel with his Fellows among them, without saving the Life of one of them, and he viz. Arioch had received Command to execute it presently. Thus there was but a step between him and death.? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time There are four things here very strange and wonderful. 1. That Arioch instead of executing the Kings Decree speedily should make this stop. 2. That he should dare to see the Kings face when he was so wroth, instead of doing what his Commission tyed him to. 3. That Daniel should have the boldness to go into the King when he was in his fury. 4. That he should desire time and obtain it of the King, who had denyed the same thing to the wisemen. To which we answer, the signal hand of God was in all this. 2. In particular, Daniel was in great esteem with the King above all the wisemen, chap. 1.19, 20. 3. He gave both Arioch and the King hopes, he would show, and interpret the Kings dream., and that he would show the king the interpretation.

Then Daniel went to his house According to the good hand of his God upon him who had shown him favour thus far, and obtained the Kings leave he went to his house near the Palace, that he might seek God in secret for this great thing. For 1. Their lives were at stake. 2. It was not a small thing he was sure that God was about, wherewith he had troubled the Kings mind in such a manner., and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions Therefore reinforceth his strength calling his friends to help him, as Prayer in times of danger is the most seasonable and soveraign help, so in a common danger we must call in all the help we can to it..

That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret Observe here Daniels humility, he sought not to ingross this business, and the honour of it wholly to himself, but would have his Fellows share in it with him. Again they would desire mercy, Heb. The Bowels of tender mercy: the choicest saints desire to be saved by mercy, P. 51.1.; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon The Lord has a distinguishing care and love for his people, 2 Thes. 1.6. 2 Pet. 2.9. especially in common calamities, Exod. 14.19. &c. Apoc. 18.4..

¶ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night-vision It is not improbably conjectured that Daniel spent the night in Watching and Prayer, for night Vision is distinguished from dreams, Numb. 12.6. whether sleeping or waking Daniel had the same thing revealed unto him, which King Nebuchadnezzar had, with this difference, the King remembred not his dream nor knew what it meant, but Daniel was able to tell his dream and give the meaning of it also.; Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven He gave thanks and praise to the Father of lights, from whom all wisdom comes, who heard his Prayer, and revealed this secret to him. Note, this was revealed to Daniel, and not to his Companions, for he was Chief, and by this is signified by what steps he rose up to the Degree of a famous Prophet. Again, he calls the true God the God of Heaven, because he made Heaven, his Throne is there, and the Magicians and Heathen gods come not there, but were cast out thence being Devils of Hell; but the God of Israel, is the God of Heaven..

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his He blesseth God for two things. 1. Wisdom, he means chiefly the Wisdom God gave him in revealing this great secret to him, which the wise men could not attain to, because they knew not the true God, nor did seek to him for it, this is clear in ver. 21, 22, 23. 2. Might is his, that is, Almighty above, all mighty Potentates of the World, above Nebuchadnezzar and all the Kings of the Earth, for he sets them up and plucks them down at pleasure, ver. 21. as the interpretation of the dream and Vision shows..

And he changeth the times and the seasons God made Time, God made the Sun, Moon and Stars, the measure of Time, he made the Day and the Night, and Seasons of the Year, yea the revolutions and change of Times; he can make bad times better, and turn night into day. He can make the Sun go backward or stand still, as in Ahaz and Ioshua's time, it is the great part of Gods Power and Prerogative to change times. Daniel here attributes that to God which heathens attributed to nature, which they deified, or to chance; seeing that God only that made all by his power, does rule, and sometimes overrule all by his Providence.: he removeth kings and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.

He revealeth the deep and secret things Both of nature, wherein are infinite depths, and secrets and of mens Hearts and Counsels which are very close, deep and secret, saying in themselves who can see us, and the deep, and secret things of Grace, and the mysteries of Christs Kingdom: All this is comfortable to the Saints, and glorious to God.; he knoweth what is in the darkness He knoweth what is in darkness, and dwelleth with him, and he in it. He sees and foresees the most hidden things; Daniel points at the Kings dream in the night, which he only gave the King, and then took it from him, and then gave it Daniel for him again., and the light dwelleth with him.

I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers Here he gives his God another distinguishing title from all the gods of the Heathen, he calls him the God of his Fathers meaning the Covenant made with Abraham, &c. to whom and their Seed God revealed his saving knowledge, which he did not to the Heathen. God is the God of all by the Kingdom of his power, but the God of his church, only according to the Kingdom of his grace., who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the kings matter In which words he intimates a twofold priviledge the one that as the Son of such Fathers, he obtained the grace and favour of God in giving him safety and wisdom; the other that he found him a God hearing Prayer, and that in a thing of a high nature, he made known to him the Kings matter..

¶ Therefore Daniel wen in unto Arioch Being now prepared he goes to Arioch to go in with him to the King. whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not the wise men He bid him stay his hand and not destroy the wisemen of Babylon. Arioch might plead the Kings Command, Daniel tells him that was because they could not tell the Kings dream: come says he I will show that, by that I take away the ground of thy Commission to destroy. Qu t. Did Daniel do well in desiring to have them spared, who deserved to dye for their unlawful Arts, Diviners, Necromancers, &c. Answ. Two things are usually answered to this. 1. They were not all such, some were innocent, studied arts and Sciences lawful and laudable. 2. Those that were otherwise, he pleaded not for them as such, but for justice, that they ought not to dye unjustly: and that was their case and cause. of Babylon, bring me before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in hast, and said thus unto him, I have found a man How comes Arioch to boast of what he had found; as if he got him by great search, or by great chance, and as if Daniel had been some obscure unknown person, when Daniel had asked time of the King just before. It is the manner of Courtiers to be very officious, and to commend their own little deeds, that thereby they may signifie something with their Prince, and make themselves necessary to him, but possibly Arioch might not know that Daniel had been with the King, and therefore comes with this () I have found your man, here he is, behold him, he will give the King full satisfaction in all, concerning the Dream. of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar By this name of Belteshazzar he had given Daniel, he took courage as if he might expect some great thing from him: for the word signifies the keeper of secret treasure, i. e. to lay up and bring forth., Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof As if he had said I question if thou canst seeing all my wise men cannot do it, canst thou presume to do more then all they.?

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded, cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the sooth-sayers show unto the king, He reckons up here all sorts of divination, to show that divine things, and the secrets of God, cannot be comprehended by man without special Revelation; and that those who presume to do it arrogate too much to themselves, and that it is too Tyrannical to require it of any, and that upon pain of death; for says Daniel they cannot do it..

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets Hereby the Prophet gives God intirely all the glory, proving all the powers on Earth to come short in it, it being one of Gods peculiar Prerogatives to reveal secrets. Yea in great humility he denies himself to have any share in it, as also ver. 29., and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar, what shall be in the latter days Observe here the Prophets wisdom in this discovery, he does not fall abruptly upon the dream, but first prepares this lofty King for it in general, and by degrees, he does labour to win him to the knowledge of the true God, 1. By this his power. And 2. By his gracious favour to the King, in revealing to him the greatest secret in the World about the change of Kingdoms and Governments, and touching the power of Christs Kingdom over all in the latter days. See ver. 44.. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind, upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets maketh known unto thee what shall come to pass.

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me, for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king Some will have this relate to the Iews and the Church of God, by whose Prayers this was obtained but the more plain sense is this, but that the interpretation may be manifest to the King and that thou maist know the thoughts of thy heart, that thou maist be better instructed and satisfied in thy mind in this great secret, when thou seest the mind of God in it, and what it points, and wha thy duty is, and how to steer thy counsel and a tions in this vast Monarchy, and towards the afflicted Church of God in it., and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image Not a painted superficial image, but a massy one a Statue in mans shape, great, splendid, majestical, thus they were wont to represent of old, great Emperors, and Empires, and worshipped them as gods, called here an Image, and in a dream all which is in show, and shadow rather then in substance, and therefore vanishing. And that upright, of a prodigious height, noting the grand ur of those Monarchies.: this great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee b, and the form thereof was terrible Government is to be feared f ar to whom fear, a d o our to whom ho r, also some had rather be ared then loved. Some say the Image was so po ited, that the face looked toward the King, and hus it might trouble and terrifie him..

This images head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass.

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay By this we see the World is much worse and far declined, every age degenerating from what it was of old as the Poets which borrowed their fancy from this Image, have described the ages of the World from Mettals, the first was golden, and so coming on courser, it ended at last as this Image in the Text in dirt..

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces i. e. All of it to pieces, all vanished, and the Stone became a great M nt and filled the whole Earth, this is the dream; and the interpretation of all follows..

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summers threshing floors, and the winds carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof, before the king By this word we appears Daniels Piety and Modesty, for he declares by it, that he and his Companions had begged this skill from God, and therefore he did not, nor could arrogate it to himself excluding them, without injury; and dishonour to God that heard Prayer. Now begins the interpretation..

Thou, O king, art a king of kings He means Nebuchadnezzar in person together with his Successors, Evilmerodac, and Bel hazzar the Prophet would not mind the King of any thing past, nor of any other Governments but those with whom his Church were then and to be concerned for the future, till the coming of the Messiah, by whose coming they should support and comfort themselves against all their sufferings by oppressors, and also God would have the Prophet mind Nebuchadnezzar of the Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands, growing and breaking in pieces all earthly power., for the God of heaven has given thee a kingdom It came not to thee by thy Ancestors or by fortune, or by thy valour, but the great God of Heaven has the bestowing of those, and giveth them to whomsoever he will., power, and strength, and glory Authority; victorious Armies, with great prosperity..

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has he given into thine hand, and has made thee ruler over them all i. e. I have given thee absolute dominion of all Creatures, Men and Beasts within the bounds of thy vast Kingdom, to hunt, catch, or kill for thy use, and pleasure. God as Lord Paramount allowes thee his Vassal, and Tenant at will all this. This was not Universal overall the World, but only within his large Territories, which yet were bounded.; thou art this head of gold 1 Why head? Because he was first in order, as the head is before the other parts, and the vision began in him, and descended downwards to the other three Monarchies. 2. Why head of Gold? Because of the vast riches wherein it abounded, and which the Chaldeans most coveted, and scraped from the spoiles and tributes of all Countries, Isa. 10 13, 14. Ier. 51.41, 44. Also this is called the golden head, because it stood longest, 500 years, and was fortunate and flourishing to the last..

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferiour to thee This was that of the Medes and Persians, inferiour in time and succession, in duration it lasted not half so long, as the Assyrian in prosperity and tranquility, for the Persian was fuller of trouble; yet was this wonderful rich and large for a time, Esther 1.1. this was the Breast and Armes of Silver., and another third kingdom of brass This was the Graecian Monarchy, under Alexander the great, who conquered the former, called the City because given so much to Luxury; Brass, because courser then the other, and their Armou was chiefly Brass,., which shall bear rule over all the earth Therefore this is also called an universal Monarchy; for Alexander marched into the Indies, and conquered much of that, by which he was said to conquer the World; and wept that he had not another World to conquer, yet this lasted not long for he was soon overcome, and kild by his worldly lusts..

And the fourth Kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things This is the Kingdom of the Romans; and was to last not only to Christs first coming, but under Antichrist, to his second coming, but still going down as to Pagan Worship and at last to Antichristian and Papal power; for verse 28. Daniel tells the King, that God made known to him what should be in the latter days; therefore he intended a general History to the end of the World, verse 44. and chap. 7. latter end and chap. 11. and 12.: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise This did break in pieces all other Kingdoms, being too strong for them, and was never in subjection to any, but brought all in subjection to it, till the stone fell upon it, of which afterward..

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided Partly strong and partly weak; The Roman Kingdom was divided, partly because Tyranny followed Aristocracy, and the Government made up of both, partly their Civil Wars, when two Competitors s rove each for dominion, the common people against the Senate, Sylla against Marius, Caesar against Pompey, also, partly when conquered Provinces and Kingdoms cast off the Roman yoke, and set up Kings of their own and so the Empire was divided into ten Kingdoms or Toes. The vision attributes two legs to the Image, and to the fourth Monarchy, because the Romans had sometimes duumvirs, two Consuls, two Emperors, one in the East, the other in the West., but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay; so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken This was plain in the Civil Wars of the Romans, the falling off of some Countries, especially in and towards the end of it..

And whereas thou sawest iron mixt with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men i. e. By Marriage, but they shall never sodder well together, because ambition is of stronger force, then affinity and consa guinity in Rulers.: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed i. e. While the Iron Kingdom stood, for Christ was born in the Reign of Augustus Caesar, Luc. 2.1. Shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom. Now see the difference of Christs Kingdom from all other Kingdoms in the World. 1. In the rise of it, it was not by earthly succession, or armes, or policy. 2. It is Spiritual and Heavenly in the Lawes and Administration of it. 3. Jesus Christ was not a mere Man, but God-Man, he is the King, the Son of God. 4 It is stronger then all other, because it breaks them in pieces. 5. It is not bounded by any limits as Worldly Empires are, but truly Universal. 6 It shall be for ever, and never destroyed and given to others, as the rest were., and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountains without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold 1. This notes the small beginning of Christ Kingdom visibly. 2. The different rise of Christs from all other; His Conception by the Holy Ghost, like as Melchizedeck, without Father and Mother, respectively as to his two Natures; Isa. 9.6. who shall declare his Generation; his name shall be called wonderful. 3. This stone as a heavy Rock, tumbling down from the Mountain, brake the image in pieces, which could not be said any other did so. 4. Christ is a stone that grinds to powder those it falls on. He is the pretious foundation and chief corner stone of his Church for ever. 5. He is a growing stone even to a Mountain, and therefore will fill the Earth, 1 Cor. 15.24., the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter i. e. The great God has shown all this, who is above all the Kings of the Earth, and only knows, and decrees, and effects future things, who only does great and wondrous things.: and the dream is certain i. e. This dream is no ordinary dream, but an Oracle of God; it is sent from Heaven, and gives a perfect scheme and Prophetical History of things to come, about the special Providence of God, in changing Governors and Governments, with particular regard to his Church under them, and above all, about the Kingdom of Christ, and the growth of it, maugre all the enterprizes of Pagan and Antichristian Rome., and the interpretation thereof sure It is not a conjectural guess of the Magicians, and wise men of Babylon, who use to prepare lying words, because they have no knowledge of the true God, and therefore are wholly unacquainted with his secrets, which he revealeth to his Prophets by the Spirit of Prophesie, which he has now signally imparted to me, which I have faithfully made known unto thee O King..

Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation, and sweet odours unto him This was strange, that so great a Monarch should thus worship his Vassal; thus was it sometimes done to men, as to Elias the Prophet, 2 Kings 1.13. this was done in consternation and admiration, because he saw so much of God in the Prophet, and in the revelation of the dream; but why did Daniel suffer it to be done to him? 1. Though he could not hinder the King in his prostration, and in his word of command, yet doubtless he showed his averseness with much zeal and abhorrence, as the Apostles did in the like case, Acts 14.13, 14, 15. because it was high Sacriledge and Idolatry. 2 It is not said they offered Sacrifice to Daniel, but only the King commanded it, which doubtless Daniel refused, because he was so careful in not defiling himself with the Kings dainties, chap. 1.8. also, when he would not omit the Worship of God, though with the hazard of his Life, chap. 6.10. therefore the King being instructed of Daniel, gives God all the glory, in the next words..

The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods A God of Gods, the greatest and supream God of all the World, above Baal, or Bel, and above all other gods., and a Lord of kings The word is maron or maran, which in the Syriac signifies Lord, or high Lord, seeing he is the highest King of all the earth. He makes, over-rules, and pulls down whom he will, 1 T m. 6.15. Rev. 17.14. and 19.16. by this he gathers, that God is a revealer of secrets, Isa. 48.3, 5, 6, 7, 8., and a revealer of secrets Is supream God, because he knowes, and foreknowes, and decrees all things future., seeing thou couldest reveal this secret Therefore Daniel had it from God, who revealed it to him, which here the King confesseth..

Then the king made Daniel a great man Chald. Rabbi magnified him., and gave him many great gifts An estate suitable to his honour., and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon Gnal col medina over the chief Province of Babylon, which was head, because of the Metropolis, the word is also Arabick, and therefore used in Spain at this day., and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon Chap. 4.9. Daniel was chief of them in wisdom, for he could unfold what none of the wise men could. Again, he was chief in place and power, he had the rule, and inspection of them, which were students and professors of wisdom and learning, into their studies and manners, like a perpetual Lord Chancellour, not that this Holy Prophet gave any incouragement to them in their unlawful arts and divinations, but rather discouraged and corrected them, teaching them the knowledge of the true God: thus does the true Religion top all the World, and make the grandeur thereof stoop to it, for it is the wisdom of God, and the power of God..

Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king He substituted them as Lieutenants for the Kings service, under Daniel, which as the curious observe, was chiefly about agriculture, and gathering revenues and provisions for the Court, but Daniel he was as Privy Counsellour and Lord Chamberlain, about arduous affairs of the King and Kingdom, sitting sometimes in judgment, and also admitting and conducting persons and causes to the King, as there was need, to whom there was difficult access, according to the Magnificence and Majesty of the Kings of the East. Thus Daniel sate in the Kings Gate, to be near and ready for the Kings chiefest business, and it notes honour, also high favour, but especiallly we must look upon Daniels promotion to be for the service and protection of his brethren in their present state of Captivity, as Mordecai was, which shewes that God does remember his people in their low estate, and does not leave himself without witness to them, in raising up nursing fathers for them..