This outspoken refusal filled Nebuchadnezzar with still greater fury. The form of his visage was changed, he bade the furnace be heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, and ordered the mightiest captains in his army to bind the three, and fling them into the fire. His words were obeyed, but at the cost of the lives of his captains, who fell victims to their zeal, being caught by the raging flames. Moreover, when he looked to see the three martyrs speedily reduced to ashes, behold they were observed loose, walking unscathed in the midst of the fire, accompanied by a Celestial Being, in whom the monarch discerned none other than a “Son of God!” Thereupon he drew near to the mouth of the furnace, and bade his intended victims come forth. And they came forth, and on their bodies, as all attested, the fire was seen to have had no power, neither was a hair of their head singed, neither had the smell of fire passed over them. Filled with admiration for their heroic faith, the monarch issued a decree that all men, far and wide, throughout his empire should revere the God of these Hebrews, and that every people, nation, or language that spake word against their God, should be cut in pieces, and their houses made a dunghill (Dan. iii. 29).
CHAPTER II.
REIGNS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR, BELSHAZZAR, AND DARIUS.
Dan. iv.–vi. B.C. 570–538.
THOUGH from the incident just recorded Nebuchadnezzar had learnt to know the greatness of the God of Israel, a still sterner lesson was needed to teach him his own position in reference to the Most High. He was by far the greatest of the Babylonian monarchs. His name was known, his power was dreaded throughout the entire Eastern world. He was the conqueror of Syria, of Phœnicia, of Tyre, of Palestine. He was the adorner and beautifier of his native land. He built noble cities; he raised stately temples; he renovated, fortified, almost rebuilt Babylon; he constructed quays and breakwaters[451], reservoirs, canals, and aqueducts on a scale of grandeur and magnificence surpassing everything of the kind recorded in history[452]. Perhaps no single man ever left behind him as his memorial, one-half the amount of building which was erected by this king. The palace he built for himself in Babylon with its triple walls, its hanging gardens, its plated pillars, was regarded in his day as one of the wonders of the world, while even at the present hour[453] it is his namewhich is stamped upon well-nigh every brick found amidst the ruins of his capital. Amidst all this earthly grandeur he had grown and become strong; his greatness reached unto heaven, and his dominion to the end of the earth. Inflated with pride, he became a god unto himself, and knew not that he was but an instrument in the hand of Him, who ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will (Dan. iv. 17).
This was the lesson he had now to learn, and he learned it on this wise. One night he dreamed a dream which none of his wise men could interpret. Daniel, therefore, was once more summoned before him, and listened while the monarch revealed the Vision of the Night. I saw, he said, and behold a Tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great, reaching unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit much, and the beasts of the field had shadow under it, the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh fed of it. And, behold! there came down from heaven a Watcher and a Holy One, who cried out, Hew down the Tree, and cut off his branches, but leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts, and let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given him, and let seven times pass over him. Such was the Vision. What was the interpretation? Daniel did not disguise it from the monarch. “The Tree was no other than himself. For him there was a great trial in store. A day was near, when he would be cast down from his place of power, would be driven from the society of men, would have his dwelling with the beasts of the field, until seven times had passed over him and he revived and knew for a truth that not he, but the Most High ruled in the kingdom of heaven, andgave dominion and power to whomsoever He would” (Dan. iv. 1–27).
Thus a warning was given him, but it was disregarded. Nebuchadnezzar did not, as Daniel bade, break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor. Twelve months afterwards he was walking in that glorious palace which he had made for himself, and in a moment of overweening pride he cried, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? The words had hardly been spoken, when his doom came upon him. The thick pall of madness[454] settled down upon him; the mind of a man departed from him, and that of a beast entered in. Casting off his robes, he refused the food and habitation of men; mingling with the cattle in the fields, he remained exposed to the weather day and night, till his hair was grown as eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws[455] (Dan. iv. 33).
Meanwhile, as seems most probable, his queen Nitocris administered his kingdom, and at length, after an interval of four, or perhaps seven years, as he didnot scruple to declare in a proclamation addressed to his people, he came to himself. His understanding came back to him; he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever. With his reason, the glory also of his kingdom returned. His counsellors and his lords sought him and brought him back to his palace, and excellent majesty was added unto him. Resuming his great works which had been suspended, he “added fresh wonders in his old age to the marvellous constructions of his manhood,” and after a reign of 43 years died, B.C. 561, at the advanced age of 83 or 84, and was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach. Shortly after his accession the new king released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from the prison where he had been confined for 38 years, set his throne above the throne of the other captive princes at Babylon, and gave him a daily allowance from the royal table (2 Kings xxv. 27–30). But in the course of one or two years he was assassinated, and one of the conspirators, Neriglissar or Nerigassolassar usurped the throne, B.C. 559, and held the government for 3 years and a half, bequeathing it to his son Laborosoarchod, B.C. 556. In the course of nine months, he was succeeded by Nabonadius[456], or Labynetus, B.C. 555.
Meanwhile the neighbouring kingdom of Media had been the scene of a great revolution, in which Babylon eventually became involved. Mandane a daughter of Astyages, who mounted the Median throne B.C. 595, married Cambyses, a Persian of the royal family of the Achæmenidæ, and became the mother of Cyrus the Great[457]. Alienated by his tyranny and wearying of hisrule a large body of the subjects of Astyages transferred their affections to this prince, who heading a revolt, defeated and captured the Median king near Pasargadæ, B.C. 559, and obtained the supremacy over the combined Medo-Persic empire. At first the conqueror did not march against Babylon, and Nabonadius formed an alliance with Crœsus king of Lydia, and employed himself diligently in strengthening his capital, storing up provisions, and erecting defensive works.
But Cyrus gained a complete victory over the Lydian king B.C. 546, and at the end of about six years appeared before Babylon. After a single engagement he drove the Babylonians within their defences (Jer. li. 30), and commenced a regular siege. At this time Nabonadius does not appear to have been present in his capital, having fled to Borsippa after the late engagement. But he left behind him a son whom he had a few years before admitted to a share in the government[458]. This was Bil-shar-uzar, the Belshazzar of the Scripture narrative. This prince made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, his wives and concubines, and high estates of the realm, in the midst of which, heated with wine, he commanded that all the gold and silver vessels, which his grandfather[459] Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the plunder of Jerusalem, should be brought forth, and from them the assembled guests drank in honour of their various gods. But in the midst of their festivities the Fingers of a Man’s Hand were seen to write mysterious words on the plaister of the palace wall. Instantly all the brightness of Belshazzar’s countenance vanished, his thoughts troubled him, his knees smote one against another.With loud voice he bade the astrologers and soothsayers be brought before him, and promised honour, place, and power to any that would interpret the mystic words. But this none of the wise men of his realm could do. Amidst the alarm and confusion, the Queen-mother now entered, and advised that they should consult Daniel, who seems at this time to have been living in close retirement. Accordingly he was brought in, and after declining all the monarch’s promised rewards, sternly rebuked him, for that though he knew all that his grandfather’s pride had brought down upon him, he had yet lifted up himself against the Lord of Heaven, and in impious triumph profaned the sacred vessels once dedicated to that God who now had sent him this message, Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it; Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Dan. v. 25–28). That very night the Prophet’s words were fulfilled. Having diverted the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus assaulted the city from the dry bed of the river, captured it, and slew Belshazzar, B.C. 538, thus fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah (xxi. 9; xlv. 1) and Jeremiah (li. 31–39).
Hastening on to other conquests, Cyrus entrusted the captured city to a viceroy[460], known in Scripture as Darius the Mede[461]. He signalized his accession to power by setting over the kingdom of Babylon Proper, either as a body of councillors or provincial governors,120 princes, subject to the authority of three presidents, of whom Daniel, now far advanced in life, was chief (Dan. vi. 2). Old and grey-headed, he still remained faithful to the God of his fathers. And now moved with jealousy at his elevation, the other nobles resolved to compass his ruin. Unable to accuse him of any failure in the administration of the kingdom, they persuaded Darius to pass an irrevocable decree, like the law of the Medes and Persians, ordaining that for a space of 30 days no one should offer up any petition to any god or man save to the monarch himself, on penalty of being flung into a den of lions. This decree Daniel regarded not; steadfast in the religion of his fathers, he opened the windows of his chamber towards Jerusalem, and three times a-day, as had been his wont, offered up his prayers to his God. The nobles now had the opportunity they had coveted, and they reported his conduct to the king. Sorely against his will, and after fruitless efforts to deliver him from their malice, Darius bade the sentence be executed. The aged prophet was flung into the den, the mouth thereof was closed, and sealed with the royal signet, and the signet of the lords and princes. Fasting and sleepless the monarch passed the night, neither were instruments of music brought before him. Rising early in the morning he sought out the lions’ den, and to his great joy found that Jehovah had protected His faithful servant, had sent His angel, and shut the lions’ mouths. Thereupon he ordered him to be brought forth, and then issued instructions for the immediate execution of his accusers, who, according to the cruel but usual Oriental custom, were with their wives and children flung into the den and torn in pieces. Not content with this, he proclaimed that throughout his vast empire adoration should be paid to the God of Daniel, the living God, steadfast for ever, who worketh signs and wonders in heaven, and hath delivered His servant from the power of the lions (Dan. vi. 27).