BABYLON'S “WISE MEN” AGAIN TESTED.
In the fourth chapter of Daniel we have a testimony to the greatness of the “high God,” by King Nebuchadnezzar, that breathes more of a spirit of meekness than is manifest in his decrees in honor of the God of heaven recorded in the second and third chapters. This testimony was written by the king after a most humiliating experience, which is also recorded in the fourth chapter. It reads as follows:— “Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.” Verses 1–3. The humble, subdued spirit manifested in these words is in marked contrast with his former utterances. There is no threat of vengeance upon those who shall “speak anything amiss against” the God of the Jews. He speaks to the people like an apostle of Christ, saying, “Peace be multiplied unto you.” Then he says that he “thought it good to show” them what God had done for him. That was a real Gospel testimony, just what the Lord would have all men do—tell what He has done for them. He doesn't want any human laws to enforce respect for His name, nor any threats of penalty toward those who believe not. When Christ was on earth preaching the Gospel, He said, “If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47. And that is the spirit of every true disciple. In a former testimony, Nebuchadnezzar had conceded that the God of Daniel was “a God of gods, and a lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets;” but that concession contemplated only the time being, there was no admission of everlasting superiority; in fact, the king almost immediately set about enforcing his own designs in defiance of the “Lord of kings.” And after the wonderful manifestation of power in connection with the fiery furnace, the king’s submission was not marked by a spirit of meekness or true humility. His acknowledgment of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was accompanied by threats of cruelty against his subjects who should speak against that God. This was merely his own subservience to One in whom he recognized a superiority of power, and a desire to enforce in others a like superstitious dread of his own power and authority. But in this third testimony the king humbly confesses that the kingdom of the “high God” is “an everlasting kingdom,” and that His dominion is continually in force—“from generation to generation.” In this connection, in telling how this marked change of heart was brought about, Nebuchadnezzar incidentally reveals another failure of the wisdom of Babylon’s “wise men.” The utter unwisdom of their assumed wisdom is again exposed by means of a dream. In the providence of God they were tested and exposed through the medium of dreams because the interpretation of dreams was their special pretense. The king says:— “I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace; I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.” Dan. 4:4–7. The reader will notice that the king did not, as on the former occasion, ask them first to tell him the dream. He had proved, and they had acknowledged, their inability to tell what a dream was unless it were revealed to them by the dreamer. They had confessed that their gods did not dwell with flesh, and therefore could not render them any help in that respect. See ch. 2:11. This time the king takes them on their own former proposition, that if he would tell the dream, they would show the interpretation. He was still anxious for some pretext for recognizing the wisdom of Babylon. He was loath to admit her inferiority in any respect. He would give the men he had once condemned another chance to demonstrate the superiority of Babylon. He would not be so unreasonable this time as to ask of them what, as they said, no other king ever had asked, namely, to tell off-hand what some man had dreamed. So he told them the dream; but, even then, they could not make known the interpretation, and the king was obliged to turn again to Daniel, the captive prophet of the God of heaven. In a future article we will consider the dream and its fulfilment, which caused the king to so alter the temper of his testimony regarding the “high God.”