The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1897-02-19

sufferable and the great streets thun-
der up their pomp into the ear Of
the monarch. and armed towers stand
around, adorned with the spoils OF
empires, Nebuchadnezzar
waves his hand above the stupendous
scene and exclaims: "Is not this great !
Babylon. that l have built for the |
house of the kingdom by the might of |
my power, and for the honor of my |
But in an instant all that |
splendor is gone from his vision, for a !
voice falls from the heaven, saying, 20 |
King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken: The kingdom is departed
from thee: and they shall drive thee
from men, and thy dwelling shall be
with the beasts of the field; they shall
make thee TO eat grass as oxen, and
seven years shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of men, and giveth 1T
TO whomsoever he will" One hour
from the time that he made the boast
he is on the way to the fields, maniac,
and rushing into the forests he becomes
one of the beasts, covered with eagles
feathers for protection from the cold,
and his nails growing to birds claws IN
order that he might dig the earth for
roots and climb the trees for nuts.
You see there is a great variety In
the Scriptural landscape. In several
discourses we have looked at noun
tains of excellence, but now we look
down into a great. dark chasm OF wick
edness as we come to speak OF Nebuch-
adnezzar. God in His Word sets before
us the beauty of self-denial, of sobriety,
of Devotion Of courage, and then, lest
we should not thoroughly understand
him, he introduced Daniel and Paul,
and Deborah, as illustrations of those
virtues. Coo also speaks TO us in HIS
Word as to the hatefulness OF pride,
of folly, of impiety, and lest we should
not thoroughly understand him, intro
/ duces NebuchadneZZar as the imper-
| sonation of these forms Of depravity
| The former style of character is a
lighthouse. showing us a way into a
safe harbor, and the latter style OF
| character is a black buoy, swinging on
! the rocks, to show where vessels wreck
| themselves. Thanks unto God for both
the buoy and the lighthouse! The host
of Nebuchadnezzar is laundering at the
gates of Jerusalem. The crown OF that
sacred city is struck into the dust by
the hand of Babylonish fnsolence. The
vessels of the temple, which had never
been desecrated by profane touch, were
ruthlessly seized for sacrilege and
hot I'D hnFN
when those Jews, at the command OF
the invading army, are obliged to leave
the homo OF their nativity! How theiI
hearts must have been wrung with
anguish, when, on the day they depart
ed. they heard the trumpets from the
top of the Temple announcing the hour
for morning sacrifice and saw the
smoke Of the affairs ascending around
the holy hill Of Zion, for well they
knew that in far distant land they
would never hear that trumpet call
nor behold the majestic ascent of thu
sacrifice. Behold those captives on tn,
road from Jerusalem TO Babylon! WorI
and weary, they did not dare halt, 70
roundabout are armed men, urgin!
them on with boot, and shout, and bias
phemy. Aged men tottered along oil
their slaves, weeping that they coult
not lay their bones in the sleeping
place of their fathers, and children
wondered at the length of the way an
sobbed themselves to sleep when tn
, night had fallen. 1t seemed as If a
every step heart broke. But at tur1
} of the road Babylon suddenly spring
upon the view Of the captives, wit
2 its gardens and palaces. A shout goe
: I'D from the army as they behold thei
! native city, but not one huzza is hear
| from the captives. These exiles saw n
splendor there, for 1t was not home
The Euphrates did not have the water
, CLEAN of the brook Kedron or the poe
of Sloan. The willows of Babylon, o
which they hung their untuned harp,
e were not az graceful as the trees whic
: at the foot of Mount Moriah seemed {
@ weep at the departed glory of JUDAH
, and all the fragrance that descende
9 from the hanging-gardens upon tha
q great city was not so sweet as on
> breath of the acacia and frankincens
! that the high priest kindled in til
q sanctuary at Jerusalem.
. On certain night, little while a
= ter these captives had been brought
= his city, Nebuchadnezzar is scared wit
a night visio;. A bad mans pillow
:, apt to be stuffed with deeds and for
! holdings which keep talking in III
night. He will find that the eagle
down in his pillow will stick him iii
- porcupine quilts. The ghosts of oil
transgressions are sure to wandt
about in the darkness and beekon an
1lss. Yet when the morning came
= yound that the vision had entirely fie
= from him. Dreams drop no anchor
; and therefore are apt to sail away b.
fore we can fasten them. Nebuehat
q nezzar calls all the wise men of Il
: land into his presence. demanding TIL
$ by their necromsncy they explain h
d dream. They, OF course. fail. The
; their wrathful king issues an edi
IS with as little sense as mercy, orderir
y the Staying Of all the learned men
the country. But Daniel the proph