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Daniel. They were a strong and valiant, a fierce and courageous people, a great and ancient nation. Their martial character is thus defcribed by the prophet Habakkuk: For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation-they are terrible and dreadful-their horfes alfo are fwifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening'wolves-they fhall fly as the eagle that hafteth to eat f.' The country inhabited by this people, was called the land of Shinar 1,' the land of Nimrod |,' the land of Mefopotamia.' From thence the Lord brought out Abram, the Father of the faithful, that he might give him, and his posterity, the land of Canaan to inherit. The excellency of the Chaldees confifted in their riches, wifdom, ftrength, valour, extent of dominion, with other things of a fimilar nature. Of all these things which are efteemed excellent among men, the city of Babylon, comprehending its palaces, temples, fortifications, and public buildings, was the chief ornament. It was one of the most beautiful and most elegant cities that was ever formed by human wifdom and power. How aftonishing, that a city of fuch exquisite beauty, ftrength, and excellence, fhould have been utterly deftroyed!- -This overthrow is illuftrated by a very striking fimilitude, in the following words:

It fhall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Truly memorable was the destruction of these cities, which proceeded immediately from God, who rained down fire and brimstone from heaven upon them, whereby not only they, but all their inhabitants, all the neighbouring plains, and all that grew upon the ground, were laid wafte §. Their overthrow was fudden and unexpected to the inhabitants, who were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Their deftruction was univerfal and irre

Daniel ii. 3.

I Micah v. 6

+ Hab. i. 6, 7, 8.
§ See Gen. xix. 24, 25.

Gen. x. 10.

coverable,

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coverable, according to the prediction of the prophet Jeremiah: As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbouring cities thereof, faith the 'Lord: fo fhall no man abide there; neither fhall < any fon of man dwell therein *' In like manner, the destruction of Babylon was to proceed from God: it was to come fuddenly and unexpectedly, when its inhabitants were employed in feftivity and mirth; and its perdition was to be complete and irreverfible.

20 It fhall never be inhabited, neither fhall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither fhall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

The

The fubject introduced in the preceding verse, is here amplified and illuftrated. According to this prediction, Babylon was to be entirely defolated, and deprived of its inhabitants, fo as to become an unfrequented defert. Left it should still be imagined, that, though reduced to a wilderness for fome time, it might again rife into its former fplendor, our prophet declares, that it fhall not be inhabited for ever. defolation fhall be perpetual, without any hope of its restoration. To give greater folemnity and certainty to what is foretold, the prediction is repeated with little variation, and the ftrongest affurance is given of the perpetuity of its defc!ate condition.---And left it might be fuppofed, that, notwithstanding the city was to be divefted of its inhabitants, it might nevertheless afford a place of retreat to Arabians wandering through the deferts, and to fhepherds employed in feeding their flocks, it is exprefsly affirmed, that it fhould ferve none of thefe purpofes, but be wholly abandoned by every human creature.

21 But wild beafts of the defert fhall lie there, and their houfes fhall be full of doleful creatures,

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and owls fhall dwell there, and fatyrs shall dance there.

22 And the wild beafts of the islands fhall cry in their defolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days fhall not be prolonged.

The wild beafts of the defert, and of the islands, here intended, might be lions, bears, tigers, and other rapacious animals, which frequent the wilderness. The doleful creatures with which their houfes fhould be filled, might be those nocturnal birds, the leffer heron, the night-raven, and bittern, which frequent old ruins, and howl and fhriek with very difmal cries. And owls fhall dwell there. Owls commonly choose for their refidence, places which are deferted by men, where they may efcape the notice of other birds, which are faid to attack them, and ftrip them of their feathers. The owls are feldom heard to cry, except in the night-time, when, at intervals, they raise their melancholy, frightful voice.-And fatyrs fball dance there. Satyrs were anciently defcribed as a kind of monftrous creatures: in their upper part, resembling the human form, with the addition of horns; and in the lower part, in fhape like a goat. Thefe hideous animals were to friik and dance, in the dreary folitude of that place where Babylon once ftood.- -And the wild beasts of the iflands fhall cry in their defolate houfes, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. Dragons, which are wild, mischievous creatures, make a horrible, mournful noife, and refort to folitary places, were likewife to take up their refidence in the fumptuous palaces of Babylon, which had been the feats of luxury, debauchery, and wickednefs.--And her time is near to come, and her days fhall not be prolonged. The period fixed, in the divine decree, for the total overthrow of this great city, fpeedily approached, at the time in which this prophecy was delivered; and the feafon

season of her profperity and grandeur was not long

to continue.

Hiftory records the exact accomplishment of the foregoing predictions, which may be fummed up in the few following particulars: That Babylon fhould be entirely defolated, without hope of restoration :that the Medes, with their auxiliaries, were to be the inftruments by whom God was to execute this judgment:-and that the work was to be done with great ferocity and cruelty toward the Babylonians. Accordingly, Cyrus, with his army, confifting of Medes and Perfians, fuddenly entered the city, and took poffeflion of its palaces and fortreffes with little oppofition. This great and unexpected event put an end to the Babylonian empire. The kings of Media not choofing to refide in Babylon, it ceafed to be a royal city. The few remaining inhabitants, which furvived the capture of the city, were foon induced to leave their old habitation in folitude and ruins, nothing almost of this great city being left but the walls, which the Perfian princes ufed for the purpose of an enclosure, wherein wild beafts were kept for being hunted. At length the walls fell down, which were never repaired: the animals, which were keps within them, abandoned the place; and were fucceeded by thofe mentioned in the two laft verfes of this chapter. At the taking of this very populous city, Cyrus, with his army, made a terrible flaughter among the inhabitants and soldiers: they put all to the fword that were found in the streets, befides the king, and all his attendants, which would make a dreadful carnage. So entirely deftroyed is great Babylon, that even the place where this wonder of the world once ftood, cannot with certainty be determined. Thus were the prophecies, which we have been confidering, literally accomplished.Let us diligently attend to the inftructive leffons inculcated repeatedly in this and the following chapters; namely, the omnifcience and providence of God, the wickedness

wickedness and instability of kingdoms and empires. We are here taught, in the most convincing manner, that the true God knoweth all things; that he can reveal fecret things, and fhew the things that are to come hereafter, however improbable and distant they may appear to human view :-That divine Providence is intimately concerned in bringing about all the changes which happen among the nations; that he fettleth the boundaries of kingdoms and states, fixes the period of their duration, and determines the inftruments by which they are overturned:-That the wickedness of empires and cities is the fewel which kindles the fire of God's wrath among their pleasant things, which confumes their finest buildings, and their strongest fortreffes :-That the fins of idolatry, injuftice, cruelty, pride, oppreffion, covetoufnefs, lewdness, and luxury, when they abound in a city, nation, or family, if perfifted in, never fail to bring down upon them divine judgments, which often terminate in their total overthrow:-That the most powerful kingdoms upon earth are fubject to revolution and change, and cease to exist, after they have flourished for a while. The whole world is mutable, and liable to decay; and all things in it are continually changing, and tending toward diffolution: even the greatest empires and citics perifh as do their princes and governors. The world is only a figure, fafhion, or form, that paffeth away. Wherefore, my brethren, let us give diligence that we may obtain a kingdom that cannot be moved; and, in this hope, let us hold fast that grace whereby we may ferve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

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