Part 9

"This is the Word of the Lord, which He spake by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel: so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel."

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XXXIII. A STORY OF VICTORY

KING SAUL had disobeyed God, and the Lord had rejected him from being king.

The Prophet Samuel had set his heart on this first King of Israel, and he grieved terribly that the Lord had reject him. So he went down to his house and mourned over all that had happened.

But at length the Lord spoke to Samuel and He said words like these: "How long will you mourn for Saul? Take your horn of oil and go to Bethlehem, for I have provided me a king among the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite."

So Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and took with him a heifer for a sacrifice to the Lord, and called Jesse and his sons to share in the sacrifice.

Samuel did not know which of Jesse's sons was to be the king, and as one and another passed before him, the Lord told him that He had not chosen that one.

At length Samuel said to Jesse: "Are these seven all thy sons?"

And Jesse answered: "There is still the youngest, and he is with the sheep."

So David was sent for, and the Lord said to Samuel: "Arise, anoint him: for this is he."

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that time forward.

By and by the Philistines, who were enemies of Israel, gathered their armies together to battle, and Saul and the men of Israel went out to meet them; and the two armies stood on two mountain sides, opposite to each other with a valley between them, ready to begin to fight.

Then the Philistines sent out a great giant as a champion, and he defied the armies of Israel, telling them to choose one of their men to fight with him; and promising if their champion was able to kill him, then the Philistines would be their servants: but if he killed their champion, the Israelites would have to serve the Philistines.

When Saul and his soldiers heard these words, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

And day after day for forty days, the giant came out and defied the Children of Israel.

David's father, Jesse, had three sons at the war, and one day Jesse told David to go and see how his brothers were, and to carry a present of food to the captain of their thousand.

When David got near to the trench, he found that the armies were preparing for a battle.

Then his brothers told him about the giant and his threats, and how Saul had made great promises to any one who should be brave enough to kill him.

And David said indignantly to every one he met: "Who is this Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

At length Saul heard of the words that David had said in the camp, and he had him brought before him; but when he saw how young he was, he told him it would be impossible for him to fight the giant.

But David said: "When I was keeping my father's sheep, there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him . . . The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine!"

So Saul offered him some armour, but when David had tried it, he took it all off, and chose instead five smooth stones out of the brook, and with his sling in his hand, he went to meet the giant.

You can imagine that great, tall man with his heavy armour, looking down on the young and beautiful youth before him, and disdaining him!

So the giant came on and drew near to David, and he said to him: "Am I a dog, that you come to me with stones? Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field!"

But David's courage was not of earth, as his brave words show—

"Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand! And I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee: and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know, that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's!"

Then he ran swiftly towards the giant, and put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it, and it struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that he sank down on the ground with his face to the earth.

So David ran and stood upon the giant, and took the giant's sword from its sheath and slew the Philistine, and cut off his head.

Then the men of Israel arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines till they reached the gates of Ekron. Then they returned and took all the spoil from the tents of their enemies.

And David was brought before Saul, carrying the head of the giant in his hand.

No wonder that King David in after years wrote in the 18th Psalm: "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord . . . so shall I be saved from mine enemies!"

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XXXIV. THE GREAT FEAST

DANIEL 5.1-31

BELSHAZZAR was the last King of the Chaldeans, and though he little suspected that this was the last Feast he would ever make, the time had suddenly come when his proud reign was ended, and his enemies would be victorious.

But all this was among the hidden things of the very next day. It is only God who knows the end from the beginning, unless He makes it known to His own servants, who serve and love Him.

So it came to pass that Belshazzar made a great Feast to a thousand of his lords, and he drank wine before his lords.

While he was drinking the wine, he thought that he would show off some of the Holy Vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from God's Temple at Jerusalem.

And Belshazzar knew very well that these Vessels had been made entirely for the Service of the Great God, the King of the whole earth.

But knowing this, he went on in his profane determination to have the Vessels brought into the feast; and he and his princes, and his wives and concubines, drank wine in them, and praised their gods of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and iron, of wood and of stone.

But there fell a sudden hush on the great assembly, for without the slightest warning, there appeared the fingers of a man's hand which were writing on the plaster of the Wall, just above the candlestick of the King's Palace; and the King saw the part of the hand that wrote.

[Illustration: THE WRITING ON THE WALL.]

Then his face grew white with fear, and his knees trembled and smote one against another, for he could not control his terror.

So he called aloud to fetch the soothsayers, and promised, that if any one could tell him the meaning, he should be clothed in purple, and have a chain of gold, and be made the third ruler in the Kingdom.

Then all the wise men hurried in, but they could not read the writing, nor give the interpretation.

[Illustration: Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in scarlet.]

Belshazzar was very frightened. Then the Queen hastened into the Banqueting Hall, and told him not to be frightened, as there was one man in his Kingdom who could tell dark sayings, and in whom there was the spirit which, she supposed, could only come from the gods.

She little knew that this man of whom she spoke, loved and served the only True and Great God, who lives in Heaven.

So Daniel was brought in before the King, and Belshazzar asked him if he were one of the Captives whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem? And the King hurried on to tell him of all the gifts which he should receive, if he could tell him the meaning of the writing.

Then Daniel answered before the King: "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the King, and make known the interpretation."

Then Daniel went on to explain to the King that the God who lived in heaven had given Nebuchadnezzar a Kingdom and majesty: but when his heart was lifted up with pride, he was deposed from his throne, and he had to live with the wild beasts, till he knew that the most high God ruled in the Kingdom of men, and gave it to whomsoever He willed.

And then Daniel went on to say that Belshazzar had not humbled his heart, but had lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven, and had even taken His holy vessels to be used at the feast, and had praised the gods of silver and gold "which see not, nor hear, nor know." And Daniel added these solemn words: "And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."

Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN—

"This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE—God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it."

"TEKEL—thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."

"PERES—Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

Then Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in scarlet, and to put a chain round his neck, and make a proclamation that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

But in that very night, Belshazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius, the Mede, entered into the City and took the kingdom.

That writing on the wall, written more than two thousand years ago, contains a living lesson to all of us to-day.

It was God who sent that message to Belshazzar: "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting." For God judges every one's life. We read in the Revelation, "There shall in no wise enter into His presence, anything that defileth."

But there is another Writing, not like the one on Belshazzar's Wall—and that is in a Book in heaven, which is called "The Lamb's Book of Life."

Do you wonder what is written there?

It is the name of each one who has come to "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

Let each one of us ask God to wash away all our sins, and to write down our name in that Book of Life.

That is the writing which will mean endless happiness and joy.

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XXXV. DANIEL IS A CAPTIVE

THE people of Israel—the Jews—had so departed from serving and obeying God, that at length, in the reign of Jehoiakim, God allowed the King of Babylon to come up against Jerusalem with a great army and to besiege it, and eventually to take the city. He carried away not only Jehoiakim, the king, but afterwards Zedekiah (whom Nebuchadnezzar had set up in Jerusalem instead of Jehoiakim), and with him, he took all the nobles who were not killed in the siege, and every smith or craftsman who might be useful in Babylon.

He carried away also the whole of the sacred and precious vessels from the Temple of God, and put them into the house of his own idol in Babylon.

Thus the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were completely destroyed; and none were left in the land but the very poorest of the people.

So now you must picture to yourselves how Nebuchadnezzar instructed his lords and officers to choose, out of the ten thousand captives whom they had brought to Babylon, all the best of the young men: all that were skilful in wisdom or clever in science, who should be brought into the king's palace and should be taught the learning and language of the Chaldeans.

These young men were given into the charge of Ashpenaz, one of the king's trusted chamberlains, and Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be fed from the king's table, and nourished, so that at the end of three years, they should be able to stand before the king.

Now among these high-born young men were four, whose names in Judah had been Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; but Ashpenaz named them afresh, and called them Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

So you will now understand why these young men were sometimes called by one name and sometimes by another in the Book of Daniel.

When the orders came, and Daniel was told that he and his companions were to be fed with the king's food, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with it, nor with the wine which the king drank.

The reason of this was, that the food was not prepared as the Jews' food was; for God had given them strict rules as to how their meat was to be killed; and also, the wine of these heathen kings was often offered to their idols before they tasted it themselves, and thus, in the Jews' sight, was defiled.

So Daniel spoke to Ashpenaz, and begged him earnestly to excuse him and his companions from eating the king's food.

[Illustration: Their wisdom and understanding was far beyond that of any of the others.]

Now God Himself, Who was watching over His servants, these captives in Babylon, had great purposes which they were to carry out, not only for the Jews, but by and by for the whole world.

But as God takes care of the little things as well as the great things, He had softened the heart of Ashpenaz, so that he tenderly loved Daniel.

And when he heard Daniel's request, he did not speak roughly to him, as those great princes generally did in those days, but explained to him how difficult it would be for him to comply with what he asked.

He told Daniel that if he did not give them the king's food, they would not look as well fed or handsome as the other captives, nor as the king would expect them to look; and if he yielded to Daniel's request, he might endanger his own head to the king! For in those days, life was of no value in the eyes of the great sovereigns. They did exactly as pleased them at the moment.

Then Daniel explained it all to Melzar, who was the man whom Ashpenaz had set over them to control these smaller matters, and asked him to "prove" them by allowing them to have only "pulse to eat, and water to drink"; and if, after ten days, they looked less well than the others who were having the rich food from the king's table, then Daniel and his friends would do what Melzar wished.

I think Daniel knew that his God would make it all right for them!

And so it proved; for at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter than the others did, who ate the king's meat. And Melzar took away the wine and the good food, and gave them pulse and water, as they had asked.

As for these four young men, God gave them skill to learn; and He gave Daniel the power to understand visions and dreams.

So at the end of the three years the prince of the eunuchs brought them, and a number of the other captives, in before King Nebuchadnezzar; and the king communed with them; and among them all, he found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they remained near the king, and when anything was wanted of them, they were there to do it.

The king found, when he talked with them, that their wisdom and understanding was far beyond that of any of the others, and ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his kingdom.

These four young men, captives in a strange land, eating and drinking nothing but bread and water, were brave, faithful and obedient.

"They had set the Lord always before them." Their one aim was to please Him; and as we go on with their story, we shall see that God was with them, and enabled them to be "more than conquerors through Him Who had loved them."

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XXXVI. THE SECRET IS REVEALED TO DANIEL

IN those days, dreams and their meanings were much thought of, and great kings had their soothsayers and sorcerers, their magicians and astrologers, who were always at hand to explain doubtful or hard questions, and to pretend to look into the future.

Many of them were extremely clever, and from long practice and observation, many of their answers and explanations seemed very plausible.

So when Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, had a perplexing dream, which worried him very much, he sent for these soothsayers and magicians; and they at once, of course, asked what the dream had been, so that they might furnish the interpretation.

But Nebuchadnezzar had to confess, that though the dream troubled him, he could not recall what it was!

So the magicians were greatly alarmed; as they said, no king would ask his magicians to tell the dream, as well as the interpretation!

But the king was angry and furious; and at length sent out an order that all the magicians and soothsayers in Babylon were to be destroyed.

So the decree went out that all the "wise" men, meaning astrologers and soothsayers, were to be slain: and with them, Daniel and his companions would perish!

Then Daniel with gentle wisdom, which God gave him, said to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who was sent out to kill the wise men: "Why is the king's decree so urgent?"

So Arioch explained to Daniel that the king wanted not only the explanation of his dream, but the dream itself! And that the magicians could not tell it.

But Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, and he would show the king the interpretation.

Then he went to his house, and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and asked them to pray to God to show them this secret, so that they and all the wise men in Babylon should not perish.

We must pause here for one moment to remember that God gives wonderful answers to "united prayer"! We see it over and over again throughout the Bible; and we see it over and over again in our own experience, when we trust Him!

So Daniel and his companions prayed, and the answer came.

Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision in the night.

And what did Daniel do the first thing after he knew the secret?

He blessed the God of Heaven! He thanked Him for giving him wisdom to understand, and that He had made known what they had desired of Him.

Then Daniel went to Arioch, and told him the good news, and he brought him to the king in haste, saying: "I have found a man among the captives of Judah, who will tell you the interpretation!"

So the king said to Daniel: "Can you make known the dream, and the interpretation?"

And Daniel answered: "The secret which the king requires, the astrologers and magicians cannot answer. But there is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall happen in the latter days."

And then he added: "This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have . . . but for their sakes who make this interpretation known to the king, and that the king may know the thoughts of his heart."

We see here an evidence of Daniel's humility; no wonder that God could trust him with Vision after Vision about the future, which we read in the later chapters of this wonderful Book of Daniel.

This was the dream, and Daniel told it to the king in words like these—

"The king saw a great Image whose brightness was excellent and his form terrible."

"The head of the Image was of Gold:"

"The breast and arms of Silver:"

"The belly and thighs of Brass:"

"The legs of Iron; and the feet part of Iron and part of Clay."

"The king looked at this Image till a Stone, cut without hands, smote the Image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces. Then the whole Image fell to pieces, and was scattered like chaff before the wind, and the pieces were carried away, so that they could not be found."

"And the Stone which smote the Image became a Great Mountain, and filled the whole earth."

Then Daniel went on to say: "This is the dream—and we will tell the interpretation of it."

"Thou, O King, art this head of gold! And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass. And a fourth kingdom which shall be strong as iron; and the toes of the feet shall be part of iron and part of clay."

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed . . . and it shall stand for ever."

"The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel and said: "Your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets!"

Then the king gave Daniel great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel asked the king to remember his three companions, and Nebuchadnezzar set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

But Daniel sat in the gate of the king—which was evidently a place of great honour.

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