The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-01-21
SUNDAY MEDITATION.

| SU DAI M EDIIA1lON.
Practical Duties Taught by Study Of the Inter-
national Sunday School Lesson Appointed for
Jan. 81. Dan.. /: S-21.
! Zone reading these notes should first carefully
! study the paragraph from the Holy Scriptures
indicated abovcl
! The prophetic part of the Old Testament
reaches from the Book of Isaiah to that Of Nal
| ach. There are 16 such books. The first four,
| viz, Isa, Jer., Lam, and Eze are known as
the Greater Prophecies; the last II as the
Lesser Prophecies. The Book of Daniel is the
| first of the dozen Minor Prophets.
Daniel was of the first company of the King
| dom of Judah to be taken captive. The time
at which he was seized and borne off from .Je-
rusalem to Babylon gives date to what is known
as the Captivity of Judah, viz, Il. c. 604. Neb-
uchadnezzar made many captives. 1t had been
prophecied by Isaiah the Judahites should be
thus punished. e XII, 20: 18; Is, 80: - Dan
| lei was but boy when made a prisoner of war,
| being less than Ii years old. 1t was hard for
one so young TO be carried away from home and
country. ACKNOWLEDGMENT ordered the most
promising of the Jewish captives to be put into
a college and prepared to be of service i'll the
| royal court. Dan, l "A, furnishes an ideal of
| the personal appearance Of the young Hebrew
captive Plato tells us the age of students enter
| ing the royal schools in Persia was about IA.
| The course of study covered three years Keno
| phon gives the age of II as that at which young
men arrived when entering on the position of
attendants on the King Daniel would soon
| graduate and be i'll readiness for regal service
| During the events of the lesson Jehoiakim
was King of judah.
We find ourselves in Babylon, 500 miles east
| of Jerusalem. 1t was the capital of Chaldea,
IA miles square, surrounded by wall 800 feet
| high and 50 feet wide. From the wall rose 250
towers; 100 gates gave ingress and egress Walls
| and buildings were made OF brick manufactured
from clay at hand, while bitumen served for
| mortar.
To this city the captives from Jerusalem were
taken. Among them was Daniel. The King of
| Babylon needed court attendants. He wanted
men of ability. Such could be found among
| the Chaldean youth. He however, had appre-
! tensions that young men from tho leading
| families of his own kingdom might, in their
ambition, prove troublesome to him. He judged
il best to raise up royal attendants the noblest,
ablest, wisest of his foreign subjects. Such
would not be SO likely TO become factious or
! rebellious He had school for training SUCH
| so that they might become familiar with the
| Babylonian language, literature, history and
| customs. -Four were chosen from the Jewish
captiyes-Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed.
| nego.
Nebuchadnezzar was anxious the students at
his political school should have the best OF
preparation, not only of mind but of body. He
| ordered his servants teunuchS) to provide
them with bills of fare corresponding to his
own menu. He wished them to have royal pro-
| visions and beverages. Such food and drink
| were therefore served to Daniel. But he ut
terly refused to partake of either. The Jews
We're very particular as to diet. This was a
| result of instructions given by the LaWgiver of
Heaven through his Prophet Moses. Certain
! kinds Of food were forbidden, 9. e., that of
swine Then animals the flesh of which could
be eaten must be killed in prescribed form,
and hence Jews had and have their own butch
! ers. Greatest care was taken TO have all blood
| thoroughly washed off the meat (Deu., IL 90
| 25.) The Prophet Ezekiel was conscientious as
to his food. (4:1314) So was Peter. (Acts,
| 10: 14.) The custom of Offering sacrifices by
the heather to their gods made the matter still
| more complex. If one ate viands or drank
| beverages on which pagan priests had asked q
heathen blessing, or which had been borne from
idolatrous affairs to the dining room, he would
be practically joining in the worship of such
| pagan deities Daniel could not thus even ndi-
rectly give countenance to heather devotion.
(Hos., 9: 3, 4; Acts, Is 20.) 1t seems also that
| Daniel might have objected to dietary so rich
as that Of the court. He foresaw efTeminacy in
| luXurauce.
While Daniel was firm he was courteous
Before declining outright he kindly requested
the lord chamberlain to permit him to eat more
plain diet. 1t is well to try to prevent any
| unplcasautness.
Daniel saw that to observe Nebuchadnezzar's
tho true religion, to be disloyal to his own ma
ton. Though SO kindly in manner as to win the
love and favor of the eunuchs (servants) of the
King, yet he was so determnate in matters of
conscience that nothing could move nor intimi-
| date him.
When the chief officer having in charge the
| dietary of the college expresses fears of being
| bGheaded if the students fail to maintain good
| health and fine appearance, Daniel proposes a
test. Instead of rich meats and wines, he sug-
gests trial for 10 days on pulse and water, as
Surfing Melzar the Jewish captves would be
better Off in flesh and strength than they
who followed the royal diet. By pulse we
mean beans, peas, vegetables, herbs as con-
trasted with a diet of flesh, game, fish, The
four Jewish captivcs were permitted to use a
vegetarian's bill of fare. At the end of 10 days
Melzar was pleased with the result The He
brew youths were more ruddy, fresh and
healthful in appearance than they who fol-
lowed the heather MENU Afterward Melzar
granted Daniel and his three companions privi-
lege to have their chosen dishes. After the
three years had passed, ". 81 the four grad
yates, Daniel and his three fellow-captives,
were presented to Nebuchadnezzar. The King
found they eXcelled all the rest of the school.
He hence selected them as his special advisers.
They even surpassed in wisdom and under
standing the professional and experienced
magi. The scientists and philosophers, called
in the lesson magicians and astrologers, were
outdone 10 times over by the four young mon
from Jerusalem. 1t was well indeed for
Babylon that one so learned good, kind, cour-
teous, firm, far-seeing as Daniel was preserved
in life so long. Ho lived all through the 20
years of captivity; dying, probably, IS years
old. He was taken captive at about tho time
Nebuchadnezzar became King, GOA B. c., and
lived during the 43 years reign of this Baby
lonian ruler. Then Daniel lived on during the
reigns Of Beshazzar, Darius, and three years
of the reign of Cyrus dying at about 500 B. G..
Catarrh and Bronchitis Cured.
A clergyman, after years of suffering from
that lOathsome disease, Catarrh, and vainly
trying every known remedy. at last found
prescription which completely cured and saved
him from death. Any sufferer from this dread.
full disease sending q self-addrcssed stamped
envelope to DR.. j. Flynn & Co., lit East 18th
St., New York, will receive the recipe free of