The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-05-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
NebuchadneZzar's Dream-Dan. 2:39-49--
Lesson for May go, 1899.

open unto the eyes Of Him with whom we have
10 do.-Heb Alb
CENTRAL TEUTH.-God proves His Word Di
vine by foretelling future events
TIME.-B. c. 60S-602. The second year of Neb
uchadnczzar's sole reign, three years after
Daniel was taken captive.
PLACE.-Babylon, at the height OF its glory.
KINGs.-Jcho!akim, son OF Joseph, king OF
Judah; Northumberland, king OF Babylon.
LANGUAGE-This lesson in the original is in
Chaldcc, one branch OF the Aramaic.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACES. A strange
vision was sent 10 Nebuchadnezzar, which
passed from his mind on awakening He tested
the reality OF the wisdom Of his wise men by de-
mandng them TO tell the dream as well as its
meaning. When they could not do 1t he ordered
them all TO be slain. Then Daniel offered 10 do
it. He and his three companions prayed, and |
God revealed the answer The dream is given
IN the verses previous TO the lesson. 81.
Thou art king Of kings" he ruled over |
nearly all the then known world Power
and glory" Babylon was the richest and most |
beautiful city then existing. Few have ever |
surpassed It, So Thou art this head OF gold" |
he represented the world kingdom of Babylonia, |
which existed but short time after his death
II lasted from b. c. COG or Cos 10 53S-sixtyeight
years. 49, The second kingdom, Of silver, the
breast and arms Of the image, was the Medo-
Persian, beginning with C.rus, b. C. 53s, and
lasted almost two hundred years, till 1898, 40
1.-The fourth kingdom" the body and thighs Of
brass, was the Macedonian empire begun by
Alexander the Great He reigned ten years,
but the Kingdom lasted till about b. C. g. Or
1t was the Roman empire 49, "Mingle them
selves" ally themselves by marriage a.
I'm the days of these kings" OF the
fourth kingdom. "God set up king
DOM" that brought by Jesus Christ. Never
be destroyed" its principles are right and shall
never fail That lngdom has been growing
ever since, and already holds sway over more
than one-Quarter of the world and three quar-
| tiers OF its power and glory. 49, ''Cut out .
without hands," not Of human, but of Divine
and mysterious origin. ~. "Sat In the gate"
where the court was held. He remained in the
city, the kings chief counsellor. "The gate of q
city in the cast being chief place of concourse,
was place where courts were held and public
| business was usually transacted. The phrase
| sublime porte'-that is sublime gate'-is still
| employed at Constantinople to denote the gov
| eminent of the sultan; for in the earlier days
Of Ottoman rule, the reigning sovereign, as is
| still the case in some parts Of the east, held
courts Of justice and levees at the entrance Of
| his residence"
| One reason for sending this dream to the king
| and its Interpretation through Daniel was
doubtless that by Daniels promotion, and by an
| influence upon the king, the Jewish exiles might
|
| faith and allegiance to God be strengthened
with hope; and that the hardships Of the exile
might be alleviated and the people left free to
serve and worship God.
LESSON NOTES.
l suppose that, of all the nations Of
the earth, the freest and the most moral,
all things considered, is that in which
we live. Yet even here, we see so much
that it is evil, that it makes our hearts
sick. We see on every hand the cursed
saloon and the gambling house. Cor
ruption in politics abounds on every
hand, SO that one sometimes is tempted
to doubt whether we have any real
patriots in political life any more. Evil
in gigantic proportions may be seen on
every side. If we were to sum it up in it's
true colors, we might almost give up hope
for our own dear land. But even when we
put good face on it, it seems as though
we were as far as ever from perfectly
pure government. Shall we then give
up hope, and come to the conclusion that
men are ever doomed TO live on in this
way? No: the believer knows that all
these governments are one day to come
to an end. One day the stone cut out
without hands is going to come and
strike them ALL and they are to be
brought to perpetual end. God is not
going to let such iniquities live forever:
and when His time comes He will put
sudden end to them all, and set up His
kingdom on this earth. Exactly when
| IN a Tlt,f hat
it is sure to come we may be confident,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it,
What kind of n kingdom will that be
when it comes? 1t will be kingdom
of Righteousness and peace. kingdom
in which there will need to be no stand
ing armies, and in which iniquity of
every kind will come to a perpetual
end TO live in that kingdom will be
as much pleasanter than to live in Bos-
ton as now it is pleasanter to live in Bos-
ton than in dreadful Africa. Imagine it
if you can. No jails, no drinking holes,
no thieves, no evil-minded men to harm
others, no quarrels of any kind, to mar
our peace and happiness. The fact is,
that that kingdom will be Heaven on
earth. Would you like to live in such Il
kingdom? "Oh, yes, say all. Well. then.
try and help to bring on that blessed
reign by living out those same prin.
ciples here and now. If you are not
willing to do this right here, and at
once it shows that that is not the kind
of n kingdom you like, and that though
you would prefer to have this govern
ment little better than it is at pres
ent, you are not at all anxious to have
it perfect one. You want in it room
enough for your own crooked thoughts
and unkind words and evil deeds, or
you would at once cease TO indulge in
them. When we look at things in this
way, il is kind of revelation to us of
our own evil characters, is it not? No;
the fact is. that in our deepest hearts
we are not at all anxious to have things
much better, unless we are true Chris
tians. But, whether we desire it or no,
it is surely coming: and whether we are
to have a part in that kingdom or be
shut out from its blessed reign will de-
; pend on how much we love righteous
ness and follow after peace here
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
l. Only God can reveal the future; it
is His signature to His word.
.. Downward tendency of society
, without religion-from gold to silver, to
brass, to iron.
8. God is in all history. The world is
not abandoned of God
! 4. All earthly things pass nvav; Gods