The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-05-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Daniel and His Comprehension. l:S-si-
Lesson for May 22. 1892.

tsaz on would not dcfle himself with the portion
of rNe kings meat, nor with the wine which he
dra1h-Dou. 1:8
t-srsrRAL Truth 1.-The principles Of righteous
rxss5 AMI temperance are the way TO usefulness
and se.ocess.
1IxK--B. c. 6oe-eCa AZ tho nrst siege Of
Jerusalem by NobuchadpeZzar, and the three
ytssysi that followed.
Place ~ BIBLE HIsToRy.-2 Kings a:i-6,
Chlun. 3G:i-I
tiULEnS.-JeEoiGkim, king Of judah: Nobuch-
sii,sg..zGr Of Babylon.
paSIEL-At this time about sixteen years
ol6; born at Jerusalem, of notlo pSrcntaSc;
CaSItol captive to Babylon. where he lived all
tne seventy years captivity; great statesman
& learned scientific man, true prophet OF the
lse,gcst character; lived at least till D. c. 5c4;
cighty-fivo years old.
Helps OVER HARD PLACES About COS years
II. g.. Q number of captvcs were carried from
Jerusalem to Babylon. Among them were four
bpsx who became noted in history-Danicl and
TIE thrGc who were cast in:o tho fiery furnace
These four were selected to DC trained for thc
Oi3ciai service Of King Nobuchadncz3ar They
pgIC Taught in the Chaldean learning, and fed
with the luxurics provided by the Eirg g.
"T1i-posed :. b. that he would not dcfle himself
UsLn tie kings meat" 1. O., food. Some OF
M Gcsh was that forbidGcn to Jews. tSec
Is-v. IL; Dout ls:S3-2o.) Often IL wos con5e-
Grated 10 idols. It ves tco luxurious for tkc!-
bc1t health. Q. God had brought Daniel into
B2FCEI. Dy C!rCCJ Ni-CCntC, otu ES RiNll.S
l,02iga q lovable, noble character. 10. "EadC.-
EIg my head" lest his lead he cut CT for dis
CS>Nlicace. H. "Efcl,Hr:" tho E1clzar, or stCT-
r,Tl; not proper narlc lie had charge OF thcir
fHE5d This plan IVES doubtless by permission
G1 L1c prince OF the cunuchs. "EanaCiah" etc:
scs: lhcir other ratlCs in verso I. IL. "i'u!Ge:"
vegetable food: grains. Pulse originally mean.
1ty-1rAnous seeds, rs be ms, peas. 10 END OF
tss S!ayJ: CT the three years training, verso ..
H. '-Estocl they before the king" as his officers
Gr.S ;,1.iscrs. Servants always stood when in
the presence of tho monarch. - "I3ettcr than
q. rhr Il,gicians:" tsc priCstiy, learned class
''is1 s1ir1logcrs:" wise racn. rlaSi: SctCnthc LlCn
f.1 s,scl and believed in magic and astrolcgy.
TaHs Ea.ldeGns wcrc az this time the most
lrarncii roor!c in TIC world 81. First year Of
1l22g Cyrus:" Z. G. 534, tho end CT the seventy
years captivity. Cyrus conquered Babylon
LESSON NOTES.
-A-cong ell the boys Of Old Tcstainent
t;znel none stand out in stronger relief
tlan Joseph and Daniel. IN many
t2ai-ag3 they were alike. Both We're in
captivity in their early years. Both
had great tc,nptotions and endured
rn,2rh wrong. And yet each Of them
s14pcd loyalty by the truth, and feared
rJoth:ag in this world so much as he
feared sin. Joseph lost his place in
fAoeiEAar's house rather than commit
sin, AID Daniel risled his lie rather
than DO a wrong thing.
Daniel declines dcfilemeat Tho
wecay in eating Of the kings meat con-
sfs1el il the recognition of idolatry
which this involved. Now there were
raony spccious arguments that might
have been adduced to make Daniel
yield 10 the custom Of the ti:,cs. We
v-ili suggest three of them:
l. When you are in Rorao, do as the
Rc:n2ns do" This specific provcrb had
not been coi-ed in Daniels day, but no
sir,aht the idea was already in existence
HI might have said: We'll, customs
differ in different countries, and what
v7a3 possible in Judah is not possible IN
Sahy ion. 1t is hard to get our usual
food here, and we may rs we'll yield to
thc pressure under which we are placed
:. -'God has forgotten and forsalsen
rs. Here we are in bondage. Since
Ccl has thus abandoned US, we need
not De particularly careful about His
lnvya." low easily the natural man ac-
Celo.T sccL an argument,
9. If we refuse we shall be killed"
There y-as good reason to fear this
'-Aad is it not ones duty to save ones
iife? Can truth be more valuable than
Efe itsclf?" This, too, was a plausible
Argument, but Daniel was one of those
heroes who counted not their lives dear
Crto themselves, but who counted truth
and godliness as far above anything
thai was merely temporal
Daniel is delivered from danger. He
rfskcd all and lost nothing Tho test
wrs successful, and in tho end he and
his companions were really better OF IN
body than they would have been had he
yicldod- God does not always reward
Enen both in time and in eternity. There
are times when in this life men have to
endure real hardships. and wait for their
reward till eternity. But moro fire.
g.cntly than we realize, temporal bless
iDys ore the reward Of heroic obedience,
cs Svell as the eternal benedict,on. Tho
trimmer aad tine-server very often
overrecches himself, and comes TO grief,
vhilo the upright man goes ahead un-
Ger full sail. AS a rule, godly mon
do prosper, and do live longer, and
ERE truly happier in this world than
the ungodly. Were it possible to divide
cry ten thousand men in New York
into two divisions, according TO their
trnc godliness, believe that in the di-
vision of those who obeyed God there
vv,nid be found great many more Of
tAcse who were prosperous than in the
osaer division. The tramps in the city
are miserable because they have not
oScyea what they knew of the right
Cur prisons are not flied with godly
men. but with the ungodly. And il, as
IS The case. now and then you lnd o
church member behind the bars, it is
nsot because he has been God-fearing
rnar, but because he has gone in the
faoc OF the Light that he had Let
everyone, then, be assured that how
cvcr hard It may be for him to obey the
( cDlnruand Of God, in the long run that
s the path Of true happiness in this
world as well as in the world to come.