The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-05-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Daniel and His Comprehension ;s-2i-
Lesson for May e2, 1892.
Specially Arranged from S. s Quartnrlrl

Lesson for May ee, 1899.
Especially Arranged from s. s. QUARTERLY
GOLDEN TEXT-Daniel pnrposed in his heart
that be would not dellle himself with the portion
of the kings meat, nor with the wine which he
drank-Dan. l:S
CENTRAL TRUTH,-The principles of righteous.
ness and temperance are the way 70 usefulness
and success.
TIME-B, c. 6O6-GOa At the first siege Of
Jerusalem by Ncbuchadnezzar, and the three
years that followed
PLACE IN BIBLE HISTORY Kings 9i:l-6;
Chron 36:l-Z
Rs-JohoialSim king of Judah: Nobuch.
adne22ar, OF Babylon.
DANIEL,-At this time about sixteen years
old; born at Jerusalem, OF noble parontage;
carried captive to Babylon, where he lived all
the seventy years captivity a great statesman,
learned scientific man, a true prophet OF the
noblest character lived at least till b. c. 534;
eighty-ive years old.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs-AboutG COS years
b. c., number of captives were carried from
Jerusalem to Babylon. Among them were four
boys who became noted in history-Daniel. and
the three who were cast into the fiery furnace
These four were selected to be trained for the
official service of King Nebuchadnezzar They
were taught in the Chaldean learning, and fed
with the luXuries provided by the king. g.
"Purposed that he would not defile himself
with the kings meat" i. e., food Some of
the flesh was that forbidden to Jews. (See
Lev II; Deut. l2:2325) Often ii was conse-
Grated to idols. 1t was too luxurious for their
best health. 9. "God had brought Daniel into
favour" by direct influence, and by giving
Daniel lovGble, noble character. 10. "Endan-
ger my head" lest his head be cut off for dis
obedience H. "Melzar:" the melzar, or stew
ard; not proper name, He had charge Of their
food. This plan was doubtless by permission
of the prince of the eunuchs "Hananiah" ETC..
see their other names in verse Z. II. Pulse"
vegetable food; grains Pulse originally meant
leguminous seeds, as beans, peas 49, END Of
the days" of the three years training, verse s.
10. "Stood they before the king" as his officers
and advisers. Servants always stood when in
the presence of the monarch. 90 Better than
all the magicians:" the priestly learned class.
"Astrologcrs:" wise men, magi; scientific men.
All used and believed in magic and astrology.
The Chaldeans were at this time the most
learned people in the world. 81. First year Of
King Cyrus" B. G. 534, the end of the seventy
years captivity. Cyrus conquered Babylon
LESSON NOTES.
Among all the boys of Old Testament
times none stand out in stronger relief
than Joseph and Daniel. In many
things they were alike. Both were in
captivity in their early years. Both
had great temptations and endured
much wrong. And yet each of them
stood Loyalty by the truth, and feared
nothing in this world so much as he
feared sin. Joseph lost his place in
Potiphar's house rather than commit
sin, and Daniel risked his life rather
than do wrong thing.
Daniel declines deflement The
wrong in eating of the kings meat con-
sisted in the recognition of idolatry
which this involved. Now there were
many spccious arguments that might
have been adduced to make Daniel
yield to the custom of the times. We
will suggest three of them:
l. when you are in Rome, do as the
Romans do" This specific proverb had
not been coined in Daniels day. but no
doubt the idea was already in existence.
He might have said: "NVell, customs
differ in different countries, and what
was possible in Judah is not possible in
Babylon. 1t is hard to get our usual
food here, and we may as well yield to
the pressure under which we are placed.
2. God has forgotten and forsaken
us. Here we are in bondage Since
God has thus abandoned us, we need
not be particularly careful about His
laws" How easily the natural man ac-
cepts such an argument!
8. eff we refuse we shall be killed"
There was good reason to fear this.
"And is it not ones duty to save ones
life? Can truth be more valuable than
life itself?" This, too, was a plausible
argument. but Daniel was one of those
heroes who counted not their lives dear
unto themselves, but who counted truth
and godliness as far above anything
that was merely temporal.
Daniel is delivered from danger. He
risked all and lost nothing The test
was successful, and in the end he and
his companions were really better off in
body than they would have been had he
yielded. God does not always reward
men 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 more fire.
quently than we realize, temporal bless
ings are the reward of heroic obedience,
as well as the eternal benediction. The
trimmer and time-servcr very often
overreaches himself, and comes to grief,
while the upright man goes ahead un-
der full sail. AS rule, godly men
do prosper, and do live longer, and
are truly happier in this world than
the ungodly. Were it possible to divide
any ten thousand men in New York
into two divisions, according to their
true goodness, believe that in the di-
vision of those who obeyed God there
would be found great many more of
those who were prosperous than in the
other division. The tramps in the city
are miserable because they have not
obeyed what they knew of the right
Our prisons are not filled with cody
men, but with the ungodly. And if, as
is the case, now and then you find a
church member behind the bars, it is
not because he has been a God-fearing
man, but because he has gone in the
face of the light that he had. Let
everyone. then, be assured that how
ever hard it may be for him to obey the
command of God, in the long run that
is the path of true happiness in this
world as well as in the world to come.
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