Crawford avalanche., 1899-07-27
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
THOUGHTS WORTHY or CALM
REFLEcTioN. fr,

Pleasant, Interesting, and Instruct
Ave Lesson, and Where II May Be
Found-A Learned and Concise Rs-
view Of the Same. gfSlr ~
The lesson for July 80 Is Dan. @: 1923.
It's subject is Daniel in the Den Of
Lions" According TO the writer, In the
first part OF the sixth chapter. Daniel was
mt once reinstated by the new ruler In all
his former power, becoming one of the
three presidents, or governors general
OF the empire, which was large enough to
require 10 satraps or provincial govern
ors. or course the jealousy of his Per
sian and Median colleagues and subordi-
mates would be extreme, and they lost no
time In devising plan for revenge. This
was truly oriental in its simplicity and
cunning; 1t resembles many tricks that
one reads of in the arabian Nights" and
other eastern tales. They simply induced
the king to decree that nobody should do
a certain thing which they knew Daniel
would do-namely, to pray to another
sovereign than Darius. In the phrase.
"the law of the Medes and Persians,
which altereth not" we find an express
sion which has become proverbial; the
sovereign himself having no power to re-
woke his own DEGREES. iff5 - =.
Daniel was an old man, eighty or more.
He had seen many vicissitudes in his long
career, and had been sometimes up, some
times down, but he had never dishonored
his God or hidden his convictions in times
OF danger for the sake of safety or COM
fort. Itswas too late now to begin cow
ardly course. A man who has lived right
all his life is not going to fall at the end.
That is one encouragement for the tempt
ed and the weak. Good habits are az
strong in their way as bad habits.
Explanatory.
"His windows being opened toward
Jerusalem: this may have been a special
custom Of Daniel, or it may have been
general among the devout Jews In Baby
lon. 1t Is a familiar fact that the Mo-
hammedan, wherever he may be, faces
and evening prayers. Daniel had no trou-
be Y finding soYstAing fgr which e
pie find it task t2 do SO once q week: Z
The malice Of Daniels enemies found
its opportunity IN his holisst acts. Il has
been so always. The martyrs were Defs&
cuted for the best that was In them.
Christians to-day are pot persecpted for
their weaknesses. They may be criti-
cised for their weakpesses, but the real
dislike, enfnity, opposition that they have
to encounter is on account of those things
in which they try most to be like Christ
--and therefore unconventional.
''The king was sore displeased": no
wonder. A king who finds himself the
slave Of his own laws and the dupe of his
own subjects has good reason to be dis
pleased. Suns 1aettb
The reminder of the enemies of Dam
lei, that the laws Of the Medes and Per-
slams do not change, is bitter mockery to
Darius. How he would have liked to
sweep the cruel advisers from the face Of
the earth-not so much because they hat
ed Daniel as because they were deliber-
ately thwarting his own wishes.
'"The king sealed 1t with his own sig
net, and with the signet of his lords:
this was the usual thing Hundreds Of
Assyrian and Babylonian seals and inn
pressions of seals have been found in the
excavations Of the past half century.
These seals were usually cut in relief on
some hard semi-precious stone, and con-
tanned the name and titles Of the owner
and often some religious symbol or image.
They were used as signatures; for it will
be seen at once that in q method Of writ
ing which consists simply in impressing
combinations of wedge-shaped marks on
clay with a tool king or official could
not depend on any individuality in his
way of writing for insuring the genuine
ness of his signature. So seals were used
instead, not only in Assyrian and Baby
lonian times, but all over the civilized
world.
Neither were instruments Of music
brought before him.: which was the
usual way of providing an evenings en-
tertainment after a banquet.
This den of lions may have been kept
for the purpose of providing cruel pun
ishment for heinous crimes. 1t may, how
ever, have been simply part Of the
kings geological collection; for these
monarchs were very fopd of wild animals.
They frequently went on great hunting
expeditions, and the stories they tell in
their inscriptions as to the number of
lions and tigers killed rival the tales of
the modern fisherman.
The den was probably an underground
pit or dungeon, with low entrance; and
the interior was dark, so that the king
could not see him as he came In the
morning. His anxiety is represented as
somewhat unusual for an oriental mon
arch, to whom life more or less did not
amount to much. Daniels close relation
to him, and perhaps his value as a gov
ernor, added to the motive for anxiety.
Some people fond OF speculating on sub
jects which they knew little about have
surmised that Daniels remarkable ex-
ploits during his career were at least in
part due to his power as a hypnotist and
clairvoyant. They explain thus his read
Ing and interpreting the dreams, and also
his preservation from destruction among
the lions. But there is no reason for hes
itation to believe that God who was the
guide, the friend and the helper Of Dam
lei, and the omnipotent ruler of the uni
verse, could not do ''some little thing" to
preserve the man who so bravely had ac-
knowledged his love for the Lord God Of
Israel. +
No wonder the king was exceeding
glad"-his friend had been miraculously
preserved; his immutable laws had re-
mained unchanged yet their penalties had
proved uninjurious He had his friend:
he had lost no respect among his people.