The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1899-07-19
HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
International surasy school Lesson
Tor Jelly ~, isOo = Test, Ds.ieI
Unsatisfactory verses. 2t-2s.

| OObDEN TENI.-ood 10 the judge
Psa. 1871.
READ Chapters 4 sndk
LIGHT FROM OTHER sCRIPTUREs.-
The Judgment-Matt rs: Mark is.s2-1;
Eccl ii:s; i2li; Rom. 71-I0 Reverence va
Profaneness.-Matt. i2:1i. -: the Third
| Commandment. Capture OF Babylon. lisa
i5:i-22; 2ii-s. t5a-t
TiME.-Sss n. c. uHommei makes u $500
The year that Babylon was taken by Cy-
rus; ~ or 20 years after our last lesson.
PLACE.-Probably In Babylon, on the
Euphrates. The book Of Daniel does MOI,
say where, and an inscription on q tablet
speaks Of him 80 being IN Accad.
THE JEWELL was near the close OF the
twenty years captivity. and just before the
return permitted by Cyrus
| RULERS Ma bonidus, the king OF Baby.
lonia. BelshsEEar. his eldest son. cyrus
Emperor Of the Persians and the Manda OF
Nomsds and the Modes. and Afterwards
| OF Babylon.
EXPLANATORY.
interchangeable new Dabylonian
empire was short lived. beginning with
Nabu-pal-uzur, the father Of Nebuchad.
nezzar (B. {. 500. II rose In grandeur.
power and extent OF dominion till Baby.
Ion was taken by Cyrus (B. {. $500. Al
the time OF this lesson Nabouidus was
the king. We have learned lately from
the stone tablets that he had n son,
Belshazzar, OF whom nothing was
known before. lie was the crown
prince, and may well have been acting
as king during his fathers absence
from the city at this time. though he
Is not called king on the tablets. Neither
do they say that he was the son (often
equivalent TO grandson In Hebrew) OF
Nebuchadnezzar (s:ID; but there l,
nothing opposed TO the view that Ma.
bonidus, of another dynasty. married
the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and
thus Belshazzar would be his grand.
son. Delshazzar was but a youth OF Il
or 10 years, rash, wild and giddy with
his uncontrolled power. Secure In his
defenses, he made a great feast 20
thousand OF the mobiles. lie thought
how he could enrich the splendor of
his feast by the sacred goblets and
dishes OF gold that Ncbuc hadnczzar had
taken from the temple ut Jerusalem.
The wickedness of this act consisted
O) In profaning these sacred utensils
to base uses. (2) Increasing the insult
| by doing II at a feast 60 an idol. thus
implying that the idol was superior &c
the living God. (s) In doing II at an
immoral and drunken revel, thus insult.
ing the moral law of God.
Daniel Interpreting the Handwriting.
VS.. i7-2s. V. II. Let thy gifts be TO
thyself:" AS q prophet of God he can.
not speak for money or any reward. ".
IS. The most high God gave Nebuchad-
nezzar;" The true God Is shown 20 be
over all and above all. II was not Bel
or Merodaeh, that controlled the fairs
OF the world. Then Daniel repeats the
story told in chap. Z. V. %. And thou
hast not BUNDLED thine heart,
though" ETC.: You have not sinned
through ignorance. but have gone on In
n wicked course in spite OF. in defiance
of, Gods lessons of warning. v. %.
But hast lifted up thyself:" Exalted
myself MS u thou couldst defy and dis
obey with impunity ''the Lord of heav-
en-" the God above all. over all. as heav-
en- envelopes the earth-the God-of all
that greatness and purity and goodness
and power which Heaven symbolizes.
Vessels of His house," From the tenn
pie of Bel. where they had been treas
ured up since the conqueror had carried
them from Jerusalem. Drunk wine In
them" Drinking wine from the yes
sells taken out of Jehovah's temple In
Jerusalem was intended as an insult to
his majesty. v. "a. ''Then was the part
of the hand sent:" As a warning mes
sage. V. 20. "Mene; God hath num-
bered thy klngdom:" Counted out the
term allotted TO II, which has now
reached its limit.-Prof. Green. And
finished IT." The days of its existence
are counted out In full. "Mene" Is re-
peated for the sake of emphasis. va
"Tekel:" which means weighed (hence
a shekel. which was originally certain
weight. resembles word which signi- |
fed light" light OF weight, like coun- |
terfelt coin. God had tested him. and
he had failed. V. %. "Peres" is the
singular, while upharsin is the plural
OF the same word with 'u," equals
"and." prehxed. II is given in v. rs in |
the plural, for emphasis, just as meme"
Is doubled. II means divided, but has |
the same consonnnts as Persians, and |
suggests them. Thy kingdom is divid-
eds" Not divided into two parts. but
broken into pieces. destroyed.
II. Daniel Rewarded. - V. 20.
Clothed Daniel with scarlet" The roy
al purple. Third ruler OF the king
DOM" Either, one of three; or, more
probably, next under Belshazzar. who
was the second, being his fnther, Nab
onidus, the king over all.
III.-The Destruction of Babylon
VS.. 30, 81. "In that night was Belshaz-
zar slain:" According to
Babylon itself was be-
sleged by Cyrus for months, and was
taken only by statagem. The Persian
invader drained of the waters of the
river. and his army. under the shelter
Of night. crept into the city through the
empty channel" V. 81. "And Darius
the Median took the kingdom" No
such person Is known in history, as a lit
lie while ago neither Sargon nor the
Hittites were known. II has generally
been held by conservative writers that
be reigned under Cyrus for time.
PRACTICAL.
Drunkenness, revelry, and excess