Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-07-22
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL !.
LESSON ~, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, July %

81 l7-3i-Goiden Text, God Is the y adge,
~. IS: J. tRead Chapters aud 5.
commit Verses 90 es9
The time OF our lesson is generally
conceded TO be 53S Il. e.
The place was probably In Babylon,
on the Euphrates. The Book OF Dam
let does hot say where, and an inscrip-
tion on tablet speaks OF him as ne
ing in Accad. 1t was near the close OF
the seventy years captivity, and just
before the return permitted by Cyrus.
u the midst of the revei and riotous
conduct the hand writing appeared on
ihe wall
FaIar says Belshazzar was "horri-
fed; the flush Of youth and OF wine
faded from dis cheek; with a terrible
cry he ordered that the whole familiar
tribe of astrologers aud soothsayers
should be summoned But none of
them were able to gain the reward of
being clothed with scarlet, having a
chain OF gold about his neck, or lul-
inc the third in the Kingdom: their
failure caused the king to be greatly
troubled. but the queen told him OF
Daniel and his great power of inter-
probation, SO Daniel was sent for, and
the same gifts offered to him that had
been offered TO the others.
Ii. Then Daniel answered and
said lsefore the king. Let thy gifts be
to myself. and give thy rewards to
another; yet | will read the writing
unto the king, and make known to
him the interpretation.
Daniel stood there as the servant
OF God: he was to tell the truth as
Gods prophet, and not for the hope OF
reward from the king.
Is. 70 thou king. the most high
God gave ACKNOWLEDGMENT thy father
a Kingdom, aud majesty, aud glory,
and honor"
Daniel starts by telling Belshazzar
a truth which he no doubt did not
relish: his father did not receive the
kingdom by any one or through any
other influence but the most high God
3eishazzar had had great object
lesson tverses 10. 70 and III ami
should have profited by it: his actions
We're not caused by ignorance; he
knew that what 4 man sowS that shall
he also reap and Went sowing 10 the
wind, which meant future reaping Of
the whiriwind
BelShazzar not only refused To
humble himself, bur lifted himself M
against the Lord ..The vessels of his
house We're from the temple of Bel
where they had been treasured M
from the time the conqueror had ear.
ried them from .lerusalem. Stanley
says .'Ihe thirty chargers and thirty
vases of gold which had been made
for the temple of Solomon, had con
tinued there until the captivity OF
Iehoiachim. and the thousand chargers
and the four hundred basins Of silver
by which Zedeliah had supplied their
place. and which were carried away in
the final deportation" These vessels
they used for wine. and so added in
suit to injury to the One who held
their breath in His hand. and who had
In His power all their ways--all they
had and the course of their lives.
&c "1his is the Interpretation OF
the thing: MEME: God hath number
ed thy kingdom. and finished it,
Counted ont the term allotted to It,
which had now reached its limit"
prof. Green.
'.TEKEL: Thou art weighed In the
balances and art found wanting"
"'Tel1el means weighed, and signified
light; light of weight, like counter
felt coin" Relshazzar's private life
and public actions fell far short OF the
standard to which he should have
measured UP,
If we would not be found wanting
we must be obcdent to the will and
law of the Lord. 'The law of the
Lord is perfect, converting the soul"
%. "PERES: Thy kingdom is divid-
ed. and given to the Modes and Per-
SLAMS"
"Peres is the singular. while "uphar-
sim is the plural of the same word
with 'u;'-'and' prcfixed" IT Is given
in verse % in the plural for emphasis,
just as meme is doubled 1t means
divided, but has the same consonants
as Persians, and suggests them
%. "Then commanded Belshazzar,
and they clothed Daniel with scarlet,
and put chain of gold about his neck,
and made proclamation concerning
him, that he should he the third ruler
in the Kingdom"
Belshazzar kept his promise, and
gave Daniel the reward he had offered
TO the one who could interpret the
hand writing on the wall The scarlet
was the royal purple "1he third ruiz
err is said by most bible students 10
mean the third in power--the next to
BelshaZzar. who was second to his
father. the father being over all: others
thin,s rhat Daniel became ON, of three
rulers. He being the third one.
80. 'in that night was Belshazzir
the king of the Chaldeans slain.
Herodotus says Babylon itself was
besieged by Cyrus for months, and
was taken only by stratagem. The
Persian invader drained off the waters
of the river. and his army. under the
shelter of night. crept into the city
through the empty channel" This APP
pears TO be the correct view. as the
tablets show that Gohoryas. the gen
eral of Cyrus, entered the city without
or interfering with the bust
ness of the place.
81. "And Darius the Median took
the kingdom. being about three-score
and two years old"
Peloubet says mo such person is
known in history. as a little while ago
neither Sargon nor the Hiltites were
n n