The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-11-10
BELSHAZzAR'S
FEAST FATE
Sunday School Lesson for Nov. Il, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper
LESSON ~TExT-Daniel 5.

LESSON TEXT-Daniel s.
MEMORY VERSES. IS.
GOLDEN TEXT-"God shall bring ev-
cry work into Judgment, with every Be-
cret thing. whether ii be good or whether
1t be evil"-Eccl. 1874.
TIME-The event described belongs to
the last years of the exile. b. c. $50.
when Babylon YVES taken by Cyrus and
his generals.
The decree of return. and the first re-
turn. occurred a year or two later.
PLACE-Babylon the capital. enlarged.
oeautiied and fortified by Nebuchadnez-
zar.
Under the great Nebuchadnezzar
Babylon rose In grandeur. power n
extent. till 1t became the most mag
nificent and beautiful city Of anti
Qulty. In those days Babylon was the
metropolis of the world, the center OF
commerce, art and wisdom. The
wealth Of the world poured into Its
Golfers Babylon was the strongest
fortress in all the world. Belshazzar
was the acting king of Babylon at the
time of this lesson, while his father
Nabonidus was the nominal and legal
king who lived and warred outside or
the city.
Cyrus had been advancing toward
Babylon. He gained a decisive victory
over Nabonidus. on his way to the
capital, and his army entered the city
without fighting, and peace was pro-
claimed. A portion of the city. prob
ably the citadel including the royal
palace. held out for some time. being
occupied by the army of Belshazzar
as a rallying place. Two OIL three
weeks later Cyrus made his triumphal
entry into the city. Seven days later.
the general of Cyrus stormed that
part of Babylon which had held out
against his army, and on that night
Belshazzar was slain. 1t vas during
this week that Belshazzer made a
magnificent banquet to encourage his
generals and princes In their struggle
with the Medo-Persian foe.
At his feast. therefore, Belshazzar
sought to remind his warriors of the
old campaigns their forefathers had
fought. He had in his possession the
treasures which these forefathers had
carried from Jerusalem when they
conquered Israel and, as it seemed to
them, Israel's Jehovah. His conduct
thus was not merely that of a drunk
en- ~debauchee. but partly of a cool
politician, when amid the applause OF
a thousand courtiers and army com
manders he ordered the sacred yes
sells of the Temple of Jerusalem to be
brought into the hall of feasting. Such
a scene would fill The hearts of the
wine-inf1amed warriors and mobiles to
0VorAoyrSny witch la~t, nrI olcn
bring a worthy occasion for the di-
vine Interference to encourage his
people on the eve of their deliver
ance.
In the midst of the %carousal, the
king saw the fingers of a mans hand
writing strange words, letters of fate
and characters of fear" on the wall
in the full blaze of the candlestick,
perhaps the great golden candlestick
taken from the temple. There is
something blood-curdling In the visi-
bility of but a part Of the hand and
its busy writing. No wonder If the
riotous mirth was frozen into awe,
and the wine lost flavor.
Belshazzar, in his terror n horror,
summoned his wise men to declare
"AAuS tAO NAoho ANASh ia eho
blazing letters meant, and promised
great rewards to the one who should
interpret them; but all failed. Either
they could not make sense of the let
tiers, or could not perceive what mean
ing they had. Even If they had under
stood, 1t is not likely that one of them
would dare to speak 1t out before the
king.
Then the queen mother, mother of
B%elshazzar, came in n spoke of
Daniel as one who had shown great
gifts at Interpretation to his GRANDPA
Their NebuchadneZZar. 1t took place
before this boy king was born, and he,
naturally, knew nothing about the
story. Daniel was sent for, and came
into the festival hall. He heard the
kings offer, and spurning it, spoke
brave and true words which might
easily cost him his life. He told the
story of Nebuchadnezzar's fall from
the height of pride, and accused him
of ~dishonoring the true God. Then he
interpreted h message written on
the palace walls: Thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting"
The want of religious restraints and
motives, exposes one undefended to
the powers of temptation. Belshazzar
would enrich the splendor of his feast
by the sacred goblets and dishes OF
gold that Nebuchadnezzar had taken
from the temple at Jerusalem. They
were brought, and made to be instru-
ments for drunken revelry and lust,
and worship OF idols. thus declaring
that the idols had given them the vic
tory over the God Of the Jews. He
little realized the power of the God
whom he was defying. nor the reason
why he had permitted the Jews to be
disciplined by exile. and the victory Of
Cyrus over Babylon was one Of the
means by which the exiles should be
able to return home, and carry those
very golden vessels back to Jerusa-
lem. The church In the wilderness
was like the burning bush that Moses
saw; and like the three heroic men In
Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace, I'M
consumed because God was with
them. The true religion, the princi-
- - pA--I-- - -