The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-11-09

cry WOTk INTO Judgment, WITH every Sc
cret thing, whether it be good or whether
1t be vil."-Eccl. 1914.
TIME-The event described belongs to
the last years of the exile, b. c. 500.
when Babylon was 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,
beautified and fortified by Nebuchadpez.
Ear.
Under the great Nebuchadnezzar
Babylon rose in grandeur, power and
extent, till it became the most mag
nificent and beautiful city Of anti.
guilty. 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 OF
the city.
Cyrus had been advancing toward
Babylon. He gained 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 or 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 was 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 1t seemed to
them, Israels Jehovah. His conduct
thus was not merely that of a drunk
en- debauchee, but partly Of a cool
politician, when amid the applause of
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
scene would fill the hearts of the
wine-inflamed warriors and mobiles to
overlooking with daring. and also
bring a worthy occasion for the d.
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 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.
Belshazzar, in his terror and horror,
summoned his wise men to declare
what the strange apparition and the
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.
Then the queen mother, mother OF
Belshazzar, came In and spoke OF
Daniel as one who had shown great
gifts at Interpretation to his grandfAr
Their NebuchadnezZar. It 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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS fall from
the height of pride, and accused him
of dishonoring the true God. Then he
interpreted the 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.
The social power Of the wine cup,
its connection with feasting, comrade-
ship, hospitality. good cheer, is one OF
its most dangerous attractions. And
one of the chief defences against its
power lies in showing that good cheer,
fellowship. sociability, eating together,
may be enjoyed in the highest degree
where men "eat and drink and in
communion sweet quaff immortality
and JOY" without the fascination of
the wine cup.
Belshazzar lost his city and his king
dom. So still by intemperance are
men continually throwing away the
kingdom God has prepared for them,