Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-07-14


work into Judgment. with every secret
thing. whether 1t be good, or whether II
be evil-Eccl. 1874.
REFERENCE MATERIAL-Gen. 1s:1-
%; Exod. 14:2i-3l; Ezek. 31:1-l4; Acts II:
D-2
PRIMARY ToPIc-Daniel Tells the
King of His Wrong Doing
JUNIOR TOPIC-Belshazzar's Feast
and Fate.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Judgment Against King Alcohol
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
How to Enforce the Judgment Against
Strong Drink.
|. BeIshazzar's Impious Feast wv.
LAY.
/. Who attended (vv. 1, p. Bel
shazzar, his wife and concubines and
thousand of his lords
2. Behavior thereat (vv. 3, A..
"a They drank wine; they engaged
in revelry. (2) They committed sac
rllege. In their drunken revelry they
drank wine out of the sacred vessels
which had been taken out of the.
temple, of the house of God. which
was at Jerusalem. When men are un-
der the influence of intoxicating
liquors they lose all regard for sacred
things. (3) They worshiped idols.
They prayed to gods Of gold and of sill
yer, of brass, of iron. wood and stone.
II. The Handwriting on the Wall
(vv. 5-16).
/. The time of ". 81. 1t occurred
in the same hour In which they were
engaged in their drunken revelry. [
q The effect upon the king ". 81.
He was greatly disturbed; he was
seized with CONSERVATION. THE joints
of his loins were loosed, AMI his knees
smote one against another"
g. The kings behavior (vv. 7-16).
u) He called forth astrologers and
soothsayers, offering rewards of gold
and position ". 7-9). Their utter in
ability to interpret the writing left
the king even worse pefplexed-
(2) Daniel brought at the suggestion
Of the queen wv. 10-16). The queen
here was perhaps the wife of Nebu-
chadnezzar who remembered Daniels
service in interpreting his dream. For
that reason he was sent for and prom
ised great reward.
III. Daniel Interprets the Writing
wv. 1929.
1. Daniels address to the king (vv.
17-24). He brushes aside his prons-
ised gifts ". 1T. He would not have
his speech limited by the kings gifts.
2 The Interpretation of the writing
| wv. 25-2S). "a "Mene" means num-
bered" ". 28). "God hath numbered
thy kingdom and finished IT." t2) .'Te-
kel" means weighed" ". 2D. Thou
art weighed in the balances, and art
found wanting" (3) "Peres' means
divided" ". 2S). "Thy kingdom is
divided. and given to the Medes and
Persians."
~. The Judgment Executed (vv.
29-31).
In that night was Belshazzar slain
and Darius the Medean took the king
dom.
The Chaldean dynasty ended with
Belshazzar. So we may interpret this
whole scene as pointing to the con-
ditions at the close of the times OF
the Gentiles and as adumbrating the
prevailing conditions. Let us note:
/. The stupidity of men. They, like
people today. would not learn by ex-
ample. Nebuchadnezzar's fate should
have deferred Belshazzar from such
frivolity.
| 2. The magnificent splendor. This
great feast was characterized by
pomp. display, parade. How charac-
terIstic of this age!
8. Luxury. The famous hanging
gardens of Babylon were a notewor-
thy example. Signs of luxury today
are on every hand.
4. Licentiousness The king with his
wives and concubines. This is noto-
riously prevalent today.
5. Blasphemous sacrnege. And may
not the sacrilege of today be in ex-
cess of theirs, exposing itself in (1)
a profession of religion for pecuniary
gain, social and political preferment;
| (2) use of the pulpit and of the min
istry for display and notoriety. even
for the propagation Of false doctrine
| 90 uniting with the church, attend
ing the communion, so as to cover up
secret sins: (4) the use Of the Word
Of God to give point TO a joke; (5) de-
nying that the Bible Is Gods Word,
making 1t book Of errors, myths and
legends: (6) sneering at the Virgin
birth, repudiating Christ's deity and
setting aside His vicarious atonement.
8. Drunken carousals. The hand
writing Is on the wall God will NOT
endure this forever; His Judgment
shall fall. Conditions In the world
Indicate that the time Is drawing
nesr Ara vou raadv7