Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1926-05-06
Great Percentages
Of the Bible
By
REV. LEONARD A. BARRETT


: ern kings. Though a pagan ruler, be
!, had strong personality, a coura-
& geOus character. ard q mind open to
r conviction.
I Even before he assembled TO the
] throne Of Babylon. be won many vic
| tories For, eighteen months his
} strong army besieged the city of Jeru-
} salem and finally won the victory.
For thirteen years he waged war
against Tyre. winning a glorious VIC
tory in the combat. His fame was.
rapidly spreading. The people every
where began to know about this young
ruler.
A stfll greater success awaited him
He was soon to fall heir TO the throne
OF the mightiest empire 10 the world
From his father he Inherited a vast
estate and was soon 10 succeed him
on the throne. In magnifcence and
splendor he reIgned in the great city
OF Babylon. he truly was monarch OF
all he surveyed. for "All people, ma
lions and languages trembIed ana
feared before him; whom he would.
he slew; and whom he would he kept
alive; and whom he would he set up;
and whom he would he put down" He
led the entire nation In captivity to
Babylon.
His ambitious attacks were not
even spared against the houses Of
God. Into Babylon he brought all the
holy vessels Of the temple and put
them In the heather temples. which
was In the land of Shinar.
The beautiful city OF Babylon was
probably entirely built up by Nebu-
chadnezzar. He planned the laying
out of the parks and magnificent gar
dens which contributed to the fame
Of the city. He was surrounded by
great wealth. pomp and power. His
heart was big with pride. His boast
was: rs not this great Babylon
which have buIldedi" His dreams
were dreams of vivid imagination,
Influenced by the magnificence Of his
environment. The second year OF his
reign was especially marked as
year of dreams. His soul was great
ly troubled and he could not sleep
He commanded the presence of the
astrologers and wise men and exacted
Of them that In their failure to inter
pref the dreams they should be cut to
pieces and their houses be made
dunghill. The rebuke of the wise men
so angered Nebgchadnezzar that he
declared that all the wise men OF
Babylon should be slain. But. like In
all great crises OF the worlds history.
when hope seems to be on the verge
of despair some person comes upon
the scene to guide the people over
the difficulty. This person was Dan
lei, who interpreted the dream OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as follows:
"Forasmuch as thou sawest that
the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands. and that II brake in
pieces the iron. the brass. the clay.
the silver, and the gold; the great
God hath made known TO the king
what shall come to pass hereafter;
and the dream is certain, and the In
depreciation thereof sure 4"
The pride Of observation-disclosures, even
IN spite Of his dream. was not sub
1ued, for we find him now setting up
4 golden image for people TO worship.
This idolatrous image he set up in
he. province Of Babylon. He called
before him the priests, the governors.
Ind the captains and all who held
my Office IN the administrative affairs
Il the government. The people we're
In the midst Of the throng
s heard the cry Of the herald sent by
20 people, nations
nd languages at the time you hear
he sound Of the cornet, flute and
arp, fall down and worship the gold
n image which ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS hath
ct up" There was a penalty attached
or the disobedience to the COM
land. Should any one dare to disobey
hey would be cast Into the midst OF
he burning fiery furnace. Many
beyed the proud kings behest but
hadrack. Meshach, and Abednego.
-ould not worship the image Of gold.
hey we're ordered brought before the
ing. In the kings presence they de-
Jared their loyalty to Jehovah. The
ecree was pronounced and they we're
ast into the burning fiery furnace.
hat is this we see-"Did we not
lst three men bound into the midst
the fire-Lo, see four men Ioosed.
ley have no hurt, and the form Of
le fourth Is like unto the Son OF
an" The king called to the three
en- he condemned. and in response
bis demand they came out OF the
rnace and not even the odor Of
e had passed over them
One Of the great faults Of Nebu-
adnexxar was his pride He thought
q kingdom was greater than the
ng OF the Jews. His proud Baby
q outshone In spIendOr and magnin-
nee all the other nations Of the
Town world rs this not proud
lbylon which 1 have bulldedI" But.
e day came at last when Nebuchad-
ixxar was brought TO realize the
wer Of the God Of the Jews. and
e crownlng event which wrought
: change was the incident OF the
lden image. Nebuchadnexxar at
q x~pme Rr.rsAos4 - realise that ssrTster.oo