IN the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. Now in the reign of the good King Hezekiah, another king, the King of Assyria, led a very great army into the land of Judah; and he threatened to destroy Jerusalem. Then “Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven." And the Lord in answer to their prayers sent an angel, which slew in one night, one hundred and eighty-five thousand men of the king of Assyria's army, “Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem from the hand of the King of Assyria. But Jehoiakim was a wicked king, and his people were very wicked; and we are told that it was the Lord who raised up the Chaldeans, "that bitter and hasty nation," that by them he might punish the king and people for their sins. And so these” terrible and dreadful men, who “had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age;” (2 Chron. 36:1717Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. (2 Chronicles 36:17)), came up against Jerusalem; having horses “swifter than the leopards," and “more fierce than the evening wolves."
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim into the hand of the King of Babylon; and the Lord even suffered this heathen king to take away some of the vessels of the house of God, and to carry them back with him to Babylon. And he also took some of the little boys of Judah away from their homes, their friends, yea, from all they loved upon earth: and forced them to go to Babylon.
Oh, how sad a sight it must have been, when fond parents wished their little boys good-bye, without knowing whether they would ever see them again in this world. Yet these little boys had to leave their weeping parents—the beloved city—and the temple of the Lord; and go into a strange country; and all because of the wickedness of the king and the people of Judah. Oh, what a dreadful thing sin is. “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about." Psa. 32:1010Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. (Psalm 32:10).
I dare say the eyes of these boys were dimmed with tears as they started, but on they had to go, day after day, until they were brought to a strange, but a very grand city.
It was the city of Babylon, with lofty walls, great gates, and many very beautiful buildings. And as these children entered the city, they doubtless saw many grand sights; but one thing was not to be seen in Babylon—there was no temple of the Lord there—for the Babylonians worshipped idols. These little boys were now strangers in a strange land, and far away from home and friends, so that we cannot wonder, if, " By the rivers of Babylon " they " sat down," and " wept " as they remembered Zion: nor, if their hearts were too full of sorrow to " sing the Lord's song in a strange land."
But I am very pleased to tell you that four of these little boys knew that if their parents were far away, the Lord was near them, even in Babylon. And the Lord sent these four little boys to Babylon for their own good (Read Jer. 24). And it appears that these children were not long in Babylon, before, by command of the king, the best looking and the cleverest of them all were picked out from among the rest, that they might be taught the learning and the wisdom of the Chaldeans. And the four little boys I have spoken of, were among those who were selected for this purpose. I will tell you the names of these four, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But now their names were altered to Belteshazzar Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Now the king gave orders that all of the chosen children were to be fed with food sent from his own table. Of course, whatever came from the king's table would be sure to taste very nice, but the four boys, whose names I have given, felt that they would sooner not eat all these nice things. Why? Because they were afraid of defiling themselves, by eating the flesh of some unclean animal, such as the pig, and the hare; or they might have to eat or drink something that had been offered to idols.
They feared the Lord, and rather than transgress the law of the Lord, they earnestly requested that they might be allowed to eat pulse (that is, peas, beans, &c.), and drink waters instead of eating and drinking what the king had sent them.
The Word of God says, “In all thy way; acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." These young captives acknowledged the Lord in all their ways, and He directed their paths. God brought Daniel “into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs," so this great man was not offended when Daniel made this request to him. But he told Daniel that he was afraid of offending the king. Then Daniel asked Melzar to let him and his young friends eat pulse, and drink water for ten days. And at the end of ten days they looked fairer and fatter in flesh than all the rest. So that Melzar allowed them to eat the pulse, and drink water, as they had requested him. Thus these young captives honored the Lord in a strange land. I hope that my dear readers honour the Lord in their own homes.
“Them that honour me, I will honour." At the end of three years, all the children who had been selected for the purpose, were brought in to be examined before the king. This was done in order that the king might pick out the wisest of all these clever children, and retain them as his own ministers of state. And these four children, who served the Lord, were found to be wiser than all the rest. Therefore the king chose them, and he soon found them to be ten times better than the wisest men he could find. For the Lord gave these four " Knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams."
After this, it came to, pass that the king dreamed a dream, so strange, and so wonderful, that he could not sleep for thinking about it. Yet he had forgotten what the dream was.
So he called in all his wise men, and asked them to tell him his dream. The Lord taketh the wise in their own craftiness. These crafty men could have easily made up something to tell the king, if they had known what his dream was; but they were obliged to own that they could not find out what the king had dreamt. This made the king so very angry that he ordered that all of his wise men should be slain. Then Daniel went in boldly, and promised the angry king that, if he would but grant him time, he would tell the king his dream. Then Daniel went to his house and told his young companions; and they all prayed to God to show this secret to Daniel. And God answered their prayers, by revealing the secret to Daniel in a night vision.
Now mark. The very first thing Daniel did then was to bless "the God of heaven." His second act was to prevent Arioch from killing the wise men of Babylon; and then, last of all, he went in before the king. And he told the king both the dream, and its interpretation. And the king was so pleased with Daniel for this, that he made Daniel a " great man, and gave him many great gifts " &c. and the king said that Daniel's God must be " a God of gods, and a Lord of kings," &c.; for Daniel explained to the king, that it was his God that had made known to him the secret. Daniel remembered his companions who had so kindly helped him by their prayers, and he spake of them to the king, so that the king promoted them as well as Daniel.
I would so like, if I had space, to go on to relate how Daniel's three friends were cast into the burning fiery furnace, because they refused to bow down and to worship an idol. But God would not allow the fire to burn them, and they came out of the fire unhurt (Dan. 3). Daniel, also, was cast into the lions' den, because he would not leave off praying to the Lord. And he, too, came out unhurt (Dan. 6).