The field of sacred history now changes from the hills of Judea to the plains of Mesopotamia; from Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, to Babylon, the capital of the greatest kingdom the world had ever known, and one of the largest and most splendid that has existed in any age. It was sixty miles in circuit, surrounded by walls three hundred feet high, situated on both sides of the river Euphrates, and was embellished with the wealth and trophies that the great Nebuchadnezzar had gathered from many conquered kingdoms. The language and people were Chaldean, a race with which Abraham had been connected before his migration from "Ur of the Chaldees" to Canaan.

      The seventy years' captivity had begun. In the first removal of Jewish captives, made in the fourth year of king Jehoiakim, were many youths of noble or princely stock. Among these was Daniel, the author of the book from which [33] next two lessons are taken, and the chief actor in the lesson before us. Of him little is known, save what we find recorded in the Book of Daniel. His name is twice, mentioned by Ezekiel, a contemporary and fellow exile, possibly carried away captive at the same time as Daniel, who ranks him with Noah and Job in eminence for wisdom. "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord" (Ezek. 14:14). "Behold thou art wiser than Daniel, and there is no secret hid from thee" (Ezek. 28:3). He is named in the first chapter with three other Hebrew youths, subsequently distinguished, and it is evident that all of them belonged to princely stock, if not of the royal family.

      A number of the captured youths of noble lineage, comely in appearance, intelligent and promising, were selected by order of the king, to be brought up in the royal palace, educated in the language and learning of the Chaldeans, and fitted to enter into the royal service. It is still a custom of oriental monarchs to thus train up captives for their service. The celebrated military corps of the Janizaries and the Mamelukes were formed of captured youths. "The Pictorial Bible" says: "There is not a single intimation here which may not be illustrated from the customs of the Turkish seraglio, till the alterations recently made under European influence. The pages of the seraglio, the officers of the court, as well as the greater part of the governors of provinces and public functionaries, were originally Christian boys, taken captive in war, or bought or stolen in time of peace. The finest and most capable of these were sent to the palace, and, if accepted, were placed under the charge of the chief of the white eunuchs. The lads did not themselves become eunuchs, which we notice because it has been erroneously inferred that Daniel and the other Hebrew youths must have been eunuchs, because they were committed to the charge of the chief eunuch. The accepted lads were brought up in the religion of their masters, and there were schools in the palace in which they received such complete instruction in Turkish learning and science as it was the lot of few others to obtain." This custom was quite similar to that of the court of Nebuchadnezzar, another illustration of the stereotyped manners and institutions of the oriental world.

      8. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat. The purpose of Daniel was evidently shared with the other Hebrew youths educated with him; but he, ever bold and decided, was the leader. At this time he could not have been over fifteen or sixteen years old, as (verse 13) they are spoken of as children. When he had formed his decided purpose, instead of a stubborn refusal, he very courteously made a request to be excused from meats and wine. The food furnished was sent from the king's table, might be meats from animals sacrificed to idols, or animals forbidden by the Jewish law, or strangled so as to retain the blood. Any of these features would constitute a defilement and there, was no safe course but to decline to eat the meats. Nor with [34] the wine he drank. The determination to abstain from wine shows that he had taken a high temperance stand. No doubt at the royal court there was much license, and the only safe course was to touch not, taste not, handle not. What a curse would be lifted if every youth would determine to follow the example of Daniel! Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs. He makes his request, not so much urging the religious grounds, as the unhealthfulness of indulgence in wine and luxurious food. This prince of the eunuchs was a great minister of the king. Eunuchs were then, and are now, in constant employment in the East, and often rise to great influence and power. The chief of the eunuchs is yet at the court of the Sultan, which is modeled after that of ancient Persia, an officer of the highest dignity. The same officer is often mentioned in Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian history, and always in terms indicating his dignity. At a later period, when the eastern Roman empire became oriental in its character, often the great ministers and generals were eunuchs. Narses is an example.

      9. Now God had brought Daniel into favor. The chief of the eunuchs had formed a tender attachment for the young Daniel, which is ascribed to the divine influence. God was thus working to protect and nurture him, and prepare him for the work in life that he was to do. Had it not been for this affection, Daniel's refusal to eat the meat from the king's table might have been taken as an affront, and the consequences proved fatal. It was a very delicate and dangerous matter, in those days when kings were absolute and claimed divine honors, to decline anything offered by royal bounty.

      10. I fear my lord the king who hath appointed your meat and drink. The fear of the officer was that if these young Hebrews lived so abstemiously, their emaciation and pale countenances would indicate it. Inquiry would be made, and if he had permitted a change of the food appointed by the king, his own head would be in danger for disobedience to the royal orders. It was placing him in a dangerous position to grant the request. For slighter matters than this caused a man to lose his head in those days. A monarch, in in angry mood, or at any caprice, would order a man to death without a trial. This reply must be looked upon as a kind but not very positive refusal to grant the request, so gentle that Daniel was persuaded that if he secured the favor of Melzar, a subordinate officer, the chief would not interfere.

      11. Then Daniel said to Melzar. It is not certain that this is a proper name; the margin translates it "steward." It is regarded by some of the best critics as [35] signifying the master of the wine, the chief butler of the Babylonian court. Whoever he was, he was inferior to Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, and had the immediate charge of the food of Daniel and his companions.

      12. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days. This request was made in order to put the change of food to the test of experiment. Ten days' trial would be enough to show whether the vegetable and water diet would result in the loss of vigor, elasticity, flesh and freshness. If there were no such signs it would be fair to infer that the temperance regimen was not injurious. Daniel now asks that they be given "pulse" to eat and water to drink. Pulse. The Hebrew word translated "pulse" is rendered by Gensenius, the great Hebrew authority, "seed herbs, germs, vegetables, that is, vegetable food, such as was eaten at a half-fast, opposed to meats and the more delicate kinds of food." The request of Daniel then meant, simply, that they should live on vegetable diet, with water to drink. This would shut off the rich, highly seasoned meats, and what they dreaded more, forbidden food. The meats offered on the royal table were commonly the bodies of animals that had been slain in sacrifice to the idol gods. Water to drink. Here, nearly twenty-five hundred years ago, in the royal palace at Babylon, existed a cold water society, a band of total abstainers, an interesting group of young men who voluntarily confined themselves to vegetable food and water, amid all the temptations of the royal court. It is interesting to note the result. There were others "of their sort," of the same condition and undergoing the same training, who indulged in the rich food and drinks sent from the royal table, and it could thus be tested which course was most salutary for body and mind.

      13. Let our countenance be looked upon before thee. One great object was to promote beauty. Only fair and unblemished youths had been selected, and it was desired to develop handsome men. "In all uncivilized countries stateliness and beauty of the body is held in high estimation, nor do they think him capable of great services or action to whom nature has not given a beautiful form or countenance. It has always been the custom of eastern nations to choose such for their principal officers, or to wait on princes or great personages."--Curtius. Among the Jews the stateliness of Saul was his most kingly quality, the ruddy countenance of David was often praised, and the beauty of Absalom was the admiration of Israel. "From the sole of his feet, even to the crown of his head, there was no blemish upon him" (2 Sam. 14:25). Daniel asks that after the ten days' experiment the cold-water vegetarians be compared with the meat-eaters and winedrinkers.

      14. So he consented to them in this matter. The officer thought there would be little risk in the experiment for that length of time. If the result was unfavorable, [36] he then could change the food, before an effect great enough to provoke inquiry had resulted.

      15. At the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer. At the end of the ten days they were fairer, more beautiful and healthful than before. The experiment had been successful. It is not needful that we should suppose anything miraculous in the results. It is God's order that one of the results of a course of temperance should appear in the countenance, and it is a wise arrangement that it is so. He has arranged that while the other parts of the body are covered the face is exposed. A course of indulgence, intemperance in food, or drink, or debauchery, will show itself in the countenance. The drunkard, the glutton and the debauchee proclaim their own shame. Sir Charles Bell, in the Anatomy of Expression, says that "the bloated face, the haggard aspect, the look of folly, the heaviness of the eye, the disposition to squint, and to see double, and a forcible elevation of the eyebrow to counteract the dropping of the upper lid, and preserve the eyes from closing, are all marks which God has appointed to expose and to betray a life of self-indulgence." On the other hand, a pure life, a clear conscience, and healthful food and drink, declare in the countenance the temperance and purity of conduct. Youths who live on simple food and drink water, and maintain pure, moral conduct, will have brighter, purer, manlier countenances. "God put a mark on Cain." How often is a similar mark, the mark of sin, placed on boys and young men!

      16. Then Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine. This was now done permanently. It was regarded safe to continue a regimen that had produced such satisfactory results. Abstinence had proved better than indulgence. The great temperance experiment had recorded a victory for temperance right in the royal palace. So every time since, when the matter has been put to a test. Recently it was stared of Gen. Wolseley's soldiers on the Upper Nile, that the total abstainers stood the fatigues of the campaign best. The Roman soldier, one of the hardiest the world has ever seen, in the palmy days of the Republic, drank only vinegar and water. The wrestlers in the Olympic games abstained from wine. It has been settled by a thousand experiments that the cold water drinker can do more work, do it better, stand more fatigue, march farther, endure heat or cold better, and be far less liable to disease or to contagion than one who uses intoxicating drinks. Their use is wholly evil, and without apology.

      17. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill. These children, [37] or youths, were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. They were all blessed by God with the minds, the health and the training necessary to growth in knowledge and skill in the learning of the times. To Daniel alone was imparted inspiration. He "had understanding in all visions and dreams." Often God communicated his will to men in a "vision," a scene or picture that passed before the eyes, or in a dream. To Daniel God gave the power to interpret dreams thus sent and opened his eyes to see visions.

      18. Now at the end of the days. At the end of the period of three years assigned for their education, they were brought by the prince of the eunuchs before the king to be examined and thus to ascertain whether they were fitted for his service. There was a kind of civil service examination. Those who passed it were employed; those who failed were rejected or assigned to humbler employments.

      19. And the king communed with them. Personally examined them; asked them questions upon their studies, and especially on those points that touched fitness for the royal service. He found the four young Hebrews, the cold water league, far in advance of all others. They are here named by their Hebrew names.

      20. He found them ten times better than all the magicians. The ancient oriental court was provided with magicians and astrologers who were expected to give advice with more than human wisdom. The Greeks had their oracles, the Romans their augurs, and the Babylonians and Persians their magicians and astrologers. The wisdom of the four Hebrews appeared to the king far above that of the latter class.

      21. Daniel continued unto the first year of King Cyrus. That is, his lifetime spanned the entire period of the Captivity, and he was permitted to see the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, which took in the first year of King Cyrus. Possibly it was his great influence that induced the latter king to permit their return. It is not said that he died then, but he was permitted to see, that joyful epoch. It is commonly believed that he remained in Chaldea, probably detained by his high employments, when the captives returned, and that he died either at Babylon or Shushan. [38]

      1. If there is a noble manhood there must be a manly boyhood. It is the boy of principle, truthful, upright, courageous, who makes the man. It is idle to expect that the rakish youth who chooses to sow wild oats, indulge in vicious pleasures and knavish pranks, will make a useful citizen. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap."

      2. It is not right "when we are in Rome to do as Rome does." One must be able to say NO. Only the person who can breast the current, refuse the temptation to sinful practices, and reject evil examples, will live, an upright life. Our surroundings must never control our conduct; we must rise superior to our surroundings.

      3. One is not excused from duty because he is away from home. Daniel and his companions were carried as captives many hundred miles from the temple, Jerusalem, and the places of the worship of their fathers, but they carried with them the law of God in their hearts. How many religious people now, when they go from home on a vacation or business take a vacation from their religious duties! If our religious principles control the heart they cannot be cast off like an outer garment.

      4. There is little hope for anyone who does not form temperance principles in youth. Parents should set the example of temperate habits and form such habits in their children. They should, from the outset, be pledged against tobacco, liquor in all its forms, and be trained to choose frugal and healthful diet. Thus, health, beauty, long life, usefulness, manly lives, and vigorous intelligence will be promoted. The influence of the Sunday-school teacher should be thrown in the same direction. Little can be done with the grown up people who have formed their habits; the hope of reform is in the children. Form the boys into "Daniel Clubs."

      5. Not long ago, during the discussion of prohibition in Des Moines, Iowa, the inmates of the city jail prepared and sent a letter to the press, in which they declared that liquor had sent them there. Three-fourths of those in State prisons are persons of intemperate habits, and almost all frequent saloons. The youth who firmly resolves never to touch liquor is almost sure to follow a path of rectitude and honor, while one who learns to tipple in youth has the chances against him. "I would give a farm," said Ca wealthy citizen of Ogle county, Ill., "if I had never learned to drink liquor."

      6. Trained in Christ's family. According to Xenophon's Memorabilia, the ancient Persian monarchs selected for the training of their princes the four best men in the kingdom,--the wisest man, the most just man, the most temperate man, and the bravest man.--that the princes under these might be best fitted to be kings and rulers. All these, the disciples of Christ find united in their one Master, who is the, wisest, most just, most temperate, and most brave being in the universe. And whosoever take him for their teacher will be fitted to be kings and priests in the kingdom of God.--P. [39]

[CLC01 33-39]