The Story of the Bible
- Автор: Hurlbut Jesse Lyman
- Год: 1904
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: Культурология
Электронная книга - «The Story of the Bible». Краткое содержание книги:
They said to the king, "There is one man who does not obey the law which you have made. It is that Daniel, one of the captive Jews. Every day Daniel prays to his God three times, just as he did before you signed the writing of the law."
Then the king was very sorry for what he had done, for he loved Daniel, and knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom. All day, until the sun went down, he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel's life; but when evening came these men again told him of the law that he had made, and said to him that it must be kept. Very unwillingly the king sent for Daniel, and gave him order that he should be thrown into the den of lions. He said to Daniel, "Perhaps your God, whom you serve so faithfully, will save you from the lions."
They led Daniel to the mouth of the pit where the lions were kept, and they threw him in; and over the mouth they placed a stone; and the king sealed it with his own seal and with the seals of his nobles, so that no one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den.
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS
Then the king went again to his palace, but that night he was so sad that he could not eat, nor did he listen to music as he was used to listen. He could not sleep, for all through the night he was thinking of Daniel. Very early in the morning he rose up from his bed, and went in haste to the den of lions. He broke the seal, and took away the stone, and in a voice full of sorrow he called out, scarcely hoping to hear any answer except the roaring of the lions, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to keep you safe from the lions?"
And out of the darkness in the den came the voice of Daniel, saying, "O king, may you live forever! My God has sent his angel, and has shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because my God saw that I had done no wrong. And I have done no wrong toward you, O king!"
DANIEL ANSWERS THE KING
Then the king was glad. He gave to his servants orders to take Daniel out of the den. Daniel was brought out safe and without harm, because he had trusted fully in the Lord God. Then, by the king's command, they seized those men who had spoken against Daniel, and with them their wives and their children, for the king was exceedingly angry with them. They were all thrown into the den, and the hungry lions leaped upon them, and tore them in pieces as soon as they fell upon the floor of the den.
It was very cruel and unjust to put to death with these men their wives and children, who had done no wrong, either to King Darius or to Daniel. But cruel and unjust as it was, such things were common in all the lands of that part of the world. The lives of people were but little cared for, and children often suffered death for their parent's crime.
After this King Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the many kingdoms under his rule, "May peace be given to you all abundantly! I make a law that everywhere among my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel, for he is the living God, above all other gods, who only can save men."
And Daniel stood beside King Darius unto the end of his reign, and afterward while Cyrus the Persian was king over all the lands.
Daniel lived for a number of years after being saved from the lions. He had several wonderful dreams and visions, which showed him what would come to pass many years afterward, and even to the coming of Jesus Christ.
The Story of a Joyous Journey
Ezra i: 1, to iii: 7.
We have seen, in the story of the kingdom of Israel, or the Ten Tribes, how the great empire of Assyria arose from the city of Nineveh, on the Tigris river; how it ruled all the lands and carried away the Ten Tribes of Israel into captivity, from which they never came back to their own land. (Story Eighteen in Part Fourth.) We saw, too, how the empire of Assyria went down, and the empire of Babylon, or Chaldea, arose in its place under Nebuchadnezzar. (Story Six in this Part.) As soon as Nebuchadnezzar died, the empire of Babylon began to fall, and in its place arose the empire of Persia, under Cyrus, who is called Cyrus the Great, because of his many victories and his wide rule. His empire was much greater than either the Assyrian or the Chaldean empire, for it held in its rule the land of Egypt, all the lands known as Asia Minor, and also many lands in the far east.
Cyrus, the great king, was a friend to the Jews, who at this time were still living in the land of Chaldea, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was now seventy years since the first company of captives had been taken away from the land of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar (see Story Six in this Part), and fifty years since the city of Jerusalem had been burned. By that time the Jews were no longer looked upon as captives in the land of Chaldea. They lived in their own houses, and tilled their own farms, and were in peace. Many of them were rich, and some of them, like Daniel and his three friends, were in high places at the court of the king.
You remember that in the early days of the captivity, Jeremiah the prophet wrote a letter to those who had been carried away to Babylon, telling them that after seventy years they would come back to their own land. (Story Six.) The seventy years were now ended. The older men and women who had been taken away had died in the land of Chaldea, but their children, and their children's children still loved the land of Judah as their own land, although it was so far away.
The Lord put it into the heart of Cyrus, the king of Persia, very early in his reign, to send word among the Jews that they might now go back to their own land. This was the word, as it was written and sent out:
"Thus saith Cyrus, the king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. Therefore, let those of the people of God who are among you go up to Jerusalem, and help to build the house of the Lord. And those who do not go to Jerusalem, but stay in the places where they are living, let them give to those who go back to their own land gifts of gold and silver, and beasts to carry them, and goods, and also a free gift toward the building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem."
At this the Jews in the land of Chaldea were very glad, for they loved their own land, and longed to see it. One of them wrote a song at this time. It is Psalm 126:
"When the Lord turned again the capitivity of Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then said they among the nations,
'The Lord hath done great things for them,'
The Lord hath done great things for us;
Whereof we are glad.
Turn again our capitivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South,
They that sow in tears
Shall reap in joy,
Though he goeth on his way weeping,
Bearing forth the seed,
He shall come again with joy,
Bringing his sheaves with him."
So the Jewish people began to make ready for going back to their own land. Those who were rich, and noble in rank, stayed in the land of Chaldea and in other lands of the Persian Empire. But though they did not go back to the land from which their fathers had come, they gave large gifts of gold and silver to help those who did go. And Cyrus, the king, took from the treasure-house in Babylon all the vessels of the Temple that had been taken away by Nebuchadnezzar, and gave them to the Jews, to be used in the new Temple which they were soon to build. These were plates, and dishes, and bowls, and cups of gold and silver, more than four thousand in all. So, with the gifts of the king, and the gifts of their own people, and what was owned by those who went to the land of Judah, the company took away a vast treasure of gold and silver.
It was a happy company of people that met together for the journey back to the land whch they still called their own, though very few of them had seen it. There were forty-two thousand of them, besides their servants to help them in the journey. They traveled slowly up the Euphrates river, singing songs of joy, until they reached the northern end of the great desert. Then they turned toward the southwest, and journeyed beside the Lebanon mountains, past Damascus, and through Syria, until at last they came to the land of their fathers, the land of Judah.