Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1911 — OLD TESTAMENT TIMES BROOKLYN ABERNACLE BIBLE-STUDIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OLD TESTAMENT TIMES BROOKLYN ABERNACLE BIBLE-STUDIES

IN A DEN OF LIONS Daniel vi—Sept. 24 “77i« angel of the Lord eneair.peth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’’ —Psalm axxiv, 1.. HT the time of this study Daniel had been long in service, wise and faithful in his administration of the government entrusted to him. He had seen the Babylonian Dynasty perish, In its place came the empire of the Medes and Persians. By these also Dapiel’s grand character was recognized—his loyalty to principle, his faithfulness as a public servant, his obedience to God and the 1 principles of righteousness. That which will specially mark Messiah's Kingdom will be that it will not

only have perfect ideals in respect to human government, but that it will be backed by Divine Power, before which, eventually, “Every knee shall bow; and every tongue shall confess.”— Philippians 2. 10. IL

A man like Prayed Three Times Daniel, in so im- a Day. pcrtant a place as that which he occu-. pied ,as one of the three supervisors of a great Empire, was sure to be in the way of grafters—a hinderer of their schemes. And for this reason his fellows in office were desirous of getting rid of him. Realizing that he could not be deposed, the endeavor was to secure his removal; but the man’s integrity and uprightness gave no hope in this direction. Finally, however, the scheme was concerted. The conspirators approached the king with a project which they assured him would help to make strong and united the various parts of his empire. It was this: The king should be recognized for a month as the only channel of mediation or access between his subjects and their gods. King Darius felt flattered and agreed to the arrangement and issued an order to that effect—never thinking of what might be the result in the case of Daniel, and never suspecting that bis counselors were seeking to entrap him and to accomplish the death of his most trusted officer.

Prayed Three Times Daily Daniel heard of the decree but altered not his custom of praying three times daily before a window of his house which looked out toward Jerusalem. Morning, noon and night he remembered his God and his vows of faithfulness to Him and called to mind the gracious promises respecting the Holy Land, that it would yet be the center of the whole earth and of God’s holy people: that eventually, through these. Divine blessings would be extended to every nation, people and tongue. ■ . Unquestionably the best men and women in the world are those who pray, and pray regularly, who bow the knee, as did Daniel. Unquestionably it is impossible to live a consecrated life in neglect of prayer. What would Daniel have been without his praying time! How would his loyalty to principle have maintained itself in the midst of corruption had it not been for his communion with his Maker? To .the Christian this privilege is still enhanced by a realization that “We have. an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.”

Jehovah Sent His Angel The conspirators were on the lookout They had witnesses ready to testify. not that they had seen Daniel do

anything wrong, but that he had violated the edict which the king had been entrapped into making and signing. The matter was laid before the king. King Darius felt himself bound hand and foot and ensnared—

trapped. All day he sought means whereby he could avert the consequences of his royal mandate, but found none. He assured Daniel that he believed his God was able to deliver him. What a beautiful testimony to the uprightness of Daniel’s life! Daniel was cast into the lion’s den. That night, we are told, was one of great distress to the king. He could think only of his faithful officer, the noble man so unrighteously treated. He was abroad early in the morning, to call to Daniel, to learn whether or not he were still alive. His joy of heart was great when he learned that he was still safe, that his God had sent His angel to stop the lions’ mouths. Daniel was soon lifted from the pit. The king' now made Another decree—that those counselors who had thus sought the a faithful man should themselves be cast into the den of lions; and this, in their case, meant destruction, as the result proved. Oh, that every Christian would live as high above the world’s standards as Daniel did, so that their enemies might see that they' have no ground for charges except those tp their credit; and so Ihat’ their superiors in the walks of life might discern that their God whom they serve is indeed the true God, the living God, the God of all Truth.

Daniel in the Lion’s Den.