Great success attended the reign of the King of Babylon. His powerful
legions had proved victorious in every clime. In addition to Judea, he
had subjugated Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia. Peace once more was
proclaimed, and the great body of the army was called home. The
monarch’s popularity was unbounded, and his praises were loudly
trumpeted on the wings of every breeze, from east to west, and from
north to south. The Chaldean empire rose still higher in glory, while
numerous tributaries continued to pour their streams of gold into its
already rich treasuries.
The afternoon was warm and sultry. The king reclined on an easy couch
within a bower, in the palace garden. His mind was occupied with
reflections on the past and thoughts of the future, and thus ran the
soliloquy of the mighty potentate:
“Yea, the years are passing! On looking back they seem but short. But
where has more been accomplished in so short a period? Ah, King of
Babylon, thy career, hitherto, has been a brilliant one. My armies have
clothed themselves with glory, which glory reflects back on their king.
Surrounding nations do me homage. My coffers are filled from the wealth
of Judah, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia. What hinders my success?
Babylon is but in the infancy of her greatness. Her glory shall yet
reach the heavens! Tea, I will make her a fit place for the residence
of the gods. Selfish? Yea, truly. And who ever succeeded without being
selfish? Yea, the King of Babylon is selfish; but may the gods assist
me to hide it from the people. To them, may it appear that all my
efforts are put forth in _their_ behalf. But have I no regard for the
welfare of my people aside from my own glory? I have! The gods know I
have. And yet, I have a strong desire that my name shall be carried
down to posterity surrounded by a halo of glory. Is this selfishness?
Be it so. It must be done! Am I not deep in the affections of my
people? In this I cannot be mistaken. Never was the Chaldean empire so
firmly established. It will stand forever. Forever? Ah, that word has a
long meaning. But what power _can_ overthrow us? Is not Babylon the
mistress of the world? Is not Chaldea the queen of nations? Will not
her prosperity be perpetual? Alas for our brief knowledge! The gods, in
this, have not elevated the king above the beggar. The future is
enshrouded in gloom and hid from the gaze of mortals. My wise men say
that they can penetrate this gloom. Can they? I have my doubts. The
future—the far, far future of Chaldea—I should be glad to know: but who
shall sit on the throne one hundred years from to-day, and what shall
be the greatness of Babylon in two hundred years, are questions which
time alone must solve. Surely, this is a sultry day! Well, the future
we cannot know. It may be all in wisdom. Peradven—Ah, sleep! thou art
the great conqueror of conquerors. I surrender. Thy powers are
irresistible. Let me not long be thy captive. In one hour, I pray thee,
strike my chains asunder, and restore me to my friends.”
And the king, quietly yielding to the stern demands of Nature, was soon
in the fast embrace of slumber.
“Oh, ye gods that dwell in light, what a dream!” cried the king,
hastily leaving his couch, in agitation. “Oh, what a dream! But, alas,
it has gone from me! Oh, ye gods, why have I not retained it? But can I
not recall it to mind? Alas, it has fled! It has vanished! How
perplexing! It was not a _common_ dream. Nay, it bore particularly upon
the future of my vast empire. And yet not one clear circumstance is
retained in my memory. What shall I do? How shall the lost dream be
restored? My astrologers profess to give the _interpretation_ of
dreams. If they can do _this_, why not as well restore the dream
entire?”
And the king, in an agitated state of mind, left the garden and entered
the palace.
“Arioch!” cried the king, “haste thee, and without delay let the most
noted of the wise men and astrologers of Babylon be commanded to appear
in my presence. Let there be no useless tarrying. My demands are
urgent. Haste thee! Away!”
Without asking any questions, the astonished and half frightened
officer hastened from the presence of his king, and gave all diligence
in the performance of his urgent duty. He found ready access to the
prince of the magicians, delivered to him the message of the king, and
retired. The astrologer soon sent the message to his numerous
companions, and in a short time the concentrated wisdom of the great
metropolis stood in the presence of the king.
“Ye have done well,” said the king, eying them with a degree of
severity, “to be thus punctual; a failure on this point might have
involved you in serious difficulties. Ye stand before the king as the
representatives of wisdom. Ye profess to be able to bring to light
hidden mysteries, and to make known the transactions of the future. The
correctness of your professions is about to be tested. If it stands the
ordeal, well; if not, woe be unto you!”
“All this thy servants profess,” replied the chief astrologer, “and all
this they can perform. Let them but learn the desire of the king, and
they stand ready to execute his pleasure.”
“This day,” replied the king, “while slumbering on my bed, I dreamed a
peculiar dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the vision.”
“Oh, king, live forever!” replied the magicians, well pleased with the
nature of their task. “Tell thy servants the dream, and we will show
thee the interpretation thereof.”
“Will ye, indeed!” answered the king, ironically. “But the thing has
gone from me. I have no distinct remembrance of the various features of
the dream. And now, as a proof that ye are able to give a correct
interpretation, I demand that ye restore to my mind the dream in all
its parts. Remember that ye are not able to impose on me a false
vision. Now, proceed with your divination, and if in this ye fail, by
the gods, ye shall be cut to pieces, and your houses shall be made a
dunghill.”
“Tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation
thereof,” answered again the now astonished magicians.
“Ah, indeed!” said the king, disdainfully. “And have I not already told
you that the thing is gone from me; and how can I tell you the dream?
If I were able to do this, ye would readily produce your lying and
corrupt interpretations. Do ye not profess to derive your knowledge and
power of interpretation from the gods? Then let the same gods reveal
unto you the dream itself.”
“This is a strange demand, indeed,” answered the alarmed astrologers.
“There is not a man on earth that can grant thy desire, and show thee
this matter. Be assured, O king, that thou requirest impossibilities at
the hands of thy servants; and there is none other that can show it
before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not in the flesh.”
“And do ye not profess to hold intercourse with those gods?” answered
the king, in a passion; “thus ye have proved yourselves to be a band of
lying hypocrites. Begone from my presence, ye corrupt deceivers, and
learn that your guilty career is near its close!”
So the terrified magicians were hurried from the presence of the
passionate king, and by his orders were confined; and, moreover, a
decree was issued, that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to
death. Such was the unholy impulse of a king who had hitherto
manifested, on most occasions, a commendable degree of self-possession.
The next day, while Daniel was walking in the vicinity of the palace,
he was suddenly accosted by the captain of the guard, who informed him
that it was his painful duty to apprehend him as an individual who was
condemned to die by a late edict of the king.
“My worthy friend must certainly be mistaken in regard to the person,”
answered Daniel, with a smile; “for I am happy to know that in nothing
have I transgressed the law of my sovereign.”
“It would give me much pleasure on this occasion to find myself
mistaken,” replied Arioch, “but I fear that it will prove otherwise.
Art thou not Belteshazzar, of the captivity of Judah, and art thou not
numbered among the wise men?”
“And what can be the nature of my offense?” asked the young Hebrew,
nothing daunted. “If in anything I have offended, I ask not to be
spared.”
“And hast thou not heard the decree?”
“No new decree has reached my ears.”
“Then I shall communicate to Belteshazzar all I know concerning the
matter.” Which he proceeded to do.
“Many thanks to thee, kind officer. I have no desire to escape thy
vigilance. Only permit me to see the king, and, peradventure, things
may take a different course.”
“Any favor I can show, without violating positive orders, will readily
be granted. So I will make thy pleasure known to the king.”
Arioch hastened into the presence of the sovereign, and informed him
that one of the wise men prayed to be admitted into his presence.
“I desire not to see any of the vile race!” answered the king, with a
frown. “I was satisfied yesterday that they are a band of lying
impostors.”
“May the king pardon his unworthy servant,” replied Arioch; “but the
young man that seeks thy face to-day was not among the number
yesterday.”
“And by what name is he known?” frowningly inquired the king.
“His name, O king, is Belteshazzar, of the captivity of Judah.”
“_Belteshazzar! Belteshazzar!_” exclaimed the king, suddenly rising to
his feet. “May the gods forgive me! _Belteshazzar_, whose wonderful
display of wisdom astonished the city on the day of examination? Why
did I not think of him sooner? Yea, and his three companions! and all
at the palace! close at hand! and far superior in wisdom to all others!
_Belteshazzar!_ Yea, Arioch! By all means let the young Hebrew be
admitted.”
The captain of the guard hastened from the presence of the king to
inform Daniel of his success.
“Belteshazzar, the king grants thy petition, and thou art requested to
appear before him.”
Daniel, with his usual calmness and dignity, walked into the presence
of the king, while Arioch was beckoned to retire.
“Belteshazzar,” said the king, “thou art thus admitted into my
presence, and thou art at perfect liberty to speak freely on whatever
subject mostly occupies thy mind. I have heretofore been well pleased
with thy superior knowledge and wisdom, as well as that of thy
comrades. The army has of late occupied the most of my attention, and
among the various affairs of importance it is nothing astonishing if
some of my best subjects are partially overlooked. Proceed with thy
request.”
“A little over four years ago, O king, according to thy direction, thy
servant, with his three companions, was brought from the land of Judah
to the great city of Babylon. Hitherto, we have been the subjects of
thy kind regards. At thy expense we have been taught in all the
learning and wisdom of the Chaldeans; and, in the presence of hundreds
of thy worthy nobles, thou sawest fit to pronounce us superior in the
various branches of learning, and, amid enthusiastic cheers, we were
escorted to the palace of the king. We have endeavored to prove
ourselves worthy of the favors and regard. We have spared no pains to
render ourselves agreeable in the eyes of our superiors; and never have
we heard a word of complaint. We have made no pretensions to superior
wisdom. We are numbered among the wise by the direction of the king. In
all things have we aimed to be thy faithful, loyal subjects. Judge
then, O king, the astonishment of thy servant when, not half an hour
ago, he was apprehended by the captain of the guard as one already
appointed to death, according to the direction of the king. I wonder
not that thine anger is kindled against the false pretensions of the
magicians. But why should the innocent suffer with the guilty? And why,
especially, should thy Hebrew servants die without, at least, a trial
of their ability through the direct agency of their God, to restore to
the king his lost dream? I, therefore, pray thee, O king, to give thy
servant time, and the God that I worship will give me the knowledge of
the dream and its interpretation.”
“Belteshazzar,” cried the king, “thy request is granted. Go! and may
thy God give thee the knowledge of the vision.”
Daniel left the presence of the king and hastened to join his comrades
at their apartments.
“What now, fair cousin?” said Azariah. “What am I to learn from such a
countenance? Nothing of a joyful nature, I fear!”
“Alas, comrades!” answered Daniel, “unless Jehovah interfere with a
miraculous hand, we are undone. The decree has already gone forth from
royal lips that all the wise men of Babylon must perish by the sword.”
He then gave his companions a full history of the thing, as he had
received it from the mouth of Arioch, the captain of the guard.
“In all our trials hitherto,” said Hananiah, “we have found Jehovah to
be our sure refuge. In him we trust, and he will surely open to us a
way of escape.”
“Already I feel the strange assurance that from this conflict we shall
come forth triumphant,” said Daniel.
“Most humbly will we all bow before our God, and pray that a clear
revelation of the lost dream may be made on the mind of our beloved
Daniel,” said Azariah.
In solemn silence, the youths of Judah departed, and retired to their
respective apartments, there to prostrate themselves before the Lord in
humble devotion, with full confidence that the God in whom they trusted
would hear their prayer and grant their petition.
Many hours had already passed away. Stillness prevailed throughout the
thoroughfares of the great metropolis. Silence reigned throughout
Babylon. The faithful night guardians solemnly paraded the streets in
the performance of their important duties. The queen of cities was
hushed to repose; its vast thousands had, for a while, forgotten their
toil and sorrow. Old midnight was left far in the rear, and some faint
signs in the eastern skies betokened the distant approach of day. But
yonder, on their bended knees, see the trembling forms of Amonober’s
children! For many hours they have wrestled with God. Does He hear
them? But where is Daniel? Let us silently enter his chamber. The son
of Baramon is asleep! Mark his countenance!
Still the three brothers, “_with their faces toward Jerusalem_,” are
bowed before the Lord. But hark! Ah! it is the well-known voice of
Daniel. It rings melodiously throughout every apartment and it falls on
the ears of the cousins. Hark!
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are
his. And he changeth the times and seasons. He removeth and setteth up
kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that seek
understanding. He revealeth deep and secret things. He knoweth what is
in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank Thee and
praise Thee, O God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might,
and hast made known unto me now what we desired of Thee; for Thou hast
made known to us now the king’s matter.”
Early in the morning, Daniel sought an interview with Arioch, and
besought the reversing of the sentence against the wise men, and
assured him that he was fully prepared to appear before the king, and
restore to him the lost vision.
“Let Belteshazzar be assured,” said the captain of the guard, “that I
shall not move a finger against the wise men but by the positive orders
of the king, and I am happy to say that he hath ordered me to delay
execution until I receive further directions. I have just learned by
chance that the merchant Joram has had an interview with the king in
behalf of thee and thy friends. If I can be of any service to
Belteshazzar, I am at his pleasure.”
“In one hour, then, I will call on thee again, and thou shalt accompany
me into the presence of the king,” and Daniel departed.
Daniel found his companions sunk into calm slumber, from which they
were not then awakened. He partook of a slight repast, bowed once more
in adoration before God, and returned to seek Arioch, the captain of
the guard.
They were soon on their way to the palace. Arioch first entered.
“O king, live forever! Belteshazzar is without, desiring to see thee;
and—”
“No more from thee at this time,” interrupted the king. “Retire, and
send the young man hither.”
The officer, well used to the manner of his sovereign, bowed low and
retired.
“Belteshazzar,” said Arioch, “thou are admitted; and may the gods give
thee success.”
With a firm step, and a calm look, and with full confidence in the God
of Israel, the Hebrew youth once more marched into the presence of the
King of Chaldea.
“Belteshazzar,” cried the king, “art thou able to make known unto me
the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?”
“The secret which the king demandeth of his servant is far above the
knowledge and comprehension of all his wise men, astrologers,
magicians, and soothsayers. But the God of heaven—that Jehovah who
dwelleth in light—he revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king,
Nebuchadnezzar, what shall come to pass in the latter days. Be it
known, therefore, to the king, that this secret is not revealed to me
through any wisdom that I have more than any living, but it is the kind
interposition of Jehovah in behalf of thy servant and his companions in
tribulation, who are doomed to die; and, moreover, to show the king
that Jehovah is the only God.
“Thy dream, and the vision of thy head, are these: As for thee, O king,
thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass
hereafter; and He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee the grand
events of the future.
“Thou, O king, sawest a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible.
This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his
belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and
part of clay. Thou sawest that a stone smote the image upon the feet
which were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloor, and
the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the
stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth. This is the dream. Now, O king, listen to the
interpretation thereof.
“Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wheresoever the
children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the
heaven, hath he given unto thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over
them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise
another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass,
which shall bear rule over the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be
strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all
things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces
and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s
clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be
in it of the strength of the iron; forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly
broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall
mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one
to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never
be destroyed; and this kingdom shall not be left to other people, but
it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it 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 interpretation thereof sure.”
For a while the king, in silent astonishment, gazed on the wonderful
being before him; then he arose and fell prostrate at the feet of the
captive Hebrew, and paid him adoration suitable only to a divine being.
“Let thy adoration be paid to Jehovah, O king!” cried Daniel, “for it
is he that revealeth secrets, and bringeth to light the hidden
mysteries.”
“Of a truth, your God is a God of gods,” cried the king, “and a
revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this mystery. And now,
Belteshazzar, thou art exalted to be a ruler over the whole province of
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Chaldea;
and if thou desirest any particular favor, let it not be hidden from
the king; for thou art worthy of all honors, and the full desire of thy
heart shall be given thee.”
“For himself, thy servant has nothing to ask; but be it known to thee,
O king, that thou art as much indebted for the restoration of the
vision to my three companions as to thy servant, for in answer to our
_united_ prayers the secret was made known. I pray thee, therefore,
that while I am thus honored, my companions may share in it.”
“Wisely remarked. Thy three companions shall be promoted to posts of
honor and trust in the empire. Let them, under thee, preside over the
province of Babylon.”
Thus Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, through the miraculous
interposition of that Jehovah they loved, and whose law they honored,
were elevated to be the chief personages in the Chaldean empire.