The sins of the Jews were great, and their punishment was heavy. Now,
when they were compelled to live among the heathens, they longed for the
Holy City and the worship in the temple of the Lord. Yet the Lord left
them not without consolation. From the prophecies of the prophet
Jeremiah they knew that when 70 years were passed the Lord would have
compassion on them and bring them back to the land of their fathers. And
the Lord sent two great prophets to them to console and strengthen them.
These were Ezekiel and Daniel.
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which he could not remember. Daniel prayed to
the Lord, and both the dream and the explanation of it were shown him in
a vision in the night. The king had seen a great image. The head was of
gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and
the legs of iron and of clay. A stone which was not thrown by the hands
of man struck the image and broke it to pieces; but the stone became a
great mountain which filled the whole earth. Daniel interpreted the
dream thus: There shall arise four great kingdoms after each other;
afterward God will establish a kingdom that shall overthrow all these,
but shall itself remain forever.--The king said: Thy God is a God above
all gods, since he can reveal secret things. Daniel was now made ruler
of the wise men of the country and remained in great respect and honor
even after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. But he had enemies, and these
caused one of the following kings to throw him into a den of lions; but
the Lord sent him His angel who shut the mouths of the lions. The next
day Daniel was pulled up from the den unhurt, and the men that had
accused him were cast into it; but they had not even reached the bottom
of the den before the lions seized them and broke their bones. (Book of
Daniel 2-6.)