Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 57

19. How was the secret concerning the king's dream revealed, and thus the mystery of the kingdom of G.o.d made known in Babylon?

"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel _in a night-vision_. Then Daniel blessed the G.o.d of heaven." Verse 19.

NOTE.-The most vital truth of the gospel of the kingdom of G.o.d was denied in the religion of Babylon. This made it necessary that this very truth should be preached in Babylon. This mystery of the kingdom of G.o.d was the real and essential secret which the wise men of Babylon could not make known to the king, and which could be learned only by revelation. This is the mystery which "from the beginning of the world hath been hid in G.o.d" (Eph. 3:9); and the "riches of the glory of this mystery" is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27), or "the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19).

20. How did Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge G.o.d as the revealer, and thus Daniel's intimate fellows.h.i.+p with Him?

"The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that _your G.o.d is a G.o.d of G.o.ds, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret_." Verse 47.

21. When the gospel of the kingdom has been fully preached, and Christ appears as King, what invitation will be extended to those who have learned "the mystery of the kingdom"?

"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations.... Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, _Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world_." Matt. 25:31-34.

Thy kingdom come. Thus day by day We lift our hands to G.o.d, and pray; But who has ever duly weighed The meaning of the words He said?

Four Great Monarchies

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Isaiah's Vision Of The Ruins Of Babylon. "And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Dan. 2:45.

1. At what time was Daniel's second vision given?

"_In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon_ Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.

NOTE.-That is, in the first year of Belshazzar's office as a.s.sociate king with his father Nabonadius, or 540 B.C.

2. What effect did this dream have upon Daniel?

"I Daniel was _grieved in my spirit_ in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head _troubled me_." Verse 15.

NOTE.-The effect of Daniel's dream upon him, it will be noticed, was similar to the effect of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams upon him; it troubled him. See Dan. 2:1.

3. What did Daniel ask of one of the heavenly attendants who stood by him in his dream?

"I came near unto one of them that stood by, _and asked him the truth of all this_. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things." Verse 16.

4. What did the prophet see in this vision?

"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea_." Verse 2.

5. What was the result of this strife?

"And _four great beasts came up from the sea_, diverse one from another."

Verse 3.

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

The Four Beasts Of Daniel 7. "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." Dan. 7:17.

6. What did these four beasts represent?

"These great beasts, which are four, are _four kings, which shall arise out of the earth_." Verse 17.

NOTE.-The word kings here, as in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy.

7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds?

Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36, 37.

NOTE.-That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall.

8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters?

"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest ... are _peoples_, and _mult.i.tudes_, and _nations_, and _tongues_." Rev. 17:15.

NOTE.-In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of G.o.d's everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments, are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,-under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,-the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms.

9. What was the first beast like?

"_The first was like a lion_, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan.

7:4.

NOTE.-The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle's wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538.

10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized?