+

THE CAPTIVITY

+ + + Daniel + + +

Some time after Elijah lived, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, captured Jerusalem.

He carried the people off to slavery in Babylon. He took all the treasures of Israel out of the Temple, the gold and silver ornaments and altar vessels, and took them all home with him, too.

In Babylon Nebuchadnezzar told his court chamberlain to choose the best of the young Israelites and have them educated and then brought to court. Among those chosen were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar sent them wine and meat from his own table. Daniel, however, did not want to eat this food. The king's officer who was in charge of them was upset by this. "I will get in trouble with the king myself," he said, "if you are thinner and less healthy than the others who study with you." "You may test us," Daniel said. "Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink for ten days. Then compare us with the other students."

After ten days they were more stout and healthy than any of the others, who had eaten the king's meat. So after that Daniel and his friends were allowed to eat only vegetables and drink only water. When their education was completed, the king took these four men into his court. He was very pleased to find how much they had learned. They were ten times better than any others in the whole kingdom.

God had given Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams and visions. One night, the king had a dream which none of his wise men could explain. He was so angry he was going to have them all put to death, Daniel among them. But Daniel asked the king to hold off just a little bit. He asked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to pray with him that God would reveal the mystery of the king's dream to him, so they would not all have to die. And God did this.

Daniel went to the king and said to him, "There is a God in heaven Who reveals mysteries, and Who has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what is to take place in the days to come."

Daniel not only explained the dreams, but told the king what the dreams were.

"You saw a statue. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part clay. While you were watching, a stone broke away, a stone not touched by hands, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and clay and shattered them. Then, iron and clay, bronze, silver, gold - all broke into tiny pieces which the wind blew away, not leaving a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth.

"This was the dream; now we will explain its meaning. You, Oh King, to whom God has given so much, are the golden head. After you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron; as iron shatters and crushes all, it will crush and break all the former kingdoms.

The feet, part iron, part clay, are a kingdom what will be split in two; it will be partly strong and partly weak. Just as you saw the stone not touched by hands break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, so also God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and will not pass into the hands of another race; it will shatter all the former kingdoms, and itself last forever."

When Daniel told the king the meaning of his dream, Nebuchadnezzar was so grateful he wanted to make Daniel ruler under him. But Daniel persuaded the king instead to let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be rulers of Babylon under him.

Daniel stayed at the king's court as his counselor.

Nebuchadnezzar, who did not worship the true God, had a new idol made one day. It was a golden statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide.

He summoned all his governors, judges and everyone of importance, to be present at the dedication of the statue.

When they all came, a herald announced, "When the trumpets sound, everyone is to fall down and worship this golden image.

Whoever does not will be thrown into the heart of a raging furnace."

When the trumpets sounded, all the people went down on their knees. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the idol.

Nebuchadnezzar was furious that anyone would disobey him. He had the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. Then the young men were tied up and thrown in.

The furnace was so hot that the guards who threw the Israelites into it were burned to death. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked around in the middle of the flames, unharmed. They sang a hymn of praise:

Bless the Lord, angels of the Lord.

Bless the Lord, sun, moon, and stars,

Bless the Lord, ice and snow, daytime and nighttime,

Bless the Lord, mountains and hills and everything that lives in the waters,

Bless the Lord, flying birds and wild beasts and tame beasts, and all the men on earth,

Souls of all good men, bless the Lord!

King Nebuchadnezzar saw them through the furnace door, walking about in the fire. He also saw a fourth man with them; an angel was with them protecting them.

Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and frightened. "Come forth!" he called to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they came out of the furnace, quite unhurt. Not a hair of their heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung about them.

The king fell on his knees and said, "Blessed is this God Whom you worship!"

+ + +

When Nebuchadnezzar died, Belshazzar came to the throne. One day, when the king and his court were feasting in the banquet hall, King Belshazzar ordered the sacred cups from the Temple in Jerusalem brought to him. "We will drink our wine from these cups," he said.

And the king and his court sat at the feast and drank their wine from the sacred vessels of Israel. Suddenly the king looked up and saw a hand, writing on the wall. He called for all his wise men but none of them could read the words it had written. Finally Daniel was brought in; he could read them.

"All your life you have worshipped idols and paid no attention to the true God," he said to the king. "Now you have used the cups from His Temple for your feast. That is why this message has come to you. This is what is written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. 'Mene' means numbering; so many years God has allowed you to rule and now they are ended. 'Tekel' means weighing; your good deeds weigh too light, your evil deeds too heavy. 'Parsin' means tearing; your kingdom is going to be torn out of your grasp by the Medes and the Persians."

Daniel's words came true that very night. The Persians conquered Belshazzar's kingdom.

+ + +

The new king was called Darius; he honored Daniel and put him in charge of a third of his kingdom.

Daniel was such a favorite of the king that people began to be jealous. They plotted to get rid of him. Some of them went to the king and said, "As a favor, will you please make a law that for the next thirty days no one is to pray to any god or man for anything at all. They are to ask you for all they need. And make it the law that if anyone disobeys this rule, he will be thrown into the lions' pit."

Darius did as they asked.

When Daniel heard of it, he knew his enemies were plotting against him. He still said his prayers, in the morning, at midday and at night. One day his enemies caught him and told the king. Daniel had to be thrown into the lions' pit; the Medes and Persians were very proud of never changing a law once they had made it.

The king was sad when he sent Daniel to the lions' pit. "Your God must deliver you," he said to Daniel. "You are His faithful servant." The entrance to the lions' den was sealed with a stone so that no one could go in or out.

The king ate no supper and could not sleep for worrying about Daniel. Early in the morning he got up and went to the lions' pit. "Daniel, servant of the living God, are you still alive?" he shouted. Daniel called back, "Long live the King! I am quite all right; God has kept me safe." Then Darius sent a letter to the whole world:

I, Darius, King of the Medes and the Persians, order all my subjects to fear the God of Daniel and to honor Him.

He is a God Who lives and will reign forever.

His Kingdom cannot be destroyed.

He will rule till the end of the ages.

+ + + Esther + + +

Also living among the Medes and the Persians were the Jew, Mordecai, who held a high office at the royal court, and his beautiful kinswoman, Esther. The king decided to invite the loveliest young girls from his realm, and choose a queen from among them. Esther was among them, although Mordecai had warned her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish. When Esther was brought before the king, he liked her better than any of the others, and made her his queen.

At this time Mordecai discovered a plot against the life of the king, and had Esther warn him of this. The king's life was saved, and this was written down in the Book of Chronicles.

Soon after this, the king promoted Haman head over all others in the government, and gave orders that everyone must bow down to him. Mordecai would not bow down to Haman, and this made Haman so mad that he decided not just to get rid of Mordecai, but to wipe out all his kinsmen, the Jews, throughout the whole empire.

The king believed Haman when he told him the Jews would not obey the laws of the land, and signed an edict allowing Haman to round them all up.

When he learned this, Mordecai sent a message to Esther, asking her to speak to the king and plead for her people.

Esther replied, "Everyone knows that no one can appear before the king unless the king himself calls for them. The penalty is death - unless the king himself grants life by pointing his scepter. The king has not called for me for a whole month."

But Mordecai replied to this: "Do not think that just because you are in the palace, you will be the one Jew to go free. And who knows? Perhaps you have come to the throne for just such a time as this."

So Esther sent a message to Mordecai: "Have all the Jews fast and pray for me for three days. I will do the same, then I will go to the king in spite of the law; if I die, I die."

And so they fasted and prayed, remembering all the wonderful signs that God had done for the people of Israel, and begging Him to help them now.

On the third day, Esther dressed in her most splendid regal garments. Rosy with the full flush of her beauty, her face radiated joy and love; but her heart shrank with fear. After passing through door after door, she found herself before the king.

Seated on the throne in all his royal splendor, he raised his face, which blazed with anger when he saw Esther. Esther, who was already weak from her fast, grew faint and leaned on one of the maids with her. God changed the king's heart, and he sprang from his throne in fear for her, and took her in his own arms until she was better, soothing her with words of love. And he touched her with his golden scepter. "What do you wish?" he asked Esther. "Even if it is half my kingdom, I will give it to you."

Esther asked that the king and Haman come to a banquet she had prepared. The king sent for Haman at once, that Esther might have her wish. At the banquet, the king asked her again, "What do you wish, Esther? Even if it is half my kingdom, I will give it to you." Esther asked that the king and Haman come to another banquet with her on the following night.

Haman went home and bragged to his wife and friends about how rich and important he was. He had been to a private banquet with just the king and queen, and was invited back the next night. But then he thought about Mordecai the Jew, and his mood turned sour. "Build a great gallows," his wife advised, "and ask the king to have him hanged on it in the morning. Then you can go to the banquet with the king without a care in the world." Delighted with this advice, Haman had the gallows put up.

That night the king could not sleep, so he asked to have the Book of Chronicles read to him. There was the record of how Mordecai had let him know of the plot against him. "What honor was given Mordecai for this?" asked the king. "None," was the reply. Haman had just come in to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged. "What is the right way to treat a man the king wishes to honor?" the king asked Haman. Haman thought surely it was himself the king wished to honor, and said the man should be given fine presents and paraded through the city for all to see. "Hurry," said the king to Haman, "and do all this for Mordecai the Jew. Be sure you do all you have said." Haman had to do as the king told him.

When they were together at Queen Esther's second banquet, the king asked again, "What do you wish, Esther? Even if it is half my kingdom, I will give it to you." Esther answered, "If I have found favor with you, Oh king, please grant me my life, and the life of my people."

"Why, who wishes harm to you?" asked the king. "This Haman here," said Esther.

And so Haman was hung on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the king gave Mordecai all the power that Haman had had. The Jews were saved, and allowed to have their own customs in the land. To this day, Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim every spring, to recall how they were saved by the effort of Queen Esther.

Web Design and Maintenance by Harris and Nelson Consulting © 2007 All Rights Reserved Laura Jones