Assyria, Babylonia, etc
CHAPTER XIX

THE CAPTIVITY

OF the period of the Captivity little is recorded. At first it was a time of despondency, and is well illustrated by a Psalm of the period.

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
For there they that led us captive required of us songs,
And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

One thing the captivity did, it showed that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were true prophets; the false prophets were confounded. Ezekiel now began to speak messages of hope. He told of a time when One Shepherd should be set up, who should feed the people rightly. Canaan should again become God’s land and “a plant of renown” should grow up there. The mountains of Israel would shoot forth branches the cities would be inhabited. Such a future was to be “for Yahweh’s holy name’s sake.” Speaking of a great future he declared, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” “I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded, and the land that was deso­late shall be tilled . . . and they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden.” Under the type of a valley full of dry bones the resurrection of the nation was foreshadowed, while another symbol represented the union of the two peoples, Israel and Judah. “I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all . . . And My servant David shall be king over them . . . and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant. . . . Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting cove­nant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them for ever more.” Thus the old covenants of promise were called to mind for the comfort of the people in captivity.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream

Amongst those who had been carried to Babylon were Daniel, and three of his friends. They determined they would not defile themselves by partaking of the king’s meat, which probably had been offered to the Babylonian gods. After a trial, the prince of the eunuchs permitted them to car pulse instead of meat.

Daniel rose to fame by his ability to recall, and to interpret, a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had seen and had forgotten. The dream was one of a great image composed of various metals, which was struck on the feet by a “little stone cut out of the mountain without hands.” Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that it foretold that Babylon would be succeeded by three other dominions, which history has shown to be Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then a divided state of affairs should follow, represented by the mixed com­position of the feet and toes of the image (iron and clay), and answering to the divided state of the Old World since the fall of Rome. Finally Daniel said, “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” The Davidic hope and promise were therefore extended until they embraced the whole of the earth, ruled by the Shepherd of whom Ezekiel had spoken, the Davidic king, Immanuel.

A great trial fell upon Daniel’s three friends. Nebuchadnezzar set up an image, and issued a decree that at a given signal all the people were to fall down and worship it on pain of being cast into a fiery furnace. The three Jews refused to do this, and when brought before the king said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.” In a rage Nebuchadnezzar ordered the heat of the furnace to be increased seven-fold and the three men were cast into it. So fierce was the heat that those who threw them in were destroyed by it. Suddenly the king looking toward the furnace saw four forms walking in it, one of them was like unto a “son of the gods.” Approaching as near as he dared he called for the men to come forth. Not a hair of their heads had been singed; there was not even the smell of fire upon them.

God is in control

Later Nebuchadnezzar had another dream. He saw a great tree which was cut down and bound with a band of iron and brass. Daniel told him that the tree represented him, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar, and that a time of madness should overtake him, during which he should dwell with the beasts of the earth. The purpose of the dream was to teach him, and all others, that the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men. The madness of the king followed as Daniel had foretold. When Nebuchadnezzar recovered, he issued a decree that all peoples should worship the God of heaven, who was able to raise up kings and put them down as He willed.

The years passed by. Nebuchadnezzar died and Nabonidus ascended the throne of Babylon. He was an antiquarian rather than a king, and left the affairs of the kingdom to his son Belshazzar. At the beginning of the latter’s viceroyalty Daniel had a dream. He saw four beasts rise up out of the Great Sea. There was a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a great unnamed beast. There are obvious parallels between this vision and that which Nebuchadnezzar had seen, especially in the numbers four and ten (ten toes to the image and ten horns to the fourth beast). Ignor­ing details, the outcome of either dream is the same, for it was said to Daniel “The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; His kingdom is an ever­lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

n the last year of Belshazzar’s regency he gave a great feast to all the nobles of the kingdom. It was probably a religious festival, for outside the city the armies of Media and Persia were pressing on the siege. In the course of the feast Belshazzar sent for the vessels that had been brought from the temple at Jerusalem, and in them he pledged the gods of Babylon. As he did so a hand appeared against the white wall of the great throne room, and inscribed the words, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” Sobered by the sight, Belshazzar sought to understand the meaning of the words, but his wise men either could not, or would not, interpret them. At the suggestion of the Queen Mother Daniel was sent for, and told that if he would interpret the words he would receive great honours and be made the third ruler in the kingdom. It was the highest dignity Belshazzar could offer, for he him­self was the second in the kingdom. Daniel declined any honours, but he gave the interpretation of the words. Mene: God hath numbered thy kingdom and brought it to an end. Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. Peres: (Upharsin is a plural form of this. word). Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. The fulfilment followed, “In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.”

Fame and persecution

Before dealing with the events that affected the land of the Bible Story it will be well to review the things that happened to the Jews in Babylon and Persia. Under Darius Daniel was promoted to one of the highest positions in the State. He was then an old man, but that did not save him from the jealousy of the other officers of the kingdom, who took steps to bring about his fall. There was only one way to do this, and that was to get a decree issued to which Daniel would not, because he could not, conform. They placed before Darius a decree that any one who preferred a request to any king or god, other than Darius himself, during a period of thirty days, should be cast into the den of lions. The issue of the decree made no difference to the custom of Daniel. He had been in the habit of praying to his God, and he did not cease to do so. With his windows opened towards Jerusalem he kneeled down and prayed as usual. Exulting in the success of their stratagem, the lords denounced him to the king. Too late, Darius saw through their designs, and tried to save Daniel. But the decree could not be ignored and Daniel was cast into the den of lions.

Nothing is too hard for God, and He sent His angel to close the mouths of the lions and Daniel was unhurt. Early next morning the king went to the entrance of the den and called to Daniel. With intense relief he heard Daniel reply that God had sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. Daniel was drawn up from the den, and Darius gave instruc­tions for all his accusers and their families to be cast in. There was no restraint on the lions now; their native ferocity broke forth, and the men and their families perished.

Visions of the future

Daniel was a student of the prophets, and read in the writings of Jeremiah that a fixed time had been appointed for the desolations of Jerusalem. Intensely interested in the fact that the period was about to expire, he prayed that the desolations of the city might cease. In answer to his prayer the angel Gabriel was sent with a revelation concerning the Messiah. He was told that from the issue of a decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, seventy weeks were appointed and that near the end of that time the Anointed One, the Prince, should be cut off and should have nothing. It was a strange prediction and Daniel could not understand it. It all seemed wrong. The Messiah should be the stone cut out of the mountains without hands, who was to receive dominion, glory, and a kingdom that should stand for ever; how then could he be cut off? Books such as the one he had been studying spoke of somewhat similar things. They told of One who should be despised and rejected, who should be bruised for our iniquities, and who yet would divide the spoil with the strong, and in whose hand the pleasure of the Lord should prosper. More light was necessary, and that light came when the Light of the World appeared as the Messiah, who was cut off.

The story of Esther

Daniel was not the only Jew who remained in Babylon or Persia and rose to a position of power there. There was one Mordecai, a descendant of Kish, the father of Saul. He dwelt in Shushan in the days of Ahasuerus, or Xerxes. In the third year of that king’s reign a great assembly of notables was held. In the course of the festivities that took place, the king sent for Vashti, the Queen, that the princes might behold her beauty. Vashti refused to come, and was removed from her position as queen. Then a decree was issued commanding all the fair young virgins of the country to go to Shushan, that it might be seen which of them was worthy to occupy the position hitherto held by Vashti. Among those who went was Hadassah, a cousin of Mordecai. She was exceedingly beautiful, and was made Queen. About the same time Mordecai dis­covered a conspiracy to murder the king. He made it known to Esther (the new name given to Hadassah), who informed the king, and the conspirators were put to death.

At this point troubles began for Mordecai. The Grand Vizier of the country was Haman, and though all the people bowed before him, Mordecai would not do so. Haman was greatly annoyed and deter­mined on a great revenge. He scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone, he determined to get rid of all the Jews. He placed a garbled account of the position of the Jews before the king and obtained permis­sion to issue a decree for their destruction.
It was a bitter prospect, and Mordecai sent to Esther and urged her to plead the cause of her people. “Who knoweth,” he said, “whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Esther put on her royal robes and approached the king. It was a dangerous thing to do; it meant death unless the king held out his sceptre towards her. That happened, and Esther invited Ahasuerus and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet she sought another favourable sign, and invited the two to a banquet of wine on the following day. The intervening night was one of fate. The king could not sleep, and called for the chronicles of the king­dom to be read before him. The section read in­cluded an account of the conspiracy that Mordecai had discovered. “What has been done for him?” asked the king. “Nothing,” was the reply. The king enquired who was in the court, and was told that Haman had just come in. He had come to request the king’s permission to hang Mordecai on a great gallows which he had erected. When he came in he was met with the question, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” Thinking the king must intend to honour him he said, “Let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head of which a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes . . . and proclaim before the man, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour’.” “Go and do so,” said the king, “to Mordecai the Jew.” It was a bitter disappointment, but Haman had to obey.

At the banquet of wine Esther put forward her request. She besought the king to save her and her people from the man who would destroy them. “Who is he that durst do such a thing?” asked the king. “The enemy and adversary is that wicked Haman,” replied Esther, pointing to the Vizier. The attendants, sensing the king’s wrath, seized Haman, and told the king of the gallows that he had caused to be made for Mordecai. “Hang him there­on,” said the king, and he was led off to execution.

But the decree had been issued for the exter­mination of the Jews and it could not be rescinded. Esther approached the king again, and a further decree was issued giving the Jews permission to stand for their lives and put to death any who lifted a sword against them. They were thus saved from destruction, for few were ready to attack those whom the king favoured, and those who did perished. Mordecai was raised to the position pre­viously occupied by Haman. They were remarkable events, and are commemorated to this day by the Jews in the annual feast of Purim.