The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) (22 page)

Many great changes had been brought about in the Eastern world in the mean while. The Median empire, which had taken the place of the mighty Assyrian realm, was now in its turn to be conquered by a king of Persia called Cyrus the Great. He is called in the Bible the "anointed of the Lord," because he was the man chosen to fulfill some of the old prophecies.

As soon as Cyrus became master of Persia, Media, and Assyria, he longed also to conquer the more southern province of Babylon, and secretly made plans to enter into the city when his coming was not expected, and take possession of it.

One night, Belshazzar and all his courtiers were feasting in one of the magnificent palace halls. The king, probably excited by the wine he had drunk, suddenly gave orders that the golden vessels taken from the temple at Jerusalem should be brought to grace his feast.

He was just drinking out of one of these sacred cups, when all at once a ghostly hand appeared before him, and traced on the palace wall three mysterious words which he could not understand. Belshazzar grew pale and trembled, and sent in haste for the wise men; but they could not explain what the words meant.

Then the queen remembered that Daniel had explained Nebuchadnezzar's visions, and by her advice he was brought into the banquet hall. Without a moment's hesitation, the prophet of the Lord boldly told Belshazzar that because he had not humbled his heart before God he was about to be punished.

The mysterious words, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin," he said, meant that God had weighed Belshazzar in the balance and found him wanting, and that his kingdom would now be taken from him and given to the Persians.

Belshazzar rewarded Daniel for his explanation, which he either did not believe or tried to forget by going on with the feast. But that very night, when the revelers were fast asleep, the Persians secretly entered Babylon by turning aside the river which passed through it, and noiselessly following its bed into the very heart of the city.

In the Bible, we are simply told that "in that night was Belshazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, slain." Cyrus was now King of Babylon, but he spared the Jews in the general massacre which took place. Then, while the Persian king went on with his wars, Darius, the Mede, governed the conquered city, with the help of Daniel, who had been a faithful servant of the former kings.

Now it seems that many of the court officers were greatly offended at being obliged to render account to a Jew, and sought an excuse to get rid of Daniel. It was hopeless, they knew, to wait for him to commit any fault, so they made a plot whereby his religion would bring him into trouble with Darius.

Prompted by these artful men, Darius made one of those very strict laws, which even a king could not change, and said that no one should address any prayer to God or man for thirty days, under penalty of being cast into the lions' den.

Although Daniel knew this order, he did not let it hinder him. Opening his window, as usual, toward Jerusalem, he offered up his daily prayers. His enemies, lying in wait, found him out and told Darius; and then the king, although he would have liked to spare Daniel, was forced to keep his own law, and ordered that the prophet should be cast into the lions' den.

Darius, however, must have believed that God had the power to protect his servant; for he said to Daniel: "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee." It seems that Darius did not fear the hungry lions so much as he did his wicked courtiers; for as soon as his orders had been obeyed, he had a stone placed over the opening of the den, and set his seal upon it, so that it could not be moved without his knowledge.

Early on the next day, Darius hastened to the lions' den, and had the stone pushed aside. Then, bending over the dark hole, he anxiously cried: "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"

From the depths of that awful den came the calm reply: "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me." Daniel was now set free, his accusers were hurled into the lions' den in his stead, and Darius said publicly that Daniel's God should be honored throughout all the land.

DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN

T
HERE
is a story told about Daniel which is not found in all Bibles, but which has so often been used as a subject for pictures that it should be well known. This story tells us that when Daniel was very young, he was once present where a trial was taking place.

Two old men had come before the judge, and had accused a beautiful young woman named Susannah of a terrible crime. The judges, after listening to all that the old men had to say, condemned Susannah to death. The executioners were about to lead her away, when Daniel suddenly arose, and said that the old men were the real culprits and that they had tried to make Susannah do wrong; that, as she was a very good woman, she refused to do so, and the old men, in anger, had decided to punish her for not doing as they wished, by telling a lie to the judges.

When Daniel had spoken thus, the judges gazed upon the old men, whose guilty faces proved that he had told the truth. So the old men were condemned, and Susannah was allowed to go free. She was honored everywhere after this as a truly good woman.

Daniel's career after he had been saved from the lions' den seems to have been very prosperous. He spoke many prophecies, which are written down in the book bearing his name, and he foretold that at the end of seventy weeks the captive Jews would be allowed to go back to Jerusalem. He added that their hopes would finally be crowned by the coming of the long-promised Messiah, the Prince of Peace.

Daniel also had many visions, among which was one of four beasts. The first was like a lion with eagle's wings, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, with four wings and four heads, and lastly came another beast, different from all the rest, and with ten horns on its head. This strange vision, like the statue which Nebuchadnezzar had seen, was interpreted as a sign of the kingdoms which would rule the land in turn; and it has been called a prophecy of coming political events.

Cyrus the Great, having finished all his conquests, now came back to rule in person over Babylon; and there he soon made a law which allowed the Jewish captives to go back to Jerusalem, and he also gave them permission to rebuild their famous temple.

A great-grandson of King Jehoiakim was chosen by Cyrus to lead the Jews home, and a long caravan was soon formed, numbering forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty men. Among these was Jeshua, the high priest, to whom were intrusted all the golden vessels carried away from Jerusalem so many years before, and plenty of money to build a new temple.

As soon as the Jews came to Jerusalem, they offered up sacrifices, and began rebuilding both the city and the temple. They were greatly hindered in this work, however, by the constant raids of their neighbors, whose proffered services had been refused because they were idolaters.

As one half of the Jews were obliged to be always under arms and on the watch to drive back these enemies, the work went on very slowly. Then, long before the temple was finished, Cyrus died, and when a new king came to the throne, he sent them strict orders to stop their labors.

Two of the Hebrew prophets finally obtained the repeal of this order, and, setting vigorously to work, the Jews finished their new temple five hundred and fifteen years before Christ.

T
HE
next Persian king who claims our attention is Xerxes, who is called Ahasuerus in the Bible. This monarch had married a beautiful princess named Vashti. Proud of her beauty, he once bade her appear unveiled before his courtiers; but as such a thing seemed immodest to an Eastern woman, she refused to obey him.

The Persian king, whose orders had never before been disregarded, was so angry at Vashti for this refusal that he vowed he would never see her again. He soon regretted these rash words, for he loved her dearly; but as the words of a Persian king could never be taken back, he could not recall her.

His courtiers, seeing him sad and lonely, now suggested that the most beautiful maidens from all parts of his realm should be brought together, so that he might make choice of a new wife among them. The king was pleased by this suggestion; but as some time would be needed before it could be carried out, he spent the time of waiting by making his great expedition against Greece.
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On his return, the maidens were assembled, and he picked out from among them all a beautiful young Jewess named Esther, the niece of Mordecai, one of his government officers. Soon after the marriage had taken place, Mordecai made known to Esther a secret plot against the king's life, and thus helped him to seize and punish the men who would have liked to murder him.

The account of this service, and the name of the man who rendered it, were written down in the annals of the king's reign; for, like the other Persian monarchs, Ahasuerus kept a record of all that was done in his kingdom.

There was at the court, at this time, another foreigner, Haman the Amalekite, a cunning, cruel, and envious man. He hated all the Jews because they had been the enemies of his race, and he felt a special dislike for Mordecai, because this man had refused to show him the respect which he fancied was his due.

Haman, having reached the rank of prime minister and special adviser of the king, soon persuaded his master that the Jews in his kingdom were plotting a revolt. Thus he obtained from Ahasuerus a decree ordering a general massacre of all the Jews in his territory on a certain date.

In the time between the making and carrying out of this decree, the news came to the ears of Mordecai. He was in despair when he heard that he and all his unhappy race were doomed to die. In his grief, he tore his clothes and put ashes upon his head, which was the usual sign of mourning among the Jews at that time.

Then Mordecai went to sit at the palace gates, where some of the servants of Esther saw him. They went and told the queen that her uncle was out there, in deep grief. So Esther sent to ask what was the matter, and thus heard of the terrible decree which Haman had obtained from the king. She too was in despair, and when Mordecai said that she must go to her husband and plead for herself and for her people, she said that it was impossible.

It seems that no one in the whole Persian court was allowed to appear before the king without being called. If any one, even his wife, came into his presence unasked, the guards drew their swords and killed that person on the spot, unless the king stretched out his scepter to the visitor.

Urged by Mordecai, Esther finally said that she would risk her life to save her people, and, after spending some time in prayer, she dressed herself in her finest clothes, so that her beauty might help her to win the king's favor. Then she went into the king's room, but when she caught a glimpse of his stern face, she almost fainted with terror.

Ahasuerus now saw who it was that had dared to come into his presence without being asked. Touched by Esther's great beauty and entreating gestures, he not only forgave her for coming, but promised to grant any favor she might ask, even to the half of his kingdom.

Esther timidly said that if he would only honor her by coming to a feast in her rooms, to which Haman was also to be asked, she would tell him what wish had driven her into his presence at the risk of her life.

The king promised to come, and when Esther had gone, he called Haman and invited him to supper in his wife's name. Haman was delighted, for this was a very great honor; but as he left the palace he saw Mordecai, who again refused to bow down before him.

This second refusal made Haman so angry that he followed his wife's advice, and had a gallows built over seventy-five feet high. He meant to get the king's permission to hang Mordecai upon these gallows on the morrow, because he was too impatient for his revenge to wait until the day named for the killing of all the Jews.

O
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the night after Esther's visit, it happened that the king was very restless, and could not sleep. So he called one of his servants and bade him read aloud the annals of his reign. Ahasuerus listened, well pleased, until the man came to the part which told of the king's danger, and how he had been saved from death by Mordecai's warning.

The king, thus reminded of this great service, quickly asked what reward had been given to the man who had saved him. When the servant answered that nothing had been done for Mordecai, Ahasuerus was very indignant, and called for some one to advise him what reward would be best. The servant went in search of a courtier, and found Haman, who had come to the palace very early, so that he could get an order to hang Mordecai.

As soon as he was brought into the king's presence, Ahasuerus cried, "What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?"