33 Q. Did the king hearken to his advice?

A. No; he did not obey the prophet; so the city was taken, and burnt, the princes of Judah were slain, and the king's sons were put to death before his eyes: then the king had his eyes put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon, and died there. Jer. xxxix. 1-10, and lii. 8-11.

Note.

Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Zedekiah, chap. xii. 23. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall

die there.

34 Q. What became of Jeremiah after the city was taken ?

A. Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to the officers of his army to take care of him; and to give him his liberty to go where he pleased. Jer. xxxix. 11, and xl. 4, 5.

35 Q. Whither did Jeremiah choose to go?

A. He chose to continue in the land of Israel, and put himself under the protection of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land. ver. 6, 7. 56 Q. Did Jeremiah continue under his protection ? A. Gedaliah was quickly slain by a faction raised by Ishmael; and Ishmael also was put to flight by another faction under the command of Johanan. Jer. xl. 41.

36

37 Q. What did Johanan do with Jeremiah?

A. He carried him and a multitude of the people into Egypt, in direct opposition to the advice which Jeremiah gave him from the Lord. chap. xlii. and xliii.

38 Q. What did Jeremiah do in the land of Egypt? A. He severely reproved the Jews for their idolatry there; he denounced ruin upon them; he took great stones and hid them in the clay at the entrance of Pharioh the king of Egypt's palace, and foretold, that Nebuchadnezzar should conquer Egypt, and should set his throne upon those stones. Jer. xliii. 9, 10.

39 Q. Among the several prophecies against the nations round about, did not Jeremiah foretel the destruction of Babylon ?

A. Yes; he pronounced the severe judgments of God against Babylon, who had plundered Jerusalem in a no

table and dreadful manner, as Isaiah did before him; all which were eminently fulfilled, partly when Cyrus the Persian took the city of Babylon, and partly in following times. Jer. 1. and li.

40 Q. What emblem or pledge did Jeremiah give of the accomplishment of this prophecy?

A. He wrote in a book all these threatenings, and bid Seraiah, one of the Jewish captives, read it when he came to Babylon, then bind a stone to it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, and say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall never rise again. Jer. li. 59–64,

CHAP. XVII.

The History of Daniel.

1 Q. WHO was Daniel ?

A. A young man of the tribe of Judah, who was car ried captive by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, in the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah. Dan. i. 1-6.

2 Q. How was he disposed of in Babylon ?

A. Daniel and his fellows, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were appointed to be nourished by the king's provision, and to be trained up in the learning of the Chaldeans, that in three years time they might stand before the king. ver. 5, 6.

3 Q. And did they, being Jews, eat of the king's provision, which was prepared after the manner of the heathens.?

A. No; they chose to be fed with pulse and water, rather than defile themselves with the king's meat. ver. 8-14.

4 Q. How did they thrive by it?

A. Their countenances appeared fairer, and their aspect was better approved by Melzar, who took care of them, than the rest who fed on royal dainties. ver. 15.

5 Q. How did they approve themselves when they were called before the king?

A. The king found them far wiser and better than all the astrologers and magicians in his kingdom. ver. 20. 6 Q. What was the first special occasion of Daniel's advancement at court?

A. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream which much troubled him, yet he forgot it in the morning; and sent orders to destroy all the wise men and astrologers, because they could not tell him both the dream and the interpretation thereof. Dan. ii. 1-13.

7 Q. How did Daniel obtain this secret from God? A. He engaged himself and his three companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in prayer to the God of heaven, that he would reveal this secret to them, that they might not all perish together with the astrologers, whom the king had doomed to death. Dan. ii. 16-18. 8 Q. What was this dream which Daniel rehearsed before the king?

A. There appeared a bright and terrible image, whose head was old, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of Brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of clay, which was dashed to pieces by a stone, and the stone became a mountain, and filled the whole earth. ver. 31-35.

9. What was the interpretation of it?

A. It signifies the four great monarchies of the world, namely, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, which should destroy one another in succession; and the last of them should be destroyed by the kingdom of Christ, which should spread through the earth and remain for ever. ver, 31-45.

10 Q. What honours did Nebuchadnezzar bestow on Daniel on this occasion ?

A. He acknowledged the supremacy of the God of Daniel, he made Daniel ruler over Babylon, and at his request made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, officers under him. ver. 46-49.

11 Q. What became of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

J. Notwithstanding the honour the king had given hem, yet they were cast into a fiery furnace, because

they would not worship a huge gold image which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Dan. iii. 1—21.

12 Q. What remarkable providence attended their being cast into the furnace ?

A The king being enraged at them for refusing boldly to worship this image, commanded the furnace to be made seven times hotter, even to such a degree, that the flame slew the men that cast them into it. ver. 22.

13 Q. How were they saved in the fiery furnace ?

A. Though these three men were cast into the furnace bound, and fell down in the fire, yet presently afterward, the king saw four men loose walking in the fire, and they had no hurt; and the form of the fourth was like the son of God, ver. 23, 24, 25, that is, some glorious person whom Nebuchadnezzar could not better describe than as a heavenly being, a son of God.

14 Q. What influence had this upon the king?

A. He called them to come out of the furnace, and blessed their God who had sent his angel to deliver them, and made a decree, that no man should speak against the God of the Jews. ver. 26-28.

15 Q. What other dream of Nebuchadnezzar's did Daniel interpret ?

A. The dream of a tall and spreading tree that was cut down, and the stump of it was left in the earth, and that it should have a beast's heart given it instead of a man's for seven years. Dan. iv. 1—16.

16 Q. What interpretation did Daniel give to it? A. That Nebuchadnezzar the king should be driven from his kingdom, should run mad, and dwell seven years with the beasts of the earth, and then be restored to his reason and his kingdom again. ver. 19-27.

17 Q. How soon was this fulfilled?

A. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace of Babylon, and boasting of his grandeur and majesty, and there fell a voice from heaven that his kingdom was departed, and he should be driven from men: and immediately he was seized with madness, and the sentence was executed upon him, and he fled from the

society of men, and herded with the beasts in the open field. ver. 28-33.

18 Q. What did Nebuchadnezzar do at seven years end, when his understanding and his kingdom were restored to him?

૧. He did further honours to the God of heaven, and published this history of himself, and these signs and wonders of the great God, throughout all his dominions. ver. 1--3.

19 Q. What notice was taken of Daniel in the time of Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar ?

A. He was sent for to court to read and interpret three or four words which were written upon the wall by the apparition of a hand while Belshazzar was feasting. Dan. v. 5-16.

20 Q. What was there in Belshazzar's feast that eminently provoked God against him?

A. He and his nobles drank in the holy vessels that were taken out of the temple of God at Jerusalem, and at the same time they praised their gods of gold and silver, of wood and stone. Dan. v. 1-4.

21 Q. What was the meaning of this writing against the wall?

A. That God had finished Belshazzar's kingdom, and given it to the Medes and Persians. ver. 25-28. 22 Q. What honour was done to Daniel?

A. He was immediately clothed in scarlet, with a chain of gold, and made the third ruler in the kingdom. ver. 29.

23 Q. When was this sentence executed on Belshazzar?

A. He was slain that very night, by the army under the command of Cyrus the general, who after a long siege took the city of Babylon, and the kingdom was translated to Darius the Mede, the emperor of the Medes and Persians. ver. 30, 31.

24 Q. Did Daniel lose his preferment by the change of the kingdom?

A. No; for Darius set Daniel over all the hundred