army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you :

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

COMMENT.-After the battle of Carchemish had left Judah exposed to the vengeance of Nebuchadrezzar, among the people who were obliged to take refuge within the walls of Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean armies-who had overspread Judea-were the Rechabites. These were those Midianites descended from Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, who had been invited to live in the promised land. To them had belonged Heber and Jael, the Kenites; to them also Jonadab, the chieftain whom Teh had invited to come and see his zeal for the T

Jonadab, shocked at the idolatry

prevailed among the Israeli

hoped to preserve purity

descendants, by bin

drink wine or an

yard, nor to

shepher

place with their flocks and herds, and avoiding the large and corrupt cities.

Thus had they done, till the danger that such a pastoral people must suffer from an invading army had forced them to come within the walls, and Jeremiah was commanded to make their obedience a lesson to the Jews. He was to bring them into the house of one of the most honourable and religious men of the city and offer them wine. Now, to refuse refreshment in a stranger's house is reckoned insulting in the East, and these wanderers, fugitives dependent on the kindness of the Jews, might well have feared to give offence. Besides (as in the case of the men of God from Judah), the proposal came to them from a prophet, and likewise a priest, and it was made in the house of a "man of God." There were plenty of excuses that the Rechabites might have made to themselves. But their answer was simple. Their father had forbidden them; they must refuse. Then God bade Jeremiah show the Jews how these people put them to shame. They obeyed the commands of an earthly father, which bound them to a strict life. Judah had obstinately disobeyed the repeated commands, coupled with promises, of their Father in Heaven. Therefore, for their obedience, a signal blessing is given to the Rechabites: "They shall not want a man to stand before me for ever." It appears that the Rechabites were in some manner allowed to join the Levites in the service of the Temple, and that in that sense they stood before God. Moreover, there is a tribe still existing in Arabia who still own Rechab as their father, and still observe his rule, so that God's promise that they shall never fail has been most perfectly fulfilled.

And observe well what it was for. It was not the fact of never touching wine, but the obedience to the father who commanded it. Does not this show us that God loves nothing better than obedience? Those who will be brave, and not ashamed to say, "I cannot do this thing-my parents forbid it,”—are not they likely to be blessed by Him who saw and blessed the Rechabites? If they had said, "We cannot be so uncivil as to refuse; we shall be thought rude, ignorant, wild men of the desert; it cannot be wrong when a holy priest and prophet like Jeremiah offers it," what a blessing and honour they would have missed!

LESSON C.

DANIEL IN CAPTIVITY

B.C. 606.-DAN. i.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.

And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah :

Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach ; and to Mishael of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank : therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

Then said Daniel to Melzar,* whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse + to eat, and water to drink.

Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.

So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.

And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

*

COMMENT.-Nebuchadnezzar † seems to have conquered Jerusalem easily, and in the Chronicles we find that he put Jehoiakim in fetters, intending to carry him to Babylon; but he changed his mind on some promise of submission to him rather than to Egypt, and left him on his throne, carrying off, however, some of the treasures of the Temple to the land of Shinar, the country by Euphrates where Babel had once stood; and it is from this great conquest in 606 that the seventy years' captivity are counted, thus foretold by Jeremiah.

He also carried off some of the young princes of Judah-sons, uncles, brothers, or nephews of the king, thus fulfilling the sentence to Hezekiah that his posterity should be slaves in the palace of the King of Babylon. But it is quite possible to live under the doom caused by the sins of our forefathers, and yet turn it into a blessing. These sons or grandsons of good Josiah were not like their profane and wicked brothers who sat on the throne. They brought away thoughts of the Temple and the Law, the good king-only four years dead, and of the prophet's teaching. The eldest of them is reckoned as having been only twelve years old, yet they were staunch in their faith and duty, though taken away from all that could have helped them. No more daily sacrifice, no more psalms, no more Passovers, no more days of Atonement, no more preachings from Jeremiah. Their very names were changed. Daniel (God is Judge) was changed to the heathen Belteshazzar (Bel is prince); Azariah (the Lord helps) to Abed

Those who told fortunes from the stars.

The Books of Kings and Chronicles speak of the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the Book of Daniel of the third, probably because this last book was written at Babylon, and reckons the time when Nebuchadnezzar set off from home, while the historical books take up the time when he reached Jerusalem.

nego, servant of Nego, a Chaldean god. The meaning of Shadrach and Meshach is not known. Instead of princes they were slaves, and as they were intended for the king's service, they were to be instructed in the Chaldean learning. This was very considerable. There was much real knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and several other sciences, but there was also much mixture of magic and soothsaying. However, these princely boys studied Chaldean wisdom obediently, as Moses had studied Egyptian learning; but they kept resolutely from all that was idolatrous. Their especial difficulty was their food, since meat was almost always dedicated to some idol before it was eaten, and besides, it would be killed with the blood, and might consist of animals forbidden by the Law. The four boys entreated the Melzar, or cupbearer, who had charge of them, that they might not be forced to eat anything but pulse or beans, which could not be unclean, and when he feared that their half-starved looks might displease his master, Daniel begged that ten days' trial might be made. At the end of that time the four friends were fairer and fatter than their companions who had enjoyed the king's meats, and they had too such a portion of the grace of David and wisdom of Solomon, that when they were examined before the king they proved to have made far more progress than any others of the young students; while Daniel had a gift of inspiration of his own. But never let it be forgotten that the beginning of Daniel's greatness was the careful obedience to the Law that made him deny himself, and live a hard and trying life. If they had yielded to the pleasures of taste, these four boys would have found it far less possible to confess their faith when called to their greater trials.

LESSON CI.

THE CAPTIVITY OF JEHOIACHIN.

B.C. 599.-2 KINGS xxiv.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.

And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon,