LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.
By G. H. Bell
- What king reigned in Babylon when the prophet Daniel and his people were captives in that city? Dan. 1.
- What was the extent of his dominion? Dan. 2:37, 38; 4:22; Jer. 27:4–11.
- What thoughts came into the mind of this great monarch of all the earth as he lay upon his bed? Dan. 2:29.
- Who made known to the king “what shall be in the latter days”? Verse 28.
- In what way did he make these things known? Dan. 2:1, 2, 3, &c.
- Who related the dream and gave the interpretation of it? Dan. 2:19–45.
- Relate the dream. Dan. 2:31–35.
- What nine verses give the interpretation of this dream, as given by the prophet?
- What did he say the head of gold denoted? Verses 37, 38.
- What did he say should arise after him? Verse 39.
- By what part of the image were the second and third kingdoms represented?
- What is said of the strength and conquests of the fourth kingdom? Verse 40.
- By what part of the image was this fourth kingdom represented?
- What did the toes of the image denote? Verse 41.
- What did the prophet say should take place in the days of these kings that should rule over the fourth kingdom in its divided state? Verse 44.
- Describe the kingdom of God. Verse 44.
About 607 years before Christ, Daniel and many more of the children of Israel were taken captives by Nebuchadnezzar, and carried away to Babylon, the capital of his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was a great king and ruled over all the nations of the earth. One night, as he was thinking about what should come to pass in future years, he fell asleep and had a wonderful dream. In his dream he saw a great image. Its head was of gold, its breast and arms of silver, the lower part of its body was of brass, and its legs and feet were of iron. Finally, a stone cut out of a mountain without hands smote the image on the feet, and dashed it to pieces. Then all parts of the image were shivered to atoms, and carried away by the wind. The stone then became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. None of the wise men of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom could interpret the dream, but the Lord showed its meaning to the Hebrew captive Daniel, and he explained it to the king. He said that the image represented four great kingdoms that were to rule the earth successively; the first represented by the head of gold, the second by the breast and arms of silver, the third by the brass, and the fourth by the legs and feet of iron. The first kingdom was that over which Nebuchadnezzar then ruled, Babylon. The fourth was to be strong as iron, breaking and bruising other nations as iron can break and bruise gold, silver, and brass. The toes of the image denoted a division of the fourth kingdom into ten parts. In the days of these kings that rule over the fourth kingdom in its divided state, the God of heaven is to set up a kingdom which will have no end. This fifth universal kingdom is symbolized by the stone that smote the image. G. H. BELL.