LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.
By G. H. Bell
LESSON X.—CHARACTERISTICS AND SYMBOLS.
1. In what condition was the kingdom of Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar had the dream recorded in Dan. 2? 2. How did Nebuchadnezzar rank among the monarchs of that kingdom? 3. What did the head of gold fitly represent? 4. What characteristics of the kingdom were best represented by the lion? 5. How did Babylon among the nations resemble the lion among beasts? 6. What Scripture proofs can you give to show that Babylon was a universal kingdom? 7. What change took place in the Babylonian kingdom? 8. How was this change indicated in the symbol? 9. Relate the circumstances of Belshazzar’s death. 10. By whom was Babylon taken? 11. How did Cyrus gain possession of the kingdom? 12. By what symbols was the Medo-Persian kingdom symbolized? 13. What would the silver seem to indicate? 14. Of what was the bear a fit emblem? 15. What example have we of the unyielding character of the Medo Persians? 16. What was said concerning the ram, that showed the universal dominion of the second kingdom? 17. What are the three ribs in the mouth of the bear supposed to denote? 18. What was denoted by the two horns of the ram? 19. Why is one represented as coming up last and being higher than the other? 20. Can you describe the city of Babylon and give the particulars of its capture? 21. What remarkable prophecy had foretold this event nearly two hundred years before? The kingdom of Babylon was in the height of its glory when Nebuchadnezzar, its most distinguished and powerful monarch, had the dream recorded in Dan. 2. The unparalleled wealth and magnificence of this kingdom were fitly represented by the head of gold, Dan. 2:38; and its power and military prowess, by the lion, Dan. 7:4. But under the dissolute reign of Belshazzar, the kingdom became weak, and to show this, it is said of the lion that his wings should be plucked, and a man’s heart given him. Daniel 7:4. It was while this Belshazzar was holding a drunken feast, and he and his lords were drinking wine from the golden vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, that Cyrus, at the head of the combined armies of the Medes and Persians, entered the city of Babylon at night, slew Belshazzar, and gained possession of the kingdom. Read Dan. 5. The Medo-Persian kingdom was first symbolized by the breast and arms of the image; secondly, by the bear; and thirdly, by the ram. The breast and arms being of silver, while the head was of gold, would seem to indicate that the second kingdom was inferior, in wealth and grandeur, to the first. The bear was a fit emblem of the cruelty and tenacity of the Medes and Persians; for the laws of that kingdom could not be changed, even to save Daniel from the lion’s den. The ram showed the universal dominion of the kingdom; for none could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand. Dan. 8:4. The three ribs in the mouth of the bear are supposed to denote some of the principal conquests of the Medo-Persian kingdom, probably Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt. The two horns of the ram, one higher than the other, denoted the two powers that were united in this kingdom, and that Persia, although it came up last, would rise higher in power than Media. NOTE ON THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON.—More than one hundred and seventy years before his birth, Cyrus was mentioned by name in prophecy as the one that was to conquer Babylon, even the manner in which he would enter the city being predicted. Isa. 44:28; 45:1-4. The city of Babylon was deemed impregnable. It was surrounded by a wall said to be three hundred feet high and eighty-seven feet thick. Outside of the wall was a vast ditch from which the material had been taken to build the wall. This ditch was filled with water making a canal of great depth and breadth. The city contained a store of provisions sufficient to last its inhabitants twenty years. The river Euphrates ran through the city, but it passed into the city and out of it under the wall, and on either side of the river there was a wall as high and strong as that which surrounded the city. Cyrus turned the river out of its natural channel into an artificial one which his men had dug. This left the bed of the river dry where it passed through the city, and through this river bed Cyrus and his army passed under the wall in the night, marched into the heart of the city, and entered it through gates that had been carelessly left open.