p. 14 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 29. (7/16/1902)

LESSON 5.—AUGUST 2. PRESERVING THE TEMPLE FROM DEFILEMENT.

Lesson Scripture, Dan. 1:8–16, R.V.

8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs 9 that he might not defile himself. Now God made Daniel to find favor and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. 10 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 youths which are of your own age? so should ye endanger my head with the king. 11 Then said Daniel to the steward, whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the youths that eat of the king’s meat; and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he hearkened unto them in this matter, and proved them 15 ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths 16 which did eat of the king’s meat. So the steward took away their meat, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.”

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1. What principle ruled Daniel’s life?

2. What special circumstances opened the way for a violation of this principle?

3. In what request was the ruling principle of his life revealed?

4. How had the Lord prepared the way that this request might receive some consideration?

5. In his reply to Daniel’s request, what did the prince of the eunuchs say was his attitude toward his king? What had the king decided upon in this particular case?

6. What unfavorable result did the prince of the eunuchs expect would follow any departure from the diet ordered by the king? In what personal danger would this involve him?

7. What reasonable trial did Daniel then suggest? What diet did he ask for himself and his companions?

8. What test was to determine the comparative value of the two kinds of diet? What would this result decide?

9. What answer was made to Daniel’s request?

10. At the end of the ten days’ trial, what was the physical condition of Daniel and his companions?

11. What permanent change was accordingly made in their bill of fare?

NOTES.

[See also article on page 6, “With Thee Is the Fountain of Life.”]

1. THE only source of life in the universe is God. Ps. 36:9. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Acts. 17:25. Those who lay hold upon God’s life through faith in God’s gift of His Son (1 John 5:11, 12) become temples for this life (1 Cor. 3:16), and living stones in God’s house (1 Peter 2:4, 5). When a believer in the Gospel defiles his body, he defiles the temple of God, and this means destruction. 1 Cor. 3:17.

2. Now it was because the people of Jerusalem had lost sight of the fact that they themselves should be the temple of God, and that this was the essence of true religion, and had fixed their minds upon a temple of stone as the Lord’s temple, and had substituted mere ceremonialism for the true religion of the heart and life, that they had been deprived of their beautiful temple, the outward services were interrupted, and all the ceremonials of religion had ceased.

3. BUT during all this experience, Daniel and his companions had been true to right principles, and, knowing their value, they clung to them in Babylon as to their life, for such they were. The test of loyalty to principle came to them over the question of their food. “Why did Daniel and his companions refuse to eat at the king’s table? Why did they refuse his meats and wines?—Because they had been taught that this class of food would not keep the mind or the physical structure in the very best condition of health to do God’s service. The four Hebrew captives were thereafter permitted to have the diet they had chosen. What effect did it have upon the mind and character? They had conscientiously refused the stimulus of flesh and wine. They obeyed God’s will in self-denial, and He showed His approval.”—Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers, No. 1, p. 60.

4. NOTE just what the record says was the result of the trial. The countenances of Daniel and his companions “appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.” Two things would contribute to this result: Daniel and his companions maintained, and doubtless improved, their former condition of health, while those who departed from principle degenerated in health and appearance. No doubt their loyalty to principle under severe trial brought to Daniel and his companions a fuller flow of life than was contained even in the food which they ate, and this fulness of life revealed itself in their physical appearance. On the other hand, those who denied their faith suffered a loss, which also showed itself in their appearance.

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7	How Esther Read Her Bible	50	½
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9	The Eleventh Hour	50	½
10	Benefits of Bible Study	50	½
11	Righteousness—Where Is It to Be Found?	50	½
12	Power of Forgiveness	50	½
13	Responsibility of Parents	50	½
14	Choose Ye This Day	50	½
15	The Cross of Christ	50	½
16	The New Birth	25	1
17	“What Must I Do to Be Saved?”	50	½
18	The Literal Week	50	½
19	The Christian Life	25	1
20	Your Life Work—Is it of Man or of God?	50	½
21	Acceptable Service	50	½
22	Have Faith in God	50	½
23	The Riches of His Grace	50	½
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36	The True Church	50	½
37	Letter and Spirit	50	½
38	Who Are the Saints	50	½
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40	Coming of our Lord	50	½
41	Foreknowledge and Foreordination	50	½
42	Jesus and the Resurrection	50	½
44	Back to the “Old Paths”	25	1
45	Historical Facts and Incidents	25	2
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48	“Try the Spirits”	50	½
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50	Day of the Sabbath	25	1
51	Heralds of His Coming	25	1½
52	Prayer	25	1
53	Winning of Margaret	25	1
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55	Twelve Principles of Holy Living	50	½
56	There Is Help in God	50	½
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59	The Earnest of our Inheritance	50	½
60	A Living Saviour	50	½
61	Gracious Invitation	25	½
62	Return of the Jews	25	2
63	Jesus Died For You.	50	½
64	Salvation Through Christ	50	½
65	Why Are You Not a Christian?	50	½
66	An Astronomer’s View of Our Father’s House	25	1½
67	A Chat with My Tobacco-Loving Brother	50	½
68	Food: Its Mental and Moral Value	50	½
69	Some One Cares for Your Soul	50	½
70	What History Says Concerning the Change of the Sabbath	50	½
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To the Man Who Is Afraid to Sign His Name

“To the Man Who Is Afraid to Sign His Name” is the heading of a note in the Sunday School Times of June 28. The matter of the note is so in keeping with what other editors receive, and the little note itself is so apt a reply, that we quote it for the benefit of our anonymous correspondents. The editor says: “A striking instance of the spirit that is invariably back of an anonymous letter has come to the editor in the form of some comments attacking one of the lesson-writers of the Sunday School Times. The message is scrawled on the margin of a page torn from the Times, and was sent from Boston to the editor in an envelope which originally bore on the upper left-hand corner a name and address, but these were painstakingly erased before mailing. The matter would not be referred to here, were it not worth calling attention to as an admirable example of the cowardice which prompts one to write anonymously. The subject of this anonymous writer’s comments was entirely worthy of notice, and the editor would gladly have considered them, if they had been signed. But their disembodied state exposes their writer’s spirit, and renders them worthless.”

Brave, Sensible Man.

The World tells us the following: The title of D.D. was recently conferred upon John Thompson, pastor of the Centennial M. E. Church, of Rockford, Ill., by Taylor University. In reply to a question he said: “No, I do not value a degree. When the day comes that I find it necessary to have these things to keep me in a position of credit and dignity among my brethren of the ministry, I will seek some other work, some other field of usefulness.”

How much better is this than the purchase of titles and cabalistic abbreviations from some society of little worth and no reputation. “Semi-lunar fardels,” Leonard Woolsey Bacon called them. It’s the same seeking after honor that leads people to call any one that ever tried to preach “doctor,” and whoever may attempt to teach anything, from pugilism to polo playing and hypnotism, “professor.” It is the same thing which originated something like 300 “degrees” of comparative ignorance with their cabalistic letters. And the same thing is fostered in the lower grades of our schools among the elementary students. Sometimes they designate real merit. As frequently they mean that the wearer has squeezed through a certain examination. The true student will strive for the real knowledge, not for certain labels of men’s judgment. It is unfortunate that so many of the youth are constantly being educated away from the true idea.

Concerning Pessimism

Read “Concerning Pessimism,” on page 5. It may give you a profitable thought.

Extra Copies

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Harvest Ingathering Service

Harvest Ingathering Service.—We call the attention of S. S. superintendents, teachers, and others interested, to the Harvest Ingathering Service there suggested. It could be easily learned by the children, and would impress a useful moral lesson.

Lessons from Earthly Convulsions

By Editor

We have the last two weeks given more space than usual to some of the recent earthly convulsions. There is much more to be said; God's Word has much more to say. The lessons are obvious. We should learn to hate sin by witnessing these results. We should learn not to twine our affections around earthly things, nor hide our treasures where destruction is sure to overtake them.

Loyalty to God's Truth

It is not a time to be experimenting with the various systems of paganism that are lifting their heads for recognition now; and certainly it is not a time to be setting human wisdom above the Word of God, and thus be preparing soil for the seeds of those systems to take root in and grow upon. The Christian has no time for such a work as that; nay, he can not do such a work as that and be a worker in the Master's cause; and as there is no neutral ground now, there is only one other cause in which he can engage, and God has no reward for labor done therein. In the midst of all this seeking to the dead, God is setting forth His truth anew in strong and definite characters. He demands loyalty, and the Christian can not afford now to give anything less.

A Pleasant Occasion.

The writer had the pleasure of attending the commencement exercises of the School for Christian Nurses in the Medical and Surgical Sanitarium Chapel, at St. Helena, Cal., June 18. There were nine graduates, three young men, of whom one was a Japanese, and six young women. The exercises were very simple, and approvingly brief. The address was given by the president of the board, A. T. Jones. It was an intensely practical address, in which reference was made to the principles taught the class, and they were strongly exhorted to be true to these principles; not to the institution, not to their church, but to the principles of light, and truth, and healing they had been taught, and which the great sick world needed. The diplomas were presented by A. N. Loper, M.D., the medical superintendent of the Sanitarium. The names of those who compose the class are as follows: Beatrice Ellingsen, Bertha Speare, Lillie Masters, Martha Warne, Ida Rodman, Lillie Whitbeck, H. W. Crane, C. E. Boger, T. Kawano. As was befitting, there was no special effort put forth for show, no extra expense indulged in graduating dresses. The class were arrayed in the simple, modest nurse uniform, no different from their companions about them. The songs and music were sweet and appropriate. May God bless these Christian nurses as they go forth in their work of love and oft-times arduous duty; and may His blessing rest upon the training-school that is sending out such workers.

Put It the Other Way.

By Editor

Supposing we should read in a morning paper that an American boy had slashed a Chinese; that the reason why he did it was that the Chinese boys had yelled at him, thrown stones at him, etc. What would anti-Chinese papers say?—Every one of them would come to the defense of the American boy who was goaded to desperation by the Chinese lads. Well, the very opposite of this took place recently in the city of San Jose. Three boys are said, in a news item, to have “shouted at” a Chinese, and “tossed rocks toward him.” The Chinese is called “vicious.” Where did the viciousness begin? Now we are not talking on Chinese exclusion laws, either for or against. That is a purely political matter which we will not discuss. But on the broad grounds of humanity, the rights of a Chinese are as sacred as those of an American. Further, we never knew of any viciousness manifested on the part of a Chinese toward white people, unless he was goaded to it by whites. He is not the aggressor. It is a common thing to see them insulted, and mocked, and stoned by white hoodlums. The chances are ten to one in this case that the boys reaped their own sowing. As long as the Chinese are here, treat them according to the Golden Rule.

Jefferson’s Religious Views

Anent the discussion over “Jefferson's Bible” and the strong protest against its publication by Congress, it may be well to remark that Foley's “Jeffersonian Cyclopedia” (published by Funk and Wagnalls Company) gives all of the recorded religious utterances of Mr. Jefferson which are of any significance, in classified form and in chronological order. We there learn that he contributed $50 to the Bible Society for the circulation of the Scriptures; and that he said of the Gospel in 1814, “There never was a more pure and sublime system of morality delivered to man than is to be found in the four Evangelists.” He said much else besides. He surely could not be said to be an infidel; and he did not believe in attempting to enforce by law religious acquiescence. Here are three utterances to the point: “I may grow rich by art I am compelled to follow; I may recover health by medicines I am compelled to take against my own judgment; but I can not be saved by a worship I disbelieve and abhor.” “God Himself will not save men against their own wills.” “The life and essence of religion consists in the internal persuasion or belief of the mind.”

A Great Mistake.

Occasionally we hear a spectacular expression of encouragement to Bible study from some prominent Catholic prelate in America, but in most other countries the priesthood are openly against the Bible as a book for popular reading. A recent letter to the Catholic Mirror from the Philippines shows that the friars do not want the Scriptures disseminated there. The correspondent says: “Last week a Protestant minister came to a private school conducted by the Jesuits. He had evidently made a mistake. He began distributing Bibles, tracts, etc. The Jesuits drove him forth without ceremony.” If the Protestant minister unceremoniously went into a private school to distribute literature without permission, as stated, he certainly made a mistake; and the Jesuits also made a mistake when they “drove him forth without ceremony.” Neither act was gentlemanly, much less Christian. But the greatest mistake of all was that of the Jesuits when they cast out the Word of God.

For the Silence of the Novelist

“For the Silence of the Novelist.”—A prominent English novelist expresses his opinion that it would be “a matter of small moment if no more novels were written for the next fifty years.” More than this, it would be a great blessing. The young and the youth are feeding upon a mental pabulum which is making mental dyspeptics, mental inebriates, mental and moral contortionists, mental and physical degenerates and lunatics. The same Literary Digest which speaks of this, has an article lamenting the decline of historical writing in literary value. And there is less reading of history, less heeding of its tremendous lessons.

The Positivists’ Religion of Humanity

The Positivists, a modern cult with an extremely negative religion, are soon to dedicate a monument to one of their most renowned builders, Auguste Comte, whose supreme thought, as expressed in the Literary Digest of June 28, was “Humanity, enfranchised from all religions which in their time have helped to develop it, has no longer any other object of religious worship than itself.” It is only another form of nature worship.

The Author

By Editor

The Author.—In our issue of May 21 was printed a poem and ascribed to that wonderfully versatile author, “Anon.” The true author is Edith Ross, of Georgetown, Colo. It was first published four years ago in the Review and Herald.