Earlier text: General ArticlesThoughts on Daniel.
By Uriah Smith
CHAPTER IX.—THE SEVENTY WEEKS.
VERSE 1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2. In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came by Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. The vision recorded in the preceding chapter was given in the third year of Belshazzar, B. C. 553. The events narrated in this chapter occurred in the first year of Darius, B. C. 538. A period of fifteen years is consequently passed over between these two chapters. Although Daniel was cumbered with cares and burdens, as prime minister of the foremost kingdom on the face of the earth, he did not let this deprive him of the privilege of studying into things of higher moment, even the purposes of God, as revealed to his prophets. He understood by the books, that is the writings of Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the captivity of his people. This prediction is found in Jer. 25:12; 29:10. The knowledge of it, and the use that was made of it, shows that Jeremiah was early regarded as a divinely-inspired prophet; otherwise his writings would not have been so soon collected and so extensively copied. Though Daniel was for a time contemporary with him, he had a copy of his works which he carried with him in his captivity; and though he was so great a prophet himself, he was not above studying carefully what God might reveal to others of his servants. Commencing the seventy years B. C. 606, Daniel understood that they were now drawing to a termination; and God had even commenced the fulfillment by overthrowing the kingdom of Babylon. VERSE 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. Because God has promised, we are not released from the responsibility of beseeching him for the fulfillment of his word. Daniel might have reasoned in this manner: God has promised to release his people at the end of the seventy years; and he will accomplish it; I need not, therefore, concern myself at all in the matter. Daniel did not thus reason; but as the time drew near for the accomplishment of the word of the Lord, he set himself to seek the Lord with all his heart. And how earnestly he engaged in the work, even with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes! This was the year, probably, in which he was cast into the lions' den; and the prayer of which we here have an account, may have been the burden of that petition which regardless of human laws to the contrary, he offered before the Lord three times a day. VERSE 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments. We here have the opening of Daniel's wonderful prayer—a prayer expressing such humiliation and contrition of heart, that he must be without feeling who can read it unmoved. He commences by acknowledging the faithfulness of God. God never fails in any of his engagements with his followers. It was not from any lack on God's part in defending and upholding them, that the Jews were then in the furnace of captivity, but only on account of their sins. VERSE 5. We have sinned and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. 6. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9. O Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12. And he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us, and against our judge, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us; yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth; for we obeyed not his voice. So much of Daniel's prayer is employed in making a full and heart-broken confession of sin. He vindicates fully the course of the Lord, acknowledging their sin to be the cause of their calamities, as God had threatened them by the prophet Moses. And he does not discriminate in favor of himself. No self-righteousness appears in his petition. And although he had suffered long for others' sins, enduring seventy years of captivity for the wrongs of his people, he meanwhile having lived a godly life, and received signal honors and blessings from the Lord, brings no accusations against any one to the exclusion of others, pleads no sympathy for himself as a victim of others' wrongs, but ranks himself in with the rest, and says, We have sinned, and unto us belongeth confusion of face. And he acknowledges they had not heeded the lessons God designed to teach them by their afflictions, by turning them again unto him. An expression in the 14th verse is worthy of especial notice: "Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us." Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. But none may think that the Lord does not see, or that he has forgotten. His retributions will surely overtake the transgressor against whom they are threatened, without deviation, and without fail. He will watch upon the evil, and in his own good time will bring it to pass. VERSE 15. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. The prophet now pleads the honor of the Lord's name as a reason why he desires that his petition should be granted. He refers to the fact of their deliverance from Egypt, and the great renown that had accrued to the Lord's name for all his wonderful works manifested among them. All this would be lost, should he now abandon them to perish. Moses uses the same argument in pleading for Israel. Num. 14. Not that God is moved with motives of ambition and vain glory; but when his people are jealous for the honor of his name, when they evince their love for him by pleading with him to work, not for their own personal benefit, but for his own glory that his name may not be reproached and blasphemed among the heathen—this is acceptable with him. He then intercedes for the city of Jerusalem called by his name, and his holy mountain, to which he has had such love, and beseeches him for his mercies' sake, to let his anger be turned away. Finally, his mind centers upon the holy sanctuary, God's own dwelling-place upon this earth, and he pleads that its desolations may be repaired. Daniel understood the seventy years of captivity to be near their termination. From his allusion to the sanctuary, it is evident that he so far misunderstood the important vision given him fifteen years before, as to suppose that the 2300 days, at the termination of which the sanctuary was to be cleansed, expired at the same time. This misapprehension was at once corrected, when the angel came to give him further instruction in answer to his prayer, the narration of which is next given. VERSE 20. And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. We here have the result of Daniel's supplication. He is suddenly interrupted by a heavenly messenger. The angel Gabriel, appearing again as he had before, in the form of a man, whom Daniel had seen in the vision at the beginning, touched him. A very important question is here to be determined. It is to be decided whether the vision of chapter 8 has ever been explained, and can ever be understood. The question is, To what vision does Daniel refer by the expression, "the vision at the beginning?" It will be conceded by all that it is a vision of which we have some previous mention, and that in that vision we shall find some mention of Gabriel. We must go back beyond this ninth chapter; for all that we have in this chapter previous to this appearance of Gabriel is simply a record of Daniel's prayer. Looking back, then, through previous chapters, we find mention of only three visions given to Daniel. The interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar was given in a night vision. Chap. 2:19. But there is no record of any angelic agency in the matter. 2. The vision of chap. 7. This was explained to Daniel by "one of them that stood by;" probably an angel; but we have no information as to what angel; nor is there anything in that vision which needed further explanation. 3. The vision of chapter 8. Here we find some particulars which show this to be the vision referred to: 1. Gabriel is brought to view for the first and only previous time in the book. 2. He was commanded to make Daniel understand the vision. 3. Daniel, at the conclusion, says he did not understand it; showing that Gabriel, at the conclusion of that chapter, had not fulfilled his mission. 4. There is no place in all the Bible where this instruction is carried out, if it be not in chapter 9. If, therefore, the vision in chapter 8 is not the one referred to, we have no record that Gabriel ever complied with the instructions given him, or that that vision has ever been explained. 5. The instruction which the angel now gives to Daniel, as we shall see from the following verses, does exactly complete what was lacking in chapter 8. These considerations prove beyond a doubt the connection between Daniel 8 and 9; and this conclusion will be still further strengthened when we come to look at the angel's instructions. DANCING is not a Christian institution. It had its origin in paganism, and is the offspring of man's natural depravity. Profane history frequently makes mention of it as a common practice among the ancients. It constituted a part of their religious rites and ceremonies. They danced before their altars and around the statues of their gods. The Greek chorus, in the oldest time, consisted of the whole population of the city, who met in the public place to offer up thanksgiving to their country's god, by singing hymns and performing corresponding dances. The Spartans had a law obliging parents to exercise their children in dancing from the age of five. This was done in the public place, to train them for the armed-dance, and their great festival occasions. One on my left hand affirms "that it is a healthful pastime." Have those the best health who do the most of it? In what does the peculiar healthfulness of dancing consist? In violent and unnatural exercise; in the swift alternations of heat and cold; in the exposure, constant, imminent and unavoidable, in the dress and refreshments. Who can be ignorant of the fact that among the dancers pulmonary consumption often finds its victim decked for the sacrifice? If Christians seek only a relaxation from toil, a pleasing recreation, or improvement of health, each could be procured without the scandal and reproach of dancing. But dancing is a representative of a peculiar species of dissipation, and those who love the dissipation love the dance. Without such love the pastime would not be tolerated one moment. Shut up a young person alone in a room, with a command to dance for health, from bed-time till dawn, and such a command would be pronounced an act of the grossest cruelty. A whip of small cords would be necessary to enforce it. Dancing is also identified with late hours and full suppers; these constitute half of the charm of the dance. It is associated with an immodest mingling of all classes and characters. It is distinguished by a rude familiarity, which, in any other amusement, would be resented as an insult—resented with indignation. It is, as to cause and effect, immodest. It is immodest as to the material worn, and in the fashion of the dress. A lady who would appear at her table, or in her drawing-room, in the garb she would wear at a ball, would at once lose her reputation for modesty. On the boards of a theater the charm of65 the dance is its indecorous character. The more wanton the figure, the more propriety is violated, the louder is the applause, the higher the premium of the boxes! It is not recreation or exercise people plead for when they dance, but dissipation in some degree, of which dancing is the representative. Peter commands the Christian women to adorn themselves with "a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price." Let a dancing Christian, arrayed for her amusement, compare herself with this description. Let her look at its influence upon her health, her character for consistency, her reputation for modesty, and then decide, if she can, that dancing is consistent with her vows to God. We say not the mere bodily exercise does all this. But we do say that such results are so inseparably connected with dancing, that without them it would not be sought for by its patrons, nor condemned by its religious opposers.—Am. Wesleyan. The Sabbath-School.
By S. S. Times
Our familiarity with a word often stands in the way of our knowing that word's meaning. We are so accustomed to the use of the word, and we have used it freely so long, that we do not stop to consider its real scope and limitations; nor would it be easy for us to declare these, if we were asked to define the word. Sometimes, therefore, there is a decided gain in putting ourselves directly at the task of settling what we mean by a word which is on our lips every day of our lives. We may find that we have had an utterly wrong conception of the idea involved in that word; or, again, we may find that we have had no particular thought of any idea involved in it, but have taken it merely as an arbitrary designation of a fact or a thing familiar to us. "Teaching" is a word of this sort, as a moment's reflection will convince almost any one who uses the word. What is "teaching?" You say that you are "a teacher:" what do you mean by this? You say that you are "ready to teach" your class: what do you mean by this? You say that you "have taught" your class: what do you mean by this? How many who call themselves, and who are called by others, "Sabbath-school teachers," have a well-defined idea of what teaching is; yet how can one fairly call himself a "teacher," when he doesn't even know the nature of his mission? There is certainly very little hope of a man's being successful in any endeavor, so long as he is in doubt or in ignorance as to what he is trying to do. This truth would seem to be fairly beyond question. One may be called "a teacher" without being a "teacher." A superintendent may appoint one to the office of teacher in the Sabbath-school, or the church authorities may duly designate him as such, without his being competent to teach. That makes him "a teacher"—by the record; but it doesn't make him "a teacher"—in fact. Nor does his acceptance of the position tendered him make the selected "teacher" a "teacher." His saying that he is "a teacher" no more gives him a fitness to "teach" than does the saying of those in authority over the school. "How many legs does a calf have if you count his tail one?" is a boy's conundrum. "Five," answers one. "Not a bit of it," says the other. "Counting a calf's tail a leg doesn't make it one. A calf has only four legs, however you count them." How many real "teachers" are there in all the Sabbath-schools of the United States, "counting" all who are on the rolls as teachers? There are two ways of answering that question; and the answers would be a long apart. Until each one of those teachers knows what "teaching" is, he is unable to decide for himself whether he is a "teacher" in fact, or only "a teacher" by the record. Yet it makes a vast difference to a Sabbath-school whether it has teachers who fill their places, or only teachers who hold them. Perhaps the best definition of "teaching" which has been given, is "the causing another to know." There is such a thing as teaching by example, unconscious teaching; teaching others by the spirit we display, or by the manners we practice; causing others to know, from what they see in us, that our way is desirable, or that it is most undesirable; leading them in the path we pursue, or impelling them toward any other path than that. Teaching of this kind, all of us are given to, at all times. In this sense, we all are teachers, always. We are continually causing those about us to know the better way, or the worse. But it is not of this kind of teaching that we speak, when we say that we are Sabbath-school teachers; that we expect to teach our class next Sabbath; or, that we taught our class last Sabbath. We have in mind, in such phrases, an active and purposeful service, rather than that unconscious teaching of ours which is inevitable, whether we desire it or not. It is the causing another to know that which we know, and which he does not; that which we want him to know, and which we seek to have him know;—which is "teaching" in its technical sense; teaching in the sense in which we use the term, when we say that we have been teaching a particular lesson to a particular scholar or class. In this sense, "teaching" obviously involves the threefold idea of a teacher, a lesson, and a learner; it involves knowledge on the teacher's part, and, at the start, the lack of it on the part of the scholar; also, an actual transfer of that knowledge from the teacher's mind to the scholar's, before the teaching process is concluded. Hence, to say that you have "taught a lesson," includes the idea that some one has learned that lesson; for unless there is learning by a learner there can be no teaching by a teacher; and until the teacher has caused a learner to know a lesson, or a truth, the teacher has only been trying to teach—so far without success. Just here is the great difference between preaching, or lecturing, or talking, or telling a thing, and "teaching." One can preach all by himself. He can lecture to a listless gathering, or to none at all. He can talk to himself, or to others who pay no attention to what he says. He can tell a thing to the winds, or to hearers who neither understand nor heed him. But he cannot "teach" all by himself; he cannot teach without attentive hearers; he cannot teach unless some one learns. Teaching always includes two persons, both of them active. Nor is it enough that there be two persons, both of them active; but active over the same lesson. This may be secured by hearing a recitation, and commenting on it; but that is not necessarily teaching. The scholar, in such a case, may be merely exercising his memory, reciting what he has memorized verbally without understanding a word of it; he learns nothing; he is not taught anything; he is not caused to know a single fact or truth, by his teacher's hearing him recite; nor does he learn anything by his teacher's wisest comment, if he pays no attention to that comment, or if he is unable to understand it. "Teaching" as "causing another to know," includes the mutual effort of two persons to the same end. The teacher must endeavor to cause the pupil to learn a particular fact or truth which he wants him to know; the learner must endeavor to learn that particular fact or truth. Until the two are at this common work, the process of "teaching" is not begun; until the learner has learned, the teacher has not taught. "Teaching" is by no means all of "a teacher's" work; nor is it always the most important work of a teacher. Impressing one's pupils, and influencing them, are important factors in a teacher's work; when we speak of "a teacher," as one having children in charge, in a school—on a week-day, or a Sunday. A teacher's spirit, a teacher's character, a teacher's atmosphere, a teacher's life, impress and influence a pupil quite as much as a teacher's words. It is a teacher's duty to love his scholars, and to show his love for them; to have sympathy with them, and to evidence it; to gain a hold on their affections, outside of the class-hour, as well as during it; and to pray for them specifically and in abiding faith. There is no technical "teaching" in all this; but what would technical teaching be worth without this? There are "teachers" in the Sabbath-school who do a great deal of good without "teaching;" they perhaps do a better work in the Sabbath-school than those of their fellows, who do teach. Their work ought not to be undervalued because it is not "teaching;" neither ought it to be confounded with "teaching." Impressing and influencing members of a class is one thing; teaching a Bible lesson is another thing; the two may go on together, or again, there may be the one without the other. Whether the one or the other is wanted, or both together are desired, it is important to bear in mind what "teaching" is, as distinct from any other desirable work of "a teacher." If a Bible lesson is worth teaching, it ought to be taught; if it is taught, it must be by the process of "teaching;" and there is no such thing as teaching by a teacher, unless at the same time there is a learning by a learner. The question, therefore, at the close of each Sabbath-school hour, is—not, Were you with your class? not, Did you prepare yourself on the lesson of the day before coming to your class? not, Did you state and illustrate important truths which it would have been well for the members of your class to know? not, Were your hearers attentive, and seemingly impressed? but—Did you cause anybody to know anything about the lesson of the day? That question you cannot properly answer, unless you have proof that some one of your hearers learned what you tried to make him know. Until you can speak with positiveness on this point, you cannot say whether or not you have taught the lesson, or any part of it, to all of your class, or to any one scholar. Although "teaching" is by no means the exclusive, nor yet always the foremost, duty of "a teacher," yet teaching is teaching; and no prevalence of popular opinion can make anything else than teaching, teaching. And let it be remembered that the proof of the teaching process always rests with the learner; not with the teacher, whether the scholars be young or old. The teacher can prove that he tried to teach; the scholar alone can show that the teacher succeeded.
—S. S. Times. The Gentleness of Quiet Love
Rev. Dr. Parker, of London, in a recent address said, "My mother, sir!" says the wild youth, "Why, sir, there is nothing on earth that I would not do for my mother. I would walk fifty miles on burning metal for my mother." His nice, dear old mother does not want any filial piety so tragical as that, but she would like him to keep her company sometimes on winter nights; she would like him to come home an hour earlier in the evening; she would be pleased if he would get up an hour sooner in the morning; she would be thankful if he would go to church regularly and sit by her side. She does not want the agony of tragedy, she pines for the gentleness of quiet and thoughtful love. THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR.
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Or, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, California. "TRUST in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him." THE same characteristics which will make an individual a successful teacher in a day-school, will, with the blessing of God, make him a successful Sabbath-school teacher. The following incident shows one of the indispensable qualifications of a good teacher:— Said one of the patrons of a school, not long since, when applying for a teacher: “I wish we could get such a teacher as we had last year, he taught the children hundreds of things they never thought of before, and my boy has pestered me with questions ever since; he will scarcely give me any rest; he tells me everything he has ever heard there, and relates to me all the stories in his reading-book, and makes comments upon everything.” He could not have paid a higher compliment to the former teacher. The teacher had succeeded in awakening in the pupil’s mind a desire to know. Curiosity, that great incentive to the acquisition of knowledge was fully aroused. —Educational News.