ISRAEL. 
29 
prejudice against the Jews was shown by the last outrage of his reign, the profanation of the 
sacred vessels of the Temple, in the feast given to his thousand lords. 
But a new miracle replaces Daniel and his people before the eyes of the nation. He 
alone can interpret the memorable “ handwriting on the wall,” and as a recompense, he is 
declared the “ third ruler in the kingdom.” The prophecy of royal ruin is fulfilled, for on 
that night Belshazzar is slain; and thus, when Darius the Mede is installed upon the 
throne, he finds a Jew holding one of the great offices of the kingdom, that office conferred 
in acknowledgment of more than mortal wisdom, and that wisdom connected with the 
express event to which he owed his throne. The result is, the immediate elevation of 
Daniel to the highest rank of a subject; in the new settlement of the empire, by its division 
into one hundred and twenty provinces, he is placed not only above the princes of the 
provinces, but made first of the Three Presidents of the State. The protector of the 
Jewish people thus stands next to the throne. 
But Darius was still a stranger to the name of the God of Jacob: and he was to 
be taught only by a new miracle. The same jealousy which had acted against the three 
Jewish governors of Babylon, acted against Daniel. While only the chief of the diviners 
he had been spared; but his office was now of the highest civil authority, and it was 
resolved to ruin the Minister. Yet, as Darius was not an idolater, the old artifice of 
homage to an idol could not be adopted again. The conspirators, therefore, tempted the 
royal vanity, and demanded the issue of a decree, that “ for thirty days, no prayer should 
be offered but to the king,” on penalty of death. Daniel, for whom the snare was expressly 
laid, was watched, and found praying, as usual, three times a-day, with his face towards 
Jerusalem. The decree was irreversible, and he was thrown to the lions. “ But God sent 
his angel, and shut the mouth of the lions.” Daniel came forth in sacred safety. The royal 
vengeance fell on the conspirators; and thus, at once, with liis character divinely attested, 
and his enemies removed, he obtained a new security for his people; a proclamation of 
general homage to the “ God of the Jews” thus going forth to the empire. “ Then King 
Darius wrote ... I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble 
and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and 
His kingdom shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh 
signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of 
the lions.” 1 
Another signal event was at hand. At the commencement of the Captivity, Jeremiah B.C 
the prophet had pronounced, that it should end in seventy years; and that the fall of the 536 
Babylonian empire should be simultaneous with its close. “ Thus saith the Lord, That 
after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word 
toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” 2 
“ And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish 
the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the 
Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” 3 
1 Daniel, vi. 25, &c. 2 Jeremiah, xxix. 10. 3 Ibid. xxv. 12. 
