Half Hours in Bible Lands, Volume 2 / Patriarchs, Kings, and Kingdoms

by P. C. Headley

The Handwriting on the Wall.
Thus was the land left desolate; and thus ended the kingdom of Judah and
the reign of David's house, after it had endured four hundred and four
years under twenty kings. It is remarkable that the King of Babylon made
no attempt to colonize the country he had depopulated, as was done by
the Assyrians in Israel; and thus, in the providence of God, the land
was left vacant, to be re-occupied by the Jews after seventy years of
captivity and punishment.
[The grand and melancholy march into captivity is seen in the
illustration of the artist.]
What a vast and sad procession! The conquerors ride proudly on the high
ground with the captive host in full view. The tower of Babel and the
walls of their magnificent city are visible in the distance.
The exiles found in Babylon many of their countrymen, who had been
carried there in previous conquests, and were useful, respectable
citizens. Among these, there was a young man of splendid abilities and
noble heart, named Daniel.
He was one of the youthful sons of high family, who were carried away as
hostages for the fidelity of King Jehoiachin. He and some others were
put under the chief eunuch, to be properly trained in the language and
learning of the Chaldeans, to fit them for employments at the court.
This training lasted three years, when they were examined in the
presence of the king; and Daniel and three of his friends were found to
have made far greater progress than any of those who had been educated
with them. They were therefore enrolled among the magians or learned
men.
A few years after, Nebuchadnezzar was greatly troubled with a dream,
which made a profound impression upon his mind; but the particulars of
which quite passed from his memory when he awoke. Great importance was
attached to dreams in those days, and men skilled in the sciences were
supposed to be able to discover their meaning. Therefore, the king sent
for his court magians, and required them not only to interpret the
dream, but to discover the dream itself, which he had forgotten. This
they declared to be impossible; on which the exasperated tyrant ordered
all the magians to be massacred. Daniel and his friends, although not
present, were included in such a sentence. On learning this, he begged a
respite for the whole body, undertaking to find, through his God, the
solution of the difficulty. The respite was granted; and at the earnest
prayer of Daniel, God made the secret known to him. A colossal image
which the king saw, with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver,
belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and toes partly iron and partly
clay, was struck down by a stone, which itself grew and filled the whole
earth. This, in the interpretation of Daniel, figured forth "the things
to come;" describing by characteristic symbols the succession of empires
to the end of time; and it is wonderful to observe how precisely the
greater part of what was then future has since been accomplished. The
king was not only satisfied but astonished; he was almost ready to pay
divine honors to Daniel; and raised him at once to the eminent station
of Archimagus, or chief of the magians, and governor of the metropolitan
province of Babylon. His three friends, also, were at his request,
promoted to places of trust and honor.
Not long after, Nebuchadnezzar set up a colossal image in the plains of
Dura, and commanded that, when music sounded, everyone should worship
it, on pain of death. He soon learned that this command was utterly
neglected by Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego;
and his rage grew so high, at the example of disobedience given by
persons in their high station that he ordered them to be at once cast
into "the burning furnace." The heat of the furnace was so great as to
destroy the men who cast them in; but they themselves remained unhurt,
and not even a hair of their heads was singed. They came forth when the
king called them; and he was so much astonished and convinced by this
prodigy, that he publicly acknowledged the greatness of the God whom
they served.
There appear to have been good and generous qualities in the character
of Nebuchadnezzar; but the pride with which he contemplated the grandeur
of his empire, and the magnificence of his undertakings, was most
inordinate, and he required to be taught that "the Most High ruleth over
all the kingdoms of the earth, and giveth them to whomsoever he will."
He was warned of this in a dream, which was interpreted to him by
Daniel; but, neglecting the warning, "his heart was changed from man's,
and a beast's heart was given to him." He was afflicted with a madness
which made him think himself a beast, and, acting as such, he remained
constantly abroad in the fields, living upon wild herbs. In this debased
and forlorn condition the mighty conqueror remained seven years, when he
was restored to his reason and his throne, and one of his first acts was
to issue a proclamation, humbly acknowledging the signs and wonders
which the Most High God had wrought toward him, and declaring his
conviction, that "those who walk in pride he is able to abase." He died
soon after.
The next illustration is drawn from the interpretation of the dream in
the royal palace. Conscious of Jehovah's favor and guidance, how
courageously and grandly he stands before the monarch, and declares the
whole counsel of God!
He thus became a prophet of the Most High, whose wonderful career
afterwards, we shall again follow, when we come to the narratives of the
seers.

The Vision of the Dragon Chained.
The spirit alienation from God, and of depraved desires, which ruled the
ancient pagan realms is set before us under various titles. Among them
is that of the dragon, in the engraving; which the "king of kings" shall
yet bind forever and imprison.
The fate of the proud kingdoms which ruled Palestine, teaches the world
how little importance God attaches to human glory in his punishment of
the wicked.
Egypt has scarcely more than its location and name left. Its pyramids,
one of which it is estimated employed three hundred thousand men twenty
years in building, stand in the desert places, solitary and pillaged
sepulchres.
The temple of Karnak, on the east bank of the Nile, whose massive stone
roof was supported by one hundred and thirty-four majestic columns,
forty-three feet high, and ranged in sixteen rows; the whole structure
twelve hundred feet in length, and covered with figures of gods and
heroes; is one of the grandest works of time.
Should you visit the gorges of the Theban Mountains, your feet would
stumble over the bones of departed generations. Princes, priests, and
warriors, after reposing thousands of years in their deep seclusion, are
dragged forth by poor peasants, and scattered around the doors of those
cavern-like excavations in the everlasting hills.
Lighting a torch or candle, you may wander along the rock-walled
galleries several hundred feet into the heart of the summits, on each
side of which are the apartments of death.
Inscriptions, three thousand years old, can be distinctly traced.
How little thought the Hebrews, while toiling under the shadow of
palaces, or flying at night from the mighty realm of Egypt, of what we
find to-day along the banks of the Nile!
The doom of Babylon, with that of the great invaders and conquerors of
Palestine, is equally wonderful and instructive.
Probably no nation of antiquity was more distinguished for luxury and
corrupt pleasures than this unrivalled city.
Its last king, Nabonnidus, reigned about one hundred years before Christ
appeared; and in less than that time afterward, the city walls enclosed
a hunting ground or park for the recreation of Persian monarchs. We
cannot well imagine a more complete destruction than has overtaken the
once rich and gay metropolis. The ruins are a number of mounds, formed
of crumbled buildings, and strewn all over with pieces of brick,
bitumen, and potter's vessels.
The Assyrian kings of western Asia, also invaded the Holy Land. They
ruled a vast and powerful realm, whose principal city was Nineveh, to
which Jonah was sent with a message from God.
Sennacherib, the monarch who reigned seven hundred years before Christ,
marched his armies against the cities of Judah and took them. Not
satisfied with the terms of surrender he threatened further invasion.
At this crisis, in answer to prayer, Jehovah sent his angel to destroy
the troops; and in one night the unseen messenger of destruction slew
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.
Of this miraculous defeat a gifted but irreligious and unhappy poet has
sung:
And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,
But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf.
And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, and the banners alone,
And the lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentiles, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow at the glance of the Lord.
Now the greater part of the country which once formed Assyria, is under
the sway of the Turks.
Mosul, a missionary station of the American Board of Foreign Missions,
is believed to mark the site of ancient Nineveh.
The original inhabitants of Assyria, in modern history, are the Kurds; a
barbarous and warlike race. Some of these live in villages, and others
roam over the country. They are said to resemble, in personal
appearance, the Highlanders of Scotland.
But the most remarkable fact in regard to the population, is the ancient
church of the Nestorians, among the mountains. This Christian people
have for ages maintained their independence, defying the storms of
revolution that have swept over all the country around their mountain
home.
Dr. Grant, a missionary, thinks they are descendants of the "lost tribes
of Israel." We recollect to have seen in the hands of the venerable
missionary, Rev. Dr. Perkins, a copy of the Scriptures preserved for
many hundred years by them: sometimes hidden away, to prevent its
destruction by its enemies.
Not long ago, one of the Nestorian bishops, Mar Yohanah, visited this
country, and attracted much attention. A Jew-like, noble man personally,
and a devout Christian.
But if you look on the map of Asia, you will see that Mosul and the
Nestorian country is in Persia, and may wonder what it has to do with
Assyria. In the conquests which weakened and divided the Assyrian
empire, new kingdoms were formed; and while none can now accurately
trace the boundaries of that great monarchy, we have the later outline
of Persia. More will be said of this remarkable kingdom when we come to
the story of Mordecai and Esther.
The thrones of these ancient monarchies were, at first, no more than an
ornamented arm-chair, higher than ordinary seats, with a footstool for
the royal feet. Then it was made in more massive form and richly carved,
with steps ascending to it.
Some of the thrones were of ivory, adorned with gold; and it is
recorded, that Archelaus addressed the multitude from a throne of solid
gold--a magnificent fortune in itself. Thus gradually the throne became
the highest symbol of power, and is often applied to Jehovah's
sovereignty. He is represented as sitting upon a throne of light, and
around him continually, attending angels, veiling their faces with their
wings, and waiting to hear and obey his mandates; crying with their
voices of celestial music, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
was and is, and is to come!" A "crystal sea" is before this "White
Throne" of a pure and just authority, and on it worships a resplendent
host. Every sound and sight of glory and honor, that language can
express, or the finest imagination picture, is ascribed to that eternal
royalty.
Next to the throne, the crown became a sign of authority, although it
was applied, at first, to other ornaments for the head, properly called
coronets, garlands, tiaras, bands, mitres, etc.
The idea of a kingly crown was suggested by the diadem, which was a
fillet--a mere band like that used to bind the long hair worn by the
people--but richer and of a different color. It was natural and easy,
with the increase of power and wealth, to make the crown a more costly
and showy symbol of kingly sway.
David wore a crown of gold set with jewels, he took from the king of the
Ammonites.
The more modern crowns of Asia, where all the kings reigned, of whom we
have read in these pages, are of different shapes, and some of them very
rich and expensive, ornamented with precious stones and plumes of the
rarest kind.
Crowns are also often mentioned in the Bible as an emblem of power; and
the Christian conqueror of his sins and the world, it is written, shall
have "a crown of life."
The sceptre was the third token of sovereignty. The word originally
signified a staff of wood of the length of a man's height. Later, it was
smaller in form, and often plated with gold, and enriched with various
decorations. Inclining, or holding out the sceptre was a mark of royal
favor; and kissing it by another, a sign of submission.
Jehovah's rule is mentioned frequently in the inspired record, under
this figure. "His sceptre is a right sceptre," in one of the
declarations, which even the wicked and most wretched on account of
transgression, dare not deny.
Under its wide dominion are Heaven, Earth, and Hell, not only, but a
universe whose boundaries neither man nor angel can ever reach.
"He is God over all, and blessed forever!"
How amazing the truth of such a king and kingdom! Under the unsleeping
eye of the Sovereign, the planet wheels on its axis with startling
velocity, and the insect creeps on the grain of sand. A Russian poet
beautifully sung:
Oh, thou Eternal One! whose presence bright,
All space doth occupy, all motion guide!
Unchanged through time's all devastating flight,
Thou only God, there is no God beside!
Being above all beings! mighty one,
Whom none can comprehend, and none explore!
Who filled existence with thyself alone;
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er!
Being, whom we call God, and know no more!
Thou art! directing, guiding all. Thou art!
Direct my understanding then to thee;
Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart,
Though but an atom 'mid immensity.
Still I am something fashioned by thy hand!
I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth,
On the last verge of mortal being stand,
Close to the realms where angels have their birth,
Just on the boundaries of the spirit land.
Oh, thoughts ineffable! Oh, visions blest!
Though worthless our conceptions all of thee;
Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breasts,
And waft its homage to thy Deity.
God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar;
Thus seek thy presence--Being wise and good!
'Midst thy best works admire, obey, adore!
And when the tongue is eloquent no more,
The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.

Ascent of Elijah.