1952 Bible Studies - page 3

STUDIES BIBLE

"Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the" word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17. 11. )

V O L U M E 20.

J A N U A R Y , 1952.

CONTENTS.

Page

Editorial 1

The Book of Daniel :

Daniel, the faithful captive . .

2

Comments  .  .  ...  .  .  .  .  ..  .  ..  ....

10

Questions and A n s w e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

EDITORIAL.

Once more we greet fellow students and pray that our meditations on the life and character of this wonderful man, Daniel, and in the book that bears his. name, may be to our spiritual profit. For, indeed, all knowledge of prophetic truths is with the object of purifying our lives. So wrote the beloved Apostle John, " Every one that hath this hope set on Him purifieth

himself, even as He is pure " (1 John 3. 3).

To love the men that God loves is always a sure line to follow. From their lives we shall be safe in imitating the qualities that merit God’s love.

Of Daniel it is said that he was, "greatly beloved. " God’s chosen men, whether for the rank and file occupations, or for the more onerous task of leadership, must pass through God’s school of instruction. This experience is often severe and searching.  Its object is to test the calibre of the man, to make firm the fibre of his being and to consume the waste.

Daniel, though of noble blood, very early in his life had to leave the

primrose path of life for the thorny road of exile. He was permitted to see

his king humbled, the Temple of his God desecrated, and then was taken far from the promised land, where loved ones dwelt, to an alien king’s court. What a change ! Now over him was one of the cruellest of auto-cratic despots, who callously included in his code of punishments the fiery furnace, the slaying of sons before a father’s eyes, and then putting out the latter that his last visible memory might be the agony of his dying offspring. What kept this youth from falling into the error and corruption of such a scene ? We judge his early training in the sacred writings. He

would recall the experiences of a Joseph, who lived at the beginning of the history of his race, and would feel that now he was being very similarly tested, perchance, as everything seemed to indicate, at the end of their history as a nation. He would have read the psalms of David. The key to such success as he attained lies in the words, " But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile h i m s e l f . . . . " ( 1 . 8). His first battle was indicative of his final victory. Yea, he passed through many trials