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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1922)
jpf,; The Common AUGUST, 192? er ,;:. r. Bryan's Bible Talks A PBUNKEN MNG HEARS HIS POCM By WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN -, . .; BIBLE TEXT--LESSON FOR JULY 16 , (Daniel v;17-28) ' .I'Jif'rt Daniel answered 'and said befdrd tile king, if ihv trifts be to thytfclf, and give thy rewards to InMlcr vet I will, read tho "writing- unto t,he king, Ta make known to him the interpretation. n Soil king, the most high God gave Nebuchad nezzar thy father a kingdom, and. majesty, and finrv anil honour: And for the majesty that he gave htm, all peo nies nations, and languages, lembled and retired before him: whom he would he slow: and' whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom ho would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up. and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his klng y throne, and they took his glory from him: - And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart Was made like the beasts, and his dwelling wafe with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled In the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over It whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knowest all this; But has lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, 'and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised tho gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath Is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: ' Then was the part of the hand-sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, $IENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This Is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES: Thy kingdom Is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. With the advocatesof wines. and beer clamor ing to have the manufacture-and sale of these Intoxicants legalized in this country, it is most appropriate that we consider at this time the Bible's greatest lesson against drink in any form. It is set forth in one of the most graphic and famous chapters of the entire Bible. But before we make application to the drink problem, let us consider the facts as they are related in this fifth chapter of Daniel. The great prophet never measured up more fully to the re quirements of his high calling tliau on this oc casion when, unabashed and unafraid, he inter preted to a trembling ruler the fateful decree of Jehovah. . Our text deals with the feast of Belshazzar, jroo knew full well the punishment visited upon Nebuchadnezzar, wlioni the text .calls his father, or his sins. He had no .excuse for his wrong do-ing--any more than the son of a drunken father jas for drunkenness. He had even less excuse, because Nebuchadnezzar's punishment was fol lowed by repentance and Belshazzar had this fact las well as Nebuchadnezzar's sins) before him wnen he entered upon Lis lordship over Babylon. HISTORY'S MOST FAMOUS FEAST nn?Ut ?olsnazzar was a worshipper of the body WQ yielded to all the temptations that come through the flesh, h,aT tlle hight in question he had assembled a inousand of his lords at a great feast and "drank Si ?,re the thousand." Excited by the al en 0inMUe wiue' he commanded that "the gold new! , lver vessels which his fattier, Nebuchad in tT ' , taken out oi the temple, which was u Jerusalem," he brought to the feast; "that the hnt , ,lus Princes; his wives, and his concu m3 might drink. -therein." historva?r thiS feast ls th0 most famous in mrmll as maae tiie name of Belshazzar a tlon. r wild debauches and wicked disslpa- tadhX? wa? tUe kinS surrounded by his princes drinkw nblos kte wives and Ms concubines, toolaim. ?? out o tk sacred vessels that an hong kinB had taken by force from the Wue-WM God to the Holy City. As these the sa drained their cups they praised Iron III of eolland silver and brass, of ijded !I iW00d and atone. Sacrilege was or Go,10 bestiality; men made in the imago toula fan ?r aescemiea as low as man au Excess, was added to excess until nothing was left undone to prove dcgcncracv Buttto hour had Btruck-pltnlBhmcnit A DRUNKEN KING'S TERROR in the same hour came forth lingers of a mans hand, and wrote over against the candle stick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's thitwrote ' tUe khlg " th PUrt f th hand i .P11011 as he was. he had intelligence enough eft to be awed by the moving hand that, reacn Ing down from the unseen world, traced the ver dict from which there was no appeal. "Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him. so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." He called frantically for his astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; he offered to give to any one who would interpret the hand writing on the wall clothes of scarlet, a chain of go,ld and the third place in his kingdom. But the king's wise men were impotent; they could not read the writing, let alone interpret it. What was to be done? As an Israelitish maid carried to Naaman, the leper's wife, news of Elisha's power, so at this moment the queen-mother recalled the fame of Daniel, who had not only interpreted Nebuchad nezzar's dream but recalled it to the king when he had forgotten it. She begged Belshazzar to send for Daniel and Daniel was called. "THOU ART FOUND WANTING" Ho listened to the plea of the frightened Bel shazzar, who in his distress was willing to offer anything for an explanation. Rising to his full height, Daniel answered him: "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy re wards to another; yet I will read the writing un to the king, and make known to him the inter pretation." Daniel kept nothing back. He reviewed the pride of Nebuchadnezzar and his punishment; he confronted Bolshazzar with his sins "And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, has not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this." He pointed out to Belshazzar how he had lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven; how he had brought the vessels of God's house to the banquet hall that his lords, his wives and his con cubines might drink wine in them; how he had praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, "which see not, nor hear, nor know," and had not glorified the "God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways." And then Daniel announced the decree "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." SWIFT FULFILLMENT OF JUDGMENT The king had just time enough to issue a proc lamation giving Daniel the third place in the kingdom an empty honor, for "in that night was Belshazzar the king of Chaldeans slam And Darius the Median took the kingdom.' This prophecy was fulfilled at once; it scarcely was uttered before the "history written in advance, as prophecy is sometimes called, became the rec- r w2lenMsakes in the Bible have bee? used moMaSX. o? with greater effect. Edwin Arnold puts the thought in verse: There cometh forth a hand upon the atone. Graving the symbols of a speech unknown; Fingers like mortal fingers-leaving there The blank wall flashing characters of fear Ind still it glideth silently and slow. Ind Still beneath the spectral letters glow Now the scroll endeth-now the seal is set Thailand ?s gone-the record tarries yet. THE "BIG BROTHER" OF WINE AND BEER It is an appropriate temperance lesson. aN Jugh its application j covers all of m Htells the story of the r"DU"" tn day It is of kind of sin, as darkness M ow the 7 ot special interest just .now JJ n JJ beer are gESS dkVanfian ofindulged in without faith, because the present beer were too often the formor friends of the saloon as it was, with all its vile accompany ment. Tho bulk of thoao who, in tho name of poraonal liberty, domand what thoy call light wine and beer, rosiotod every effort to lessen tho evils of tho saloon. It required law to separate tho gambling houie and brothel from the saloon, and tho separation could never bo made whon those In terested in the liquor traffic wore in control of' the Government. Strong drink was "big broth er" to wine and beer until tho law stopped the manufacture and sale, of wbiaky, and tho family will be reunited tho 'advocates of winq ana., beer are ever able -God forbid to carry put, their policy. , , .. , ,. THE BIBLE'S JNDICTMENT OF WINE J! The Bible furuisUes us a sufficient Indictment against wine, and the same argument Is :ap- plicable to beer. It was wine that made Noah'a , drunkard, wine from, his own vineyard. Wo are told that his sons in mortification took a gar ment and, walking backward that they might not see their father's nakedness, spread the gar ment over him as he lay drunk in his tent. King Ahasucrus was "merry with wine" whon ho com manded that Queon, VasJitl be brought into tho , banquet hall that her beauty might bo exhibited , to drunkon revellers, It wag wine that David ,' employed whon ho sought to conceal his own, great sin from tho husband ot BatliBhoba. It was wine bowls full of it that contributed to , the sins of those who were "at ease inZion". when Amos thundered forth his rebukes. , It Is the alcohol iu wine and in other Intoxi cating drinks that puts them all on tho same level and makes them injurious to man, Prohi bition is the greatest moral reform that was ever won by the ballot; it has brought tho groatosfc change in this country evor wrought anywhero , by law. According to Prohibitior Commissioner Haynes, it has led many millions of our people to stop drinking; it has saved for better uses $2,000,000,000 a year fomorly spent for intoxi cating liquors; it has reduced tho arrests for drunkenness throughout the nation over 00 ppp; cent; it lias given to tho women of the land a larger percentage of the family income -for family expeuses than they evor had before, and to the children better treatment; it has changed the habits of tho people from the White Housd to the humblest home. THE GATEWAY TO REFORMS TO COME In times past the President served liquors td his guests, and intoxication among them was not a thing unknown. Now, everywhere except in a few wet centers, there is a decrease In drink ing, and this decrease will become more and more noticeable as the law is more completely' enforced and as the sentiment back of the law grows stronger with the years. ' A saloonless nation does not mean a sinless nation, but total abstinence is the sure cure for the evils that come with alcohol. Drink has not only been the direct cause of a multitude of evils, but the indirect cause of many others. Prohibition Is, therefore, not only a reform it self but also the gateway to reforms that are yet to came, the next of which is likely to be tho establishment of the single moral standard. So long as the saloon existed such a reform was im possible. With the saloon outlawed and woman suffrage here, every righteous cause will be tri umphant sooner and more completely. Just as the handwriting on the wall pro claimed the end of the rule of a wicked king, so whenever any great evil is ripe lor overthrow. Jehovah's hand appears and traces the words of doom. When "the fullness of time" has come God sounds forth the "trurapej; that shall never call retreat" and the world moves forward to a higher plane, A STORY OF THE POWER OF FAITH By .WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN BIBLE TEXT--LESSON FOR JULY 23 . . (Daniel 6:16-23) Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him Into the dens of lions. Now the king spako and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and tho king sealed it with his own signet, and with tho signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of rausick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early In the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when ho came to the .den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake J M . m kkM&k&!&.L.