_HOMILETICS_ SECT. I.—THE CAPTIVITY (_Daniel 1:1_) This remarkable book opens with the scene or Israel’s deepest degradation and misery. Threatened judgments had at length come. Warnings had been addressed in vain. Divine expostulations had been unheeded. The kingdom of Judah, like that of Israel,... [ Continue Reading ]
_HOMILETICS_ SECT. II.—THE FOUR CAPTIVE YOUTHS (_Chap_. Daniel 1:3) Among the youths of noble or princely birth taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar as trophies of his conquest [7], and perhaps as hostages for the good behaviour of those who were left behind, were Daniel and his three... [ Continue Reading ]
_HOMILETICS_ SECT. III.—THE RESOLUTION (_Chap_. Daniel 1:8) The religion of Daniel and his three companions was soon to be put to the test. They were to be fed from the royal table [16]; but the Jews were forbidden by the law of Moses to eat certain kinds of food, as well as food prepared in a cert... [ Continue Reading ]
_HOMILETICS_ SECT. IV.—THE TRIAL (_Chap_. Daniel 1:11). God works by means, and in doing so deals with men’s minds as well as their bodies. Daniel was delivered out of his difficulty in regard to the food by a suggestion made upon his own mind, and favourably regarded by the person with whom he had... [ Continue Reading ]