Course 1, Chapter 42: Messiah foretold — Prophecies of Daniel. (A. C. 551-538.)

1. What did Daniel do after the miracle of the burning furnace?

After the miracle of the burning furnace, Daniel lived retired from the tumult of the court, praying with fervor for the deliverance of the Jews.

2. How did the Lord draw Daniel out of his obscurity?

Balthazar, the grandson and successor of Nabu chadonosor, was profaning, during a feast, the sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, when a hand appeared on the wall, writing three mysterious words, which filled the king with terror.

3. What did Balthazar do?

Balthazar sent for Daniel, who explained the three words written on the wall. The first signified: God. hath numbered thy kingdom and hath finished it. The second: Thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. The third: Thy kingdom fx divided and given to the Medea and Persians. That same niirht the sentence was executed. Cyrus took Babylon, and Balthazar was killed.

4. Did Daniel enjoy the favor of the new conquerors?

Daniel enjoyed the favor of the new conquerors, and on that account, became an object of jealousy among the nobles of the court.

5. What did they do in order to destroy him?

In order to destroy him, they persuaded the king to forbid all his subjects to offer up prayers to any deity whatever during the space of one month. Daniel did not, on this account, cease to offer up his prayers tc the Lord. His enemies denounced him to the king, who caused him to be thrown into the lion's den; these wild beasts, however, did him no harm.

6. What were the prophecies of Daniel?

In proof of his predictions concerning the Messiah, he announced: 1st, the succession of the four great empires; 2d, the precise epoch at which the city of Jerusalem, destroyed by Nabuchadonosor, would be re-built.

7. What did he announce concerning the Messiah?

Daniel foretold that the Messiah would come in four hundred and ninety years; that he would re-establish the reign of virtue on the earth; would be de nied by the Jews; would be put to death; and after that, the temple and the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the Jews would be in a state of desolation, which would last till the end of time.

8. What does this prophecy prove?

This prophecy proves, 1 st, that the Messiah has come, since the ruin of Jerusalem and the temple, which was to follow the coming of the Messiah, took place more than eighteen hundred years ago; 2d, that our Lord is truly the Messiah foretold bv Daniel, since he came at the precise moment foretold by the prophets; has brought back the reign of the true God upon the earth; and was denied and put to death by the Jews, who have been dispersed since that time.

114 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.