He read them,
and they signified, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Thy kingdom is
divided, and given to the Medes and Persians!"
At that moment Cyrus and his Persians were entering by the river gates,
which had been left open in that time of careless festivity. One end of
the city knew not that the other was taken; and ere the night was past
Belshazzar lay dead in his palace, and the Assyrian empire was over for
ever.
It was 170 years since, by the mouth of Isaiah, God had called Cyrus
by name, had said He would give the nations as dust to his sword, and
stubble to his bow; had said of him that he was His anointed and His
shepherd, and that he would build up the Holy City and Temple, and let
the captives go free without money or price. Moreover, it was seventy
years since Daniel himself had been carried away from the pleasant land,
and well had he counted the weary days prophesied of by Jeremiah; till
now he hoped the time was come, and most earnestly did he pray, looking
towards Jerusalem, as Solomon had entreated, when his people should
turn to God in the land of their captivity, pleading God's goodness and
mercy, though owning that Judah had done wickedly.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94