Just about one hundred years before the days of Daniel, Hezekiah was king of Judah. After a reign of thirteen years, he was on his deathbed, but he pleaded with God to lengthen his life. This was done, and fifteen years were added. On the king’s recovery he was visited by ambassadors from Babylon, to whom he showed all his treasures. They came to hear of the mighty God, that could heal the sick; but he showed them only earthly treasure. He lost the opportunity to give them of the treasure of heaven. Then came a message from God by the hand of the prophet Isaiah, saying, “Behold, the days shall come, that all that is in thine house ...shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left.” He was also at the same time told that his descendants should be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.SDP 15.1

Here was portrayed the future captivity of the Hebrew race. The prophecy was placed on record, and repeated again and again by Jewish mothers as they taught their children. “Must ^{MarginIsaiah 42:6, 7.

Isaiah 49:6.

1 Sam. 10:5-12; 19:23, 24.

Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Ben-hail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites: and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

2 Chronicles 17:7-12.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget my children.

Hosea 4:6-10.

Isaiah 5:13.

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die. Then Hezekiah prayed and wept sore. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, I have heard thy prayer: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

Isaiah 38:1-5.

2 Kings 20:1-6.

At that time Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things: there was nothing in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.

Isaiah 39:1, 2.

Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, shall be carried to Babylon; and thy sons shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Isaiah 39:6, 7.

2 Chronicles 32:24-26.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line} my son be a captive in the court of a heathen king? Then let me so train him that he will be true to the God of his fathers.” There were other mothers who lightly let pass the thought, and the history of their sons’ lives is recorded for our instruction.SDP 15.2

Three years after his life had been saved, a son was born to Hezekiah. Notwithstanding the recent prophecy, Hezekiah and his wife, Hephzibah, failed to teach the young Manasseh in the way of truth. He was but twelve years of age when he came to the throne, but if he had been trained in the fear of God, he would not have chosen the worship of the heathen.SDP 16.1

The youthful Christ at the same age settled not only his own destiny, but the destiny of the universe. When twelve years of age, standing by the temple in Jerusalem, his future work opened before him, and he accepted his appointed mission. Why? Because Mary, his mother, had taught him that heart service to God was his highest pleasure. Manasseh decided in favor of the heathen deities; did evil in the sight of God; and “for the sins of Manasseh” came the captivity of Judah.SDP 16.2

At the age of twelve years, Christ made a decision which saved the world; at the same age Manasseh chose a course which brought ruin to the nation. In the training of your child, are you Hephzibah or Mary?SDP 16.3

The long reign of Manasseh passed, and the prophecy sent to Hezekiah was not yet fulfilled. Men began to wonder if it ever would come to pass. “Since the fathers fell asleep,” said they, “all things continue as they were.”SDP 16.4

It was in the days of Josiah, the grandson ^{Marginupon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

Isaiah 28:10.

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

Isaiah 48:18.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

2 Kings 21:1-3.

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

Proverbs 20:11.

And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Luke 2:42, 49, 52.

2 Chronicles 33:1-10.

The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Proverbs 29:15-17.

Genesis 18:19.

2 Peter 3:3, 4.

Jeremiah 1:2, 3.} of Manasseh, that Jeremiah prophesied. Through this prophet, God pleaded with Jerusalem to return to him. “Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not.” Thus was Babylon described, and Jerusalem’s impending doom portrayed.SDP 16.5

Josiah was spared the sight of the complete destruction of Jerusalem because of the reforms which he attempted. In his days there was kept by Judah, and by Israel also, the greatest Passover feast in the history of the nation. “Because thine heart was tender and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, ...behold I will gather thee unto thy fathers ...and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.” In a peculiar way God gave Josiah an opportunity to avert the impending calamity. It was not yet too late to change the course of events. This opportunity was through the gifts of his sons. Josiah had three sons and one grandson, who were in turn seated on the throne at Jerusalem. Each, because of wrong training in youth, refused to take God at his word, and failing, hastened the final overthrow.SDP 17.1

The three sons were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. The grandson was Johoiachin, who preceded his uncle, Zedekiah. The fate of each is a solemn warning to people living at the end of time. He who might have been the light of heathen nations was swallowed up by Egyptian darkness. Jehoiakim, the second, who, properly trained, would have been so charged with the power of God that the heathen king ^{MarginSurely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 3:20.

Deuteronomy 28:49-52.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandeth what they say.

Jeremiah 5:15.

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah. Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away. And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might.

2 Kings 23:21-25.

2 Kings 22:19, 20.

Jeremiah 18:7, 8.

2 Kings 24:6, 7.

Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal. And he id that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

2 Kings 23:31-37.} would either have united his forces with the king of Judah, or, opposing, would have been smitten as by a thunder-bolt, failing, paid tribute to Babylon. His capital was entered. Treasures from the house of God were ruthlessly torn from their place and dedicated to heathen worship. Youth,-bright, promising youth,-were taken from the royal family to serve the king of Babylon. Jehoiakim beheld this, but was powerless to interfere. His life was gone; he was not connected with the throne of God. His mother and his father made a fatal mistake, for they did not give him the training which God had commanded them to give. Neither did he profit by these mistakes, but educated his son in courtly manners and in the philosophy of the world; and, as a result, his son Jehoiachin languished nearly thirty-seven years in a prison in Babylon. This was another lamp without the oil; another soul without the heavenly food; another son improperly trained to add to the disgrace of Judah. “Jerusalem was destroyed, because the education of her children was neglected.”SDP 17.2

Zedekiah, the third son of Josiah, had still an opportunity to save Jerusalem. Part of the treasures of this city were already in Babylon. Daniel and his companions had been in the court seventeen or eighteen years when Jeremiah came to Zedekiah with the words: “If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire.... Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.” In this time of peril, how did Zedekiah act? Did he deliver himself unto ^{MarginSurely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed.

2 Kings 24:1-4.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

2 Kings 24:8, 9, 17.

And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor.

2 Kings 24:10-16.

Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison: and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.

2 Kings 25:27-30.

2 Kings 24:17-20.

And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

Jeremiah 38:17-28.} the Babylonians? God had commanded it; the city would have been saved by it; his own soul would have been saved. Zedekiah pleaded a most human excuse, saying, “I am afraid.”SDP 18.1

In these three sons is revealed the weakness, the cowardice, the wickedness, and the final ruin of those trained for the service of the world and not for the service of God.SDP 19.1

DANIEL AND HIS FOLLOWERS TESTED

A TRUE EDUCATION