Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

prophet."angel."son."2. Are we making a reputation everyday among our playmates? What kind?Balaam means "lord" or "devourerpeople."of He was a famous soothsayer,son of Beor, or Boser means destruction, of Pethor a cityof Mesopotamiasituated on the Euphrates. Coming fromMesopotamia where remains of patriarchal religion lingered, Balaam had aknowledge of the true God. Balak askedBalaam to curse Israel for among theheathen an opinion prevailed that prayers for evil or curses would be heardbyunseen powers as well as prayers forgood when offered by prophet or priest,accompanied by the use of certain rites.In the Burmese war magicians wereemployed to curse the British troops.At Balak's first offer Balaam refusedto go because he said the Lord wouldnot permit him to go. That sounds good,but he concealed God's reason for theprohibition, so Balak sent a second timewith a larger bribe. Balaam's greed wassatisfied and God permitted him to go.But God was angrywith Balaam because He knew why he wanted to goto act secretly in opposition to the sollemncharge of God. So God sent Hisangel to stand in a narrow street-waythrough the vineyards. A stone or mudfence flanked each side of these roadsthrough the vineyards to prevent thesoil from being washed off by therains. The roads were so narrow thatis was with great difficulty a man anddonkey could pass in them. Peter tellsus that God opened the mouth of thedonkey to rebuke Balaam. Balaam doesnot seem surprised at the donkey talking to him. Perhaps it is because he isso engrossed with the prospect of gainwhich produced the "madness of thea miracle"John Calvin tells us this waswrought to humble Balaam'sproud heart, which had to be first subjected to the school of an ass beforehe was brought to attend to the voiceof God speaking by the3. What sins does greed lead us tocommit today?4. Did God ever have to "knock youdown"(literallyor on a bed of sickness, etc.) before you were willing toobey? How did He do it? Maybe througha parent, a teacher, a pal, or an enemy.(Good time to give your testimony).5. Did your "pet" ever show betterjudgment than you toward certain circumstances? Did you learn any lessonfrom him?After this rebuke, Balaam appears tobe sorry, but only outwardly. Yet hedid learn the only condition under whichhe could go on this journey; that welearn in verse 20 Balaam acknowledgeshe is restrained bya higher power.6. Can we fight against God's power?and win?July 27, 1955The "cartoonists" among you candraw Balaam and his donkey to illustrate the lesson. Following that put inyour own words what God taughtBalaam through the talking donkey.SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONAugust 14, 1955Rev. W. J. McBurney(Lessons based on International Sunday SchoolLessons ; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education. JTHE COURAGE OF DAND3LTEMPERANCEDaniel 1:5PRINTED TEXT, Daniel 1:3-6, 8, 11,12, 15, 19; 5:17-28Memory Verse; "It is good neither toeatflesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, orweak."is offended, or is madeThis lesson comes to us almost everyyear. It is called a "Temperance LesAccording to the common definition, the mention of wine suggests thatsubject. But Temperance means Self-Control. Daniel's purpose to abstainfrom the kind of food that was servedat the king's table was just as positiveas his purpose to abstain from the wine.Some would make this purpose toabstain from the king's food and wine arevolt against idolatry, since the king'sfood was offered to idols.That willscarcely answer, for all their harvestswere an offering to their various gods.Then there is a word for meat that isused many times in connection withsacrifices, but this is a different wordthat simply means food. The story doesnot in any way suggest idolatry.Some suggest that it was to avoideating unclean animals. That may besuggested in the word defile. The useof pulse, which does not include flesh,seems to support that thought.Notice two definitions: Meat meansfood.It has no special reference toflesh. Pulse, as a noun refers to seed,and as a verb means to plant. So itmight include all eatable vegetables.We notice that Daniel rests his caseon the test of health. He was not onewho was afraid to state his convictions.We should accept the reason that hegave as his true reason. He proposed toput it to the test for ten days. Theywere to be the judges. Daniel and hisfriends won in the test. In just tendays theyand fatter in fleshwere fairer in countenancethan those whoate of the king's dainties. This word fatnever refers to grease or oil; it meanswell-conditioned. This was the reasonthat Daniel gave for his temperance.If we give him credit for courageoushonesty we may find this a very valuable lesson. We all agree asto thematter of the wine. But all discussionsthat I have seen or recall, just slideover or around the king's meat, or explain it as avoiding idolatry. Professedly at least, we are temperate in regardto the wine. What about the king'smeat?What is the king's meat? The American Revision calls it the king's dainties.That is an interpretation not a translation. The word is simply meat, food.The Revision's interpretation in doubtless correct. The stories of royal gluttenythat have come to us from thecourts of the East differ little fromwhat we read of in present day banquets, except that in heathen lands itwas done openly and boastfully. Yet didI not see in print recently the story ofa church dinner where the table groaned before dinner,and the guests groaned afterwards? Of course, that was intended as a bright jest. And of coursethe food at a Christian dinner would beprepared with a view of providing nourishing food for the body,and wouldnot be all spiced up to tickle jaded appetites. If you want to see the effectof the food that Americans commonlyeat, go and see what they commonlybuy at the drug store.These temperate lads excelled notonly in physical health, but in wisdomas well. It has been checked up in manyschools, and it always appears that thebest students do not smoke or patronizethe snack bar between classes. Maybethe cigarette has nothing to do withthe grades. Perhaps it is because theyhave better minds that they don'tsmoke.National Abandonment to SensualIndulgence, Daniel 5:9-28In each part of this lesson a largepart of the story is omitted. Yet themeat after trimming down is too bigfor the kettle. Until a century ago,many tried to treat the story of Nebuchadnezzar as a sort of myth. But excavations have proved that he was indeed one of the greatest kings of alltimes. Then his son grandson wasking when in their drunken revelry thearmy of the Medes came in and killedthe king on his throne. It was so sudden that he had no time to hide. Thereis no space to describe the physicalstrength of the city. The outer wall wasimpregnable. It enclosed so great aspace that they boasted that they couldproduce enough food to withstand anindefinite siege. Nebuchadnezzar in hispride had built wonderfully for his ownglory. Then the Lord cast him out59