Page 16 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

CHAPTER III

THE JOURNEY TO BABYLON

It was dusk, on the 13th day of the journey, as the caravan came to a halt. One by

one the stately camels entered the court-yard of the caravanserai, and knelt down to
enable their riders to dismount with ease. A group of young travelers beat off the dust
of the desert that had settled upon their garments, as they stood in a group awaiting
assignments to their quarters for the night. “This makes one more day’s journey farther

away from the Holy City and one day nearer the great city of Babylon,” sighed Azariah
to his friends. “Think you we shall ever see our beloved Jerusalem again, Azariah?”
asked Daniel with a wistful tone. “What care we whether we ever again return to
Jerusalem?” interrupted Manoah, ever alert to take an issue with Daniel and his friends.

He continued: “If Jerusalem were in truth the Holy City of Jehovah, how came it that
the Chaldeans entered without resistance, and we, sons of the noble houses, are being
transported to Babylon? I, for one, am prepared to forget it all and try to build a new
life of happiness with the Chaldeans who have, thus far, treated us with every

consideration.”

“I agree,” replied Daniel, “that our lord Ashpenaz has been very kind to us, and we
should be well-disposed toward him. Moreover, we intend to co-operate with them to

the limit, in whatever task they assign to us, but as far as forgetting Jehovah and His
holy laws in which we have been nurtured, or blotting Jerusalem and the temple from
our memories, the thing is unthinkable. Had our leaders and our people heeded the
solemn warnings of the prophets Jeremiah and Habakkuk and turned from their evil

ways, Jehovah would not have thus delivered us into the hands of the Chaldeans.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the servant of Ashpenaz who
informed the youths that their billets for the night had been prepared and were ready to

be assigned. Even now the young men were picking up a smattering of the Aramaic
tongue, spoken by their Chaldean captors. They followed the servant of Lord Ashpenaz
to the quarters in the humble caravanserai that they were to occupy for the night. Daniel,

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were again assigned to one room as had been their
expressed preference throughout the whole journey. They prepared for the evening meal,
after which they read together from a scroll of the Psalms before retiring.

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It was on the third day after this, the 16 of their journey, that the youthful riders,
atop the camels, could be seen scanning the horizon.