Page 87 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

CHAPTER XX

THE RESTORATION

In the midst of the tragedy of misgovernment for which the Belgar regime was

responsible, there was a small group of elder statesmen who viewed with sorrow and
alarm the course of disintegration within the city and empire of Babylon.

All of these had formerly been closely associated with King Nebuchadnezzar, but

had been cast out of office at the rise to power of Belgar. All of these statesmen had
been associated with the king in his conquest and subsequent rule of Judah. Two of
these early appeared in our story. They were Nebuzaradan, general of the army, and
Lord Ashpenaz, prince of the eunuchs and one-time head of the college of Babylon in

which young Hebrew captives had been trained. The other three, Nebushazban,
Nergal-Sharezer, and Rabmag had all been in Jerusalem and had been instrumental in
rescuing Jeremiah from the court of the prison in which he had been incarcerated by
Zedekiah.

They had all been thrown out of office at the rise of the Belgar regime. These men
were motivated by pure patriotism and not by a mere selfish desire to return to public
office as they arranged meetings among themselves to discuss the course of events

and to consult as to whether anything could be done about rectifying the fearful
conditions that obtained. These meetings had to be shrouded with the deepest secrecy
and held in the dead of night. To them, Daniel was asked to come on occasion. When
they consulted him, he counselled them against any rash or hasty action. “I have faith

in Jehovah, the God of Israel, and He has given me assurance that He will intervene in
His time, and that King Nebuchadnezzar will recover from his mental aberration and
will return to sanity. W e must be ready for this and have a well-thought-out plan to
return him to power when this takes place, for it is certain that Belgar and his

henchmen will oppose to the limit, his return. It should be your task, O Nebuzaradan
to organize the faithful remnants of the army to stage a well-planned coup d’etat at the
psychological moment. The populace will acclaim him with enthusiasm on his

return.”

Such confidence did these men have in the wisdom and integrity of Daniel, that
they did not press him to give the source of his knowledge that Nebuchadnezzar
would return, but accepted it and laid their plans to that end.