10 Q. What did Jeremiah teach them by the emblems of bonds and yokes?

A. In the days of Jehoiakim king of Judah God commanded Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes, and put them upon his own neck, and then to send them to the kings of the nations round about, to assure them that they should all be made subject to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; Jer. xxvii. 1-12.

11 Q. Who were Jeremiah's chief enemies?

A. The priests and the false prophets, who would have put him to death in the reign of Jehoiakim; Jer. xxvi. 1-8.

12 Q. Who saved Jeremiah at that time?

A. The princes and the people saved him from death, though the king slew Urijah the prophet, who confirmed the words of Jeremiah; verses 10-24.

13 Q. What abuses did Jeremiah receive from Pashur the priest?

A. Pashur smote the prophet, and put him in the stocks; Jer. xx. 1, 2.

14 Q. What evil was denounced against Pashur on this account?

A. God changed his name to Magor-missabib, to denote that he should be a terror to himself and to all his friends; and foretold that he should be led captive to Babylon, and die there; verses 3—6.

15 Q. How did Jeremiah's patience hold out under the many injuries he received? A. In the main he continued to trust in God, but once he murmured against God, refused to prophesy, and cursed the day of his birth; verses 7—18. 1.

16 Q. In what manner did God overcome his murmuring and his disobedience? A. The word of the Lord was in his heart like a burning fire, shut up in his bones, and he could not forbear speaking; verse 9.

17 Q. How did Jeremiah publish his prophecies when he could not appear in public himself, being shut up in prison?

A. He commanded Baruch the scribe to write the words of his prophecies from his mouth in the volume of a book, and to read them in the ears of the people in the temple. on a fast-day; Jer. xxxvi. 1—10.

18 Q. What effect had this upon Jehoiakim the king?

A. When he heard of it he sent for the volume, read a little of it, cut it with a penknife, and burned it in the fire, and then sent to seize Jeremiah and Baruch; but God by his kind providence kept them hid from the king; verses 20—26.

19 Q. What was the next message from God to Jeremiah?

A. That he should take another volume, and that Baruch should write over again from his mouth the same words, and many others of the same import; verses 27, 32. 20 Q. What did Jeremiah prophesy concerning Jehoahaz the son of Josiah king of Judah, who is here called Shallum?

A. That he should die a captive in the land of Egypt; Jer. xxii. 11, 12. 2 Kings xxiii. 31-34.

21 Q. What did he say concerning Jehoiakim his brother?

A. That he should die unlamented, and be buried like an ass, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem; Jer. xxii. 18, 20.

22 Q. What did he pronounce concerning Jehoiachin, who is also called Jeconiah and Coniah?

A. That he should die in a strange land, and none of his seed should sit on the throne

of Judah; Jer. xxii. 24-30. and he accordingly was carried to Babylon, and lived long there, and there he died; Jer. lii. 31.):

23 Q. What advice did he give to Zedekiah king of Judah?

-A. To submit willingly to the yoke of the king of Babylon, that both he and his people might meet with better treatment; Jer. xxvii. 12, 18.

J

24 Q. How did the false prophet Hananiah oppose Jeremiah?

A. He took the yoke from the prophet Jeremiah's neck, which probably he had worn for some years; and as he brake it, he declared, the Lord would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar in two years from the necks of the nations; Jer. xxviii. 1-11. 25 Q. How did Jeremiah answer him?

A. That God had appointed yokes of iron instead of yokes of wood, for all the nations to serve the king of Babylon; and that Hananiah should die that year for his falsehood, which came to pass in two months after; verses 10—17.

26 Q. Among all these predictions of distress did not Jeremiah prophesy any thing comfortable to the nation of Israel?

A. Yes, he foretold the return of the Jews to their own land with joy after seventy years captivity, and he encouraged their faith and hope by many gracious promises of the Messiah who was to come; chap. xxv. xxix. xxx. and xxxi.

27 Q. How did king Zedekiah deal with Jeremiah the prophet when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem?

A. He shut him up in the court of the prison which was in the king's house, because he foretold that Jerusalem should be taken, and that Zedekiah the king should not escape, but be carried to Babylon; Jer. xxxii. 1-5.

28 Q. What did Jeremiah do in prison, to assure them that the Jews should return from captivity, and possess the cities of Judah again?

A. By express order from God, he bought a field of his cousin Hananeel, paid him the money, subscribed the evidence, and sealed it before witnesses, as an emblem and pledge of what should be done in Jerusalem hereafter; verses 6—16, 44.

29 Q. What did Jeremiah do when he was at liberty?

A. He endeavoured to flee out of Jerusalem, but he was seized by the guard upon suspicion of falling away to the Chaldeans, and he was thrust down into a dungeon by the princes, because he prophesied the destruction of the city; chap. xxxvii. 11—16. and xxxviii. 1-6.

30 Q. What relief did the prophet find here?

A. When he sunk in the mire, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a servant in the king's house, drew him up with ropes, by leave from the king, and he remained in the court of the prison till the city was taken; verses 7-14.

31 Q. What favour did God shew to Ebedmelech on this account?

A. He assured him he should not die by the sword, but his life should be given him, because he trusted in the Lord; Jer. xxxix. 16.

32 Q. When Zedekiah the king sent for Jeremiah, what message had he from God? A. He repeated his advice to the king of Judah, to go forth and submit to the king of Babylon, in order to save himself and the city; verses 17, 18.

33 Q. Did the king hearken to his advice?

A. No; he did not obey the prophet; so the city was taken, and burned, the princes

of Judah were slain, and the king's sons were put to death before his eyes: Then the king had his eyes put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon, and died there; Jer. xxxix. 1—10. and lii. 8-11.

Note, Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Zedekiah; Ezek. xii. 13. "I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there."

34 Q. What became of Jeremiah after the city was taken?

A. Nebuchadnezzar gave order to the officers of his army to take care of him; and to give him his liberty to go where he pleased; Jer. xxxix. 11. and xl. 4, 5.

35 Q. Whither did Jeremiah choose to go?

A. He chose to continue in the land of Israel, and put himself under the protection of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land; verses 6, 7.

36 Q. Did Jeremiah continue under his protection?

A. Gedaliah was quickly slain by a faction raised by Ishmael, and Ishmael also was put to flight by another faction under the command of Johanan; Jer. xl. xli.

37 Q. What did Johanan do with Jeremiah?

A. He carried him and a multitude of the people into Egypt, in direct opposition to the advice which Jeremiah gave him from the Lord; chap. xlii. and xliii.

38 Q. What did Jeremiah do in the land of Egypt?

A. He severely reproved the Jews for their idolatry there, he denounced ruin upon them; he took great stones and hid them in the clay at the entrance of Pharaoh the king of Egypt's palace, and foretold, that Nebuchadnezzar should conquer Egypt, and should set his throne upon those stones; Jer. xliii. 9, 10.

39 Q. Among the several prophecies against the nations round about did not Jeremiah foretel the destruction of Babylon?

A. Yes, he pronounced the severe judgments of God against Babylon who had plundered Jerusalem, in a notable and dreadful manner, as Isaiah did before him; all which were eminently fulfilled, partly when Cyrus the Persian took the city of Babylon, and partly in following times; Jer. 1. and li.

40 Q. What emblem or pledge did Jeremiah give of the accomplishment of this prophecy?

A. He wrote in a book all these threatenings, and bid Seraiah, one of the jewish captives, read it when he came to Babylon, then bind a stone to it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, and say, "Thus shall Babylon sink and shall never rise again;” Jer. li.

Answer. A young man of the tribe of Judah, who was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah; Dan. i. 1—6. 2 Q. How was he disposed of in Babylon?

A. Daniel and his fellows, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were appointed to be nourished by the king's provision, and to be trained up in the learning of the Chaldeans, that in three years time they might stand before the king; verses 5, 6.

3 Q. And did they, being Jews, eat of the king's provision which was prepared after the manner of the heathens?

A. No; they chose to be fed with pulse and water, rather than defile themselves with the king's meat; verses 8-14.

4 Q. How did they thrive by it?

A. Their countenances appeared fairer, and their aspect was better approved by Melzar who took care of them, than the rest who fed on royal dainties? verse 15.

5 Q. How did they approve themselves when they were called before the king? A. The king found them far wiser and better than all the astrologers and magicians in his kingdom; verse 20.

6 Q. What was the first special occasion of Daniel's advancement at court?

A. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream which much troubled him, yet he forgot it in the morning; and sent orders to destroy all the wise men and astrologers, because they could not tell him both the dream and the interpretation thereof; Dan. ii. 1-13. 7 Q. How did Daniel obtain this secret from God?

A. He engaged himself and his three companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in prayer to the God of heaven; that he would reveal this secret to them, that they might not all perish together with the astrologers, whom the king had doomed to death; Dan. ii. 16-18.

8 Q. What was this dream which Daniel rehearsed before the king?

A. There appeared a bright and terrible image, whose head was gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of clay, which was dashed to pieces by a stone, and the stone became a mountain, and filled the whole earth; verses 31—35.

9 Q. What was the interpretation of it?

A. It signifies the four great monarchies of the world; viz. the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, which should destroy one another in succession, and the last of them should be destroyed by the kingdom of Christ, which should spread through the earth and remain for ever; verses 31—45.

10 Q. What honours did Nebuchadnezzar bestow on Daniel on this occasion?

A. He acknowledged the supremacy of the God of Daniel, he made Daniel ruler over Babylon, and at his request made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego officers under him; verses 46-49.

11 Q. What became of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

A. Notwithstanding the honour the king had given them, yet they were cast into a fiery furnace, because they would not worship a huge golden image which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up; Dan. v. 1—21.

12 Q. What remarkable providence attended their being cast into the furnace?

A. The king being enraged at them for refusing boldly to worship this image, commanded the furnace to be made seven times hotter, even to such a degree, that the flame slew the men that cast them into it; verse 22.

13 Q. How were they saved in the fiery furnace?

A. Though these three men were cast into the furnace bound, and fell down in the fire,

yet presently afterward the king saw four men loose walking in the fire, and they had no hurt; and the form of the fourth was like the Son of God; verses 23-25. That is, some glorious person whom Nebuchadnezzar could not better describe than as a heavenly being, a Son of God.

14 Q. What influence had this upon the king?

A. He called them to come out of the furnace, and blessed their God who had sent his angel to denver them, and made a decree, that no man should speak against the God of the Jews; verses 26-28.

15 Q. What other dream of Nebuchadnezzar's did Daniel interpret?

A. The dream of a tall and spreading tree that was cut down, and the stump of it was left in the earth, and that should have a beast's heart given it instead of a man's for seven years; Dan. iv. 1-16.

16 Q. What interpretation did Daniel give to it?

A. That Nebuchadnezzar the king should be driven from his kingdom, should run mad, and dwell seven years with the beasts of the earth, and then be restored to his reason and his kingdom again; verses 19-27.

17 Q. How soon was this fulfilled?

A. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace of Babylon, and boasting of his grandeur and majesty, and there fell a voice from heaven, that his kingdom was departed, and he should be driven from men: And immediately he was seized with madness, and the sentence was executed upon him, and he fled from the society of men, and herded with the beasts in the open field; verses 28-33.

18 Q. What did Nebuchadnezzar do at seven years end, when his understanding and his kingdom were restored to him?

A. He did further honours to the God of heaven, and published this history of himself, and these signs and wonders of the great God, throughout all his dominions; verses 1-3.

19 Q. What notice was taken of Daniel in the time of Belshazzar the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar ?

A. He was sent for to court to read and interpret three or four words, which were written upon the wall by the apparition of a hand while Belshazzar was feasting; Dan.

v. 5-16.

20 Q. What was there in Belshazzar's feast that eminently provoked God against him?

A. He and his nobles drank in the holy vessels that were taken out of the temple of God at Jerusalem, and at the same time they praised their gods of gold and silver, of wood and stone; Dan. v. 1-4.

21 Q. What was the meaning of this writing against the wall?

A. That God had finished Belshazzar's kingdom, and given it to the Medes and Persians; verses 25—28.

22 Q. What honour was done to Daniel?

A. He was immediately clothed in scarlet, with a chain of gold, and made the third ruler in the kingdom; verse 29.

23 Q. When was this sentence executed on Belshazzar ?

A. He was slain that very night, by the army under the command of Cyrus the