INTRODUCTION
Daniel 5:1-31 (NKJV)
1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand
of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2While
he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver
vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which
had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his
concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought the gold
vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had
been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines
drank from them. 4They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold
and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
5In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and
wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace;
and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6Then the
king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the
joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
7The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans,
and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon,
"Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be
clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall
be the third ruler in the kingdom." 8Now all the king's wise
men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king
its interpretation. 9Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled,
his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.
10The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords,
came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, "O king, live forever!
Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change.
11There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy
God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom,
like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar
your father--your father the king--made him chief of the magicians, astrologers,
Chaldeans, and soothsayers. 12Inasmuch as an excellent spirit,
knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining
enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now
let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation."
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke,
and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from
Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14I have
heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding
and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15Now the wise men, the
astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this
writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give
the interpretation of the thing. 16And I have heard of you,
that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read
the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed
with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the
third ruler in the kingdom."
17Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, "Let your
gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read
the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom
and majesty, glory and honor. 19And because of the majesty that
He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before
him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive;
whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.
20But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in
pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from
him. 21Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was
made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They
fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,
till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints
over it whomever He chooses.
22"But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart,
although you knew all this. 23And you have lifted yourself up
against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house
before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have
drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold,
bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and
the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have
not glorified. 24Then the fingers of the hand were sent from
Him, and this writing was written.
25"And this is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26This is the interpretation of each word. MENE:
God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27TEKEL:
You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28PERES:
Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." 29Then
Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put
a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him
that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was
slain. 31And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about
sixty-two years old.
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Belshazzar, the king mentioned in 5:1, is the son of Nabonidus, the last
ruler of Babylon. He was co-ruler with his father, looking after the administrative
matters of the empire from the city of Babylon.
For years critics of the Bible in general and Daniel in particular pointed
to the fact that secular history had no record of Belshazzar as an example
of error in the biblical record. But then an archeological discovery in
southern Iraq (i.e. the Nabonidus
Stele) contained writings in which Nabonidus refers to his son, Belshazzar.
Sooner or later history catches up with the Bible as time and time again
the archeologist’s spade proves the truth of God’s Word.
There are 23 years between chapters 4 and 5 of the book of Daniel.1
During this time, Nebuchadnezzar dies and the Babylonian Empire begins
to decline. At the same time, the Persian Empire (modern day Iran) has
been growing under the leadership of Cyrus II -
Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus had now set his sights on Babylon and had been conquering city
after city. As we begin chapter 5, the only thing left of the Babylonian
Empire is the city of Babylon itself. As their cities fell, the lords retreated
to the city of Babylon as their safe haven.
Nebuchadnezzar had truly built an amazing city with magnificent fortifications.
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There was 15 miles of double walls around the city, each wide enough for
two chariots to be driven side by side.
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There were towers on the outside walls every 60 feet.
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There was a moat around the city.
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The Eupharates River came through the city with river gates where it entered
and exited. This provided a water source in case of a seige.
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The Babylonians had stockpiled a 20 year food supply inside the walls.
Consequently, even though they were aware that the Persian army was outside
their city gates, they were completely unconcerned. They thought that is
was impossible for an army to conquer this great city.
So what did Belshazzar do? He threw a party!2 He made sure
that there was plenty of wine and plenty of women.
Under the influence of alcohol, he ordered his servants to get the vessels
of gold and silver from the Jewish Temple that he had seen in the treasure
house so that they could drink wine from them. What you have to remember
is that there were lots of trophies from other nations in the treasure
house. Why did he want these particular items?
There could have only been one reason -- to show his contempt for the
Hebrew God. In defiance of God they drank wine from these sacred vessels
while praising pagan gods. Suddenly their appeared a hand that wrote a
cryptic message on the plastered wall. Unable to make out the message,
Belshazzar called for the wise men to interpret for him. When none of his
wise men were able to decipher the message, he called for Daniel.
This man of God, who was now in his eighties, first gives Belshazzar
a history lesson. Belshazzar was the one who first brought up Nebuchadnezzar
and Daniel uses his relationship with Nebuchadnezzar to make a point: ”I
knew Nebuchadnezzar - and you’re no Nebuchadnezzar."
Daniel next gives Belshazzar a theology lesson, verse 23b.
23And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord
of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you
and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them.
And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood
and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your
breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. (Dan.
5:23, NKJV)
You have made a very, very bad decision. You have challenged the authority
(little man) of “the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all
your ways.” We are told in the book of Hebrews 10:31 (NKJV)
that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
No wonder Belshazzar’s knees were knocking.
Finally, Daniel gives Belshazzar a grammar lesson. The wise men probably
knew the words -- they were in Aramaic -- but Daniel knew their meaning.3
It’s still true today. Unbelievers are able to read the words in the
Bible; but they do not understand their meaning. If fact, the Bible says
that the things of God are foolishness to those who do not believe (1
Cor. 2:14, NKJV). But God has revealed Himself in His Word to those
who place their trust in Him.
I. MENE: “God has numbered your kingdom and finished it.”
The word “mene” means “numbered” and it is repeated for emphasis -
“numbered”, numbered”. In other words, “his number was up” - as it turns
out, that very night!
God is telling you, Belshazzar, that you have put your trust in the
wrong things:
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You confidence is walls, moats, towers, etc. - things made by men.
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You have chosen to worship gods made by men as well.
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They have lulled you into a false sense of security.
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Very soon you will have to face the God that you have blasphemed tonight!
What gives you your sense of security? What is it in which you place your
confidence? If your number was up tonight, are you ready to stand before
God?
It is pointed out here and other places in the Bible that the false
gods that men worship have eyes but cannot see - ears but cannot hear.
(e.g. Psalm
115:4-7; Psalm 135 :15-18; Romans 1:22-25, NKJV) This is not only true
of false gods, but also of those who worship them. What a picture of those
who reject Christ and embrace man-made solutions to their spiritual need
- seeing but not understanding; hearing but not comprehending. You become
like that which you worship
The book of James
4:14 (NKJV) tells us that our life is but a vapor. In his later years
Moses prayed, “Teach us to number our days that we might apply our hearts
unto wisdom.” (Psalm
90:12, NKJV)
II. TEKEL: “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.”
Belshazzar, you have been weighed in the balances of God’s pure justice.
You might think you are a bigshot, but on God’s balance you hardly register.
What brought God’s judgment so swiftly and surely on Belshazzar?
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He knew the power of God.
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He knew the experience of insanity that Nebuchadnezzar had for seven years
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He knew the proclamation that his grandfather had made when he regained
his sanity -- how he worshipped the King of heaven.
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He knew that the vessels from the Jewish Temple had been dedicated to God.
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He knew better!
The Bible teaches us that with knowledge comes responsibility.
”To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke
12:48 , NKJV)
”To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not - to him it
is sin.” (James
4.17, KJV)
It’s actually dangerous to come to New Life Wesleyan if you’re not serious
about the things of God. Here you are going to be taught the Word. You
are going to know and that means that you are responsible.
The purpose of learning God’s Word is not for you to get a swelled head.
That knowledge must make the journey to your heart. Then, it will impact
your life.
III. PERES: “Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians.”
”Peres” in v. 28 is the singular form of the plural “Upharsin” in v.25
meaning “division” and “divisions." There is also undoubtedly a play on
words to indicate that Babylon was going to be conquered by the Medo-Persian
empire (divisions) with the dominant power being Persia (division).
Even as Daniel was giving his interpretation, Persian soldiers were
already inside Babylon. Secular history tells us that while Belshazzar’s
feast was going on, a general of Cyrus, had diverted the waters of the
Euphrates and he was marching his men up the bed of the river into the
city. The river gates had been left unguarded, probably because the guards
were drunk. History also tells us that Persian troops made their way to
the banquet hall and killed Belshazzar and some of the lords after which
Babylon fell without resistance.
Verse 30 tells us “And that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
slain and Darius the Mede took the kingdom.”
The Head of Gold was replaced by the Chest and Arms of Silver. Babylon
was conquered by the Persian ruler, Cyrus, who placed the Mede, Darius,
as governor (king) of Babylon.3 |