Daniel 5 - A Fool's Dinner and Death
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING] Daniel 5:1-12
1 Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5 Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together. 7 The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed. 10 The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. 11 “There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners. 12 “This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation.”
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] In Daniel 1, we saw Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—all choice young men—exiled to Babylon.
They were given a Babylonian education, Babylonian food, and Babylonian identities, but Daniel and his three friends were always faithful to YHWH, and YHWH always blessed them in return.
When Daniel and his three friends refused to defile themselves with Babylonian food, “God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams,” (Dan. 1:17), and King Nebuchadnezzar “found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm,” (Dan. 1:20).
When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that no one else could reveal or interpret, Daniel went to God in prayer and then went to Nebuchadnezzar to reveal the dream and give the interpretation. “Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon,” (Dan. 2:48).
When King Nebuchadnezzar made a huge golden statue of himself and demanded everyone bow down and worship it, Daniel’s friends—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—refused to do so. They were thrown into a fiery furnace but miraculously delivered by a fourth man who appeared in the fire, one that looked like a son of the gods. When the three men came out of the fire, “the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (their Babylonian names) to prosper in the province of Babylon,” (Dan. 3:30).
But when we come to Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar is no longer king of Babylon, and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah seem to have been forgotten.
Instead of Nebuchadnezzar who was humbled by God in Daniel 4 and rose up praising, exalting, and honoring God, Babylon is ruled in Daniel 5 by co-regents, a father and son, Nabonidus and Belshazzar, both descendents of Nebuchadnezzar but both very far from his greatness.
Daniel 5 focuses on Belshazzar and the last night of his rule, indeed the last night of the king’s life and the last night of the Kingdom of Babylon.
[CIT] In this chapter, God showed His exiled people that those who mocked Him would be left in the trash-bin of history, but He would always care for His people.
[PROP] In this time of our exile before the Lord Jesus returns, this chapter reminds us that although our God is invisible, He is in control.
All the mockers will be called to account.
He will care for us, His people.
[INTER] But how does this passage teach us to live in exile?
[TS] There are three PRINCIPLES we should immediately begin to practice…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
PRINCIPLE #1: Don’t Fret the Worldly Fool (vv. 13-16)
PRINCIPLE #1: Don’t Fret the Worldly Fool (vv. 13-16)
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 exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14 “Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. 15 “Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message. 16 “But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.”
[EXP] The fool says in his heart there is no god. Belshazzar said that in a couple of ways.
First, at a big feast for a thousand of his nobles, he decided to get drunk on wine using the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple, the house of God, in Jerusalem.
These vessels were meant for sacred use, not the profane debauchery of Belshazzar and his guests.
Second, as they drank, Belshazzar and his guests “praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone,” (Dan. 5:4).
It was then that this fool saw the hand of God in human form appear and write the words that Daniel was summoned to translate.
Daniel had been so thoroughly forgotten by Belshazzar that it took the queen—perhaps the wife of Nabonidus and, thus, the mother of Belshazzar—to remind him of Daniel’s existence, “There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods… Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation,” (Dan. 5:11a, 12b).
But when Daniel arrives, notice how Belshazzar attempts to put him in his place.
“Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my my father the king brought from Judah?” (v. 13)
Although Daniel had been promoted and honored in Babylon, Belshazzar identifies him only as an exile from Judah.
He then says, “Now I have heard about you…” (v. 14), but Belshazzar wasn’t saying that he believed the things he heard about Daniel but that Daniel was going to have to prove to him the things he had heard.
Although Daniel had proven himself on a number of occasions in the past, Belshazzar doubted that he could do what the other wise men and conjurers failed to do—interpret the writing on the wall.
Fool that he was, Belshazzar didn’t understand the divine wisdom at work in Daniel.
[APP] The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:14…
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
If you are a Daniel, a Spirit-filled conduit of divine wisdom (which we have in the Word of God), don’t be surprised when a fool, drunk on worldly wisdom, dismisses or doubts you.
The “Belshazzars” are never going to understand the "Daniels”.
The fools are never going to understand the wisdom of God.
[TS] Even so, it is still our job to speak that wisdom, and that’s why Daniel answers Belshazzar in vv. 17-28…
PRINCIPLE #2: Do Learn the Humility Lesson (vv. 17-28)
PRINCIPLE #2: Do Learn the Humility Lesson (vv. 17-28)
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 “O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. 19 “Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. 20 “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. 21 “He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. 22 “Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, 23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified. 24 “Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out. 25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 “ ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 “ ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
[EXP] Daniel begins with a history lesson on humility (vv. 17-21), recounting Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and humiliation and eventual realization “that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes,” (Dan. 5:21b).
Daniel then says that Belshazzar failed to learn that lesson from the life of Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 22-23).
Belshazzar had not humbled his heart before God even though he saw the price Nebuchadnezzar paid for his pride.
Instead, Belshazzar exalted himself against the Lord of heaven by drinking with the sacred vessels of the Temple with his party guests and even using those vessels to worship idols.
Those sacred vessels were not to be used in that place—the Babylon banquet hall.
Those sacred vessels were not to be used by those people—Belshazzar, his nobles, his wives, and concubines.
Those sacred vessels were not to be used in that way—in the worship of idols.
Those sacred vessels were meant to be used in God’s house, by God’s people, in the worship of God alone.
Belshazzar had certainly exalted himself against the Lord, the God in who hand was his life-breath and all his ways.
Belshazzar had not glorified God; Belshazzar had blasphemed God.
Thus, the writing on the wall said that Belshazzar’s rule as king had been numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (vv. 24-28).
A ‘mina’ was fifty shekels.
A ‘tekel’ was a shekel.
An ‘upharsin’ was half-a-shekel.
But Daniel gave the interpretation according to verb forms of these words.
‘Mina’ means numbered.
‘Tekel’ means weighed.
And ‘Peres’ (the singular form of upharsin) means divided.
All of this meant that Belshazzar’s rule and Babylon’s kingdom had been evaluated by God, judged by God, and would be divided up by God betwen the Medes and Persians.
[APP] In Matthew 23:12, Jesus said…
12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
We should closely study the lesson on humility in the life of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Belshazzar failed to learn that lesson but we must learn that the Lord humbles those who exalt themselves and exalts those who humble themselves before Him.
This is a lesson that we must learn with our minds.
This is a lesson that we must love with our hearts.
This is a lesson that we must live with our actions.
But if we refuse to learn this lesson, we will certainly lose just as Belshazzar lost.
[TS]…
PRINCIPLE #3: Don’t Reject the Impending Reality (vv. 29-31)
PRINCIPLE #3: Don’t Reject the Impending Reality (vv. 29-31)
29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.
[EXP] Daniel just told Belshazzar that he was going to be dethroned, and yet he’s still acting like a king whose orders mattered.
Daniel had said that he didn’t want the king’s rewards for interpreting the writing on the wall, but Belshazzar gave them anyway.
Daniel recieved them, and for a few hours was the third ruler in the Kingdom of Babylon after Nabonidus and Belshazzar.
I’m sure Daniel wasn’t very proud of that title because he knew it really meant nothing, but in giving that title to Daniel at this time, we see Belshazzar’s denial of reality.
He didn’t want to believe that his kingdom was coming to an end, but in fact we saw this at the beginning of the chapter as well.
We know from historical records, that when Belshazzar threw his big party, his father Nabonidus and the Babylonians had just lost a decisive battle against the Medes and Persians. Babylon was done, judgment had arrived, and everyone knew it except Belshazzar who decided to get drunk and taunt YHWH. But…
30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.
[APP] It is appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment.
Like Belshazzar, we will all face the judgment of God; we must not deny that reality, but hopefully we will face that judgment with sober trust in Christ Jesus rather than drunken blasphemy against God.
Hebrews 9:27-28 says…
27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The end will come for us all.
That’s a reality we should not deny.
When it comes, let’s be humbly waiting on our Savior Jesus.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]