Heavenly Living in Hostage Times Chapter 5

Daniel 5:1–4 NKJV

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 While 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. 3 Then 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. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

Prayer

Message

What do historians and theologians know about Belshazzar? He was titled here in the Scriptures as “king of Babylon.”

BELSHAZZAR, KING OF BABYLON (בלאשׁצר, bl'shtsr). The name means “Bel protect the king.” He was the last king of Babylon when the city and empire fell to the Medo-Persian Empire in 539 bc. You will recollect that Daniel was in Babylon from a 17 year old boy to this point in time, 87 years old. Daniel was in Babylon the entire captivity.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Belshazzar’s Rise to the Throne

King Nebuchadnezzar likely died in 562 BC. He was succeeded by a son, Evil-Merodach, who ruled from 562–560 BC (see 2 Kgs 25:27–30; Jer 52:31–34). Evil-Merodach was murdered by Neriglissar, his brother-in-law, who succeeded him. Neriglissar, also known as Nergal-Sharezer (Jer 39:3, 13), ruled from 560–556 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Labashi-Marduk, who was assassinated after two months on the throne. Labashi-Marduk was replaced by Nabonidus, who ruled from 556–539 BC. Nabonidus restored many of the Babylonian temples that had deteriorated. This work kept him absent from the capital for about 15 years. Belshazzar was the eldest son of Nabonidus. He was appointed by Nabonidus as a co-regent. The events of Dan 5 depict the last day of the last year of the reign of Belshazzar, when Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian Empire. The narrative moves the events of Dan 4 forward by about 23 years.

Sinful Celebration

Nothing wrong with celebration as long as it stays civil and does not become sinful. King Belshazzar had a great feast and approximately a thousand key leaders were in attendance. Note that the Scriptures state that he “drank wine in the presence of the thousand.” When you combine the details of verse 2, we see actions that are out of the ordinary.

Daniel 5:2 “2 While 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.”

Wine was the common beverage of Eastern culture. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be drinking wine. Daniel recorded in the first 4 verse the aspect of drinking wine five times. Why did he share the details of the gold and silver vessels being used to drink out of?

Belshazzar was caught in a weak moment among his leadership. They saw his humanity. He was desensitized by strong drink.

There is a great deal of semblance in the story of Esther 1:3 “3 that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him—”

Esther 1:10–12 NKJV

10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.

Wine

WINE (יַיִן, yayin; οἶνος, oinos). The beverage most commonly consumed by ancient Israelites. Represented Christ’s blood in the early Church. Christ’s first miracle involved turning water into wine (John 2:1–12).

Biblical Relevance

Wine belongs to the Mediterranean triad of grain, wine, and oil—the main agricultural products in ancient Israel and the major components of the ancient Israelite diet It contributed to agricultural diversity—helpful for times of famine or plague—and provided economic security as a cash crop. Wine also served as an important beverage for an area where drinkable water was scarce due to proximity, drought, or contamination.

Deuteronomy 7:13 “13 And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.”

Joel 2:19 “19 The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.”

Wine was associated with happiness.

Judges 9:13 “13 But the vine said to them, ‘Should I cease my new wine, Which cheers both God and men, And go to sway over trees?’”

Psalm 104:15 “15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.”

Ecclesiastes 9:7 “7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works.”

The important aspect of this story and other places in the Bible is to see where strong drink takes you.

Proverbs 31:6 “6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.”

Matthew 27:34 “34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.”

Wine is the great desensitizer. Wine, strong drink becomes a tool to remove one from reality. Invariably, there is something on the subsurface that will find its hungers come to the surface when consumed. Wine is usually the great patch job to a deeper struggle internally.

KIng Belshazzar along with King Ahaseurus were like every one of us. They were sinners. They had sinful desires that were released as they consumed more and more alcohol.

These men in their sinful nature wanted to exploit women.

In fact, the lowness of King Ahaseurus was marked at the seventh day of the feast, meaning he was in his perfect lowness -when he summoned Queen Vashti to come and show herself.

Proverbs 20:1 “1 Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

Proverbs 23:21 “21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.”

1 Peter 4:3 “3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”

In those first four verses, there are many questions to ask, but we can only assume there was a great deal of promiscuous behavior.

Sobering Captivation

King Belshazzar committed the cardinal sin of showing disrespect for Yahweh God that had been the God of provision in the life of Babylon and spit in His face by using the gold and silver vessels as tools to waywardness and total disregard for the sacredness of those devices.

Addictions usually do not come overnight. They can be gradual. And what happens is other gods distract us that take our eyes of God. the gods of sex, materialism, job and career, leisure, worshipping the blessings rather than the Giver of blessing.

Furthermore, he worship creation rather than the Creator. Gold, silver, wood and stone.

Daniel 5:5–9 NKJV

5 In 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. 6 Then 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. 7 The 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.” 8 Now all the king’s wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.

Aren’t you thankful that in the worst extremes of addiction, depression, and all the various manners that people choose to cope with life that regardless what spirits are influencing us, the Spirit can capture our attention.

We see King Belshazzar move from stone drunk to sober within seconds when he alone saw the handwriting on the wall.

Notice the extremism of demeanor change.

“His hips were loosened and his knees knocked together.”

WE normally find that in times of sinful celebration, in times of the patch job of addiction, that the circumstances are so much worse had we chosen to meet the hurts, the struggles head on with the Lord.

“Sin carries you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, cost you more than you want to pay.”

In Ezekiel 21, Ezekiel describes the demeanor of Israel when they soberly grasp the reality of the sword and the captivity to come in Babylon.

Ezekiel 21:7 “7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.””

Dearly beloved, it reminds me that the many scapegoats we attempt to use to overcome our hurts are just that scapegoats of facing the problems we have and calling on God’s divine intervention.

King Nebuchadnezzar prescribed death to his astrologers and soothsayers that could not answer the riddle. King Belshazzar prescribed reward for answering the drawing.

Sorrowful Conclusion

Well, the queen shared to the king Belshazzar about Daniel. She remembered the history of Daniel and his ability to provide answers for King Nebuchadnezzar when he had bad dreams.

This story challenges us that if we do not teach our kids in the things of God we see the later generations slip from the hands of God.

We can see that he was a party boy and he was removed from the trenches of really knowing what was going on in the kingdom. He was too busy living the high life of king rather than fixing his mind on the real details of daily leading the people.

2 Samuel 11:1 “1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

David committed the sin of omission. He knew what he was supposed to do and failed to do it.

Oh listen to me tonight. Never let it be said that we could not have a deep fall. Everyone of us has depraved minds. We all are susceptible to failure if we are not led by the Spirit. It is only in the power of the Spirit’s guidance in our lives that we can restrain ourselves to the carnal man inside each of us.

Daniel 5:13–16 NKJV

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? 14 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now 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. 16 And 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.”

Daniel 5:17–21 NKJV

17 Then 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. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. 19 And 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. 20 But 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. 21 Then 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.

It’s very apparent that Daniel had more disdain for Belshazzar than he did for Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel said that there was basically a time your grandfather exercised extreme authority without regard to Yahweh God and God had to cool his heels.

The problem therein lies in verse 20:

Daniel 5:20 “20 But 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.”

And Daniel will say to Belshazzar that you knew this, you are accountable. You knew that your grandfather overstepped his bounds and here you have done the same thing.

Statement of Conceit

Daniel 5:22–30 NKJV

22 “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 And 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. 24 Then 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 26 This is the interpretation of each word. Mene: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then 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.