The Prayer of a Prophet | Daniel 9

Good morning church if you have your Bibles and I hope you do please go ahead and open them to Daniel 5. We are going to continue in our journey through the book of Daniel this morning.

Now some of you know that I’m a middle child. I’ve got an older brother and a younger sister. Yes, I know, that explains a lot about me, doesn’t it? Suddenly somethings about me just clicked, didn’t they? One of the privileges about being a middle child is that you have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes & successes of the one in front of you. I probably missed most of that, but there was one thing that I think I did learn. My parents had a rule that when we left town to head out to the house—I grew up on the farm—that we had to call home and let them know we were headed that way. My brother didn’t always remember that, so I got to watch the repercussions of that. So when I was old enough to drive home I was certain that I would always obey the rule and phone home so that mom and dad knew.

Our story this morning in Daniel shifts off of Nebuchadnezzar and lands with a guy named Belshazzar. Now, there’s a whole lot of history that I’d love to sit down with you and discuss over lunch that I’m not going to be able to get into today. But Belshazzar was the last king of the Babylonian empire and as such, he had the opportunity to learn the lessons, both good and bad of the ones who came before him…especially of King Nebuchadnezzar, but Belshazzar did not. He didn’t remember, he didn’t see, he didn’t care about all the things that had happened before him and because of this it caused him to live a life that was entirely self-centered. Well the story of Daniel 5 is the story of Belshazzar and his last day. Belshazzar had put off responding to the grace of God long enough. God has weighed the works of Belshazzar’s life and found him wanting, and now God was going to exact judgment on him. This story this morning then calls us to one thing: Do not put off responding to God’s grace any longer.

We’re going to look at this story in four different parts, so let’s read the first part, pray and then dive into it. Let’s read Daniel 5:1-9

Daniel 5:1–9 ESV

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

This is God’s Word. Let’s pray.

The first thing we see in this text that calls us to not put off responding to God’s grace is this:

Beware of what pride drives us to do.

So the author of our story, Daniel, doesn’t really take time to introduce Belshazzar. He just drops us into the middle of the story. Historically speaking, the city of Babylon is surrounded by the Mede & Persian army, but Babylon is this seemingly impenetrable fortress. So with this opposing army surrounding the gates, Belshazzar decides he’s going to throw a party. Now we’re not quite sure why he decides to do this—is it because he is so confident in his position that he feels like he can celebrate, or is it because he knows the end is imminent and so why not eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die? The text doesn’t tell us, yet what it does say is that he throws this raging party.

In the midst of this moment he calls for the temple vessels that the first king of Babylon—Nebuchadnezzar—brought from his conquest of Jerusalem and uses them in this festival that is both a party and as the text says in verse 4 a worship service to the pagan gods.

Belshazzar is making a statement here. He is both desecrating the items used to worship the Most High God, and also saying that the God of the Hebrew people is nothing. It is his god that will save, and deliver them from the pending invasion. Once again, this theme that has carried us through Daniel reoccurs—who truly is God?

Now we live in a world in which we don’t use temple vessels like the Hebrew people did to worship God. Those cups represented the presence of God among his people and the people used them to express their worship towards him. But because of the cross, the temple veil was torn and now we don’t have to have temple vessels to worship, or to draw near to God. But this got me wondering, are there vessels that God has given us for worship that we repurpose for our own comfort, our own self-promotion, or our own worship?

Now we could pull out the white board and start throwing things up there that we repurpose, but the short of it is that everything that we have, all that we are is for the purpose of the glory and worship of God. But in order to try and be helpful I think there’s 3 different things that dominate us as a people. This is as much me as it is anyone else and that’s appearance, comfort, and time.

I care about how you view me, and I should. Paul says that elders should be well thought of, so it’s not unbiblical. But, I can let your view of me drive all that I do. I want you to see me as effective communicator so I spend time reading and studying the text and things about the text, but in doing so I don’t let the text affect me. It can really easily become where this sacred moment of preaching isn’t sacred at all. It becomes about me and your view of me.

But the same can be said about my business. I want to seem successful so what do I do? I go spend money that I don’t have and drive a pickup I shouldn’t be driving. Or it could be said about my parenting…I care about how you view me as a father so i jump on my kids and make them do things that maybe they shouldn’t be concerned about all because I want you to see me a certain way. Or, here’s another one I’m guilty of, I want my kids to be seen as really good athletes and I want them to have a community of friends that have similar interests, so I prioritize athletic events, and athletic training over church. Or I want them to know how to work, so I prioritize work for my kids over their faith. All so that they’re “well rounded human beings.”

Or maybe for you, you want to be seen as a good person, so you bring your family to church, some. Or you want to be seen as a hard worker, so you work longer hours than you should and neglect your family. All for the sake of appearance.

The same could be said of our comfort. God’s given us a heart, soul, mind, strength, ability to create or to connect or live in community and we take those vessels and we repurpose them for our comfort. So pick one of those things—community. We avoid community by not committing to church, or by showing up at church and then slipping out the back quickly so we don’t have to connect with anyone because why? Because it makes uncomfortable. Or maybe, because the last place we went to hurt when we left and so we’re afraid of community now and the discomfort that might come with it.

Think about ability. God’s given you the ability to do a job at a specific place, yet you take that ability and just use it to make money. It’s not a platform to engage your coworkers with God who’s saved you, because that might be uncomfortable. We avoid conversations, we avoid connection, we avoid community because we worship comfort. We take sacred vessels and repurpose them for ourselves.

This is what Belshazzar did and in doing so do you know what he was saying about God? He was saying God, you’re lesser than these other gods. You don’t have the power to save, to provide, to give. You aren’t essential. So in pride, Belshazzar was led to show contempt for God.

But God says, enough. He sends a hand out of his presence and writes these 3 mysterious words on the wall. It seems like only Belshazzar can see the hand but the crowds can see the writing. In his terror, what does Belshazzar do? He did exactly what Nebby did, he cries out to his worthless advisors who are the pillars of his worthless religion and he tries to buy his way out. “Look if you’ll tell me what this means then I’ll reward you handsomely.”

What is it that you turn to when you get uncomfortable? What is it you turn to when your appearance has been tarnished? What is it that you turn to in moments of fear or when the pressure is mounting or when things get uncomfortable? Like Belshazzar do you run to alcohol or some other substance? Do you turn to the worthless advisors found on social media? Do you begin to bargain with God promising that if he’ll just get you out of this pinch then you’ll “live right”? Belshazzar in his pride repurposed vessels used to worship God and then turned worthless things to try and get answers. Beware of what pride drives you to do. That’s the first thing we see in this text. Let’s pick up in verse 10 to see what happens next. Daniel 5:10-16

Daniel 5:10–16 ESV

The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. 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, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. 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.”

The second thing we are challenged with from this passage is this:

Beware of what pride causes you to miss.

Belshazzar’s dramatic response garners the attention of the queen. Now there’s different views on who this woman exactly is, but what we do know is that she’s knows Daniel and has seen God use him before. She calms the king down and reminds him of this exiled Judahite that has served to interpret dreams in the past, but notice Belshazzar’s response towards Daniel. The author emphasizes Belshazzar’s contempt towards Daniel by using the name Daniel 5 times in verses 12-13. Then he reminds Daniel of his position by recalling the conquest of Jerusalem and then this captivity, and then he questions his ability.

But then we get to the heart of the matter. What is it that Belshazzar wants? Does he ask for deliverance? Does he ask for forgiveness? Does he acknowledge that his gods can’t answer his problems and he needs the Most High God’s help? No, mockingly, he asks Daniel for interpretation. Just give me the information of what this means so that I can fix my problems.

Church I think there’s a couple really important principles to take from this. The person that Belshazzar belittled was the person that could help. The one with the answers was the one that he looked down upon. As Dale Ralph Davis said, “The only help for Belshazzar was a cast-off Jew whose God he despised. The same is true for you. This is what Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:22-24

1 Corinthians 1:22–24 ESV

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Paul tells us that the only answer to our problems comes from the one who to the rest of the world is a stumbling block or folly. Davis continues:

The Message of Daniel: His Kingdom Cannot Fail 3. Theological Witness

To speak of a crucified Messiah was like saying ‘clean filth’ or ‘delicious vomit’.22 A damned Messiah couldn’t be a saving Messiah; he must be mighty, not mangled. And the Greeks had the same mind-set: God must fit into their expectations to win their vote. For the Jews, the Messiah must be mighty; for the Greeks, he must be slick. Jews want strength, Greeks style. Jews are interested in power, Greeks in packaging; Jews focus on force, Greeks on finesse. For the Jews, the cross lacks ‘punch’; for the Greeks, it lacks sense. Jews demand signs, Greeks seek wisdom, Americans want therapy, ‘but we preach Christ as the Crucified One’.23 Divine foolishness in face of our desperation. You are not so different from Belshazzar: a cast-off Jew of the God you have despised is your only hope.

One of the things I think you know that I do is I keep a copy of our hot list in the front of my Bible and church I genuinely do spend time praying for you and your families each week. So as I thought about this part of this text this week and us I decided I’d just throw up on my white board some things that I know are true about us. There’s people in this room who’ve had their worldviews shattered in the past couple years. There’s financial stress, there’s health concerns, there’s church hurt—both within and without, there’s marital problems and there’s family issues. There’s fears about stage of life—whether that be not having kids to having another kid when you’re too old to your kids moving out of the house to retirement to how much life is left; there’s loneliness in this room. Now church I’m not trying to air our dirty laundry; there is no temptation or sin that isn’t common to man. I could keep going but the point is what are you looking to as the solution to what you’re afraid of? Is your pride preventing you from humbling yourself and going to the man on the cross—the one who was rejected and despised for our sake? The answers to your problems aren’t found in therapy, or winning the lottery, or honestly, as we see in this story, it’s not found in information. The one man who can fix everything you need is Jesus.

The other thing we see from this is, as I’ve just hinted at, Belshazzar thinks that information is going to solve his problems. If only he knew what it said, then he could manage the issues.

I read an article this week that talked about not being sin managers and I wonder if that’s all Belshazzar was wanting to do. I wonder if he was thinking that if he could just figure out how to navigate whatever the writing meant that he’d be fine. I fear that we have that tendency; that I have that tendency. Do you ever tend to look at your sin and think that it’s not as bad as your neighbors? Or maybe to look at your sin and go, I’ll deal with it tomorrow, or, or, do you look at your sin and just go, I don’t know how to deal with it and so instead of getting help because it’d make me uncomfortable that I’ll just go on about it in secret because it might ruin my appearance. Maybe that’s just me. Church, don’t let your pride cause you to miss what God has provided for your deliverance. Belshazzar did, but there’s more to the story yet…

Let’s pick up back in Daniel 5:17-23

Daniel 5:17–23 ESV

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in 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, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

Our third thing we see in this text is this:

Understand the heart of your worship

Did you catch the hostility Daniel showed towards Belshazzar? Daniel can’t be bought and he felt the ridicule from the king, so he didn’t take any offers seriously. Mainly because he knew that at the end of the day the king had nothing to offer. But then, again, what is Belshazzar after? He’s after interpretation. Give him information. Have we seen anything about an interpretation yet? No. What do we get? A history lesson.

Daniel recalls the life of Nebuchadnezzar, the conquering king whom he apparently had come to love. He reminds Belshazzar that God gave Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom and his ability to rule it, but as we see in verse 20, what happens when Nebby started thinking a little highly of himself? Daniel 5:20

Daniel 5:20 ESV

But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.

When Nebuchadnezzer started lifting up his heart—in other words like we saw last week, when he started gloating over his accomplishments and resting in the surety of his ability to rule and reign well, what happened to his spirit? It was hardened. His internal assurance led to a prideful disposition. As we saw in 1 Pet. 5:5 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” So what does God, in his mercy, do to Nebby? He turns him into an ox until “he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.” That same line that we saw throughout the life of Nebuchadnezzar returns here to remind us what God has been saying all along: He alone is God and he is who rules the kingdoms of man. Nebuchadnezzar finally understood it.

But what about Belshazzar? I want to throw these last 2 verses up on the screen and notice what Daniel says Belshazzar has done. Daniel 5:22-23

Daniel 5:22–23 ESV

And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in 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, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

Belshazzar you have not humbled. You have lifted up yourself. You have praised the false gods and you have not honored the Most High God.

Church, I read each of those statements about Belshazzar and went, yeah, I’m no different than him. I have not humbled myself. I’ve apologized this week for the pride that I carry. I have lifted myself up thinking more highly of myself than I ought. In doing so I have praised the false gods of myself and not honored the Most High God. While all of that is true, do you know what is the worst part of it? “Though you knew.” Though you knew.

What do we say to our kids when they do something they know they shouldn’t? You knew better. That’s what Daniel is saying to Belshazzar here. You knew better. You may not have seen King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, but you knew the stories. You heard how God gave and redeemed. You knew what God expected of him, yet you’ve hardened your heart in your pride.

Yet here comes Belshazzar saying, tell me what this means and God says, no I’m telling you why this is happening. You know, yet you have responded in prideful disobedience. We want information to solve our problems, but information to a prideful heart is preventative of transformation. I love what Davis had to say about this:

The Message of Daniel: His Kingdom Cannot Fail 3. Theological Witness

Bible-believing churches and fellowships rightly place a premium on the place and ministry of the word. But we must be awake to the peril of having the word without the Spirit. We must plead that the Spirit of God will cause the word of God to be obedience-producing and life-transforming, for when truth does not humble us (22) or lead us to worship (23b) we are simply Belshazzar clones.30

Church, where is it that you know God is calling you to obedience, or repentance, or reconciliation, yet you are unwilling to humble your heart? You see the thing you’re not obeying in says something about what you truly worship. You might be here today, singing songs, giving, serving, but you’ve lifted up your heart to worship someone other than God. Daniel calls us this morning to examine and understand what is at the heart of our worship because as the rest of this story warns, there’s judgment to come. Let’s look back to verse 24 and read the rest.

Daniel 5:24–31 ESV

“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

The last observation from this test is this:

Respond appropriately to what you know.

Daniel finally gives Belshazzar the answer he was looking for. Mene, Mene means God has numbered the days of Belshazzar’s kingdom. Now, we can sit here and armchair quarterback for just a second and go, hold on, this isn’t fair. Nebby had multiple opportunities and wild dreams, and dudes not burning up in a fiery furnace, to show that God was the one truly in charge, but here King B only gets this one shot. But notice the grace of God. He gave him a lifetime to repent, he gave him history lessons to prove who he was and now, even in this very moment, he’s telling him his days are numbered.

Church, your days are numbered. Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” Each of us will stand before our maker. And even though I know that I’m still young, man those laps around the sun sure go by a lot faster and even beyond that, none of us are promised lunch today. Time is running out.

Mene, Mene, TEKEL. Tekel means that Belshazzar had been weighed and found wanting. Spurgeon summed this up saying:

“I would have every man put himself into the divine scales. These scales are true to a hair--one grain of sand will tip them. On one side of the scale, I put only one commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,” and I invite any man who… flatters himself that he has no need of mercy, no need of washing in the blood of Jesus Christ, no need of atonement—to put himself into the scales, and see whether he measures up to just this one command. Oh, my friends, if we did but weigh ourselves against the very first commandment of the law, we would have to acknowledge ourselves as hopelessly guilty. But then as we begin to drop in the weight of the other commandments, until the whole sacred Ten are there, there is not a man under the scope of heaven who has anything less to say, but must confess that he is woefully short of the mark.”

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. God was fulfilling not just the vision of the hand but the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. What started back in chapter 1 was not coming to completion. God sets rulers and kings over man, and he takes them away as well. God kept his word. He always does.

Daniel seems to accept the reward, but it doesn’t really matter, does it? That very night—such a haunting phrase. He was promised there wouldn’t be a tomorrow. That very night the Medes and the Persian armies walked into Babylon without any scuffle and Belshazzar was killed.

Now, did God execute judgment because Belshazzar didn’t respond appropriately to what he knew? Possibly. That’s a biblically faithful way to look at this text I think. Or did God execute judgment on Belshazzar because God is God and he sets over the kingdoms of mankind whomever He wills? Yes. God is sovereign. God opposes the proud. God judges sin. Belshazzar did know, and yet in his pride he was found wanting so God was just in his numbering of his days and removing him off his throne.

Friends your days are numbered. When you step onto the scales of God’s righteousness how will they be tipped? Will you in your pride show how you managed your sin or recount how good your deeds were? Or, will you step off the scales in humility knowing that there’s no way for you to measure up? Will you look to the one who is the answer to all of your problems? Will you in humility take steps of obedience because of what he’s done for you?

The proper response to this passage I think is two-fold. First, we’re called to humble ourselves. Then second, we’re called to step forward in obedience and worship recognizing that all of us, every bit of who we are and what we have is a vessel of worship meant for the triune God. So will you do that? Will you humble yourself to obey and worship him? Will you humble yourself to confess your sin and turn away from it? Will you humble yourself to commit to growing as a disciple by plugging into one of the many options there are for you here? Will you humble yourself and step forward in obedience by being baptized? Will you humble yourself and seek reconciliation? Will you humble yourself and respond. Mene, mene—your days are numbered. Do not put off responding to God’s grace. Let’s pray.