Learning from handwriting
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Fill in some blanks
Fill in some blanks
The scripture gives us everything we need to take us to glory and for life and godliness. Sometimes we need to search scripture to help fill in blanks of a passage or even look to history records to help too. In our passage this morning we will see a shift at the end of one kingdom and the start of another.
It is believed the year is 539 BC
Some commentators name the date at Oct. 12, 539.
(Cast of characters slide here)
Time line includes Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merdach, Nergilissar Labashi-Marduk, Nabonidus, and that leads to our main character today, Belshazzar.
Time line
Nebuchadnezzar died 562 succeeded by Evil-Merdach (2Kng25:27)
Evil-Merodach assassinated 560 by Nergilissar who then died in 556.
Nergilissar 556 was replaced by infant son, Labashi-Marduk who then was replaced later that year in a priestly revolt by Nabonidus
Nabonidus was a priest that served under Nebuchadnezzar
Nabonidus appointed his son, Belshazzar as regent in Babylon in 550.
Belshazzar as we see in our passage today was acknowledge by the people as king, eventhough he was really a co-regent to the kingdom (the number 2 man)
Nebuchadnezzar is called “father” of Belshazzar in the passage (Dan5:2, 11, 13, 18, and 22) but in reality he is the grandson, for his father was Nabodonius, who is son in law to Nebuchadnezzar. It was common to call one’s ancestors as father.
Cast of characters includes
1000 (v.1)
King Belshazzar (vv.1-2)
Wise men (v.7-8)
Queen mother (v.10-12)
Daniel (v.13ff)
Darius the Mede (v.31)
(Transition) - - -
So as we look at our passage today I think we will see
Living it up in the kingdom filled with idolatry (Dan5:1-4)
Panic in the king’s court (Dan5:5-9)
God’s man called to the scene (Dan5:10-16)
Promises given, Indictment pronounced (Dan5:17-24)
Judgment, sentence proclaimed (Dan5:25-30)
Execution, judgment carried out(Dan5:31)
Living it up in the kingdom filled with idolatry
Living it up in the kingdom filled with idolatry
Times are good, in the worlds eyes, the king is living it up in the kingdom. He is forgetting history and prophesy and that leads us into the idolatry we see in our passage.
Don’t get caught up in the world that you miss what is going on around you (Dan5:1-2; 1Jn2:15-17)
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.
Our first part of cast of characters we see a feast being held for a 1000 of the nobles as well as the king and the indulgence of alcohol
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.
John writes about the indulgences of the world, the lusts of this world as well as the danger of them.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
What was going on around them is that while they were partying, worshipping the god of silver, gold and intoxication the city was surrounded by the Medes.
Interesting point the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that “Babylon surpasses in wonder any city in the known world.” and specifically praised the walls which he said were 56 miles (90 kilometers) long, 80 feet (24 meters) thick, and 320 feet (97 meters) high. You can check that out on www.ancient.eu/wall/ Now this is a time that is similiar to what we read in 1The5:3
Don’t think your peace and safety come from within (1The5:3)
3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
The irreverence of the King (Dan5:2-4; Dan3:29; Dan4:34-37; Eph5:5; Mat6:24)
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.
Belshazzar was worshipping the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone instead of the Creator of those things. Even Nebuchadnezzar would not do that but to order others to worship the God of the Jews
29 “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”
And you can further see how Nebuchadnezzar looked at things
34 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
36 “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalted, honored the king of heaven and all His works, though we do not know if it really came from a place of faith or not. One day we will know when we get to heaven if he did.
Could we do something like this, like what Belshazzar did worship the god of money, of good works, god of personal accomplishments and achievements? If we fall to any of these things we enter into the sin of covetousness.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
and Jesus said this:
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
(Transition) Belshazzar and the cast of 1000 are guilty, don’t be guilty in deeds or in association with, remember and learn from the handwriting on the wall.
Panic in the king’s court
Panic in the king’s court
Signs, God gives many signs, some of them very obvious, some not so obvious. Here due to the indulgence of the king and the including the cast of 1000 comes the handwriting on the wall that brings panic humiliation to the king’s court.
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.
Indulgences will not last forever (Job20:4-7)
Indulgences will not last forever, where Belshazzar was worshiping and inviting the cast of 1000 to worship with him the god of gold, silver etc, there were other things said in scripture about this too. But well said, just not well placed when it came to Job for he was not guilty but Belshazzar is
4 “Do you know this from of old, From the establishment of man on earth, 5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?
6 “Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds, 7 He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
The handwriting is on the wall (Dan5:5)
The king see’s a part of the hand doing the writing on the wall. The finger of God writing
NSRHPLKTNMNM
The finger of God wrote this saying now in the original language they would write from right to left and use no vowels, so it did not look like we read it in the bible, as mene, mene tekel upharsin.
Finger of God (Exo8:19, 31:18, Lk11:20)
The finger of God, i just have to stop there just for a moment. For the finger of God defeated the Egyptians
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
The finger of God gave the law
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
and just one more about the finger of God
20 “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
So here we have the finger of God that is issuing warning to the king of indulgences and his cast of 1000
Handwriting brought troubles (Dan5:6; Pro16:18; Pro3:5-10; Mt6:33)
His position, his confidence could not save him and his countenance changed and he was troubled and he was impacted in his hips and his knees.
Do you think maybe he is feeling like he is in trouble here and pride has gotten the best of him?
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
He has seen the finger of God, he must wonder if this is a judgment that is coming for he has seen what has transpired with Nebuchadnezzar when he got prideful
Handwriting brought cries (Dan5:7-9)
He calls on the helpless advisors, those who did not have the wisdom of God before, who could not help Nebuchadnezzar out before
Man today may still do the same thing in times of crisis, turn to themselves and their assumed power to handle what only God can handle or wants us to let go of so He can and will handle it. Man may look to other man first and God last and it should be God first and foremost (Mt6:33) but wait maybe give a little more here.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.
(Transition) so from pride to writing, writing to terror, terror to calling and to some good advise from history
God’s man called to the scene
God’s man called to the scene
History has a tendency to repeat itself, sometimes to the good, oftentimes to the bad. Let’s look at our next section and see which it is.
I think since we are not all together maybe just break this down as I go vs. the read of section (vv.10-16)
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.
Queen gives words of encouragement (v.10)
Now this is more than likely the queen mother since wives were already on the scene (v.2)
This queen was not on the scene at the time, maybe she knew that was no place to be when there was trouble just outside the walls and not was not a time for partying but for praying.
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.
From words of encouragement to words of history and truth (v.11)
Look how the queen uses history to encourage the king and comfort the king.
Look how she describes Daniel
Spirit of the Holy gods, He has light, understanding and wisdom. wisdom of the gods is in him.
Your father trusted him and promoted him.
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.”
From words of history to words of advise (v.12)
Still a few more great describers of Daniel, a little more history before giving the advise
Call him, summon Him
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.
From summons to accolades (Dan5:13-14)
The king summoned, Daniel came
Accolades were given on what the king had heard about Daniel, he had not history or direct information regarding Daniel only what he was told.
Side note; history note, just for fun we mentioned timeline earlier. Daniel was taken into captivity in 605, the fall of Babylon was in 539, and according to (v.31) that is when we are since we know Babylon is going to fall this very night. So that would make Daniel about 82 years old.
He may not have been there when the other wise men were called he may have been semi-retired from civil service at the time. But, does man really retire from being of service to God? No, age does not matter, willingness and availability do matter.
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.”
King recounts the current events to Daniel and the promise too (Dan5:15-16)
So the king knows of Daniel, but not Daniel; does that sound like the world today, they know of God but don’t know God.
The world today, just as the world then turned to man instead of God except in times of sickness, trials, tribulation and death. Then what do they do, they turn to the church (body of believers).
So, may we always encourage people to come to know God and be known by God before not later.
The king tells Daniel the promise of riches, and are there people who in the name of God claim promised riches? ? ? ?
Indictment pronounced
Indictment pronounced
We have seen the charge (vv.1-4); we have seen the panic (vv.5-9) and we have seen the arrival (vv.10-16) now comes the indictment, and indictments come with proof, so may we briefly look together at our next section.
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.
Daniel rejects the kings gifts, rewards (v.17)
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.
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.
21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged—
Daniel recounts history (vv.18-21)
Hey pay attention, learn from history so it does not repeat itself. We know the saying
those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
now comes the indictment
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.
Indictment stated (vv.22-23; Rom15:4; 1Cor10:11)
You did not learn and have exalted yourself instead of glorifying God
The handwriting on the wall had been seen before in history and should have learned
Pride of Pharoah that lead to the Exodus
Pride of Israelites that lead to this captivity
Can we learn from history? Of course these things are written for us.
4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
and you can look at 1Cor10:11
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
I know we are about out of time for this morning but we can’t stop just yet we need to see the sentence given and the execution of it.
Execution and judgment carried out.
Execution and judgment carried out.
The finger of God brings a strong indictment, judgment and sentence to it and we can learn from history so not to repeat it.
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.
God has numbered your days and the days of the king and has put an end to it (vv.25-26)
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.”
God has balanced the scales and you are lacking (v.27)
God has now, is now going to hand over your kingdom (v.28)
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.
Daniel exalted and proclaimed, again (v.29)
but wait there is more
30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.
Sentence, execution was carried out (v.30)
and that led to
31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.
A new king and new kingdom is now in place (v.31)
In trying to sum up and give some quick application here are a couple of thing to consider
Pay attention to the handwriting on the wall, oftentimes they are warning, some that will lead to repentance, some to eternal judgment because there is no repentance.
Belshazzar had everything he needed but his pride and arrogance bought him eternal damnation, may we learn from that always
Belshazzar forgot the word of God and history and it cost him his kingdom and his very life.
Learn from history, read the handwriting on the wall, the signs of the times and make good godly decisions with the godly instructions given!
Prayer!