The Class Handout No one Wants

A young girl had been given a writing assignment from school where she had to explain the difference between two words. She came to her father and asked, "Dad, what is the difference between anger and exasperation?"       The father replied, "It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me show you what I mean."       The father says lets put this on speaker. Now when I make this call, I want you to say, “Hello, is Melvin there?” With that, the father went to the telephone an dialed a number at random. A man who answered the phone, and the daughter said, "Hello, is Melvin there?"       The man answered, "There is no one living here named Melvin. You have the wrong home, why don't you check the before making a call?"       "See," said the father to his daughter. "That man was not a bit happy with our call. He was probably very busy with something, and we annoyed him. Now watch . . ."       The father dialed the same number again. The daughter asked, "Hello, is Melvin there?"

The man in a firm tone said, “Hey, didn’t you just call this number and I tell you MELVIN is not here. No Melvin lives here. I don’t know a Melvin. Please do not call again.”

Now notice, he is getting a little upset.

The father dials the number again. Before the daughter had a chance to ask the question, a heated reply came:       "Now look here! You’be called me already. I told you that there is no Melvin here! DON’T call again!       The father turned to his daughter and said, "You see, that was anger.” He said, now lets wait a minute. Now I'll show you what exasperation means. Let me borrow your phone."       He dialed the same number, and a violent voice roared, "HELLO!"

The father calmly said, "Hello, this is Melvin. Have there been any calls for me?"

Belshazzar the King or Co-regent of Babylon has been annoying God, angering God. He throws a wild frat party and God sends the guy a report card. God is not merely frustrated, His wrath has been kindled and His patience has come to an end with the King and with the Babylonian Empire.

Decades have passed since Chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzers 2 sons have fought over the throne for 7 years after their Father’s death. The nobles raised up another noble, Nabonidus. He was not a direct descendent of Neb. So he marries one of Neb’s daughters. But Nabonidus’ mom is the High Priestess of the Moon god of a mountainous region. Nabonidus prefers living there and so he makes his son a co regent to run Babylon.

But, since this Kingdom had been built by Nebuchadnezzer, the kings liked to lay claim to Neb’s lineage so they would refer to him as their father.

It appears Belshazzar had isolated himself from the people and the nobles. He grew up in luxury without knowing how to properly run an Empire. So he’s living off the dividends of Neb’s leadership and Kingdom. He thinks the money will never run out, the wine will never stop flowing, and you can party like it 1999 because you’re never out of time.

Even though The Medes and the Persians have camped outside the walls of Babylon, he’s not worried. The great King Nebuchadnezzer built impenetrable walls

Anitpater of Sidon recounted the walls circled the city completely, even over the Euphrates River which ran through the center of the city.

At the time there was no modern siege technology that could attempt to breach these walls. There were large metal gates constructed at the point where the rivers ran through the city in order to prevent anyone from sneaking into the city underwater. However, this would not stop the ingenious Cyrus the Great during his siege of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate made of beautifully crafted blue glazed brick exists in Germany today.

Instead of worrying about the Medes and Persians, Belshazzar throws a party for 1000 of his buddies and lady friends. And he has the sacred objects from God’s Temple brought as table settings.

Now this is unusual as many of the ancient kings had superstitions. They tended to respect other gods so as not to anger them or bring a curse upon them. I have to wonder if this was not an act of bravado where he asked to have all the sacred objects brought into to show his people he wasn’t scared of the army. Look at all the gods and countries we defeated. We have walls so high and thick, no one will touch us. And you remember that prophecy that Nebuchadnezzer heard about his Kingdom coming to an end and that Yahweh who said it. Well, we will eat off His plates and drink from His cups as we party on through the night and those soldiers starve.

I don’t know if that’s what went through his mind, but I have to wonder.

Sometime during wee hours, a message comes directly to him from God.

Daniel 5: 5-6 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.

Once the Report Card on the Wall arrives, the King snaps out of his drunken stupor. He doesn’t need stop by Village Pantry and grab a stinger. He’s stung. He’s as white as the plaster on the wall and he’s immediately sober.

      Now as we look at this chapter a great deal of history and confirmation of the Bible’s accuracy and truthfulness gets covered. We don’t have time to go into every aspect this morning, but needless to say .

The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (Article: How Does Christianity Relate to Other Eastern Religions? (Winfried Corduan))

Until the latter half of the nineteenth century, Belshazzar’s name was unattested except for the book of Daniel and works dependent on it (Baruch, Josephus). From other sources Nabonidus, Belshazzar’s dad was known to have been the last king of Babylon based on records we had. Some critics declared Belshazzar to be fictional. However, during the past 150 years abundant evidence has come to light (at least 37 archival texts) demonstrating that Belshazzar was a real person, the son of Nabonidus and ruler of Babylon during his father’s extended absences. They discovered he was co-regent. That plays into why he will offer

Belshazzar had isolated and insulated himself from the people of his empire. He had adopted a air of separation, ignoring their customs, religion, and even separating himself from lesser nobles. There was definitely an in group. He felt he could not be touched.

5:2 “His predecessor” literally reads “his father” in the Aramaic text. Nebuchadnezzar is called Belshazzar’s predecessor six times in this chapter (vv. 2, 11, 13, 18), and the king is designated as the “successor” (literally, “son”) of Nebuchadnezzar once (v. 22). Babylonian sources record that Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus. The apparent discrepancy may be explained by the use of the terms predecessor (or father) and successor (or son) in the Semitic languages. “Predecessor” could refer to one’s immediate father, grandfather, ancestor, or as in the case of kings, the immediate predecessor. Likewise “successor” may mean one’s immediate offspring, grandson, descendant, or the immediate successor. An example of the latter is Jehu’s designation as the “son of Omri” in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. It is likely that Nabonidus wed a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, making the great king both Belshazzar’s “predecessor” and grandfather.5:7 The fact that Belshazzar could offer only the “third highest position in the kingdom” (5:16, 29) is evidence that the author of Daniel had accurate knowledge of Nabonidus. Nabonidus was first in rank, followed by his son Belshazzar and then the decipherer of the handwriting would be third in rank.5:30 Xenophon mentions that Babylon’s Medo-Persian invaders “avenged themselves upon the wicked king” (Cyropaedia 7.5.32), meaning they executed Belshazzar.5:31 According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians on the sixteenth of the month Tishri, in the autumn of 539 B.C. The Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon supply fascinating details about Babylon’s fall. The Nabonidus Chronicle and the Cyrus Cylinder both agree with Daniel that Babylon was captured without a major battle and that the citizens readily accepted Persian rule (6:1–3).

Your choices determine whether you will receive God’s DISCIPLINE or Judgment. (v. 22-24)

Hebrews 12:10–11 NLT

10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Ben didn’t like what his mom did. He wanted to go and run with the boys on his block. He hated school. But she had bigger plans for him. He felt like she punished him, but she disciplined him.

As a youngster, Ben struggled academically throughout elementary school and emotionally with his temper. He was constantly in trouble.

What turned this avid television-watching youngster around? The answer: discipline and reflection leading to motivation.

First, his mother reduced his television time.

Second, she had young Ben read two books a week and produce written reviews for her. As he learned later, his mother could not read—but acted as if she could.

Third, his mother said, “Since you like television so much, if you read you can get yourself on television.”

Ben Carson is an American neurosurgeon and the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is also a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics, and is the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University.  Among other surgical innovations, he did pioneering work on the successful separation of conjoined twins joined at the head.

In 2008, Dr. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, by President George W. Bush.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NASB95

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Romans 2:4 (NASB95)

4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Christopher Hitchens one of the main voices of the NEW ATHEISTs. He spent a great deal of time attacking Christianity with patently poor arguments that sounded intelligent but were mainly just straw men. Sadly a bunch of young folks used his confident tirades against faith to avoid the moral questions about life and answering to God. Despite his atheism and debating, many Christians befriended him and sought to win him to the Lord. He never repented as far as I know.

Christopher Hitchens was diagnosed with throat cancer and died at the relatively young age of 62. He said this About losing his voice,

“To a great degree, in public and private, I “was” my voice. All the rituals and etiquette of conversation, from clearing the throat in preparation for the telling of an extremely long and taxing joke to (in younger days) trying to make my proposals more persuasive as I sank the tone by a strategic octave of shame, were innate and essential to me. I have never been able to sing, but I could once recite poetry and quote prose and was sometimes even asked to do so. And timing is everything: the exquisite moment when one can break in and cap a story, or turn a line for a laugh, or ridicule an opponent. I lived for moments like that. Now, if I want to enter a conversation, I have to attract attention in some other way, and live with the awful fact that people are then listening “sympathetically.” At least they don’t have to pay attention for long: I can’t keep it up and anyway can’t stand to.

If we use the gifts we have for God’s glory, there is great reward. If we abuse the gifts and use them to mock God, there will be a grade and reckoning we won’t like.

There will be a day of Judgment. We will either lay our sins on Christ, or we will bear the due consequence.

God’s grace, though great, has limits. (v. 26)

Genesis 6:3 (NASB95)

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Jer. 50:2; 9; 14; Jer 51:7-8

Jeremiah 50:14 NASB95

14 “Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows, For she has sinned against the Lord.

God will always fulfill His Promise.

Ezra 5:14–15 NASB95

14 ‘Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 ‘He said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.”

Israel had gone away from God. He had not forgotten them. He will take them back, utensils and all. But they had to take a step back and examine their life and worship before they were ready. The same with Belshazzar. He crossed a line I hope none of us ever do. But, he lived life in the fast lane. Unfortunately, he chose the WRONG lane. Make sure you are on the right road and going the right direction.

Where might you need to examine yourself before God appears?

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Giving in to God

Significantly enough, the celebrated and much-read C. S. Lewis entitled his autobiography Surprised by Joy. In characteristic brilliance and artistic attractiveness, he shared the intimacies of his life, his desire to discover faith, and his difficulties in finding it. He spoke frankly of his mother’s death; study and snobbery at Oxford; World War I; his father’s death; and his rediscovery of self. At last, in his room at Oxford in 1929, he wrote: “I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.… The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet.”

We all want progress...

Where have you sensed God leading you to get outside your comfort zone?

Where has God given you promise He wants you to remember?

If God were to examine your inclusion of others, especially those in need, how would He grade you? (Remember though the party was fun, it was exclusive to a certain group. It was an indication of Belshazzar’s lifestyle).

How would the church, your ministry area, your life group look to someone new and maybe not so confident they belong here?

What would you need to do, say, to make them feel comfortable.