WHEN YOU DEFY GOD

Introduction

-After the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, people’s true colors have come to light. While you would think that if you call yourself a Christian you would rejoice that at least in some states abortion will be banned and babies saved. Instead, the anger and vitriol of those who call themselves pro-choice borders on the point of demonic, and even from those who give themselves the label of Christian. What is on display is a complete disregard and defiance of God and His Word and His standards and what He says about the preciousness of human life.

-What people don’t understand is that God, while He is patient and kind and slow to anger, will not tolerate defiance forever. God will in turn defy you, and when that happens you will metaphorically see the handwriting on the wall—meaning God will bring an end to your rebellion. While in our day the handwriting on the wall is metaphorical, we are going to look at another Babylonian king (named Belshazzar) who defied God and he saw the literal handwriting on the wall (from which we get the phrase). Unlike his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar, he does not recognize the God of Israel at all. He does not praise God’s name like Nebuchadnezzar. He doesn’t learn his lesson like Nebuchadnezzar seemed to finally learn. So, this king will have to learn the hard way that the Most High alone rules in the kingdom of men and He gives those kingdoms to whom he chooses. And if the earthly rulers do not recognize the One True God, they will lose their kingdom and it will be given to another.

1) Belshazzar’s Insolence

Daniel 5:1–4 ESV

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

-The events of chapter 5 may take place about 30 years after the events of chapter 4. To give us a little historical context, let me read this summary:

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 5

Nebuchadnezzar reigned from 605–562 BC and was succeeded by his son, Evil-Merodach (also rendered “Awel-Marduk”), who reigned from 562–560 BC. Evil-Merodach was then assassinated by his brother-in-law, Neriglissar, who reigned from 562–560 BC. Neriglissar was succeeded by his son, Labasi-Marduk. He ruled for a short time and was replaced by Nabonidus, who remained in control until Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC.

-So, after Nebuchadnezzar’s death there were some quick successions of other kings. What historians believe is that Nabonidus married one of Nebuchadnezzar’s daughters and they had a son they named Belshazzar. According to historical Babylonian texts, Nabonidus made his son Belshazzar co-regent and ruler in Babylon while he set himself up elsewhere.

-In the context of the present package, Nabonidus fought against the Medes & Persians and was sent fleeing. Belshazzar was holed-up in the walled city of Babylon which was surrounded by the Medo-Persian armies. They may not have been worried as they had a water supply flowing into the city and had a food stock that could last for years.

-Thinking that he is safe, Belshazzar throws a feast for all the nobles of the city. It was a huge party if about a thousand nobles and their wives were invited. There is a lot of speculation about why he chose to feast while being surrounded, but part of it may have been to boost the morale of the leaders. But because they are wicked pagans, the party turns into a drunken orgy.

-Out of drunken nerve and maybe sheer stupidity, Belshazzar commits blasphemy against God by taking the holy items that had been ransacked from the Jewish temple and using them drink wine and such in this wicked feast. There may be several reasons he did this—first, it may have been his way of saying that his gods were superior to the Jewish God. And then he also may have done it to try and get the help of his own gods.

-What Belshazzar did was very much an “in your face” move against God—a way of shaking his fist at God. It was almost as if he was daring the God of the Jews to do anything about it. And that is something we need to think about—if you ever decide to flaunt your sin in the face of God and challenge His authority and blaspheme His name, God will answer and judge and win.

2) God’s Indictment

Daniel 5:5–9 ESV

5 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. 6 Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 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.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.

-Belshazzar’s wickedness had probably been building for years, and then this blasphemy was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In the midst of all this pagan evil, God moved swiftly to indict Belshazzar on numerous charges and pronounce judgment against him. But God would declare this judgment in a very supernatural, eerie way.

-In the midst of this wild party, all of a sudden a supernatural hand (with no body attached to it) appeared before all the people in a well-lit part of the hall and wrote a message for Belshazzar. Seeing this sign and wonder sobered the people up real quick.

-When Belshazzar saw this sight he was so scared he lost control of his legs. This supernatural hand wrote four words in Aramaic, but it made no sense. It had no intelligible meaning. So, Belshazzar screamed out for his wise men to come and interpret it. He was so desperate to know what the message had to say to him that he offered the interpreter to be the third-rank ruler right behind him and his dad. But none could interpret it because it was a message of God it would take someone with the Holy Spirit to understand. That’s why non-believers don’t understand the Bible—their understanding is darkened. Belshazzar needed help from a prophet of God.

3) Daniel’s Interpretation

Daniel 5:10–29 ESV

10 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. 11 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, 12 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.” 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 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.” 17 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. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 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. 20 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. 21 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. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 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. 24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 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.

-Probably the queen mother (either Belshazzar’s mother or grandmother) found out about what happened and told Belshazzar about Daniel who had performed similar feats of interpretation in the past. Belshazzar is so desperate he would try anything, so he gives Daniel the same offer. Daniel refuses the gift because he doesn’t want him to think that God’s services can be bought by a wicked, pagan king. Daniel also knew that the gift would be useless anyway since the kingdom is about to fall.

-Daniel rebukes Belshazzar for his pride and hubris, reminding the king of how Nebuchadnezzar was humbled but then at least had the sense to repent and humble himself before God. Belshazzar did not learn that lesson, however. Instead, Belshazzar is charged with pride and sacrilege and blasphemy and immorality and idolatry and I’ll add stupidity. Belshazzar was so wicked and evil and his actions were so heinous, God wasn’t going to give him a chance to repent. Judgment is set and it is written out in the words: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.

-Daniel gives the interpretation of what God is trying to tell Belshazzar:

MENE—Your days are numbered. God has limited Belshazzar’s time and the kingdom’s time. In fact, they are mere hours away from destruction.

TELEK—Your life has been weighed in the scale of God. With God’s righteousness on one side and Belshazzar’s life on the other side of the scale, his life has been found wanting. His life has fallen so short of God’s holy standard that he will be judged.

PERES/PARSIN—Your kingdom will be divided from you. The Babylonian empire will fall and be given to another, namely, the Medo-Persian empire.

-The inscription was an announcement of the divine evaluation of Belshazzar’s reign and pronouncement of imminent judgment. And even though it was not a good message, Belshazzar gave Daniel what he promised—for a whole few hours Daniel was third in the kingdom.

4) Darius’ Inauguration

Daniel 5:30–31 ESV

30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

-What is so neat is that the Bible is completely steeped in history proving its truthfulness. For example, ancient historians confirm the account of events as given in Daniel. As one author points out:

Daniel ((1) Immorality (5:1))

Concerning the historicity of this feast, both the Greek historians, Herodotus and Xenophon, testified that a banquet was in progress on the night Babylon fell. The date would have been October 12, 539 B.C., about thirty years after the events of chap. 4.

-According to other historical accounts, the Euphrates River ran under the city wall through the middle of Babylon. Supposedly the Medes and Persians diverted the Euphrates and were able to march through the river bed under the wall into the city without a battle. Belshazzar was killed and the Babylonian Empire was no more.

-There is a little confusion over who Darius was, but the name was possibly. Some believe that he was a general in the army of Cyrus the Persian king and was made regent of Babylon.

Conclusion

-But I want to mention some quick lessons we can take from this chapter.

(1) You cannot think that you can just flaunt your sins in God’s face without getting a reaction from God. It takes a lot of nerve to throw your sin up into God’s face like so many have done the past few days. Yes, God is patient for a while, but eventually His judgment will come down if there is no humility, confession, and repentance.

(2) There need to be a warning to our political leaders. You cannot run your government as if God does not exist. It is God that raises and brings down nations and leaders. God will judge those leaders who are acting wickedly. You need to remember that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and He gives it to whomever He chooses.

(3) Our life is but a vapor that is here today and gone tomorrow. We need to number our days and live rightly now, for our lives are weighed in the balance of God’s standard. We will all be judged—Christians for reward and non-Christians for eternal punishment. We need to consider where we stand and how our lives weigh-up against God’s holy standards. And if there are some who have not trusted in Christ, you will not win against that balance. Everyone falls short. That is why you need a Savior...