Daniel 5 Sunday School Lesson

4 Sections:

Verse 1-9

Who is Belshazzar?

Son of Nabodinus

De Facto King

Partying with the Medes right outside.

Verse 3 he desecrates the things from God’s temple

Verse 4 the praise false gods in their drunkenness

Much like Nebachanezzer, he turns to the fall religions of his day to try and interpret the sign

Verse 10-12:

The queen comes in to check and see what the ruckus is about and offers a better solution to the kings dilema

She tells Him of a man named Daniel who had served the king once before.

What is notable about how she describes Him?

Verse 13-26:

Verse 13-16

Daniel is brought before the king and the king actually begins by belittling him.

To this king Daniel is nothing more than an exile despite the role of prominence that was once occupied by Daniel.

The king goes on to make the same promise of prosperity to Daniel

Verse 17-23

Daniel begins with denying the gifts of the King.

What particular message do you think Daniel was trying to send the king?

Before Daniels gives the interpretation to the King, he backs up and retells the story of Nebuchadnezzer, why do you think Daniel did this?

Daniel is showing Belshazzar the sin that he has indulged in, and the similarity it shares with his father.

He does this in order to establish the reasoning behind the severe judgment that awaits him.

What exactly are the sins that Daniel is charging Belshazzar with?

Verse 24-31

Verse 24-28

Here we have the interpretation, the days are number, you have been found wanting, and the kingdom has come to its end.

Verse 29-31

Belshazzar fulfills the promised rewards and is killed

Big takeaways:

God is not willing to share His glory

How are we dividing our devotion to God?

Christians are to stand out and be recognizable to the pagan world.

God is sovereign over all kingdoms, and only the one He has established in Christ will reign forever.

How should God’s sovereignty cause us to live?