Daniel 5 begins with Belshazzar holding a banquet, this probably to rally the people together as Babylon was coming under attack from the Persians. The party was held to prove a point and show contempt towards the power of men, but as Belshazzar cracks open yet more wine the crowd revel in idolatry. To top it off Belshazzar orders for the goblets from the temple to be used and this act demonstrates his utter contempt towards God. The party is buzzing and the men and the women are getting it on and everyone is pretty sizzled.
The atmosphere changes dramatically when a finger of a human hand appears and it begins to write a message on the wall. The King freaks and you can almost picture the smile drain from his face, a more fearful expression replacing it. Suddenly things have gotten serious. So in response to this the King calls up his friends who are into the occult and tells them that if they can interpret this message then they will be rewarded big time! They even get to wear purple!!! So they’d be up there with the VIP’s! Interesting 3rd highest in the kingdom, this is because Belshazzar was 2nd, looking after the region for Nabonidus.
So not one of them could help! The Queen then remembered Daniel who was known as a Godly man, so the King calls him up. Daniel points out that the King has been blinded by his own success, and instead of realising that God’s power was helping him, the King had taken the glory. The King recognises Daniel and rewards him accordingly and then in the very next verse the King is slain, that very night.
- Alcohol is heavily involved in this party, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing in moderation but you can see how Belshazzar’s judgement is off! He’s got carried away and this is particularly highlighted by the act of getting the goblets from the temple. The large volume of wine has deadened the king’s conscience and any sense of an innate fear of God. Does it have the same effect on you?
- Also it’s interesting how as soon as Belshazzar has a problem and He doesn’t know where to turn he seeks the occult. That’s pretty extreme but I can apply it to situations where something has been going on in my life and I’ve turned to everyone/everything and when all has failed I’ve turned finally to God. God should have been his first port of call
- Also being humble again! Belshazzar has been successful and has loved it! He’s adored the human praise, and has enjoyed being a celebrity…we need to be applying this to our lives when we are successful do we congratulate ourselves or do we take time out to thank God and acknowledge his power working in us?
Lets take these challenges and learn from it?!
PS a Mr and Mrs Oster collaboration
11:47 am
The other important thing to notice is that Belshazzar apparently didn’t learn anything from the experiences that his father, Nebuchadnezzar went through. His father enjoyed the trappings of his celebrity a little too much and ignored God, so he was stripped of his position of privelege and authority until he returned to God and acknowledged Him.
Now Belshazzar has quite obviously either forgotten or ignored the experience his father went through and we read he is an arrogant little upstart who has, as you rightly say Rich, taken all the glory for himself. If he had learned a little humility from his father, perhaps the chapter may have turned out differently.
I think there is a lesson in this, and that is that while we need to be learning from God’s word, there is also the opportunity to learn from each other, and to be discipled and guided by the wise around us. Belshazzar didn’t do this, and appeared to pay a heavy price.