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Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
What is the worst FEAR you have ever experienced? Fear so deep you could not cry or utter a sound? Fear so paralyzing you could not stimulate your mind to think or your mouth to speak or your feet to run. Knee knocking; hand wringing; mind boggling FEAR!
Let’s return to a very large banquet hall in the remarkable city of Babylon about 2500 years ago. King Belshazzar has invited 1000 of the most prestigious, important, influential people in all Babylon and even leaders out in the rural towns and villages. As we rejoin the party this celebration of Babylonian greatness has gone on for several days but now, suddenly FEAR has captured the revelers! A large human hand, unattached to any arm or body, has appeared in the air and is writing words on the wall near the lampstand in the palace! Can you imagine that?
Daniel’s record says: “King Belshazzar summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon: ‘Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple, and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom!” (Daniel 5:7) Fear sometimes moves us to make rash statements or promises. Belshazzar, co-reigning with his father King Nabonidus, viewed himself as second in highest rank in the kingdom, thus his promise of third highest rank for the man who could explain the dis-embodied hand and the message it left on the wall.
But despite their best efforts, none of the king’s wise men could read the words or explain them to the king and that terrified the king even more! Then the ‘queen mother’, who was likely the king’s mother, came forward and said to Belshazzar: “Don’t be alarmed! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your ‘father’ he was found to have insight, intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods….” (Daniel 5:10,11)
She went on to identify this uniquely wise man as Daniel, given the name Belteshazzar by King Nebuchadnezzar more than 60 years before! Then she urged her son the king to: “Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.” (Daniel 5:12) Historians, using extra Biblical archeological discoveries in that part of the world, have identified King Nebuchadnezzar as most likely father to Nabonidus and thus GRANDfather to Belshazzar. So, when the queen mother used the phrase ‘your father’ she was referring to Belshazzar’s most famous family ancestor, his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel was summoned before the king and I’ve often wondered if this was the first time King Belshazzar has ever laid eyes on Daniel, the first time they’ve ever spoken? If so, oh my, what a first encounter! Because Daniel was brought to Babylon as a teenage Jewish captive in 605bc during King Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Jerusalem, and this grand party in Babylon occurred in 539bc, the math tells me old Daniel was about 80 years old when he was summoned to king Belshazzar!
The king’s first words spoken to Daniel and Daniel’s response to the king are very significant: “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king had brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight and intelligence and outstanding wisdom… If you can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means…you will be made the third highest ruler in the land.” (Daniel 5:13-16)
I encourage you, my friends, to listen to the audio Bible narration of Daniel chapter 5 and you’ll find the link at the bottom of my notes today.
Daniel’s response to this young king is very instructive for us, my friends, especially if you’ve been faced with a rare opportunity with promises for significant personal gain: “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your reward to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.” (Daniel 5:17)
Does that sound disrespectful or even condescending? Daniel meant no disrespect to the king, but it was important that king Belshazzar understood Daniel was a messenger of the God of Israel who was accountable only to God for passing to these kings the messages Almighty God had for them.
That was one of the most important qualifiers for the Jewish prophets. They must have the courage to never recoil but must always speak God’s message just as they had received it from God, word for word, regardless of consequences. Daniel, by this time a mature man who had been nurturing his relationship with God for about 70 years, had a maturity and spiritual wisdom unknown to pompous, arrogant, young king Belshazzar. Think about that a moment my friends.
In Daniel 5:18-23 Daniel explained, in very specific detail, the unrivaled power of the Almighty God of Israel and how this one, true God had punished King Nebuchadnezzar for his pride by driving him insane and sending him out to live among the animals. (Daniel 4:28-33) But God had also extended great mercy to Nebuchadnezzar after ‘seven times’ and restored Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity and his royal position as King over all the empire of Babylon. (Daniel 4:34)
God’s prophet Daniel explained that now, about 25 years later, Belshazzar was running the very same risk of God’s discipline as he arrogantly blasphemed God with this extravagant party and even defiled the Jewish holy goblets which had been taken from the Jewish temple in Jerusalem before its demolition. Then Daniel said these words: “You did not honor the God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways. Therefore, God sent the hand that wrote the inscription.“ (Daniel 5:24)
Now Daniel has made clear WHAT this miraculous hand is and WHO sent this dis-embodied hand. It is a miracle of God, writing a clear God warning on the palace wall. But the words written on the wall are unrecognizable to king Belshazzar!
So, Daniel then read the words on the wall which all the other Babylonian wise men, enchanters and sources had been unable to read: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin” (Daniel 5:25) The words were in the Aramaic language, the language spoken in the Galilee region of Israel, the same language Jesus spoke in Nazareth with His family and with His disciples. As with the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was miraculously given, in that moment, by Almighty God, the ability to read the words on the palace wall and then explain their significance to king Belshazzar and tomorrow we’ll look closely at Daniel’s explanation.
We need to pause right here my friends and again consider how you and I experience the miraculous power of God in tangible, practical ways which then call us to acknowledge God’s greatness and direct involvement in our lives. So easily we get caught up in the busyness, the fun and the demands of life and the truth is God is pushed out to the far periphery of our lives, right? Belshazzar had given no thought to the God of Daniel but was now face to face with the undeniable power and wisdom of God. His life and the Babylonian kingdom were about to change and tomorrow we’ll see how.
Once again here’s a great worship song which I hope will help us to a proper reverence for God.
Today’s Scripture: Daniel 5:7-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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