Daniel lesson 11 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Daniel Lesson 11

Text: Daniel 5:1-31

Intro: this is the beginning of a change for the book of Daniel as well as a change of the government that ruled over Babylon. It is however not the destruction of Babylon the city, but the end of the Babylonian empire as it was known.

The Feast, Vs.1-16
1. Belshazzar,
  1. Where was Nebuchadnezzar?
    1. Notice in vs.1 it refers to Belshazzar,
      - this is not to be confused with Beltshazzar,
        
        Beltshazzar was the Chaldean name given to Daniel.
        
        Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.
        
        But this raises a question about where was Nebuchadnezzar, and why was this young person on the throne.
    2. We do not know what exactly happened to Nebuchadnezzar, how he died, or where.
    3. Upon his death, his son Merodach, ascended to the throne,
      - he was considered “evil” by everyone, and was killed by his brother, Neriglissar.
  2. Neriglissar,
    1. this was a mystery for many years historically.
      - It gave critics of the bible fodder to say the bible is not real.
      - The reason is what we see here in Ch.5,
        
        sitting on the throne was Belshazzar. The son of Neriglissar,
      - the critics pointed out that it was the father of Belshazzar that was king.
    2. However in the last century, there was archaeological discoveries that stated that Neriglissar was king, but hated being king, the people hated him, and the priest hated him.
      - So he let his son rule in his stead.
    3. We see evidence of it in:
      - Vs. 7 “Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ”
        
        why the third, Because he was the second, not the first,
  3. The Party,
    1. 1000 of his lords, this was a big to do,
      - so this would be these lords, as well as women, helpers, and other dignitaries.
    2. It was a drunken feast.
      - And as he was drinking, he commanded to bring the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem.
        
        This was a big mistake.
        
        Interesting that it was these, were they the only treasures kept in Babylon?
        
        There would have been many other vessels, and from other temples, but it is popular to do it to the Lord.
        
        What would happen if people did to Mohammad what they will do to Jesus,
        
        paintings, movies,… etc.
    3. And when they got the vessels, they drank out of them, and praised the gods of gold and silver.
      - Remember the god of gold was the god of Babylon, MARDUK,
  4. They saw the hand,
    1. Vs.5 they saw the hand,
    2. I Love vs.6, this is why it is hard to improve on the King James,
      - Vs.6 “Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.”
        
        his countenance changed, nothing to sober you up like the blue lights.
        
        His loins was loosed, this is prophecy,
        
        Isaiah 45:1 “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;”
        
        we will talk about this more in a moment,
    3. Vs.7 he cries to bring all the wise men in, seem familiar?
      - And who ever could interpret it, would be given riches and made the third in the kingdom.
        
        This was the highest Belshazzar could offer.
      - But as happened several times already in this book, they couldn’t do it.
        
        And this should be a little of a clue to us of the divine nature of it.
        
        After all, surly there were people there that could read simple Hebrew.

1. 1. 1. - Vs. 9, not only did his look change again, it was visibly noticeable by all the people there.
  2. The Queen came in,

1. 1. 1. this is probably not his wife, it is probably the wife of Nebuchadnezzar.
    2. To her credit she wasn’t part of the party,
      - she gave him a pretty standard greeting.
    3. Vs.11&12
      - she told of Daniel, who Belshazzar might have heard of, but not really known.
        
        Which is a shame,
        
        according to historical documents, it was Daniel that was tasked with the upkeep of Nebuchadnezzar when he was in exile, and Daniel was a trusted advisory.
        
        So the child should have known him, but as so often happens he was overlooked.
    4. Vs.13, Belshazzar asked Daniel if he was the one he had heard of, the one brought out of Jerusalem, by his “Father”
      - a point here, the Aramaic didn’t have a word for grandfather,
        
        it was the equivalent of what we say forefather.
        
        So to them your father, grandfather, great grandfather, and so on would all be called father.
The Writing on the Wall, Vs.17-31
1. Enter Daniel,
  1. I have heard of you,
    1. Belshazzar told Daniel,
    2. He also told him that the other wise men could not do it,
    3. and repeated that he would be rewarded with wealth and power.
      - I think you will like Daniels swagger here,
        
        he had lived a life of wealth and authority,
  2. Daniels greeting,
    1. Vs.17, Keep your gifts,
      - this was Daniels way of saying, you mean nothing to me, forget you,
        
        What did he have to loose, he knew the end was near,
      - give them to another, however I will tell you what the writing says.
    2. Daniel re-accounts ch.4
      - it was like saying, Now Nebuchadnezzar, there was a real king,
        
        he was given a kingdom, power, majesty, glory and honor,
        
        people feared before him, (he didn’t need to throw big parties to have respect) vs.19
        
        He would kill who he wanted, he would save life where he wanted,
        
        He would promote who he wanted, and demote who he wanted.
        
        He was a ruler, a man, a leader.
    3. However,
      - he was lifted in pride, his heart was hardened.
      - He was removed from the throne and drove to the field with wild beast.
        
        This again is almost an insult to Belshazzar,
        
        contrasting the character of Nebuchadnezzar with the lack of Belshazzar’s character
        
        and all this came on Nebuchadnezzar
    4. And you knew all this, vs.22
      - and in spite of the knowledge, you have lifted yourself in pride.
        
        And you took it a step farther,
        
        you and all your party took the vessels of God, and drank from them while praising your small g gods.
        
        And when you did this, this is what happened.
  3. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,
    1. Mene – Numbered,
    2. Tekel- Weight,
    3. Upharsin- Divided,
      - “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
    4. So why wasn’t the wise men of Babylon able to interpret it?
      - There are two traditional types of code the Hebrew people would use:
        
        Albam and Atbash,
        
        they are simple replacement codes, in short the first half of the Hebrew alphabet was replaced with eh second half.
        
        Alef- Lamed Bet to Mem or Alef to tav, and Bet to Shin,
        
        one forward and one in reverse.
        
        Some believe this is why the others couldn’t read it.
    5. But Daniel did,
      - Next week, we will look at the event of the transfer of kingdom.
      - For homework, read Isaiah 44:26- 45:5.