Last Night In Babylon: Daniel 5

Imagine a king, celebrating with his friends in a large banquet. He celebrates, knowing another army is slowly taking over his land. City by city, the enemy grows stronger. Yet, the king celebrates. He has heard of the stories from his predecessor, a mighty king. He knew the importance of humility. He knew that his power was not his to keep. And yet he mocks God, and parties the night away.

A frightening warning stops the party. Everyone is paralyzed. The king parades in his religious advisors to interpret the warning. No one can. Fear overtakes the party. The queen rushes in and points to one of the lowly slaves, whom the current king had ignored and the former king had relied on. So in desperation, this king turns to the lowly slave.

The lowly slave calls out the king. His kingdom will fall because of his arrogance and his unwillingness to humble himself before the God who controls his life and kingdom. This king thanks the lowly slave but offers no change in heart. The party must go on. And that very night, the king is met with the sword of the enemy. The Babylonian kingdom we have been following in the book of Daniel has fallen.

This is the story of Chapter 5. Building on the themes from Chapter 4, we recognize that God is in control of all humanity. Nebuchadnezzar understood that, and God blessed him. Belshazzar did not bow his knee. Therefore, God exacted His ultimate judgment.

Chapter 5 is about godly living and humility. The lessons in this chapter apply to our daily lives. God also allows our every breath and step. Therefore, we owe God glory and honor. We sometimes struggle to acknowledge God’s goodness in our lives. Yet so often, like this pagan king, our worship goes to another. Our main idea is this: As a church, we must turn from false worship and humble ourselves before God, worshipping Him with our daily lives.

Turn from False Worship

5:1-4

For four weeks, we have been talking about King Nebuchadnezzar. Suddenly, we shift to a new king. After Nebuchadnezzar died, there was a series of kings. Most of them were killed and replaced until we get to Belshazzar. There were many years of unrest during this time. Belshazzar consolidated power and ruled in Babylon. However, a merger of the Medes and Persians was pressing in on the Babylonian lands.

Oddly, we find a party scene in chapter 5. Belshazzar should have panicked. The enemy had Babylon surrounded. Perhaps he thought Babylon’s defenses were strong and its supplies great. Belshazzar was prideful, thinking that his power was safe. So he threw a feast as if everything was fine.

Imagine being at an End-of-the-Year Banquet for your company, where a big celebration was held, with no expense spared. Yet the company is collapsing. The boss acted as though there was nothing to worry about. It would be crazy. If you knew things were bad, seek to save what resources the company had left, not party them away. That would be arrogance.

We are dropped into this scene of drinking and celebrating. Soon, the vessels from the Temple that Nebuchadnezzar captured were brought out to use. These vessels were meant for worship. They were also representative of God’s power and presence. Using them was a mockery of God and asserting power. That was a big mistake.

This is also a scene of worship. As they drank from these vessels, they worshipped their gods. This party morphs into a defiled worship service. The Temple’s vessels were meant for worshipping God, not created things. It’s an affront to God’s glory. It was false worship.

Something deeper is happening, too. Humanity is God’s vessels. We were made to worship Him. That is our function. Our deepest satisfaction comes from doing what we were made to do. However, God’s vessels were being used to worship other things. The gold vessels reflected hearts made of flesh. Everyone at this party defamed their created purpose and gave glory and thanks to false gods who did nothing.

Beloved, this isn’t a story about what cups to drink out of. This is a call for your heart, as a vessel for God’s glory, to worship Him. We, as a church, sometimes forget that we are prone to give our worship to other things. When we do, we are misusing our hearts, which God has made holy. So hear this chapter today, as a reminder to search your hearts and turn from false worship. God judges false worship.

Be aware of how you spend your time, money, and thoughts. Do they reflect a heart that loves and wants the things of God? Do we give God thanks for these things, or think of them as ours to spend?  Don’t rush past these questions, as uncomfortable as they can be. Instead, let's open our arms to the Father and welcome Him to examine our worship. Be willing to turn from false worship when God confronts it. Let us listen and respond to God’s loving hand.

Turn to God When He Warns Us

5:5-9

The partying stops cold when the king sees a mysterious hand writing on the wall. This was a dramatic moment. Imagine being in this room. A disembodied hand appears and begins writing something you can’t read.

The king soils himself out of fear. That’s real fear. There is a commotion, and the loudness of the party is now a sound of fear and shouting. The King of Heaven was warning Belshazzar.

Does he turn to Daniel? No. He turns to his religious leaders. However, they don’t know the God of the Heavens. They only know false gods. Therefore, they are woefully unable to bring relief to the king. Dale Davis says, “This is sometimes God’s pattern—to aggravate our helplessness by exposing the uselessness of our favourite props, even our favourite religious props.” Belshazzar’s religious props were failing him. Where would he look next?

To Daniel’s original audience, this was a reminder to turn to God. The world turns to other things for answers. They will not find them. But God’s people will find answers and grace in the true King of all creation.

For us, the same meaning is true. We experience hardship, where do we turn? What happens when we experience financial insecurity, pressure to join ritual worship? So often we turn to other things. We try to escape problems through TV, music, or buying things. I’m guilty of all of these. We often place our hope in governments or the market to save us. What if in the storm of life, we turned to God? What if the storm we are going through is a warning, or more, a call to return to the safe harbors of God?

When we turn to other things in times of stress instead of God, we are worshipping those things. We try to find our soul’s satisfaction in those things. Beloved, hear this call from God through His Word, return your worship to Him. Don’t react in fear and turn to the false idols that have lured you away to begin with. Take your struggles, fears, stress, and hurt to Him. He is good to hear and mighty to redeem. Hear this warning as an act of grace. Much like it was for Nebuchadnezzar, God’s warnings, scary as they may be, are His grace to bring us back to Him.

So turn to His Word. If you are stressed or feeling far from God, read with the expectation of meeting God. Open the psalms and let their words be your prayer. Let us find comfort in God’s message to us. We don’t need Daniel to interpret it. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us hear and understand His words. Turn to Him today.

Turn From Sin and Follow the Way of Jesus

5:10-31

The queen rushes into the room. She reminds the king that there was one man he forgot to ask, who could certainly interpret the writing. It was Daniel. She recalled how Nebuchadnezzar had honored both Daniel and the God he served. Belshazzar had forgotten what made Nebuchadnezzar successful. Though she speaks only three verses, her words are important. It calls the reader's attention back to the true tension. Who really rules, God or the king?

Daniel is brought before the king. The king belittles Daniel, as one of the Judean exiles, but he was much more than that at this point. He had become the close advisor to the great King Nebuchadnezzar. Yet, Belshazzar treated him as a slave, a nobody.

Daniel, instead of simply interpreting the writing, gave Belshazzar a history lesson. He reminded the king that King Nebuchadnezzar was great because the God of Israel made him great. And when he was prideful, Nebuchadnezzar was humbled until he acknowledged God as true king. Daniel is placing the story about to unfold in the context of God’s sovereign power and man’s call to repent. 

(V22-23) Belshazzar’s problem was not a lack of knowledge. He knew the stories from King Nebuchadnezzar. He knew of the mighty hand of God. Belshazzar also knew that this God was worthy of worship and called all people to worship Him alone. And despite knowing this, he chose to mock God and worship lesser gods who do nothing because they are nothing.

The punishment he was about to incur was because of his stubbornness before God. Therefore, as Daniel interpreted the writing, it became clear that Belshazzar’s days as king were numbered. He would die soon, and there was nothing he could do about it. Note how God’s message to Belshazzar put him in his place.

1. Belshazzar, your days are numbered. Your power will be taken away.

2. You have been weighed and found wanting. Your kingdom is not that great, and your heart is weak.

3. The enemy that surrounds you will take what is yours. Your foolish celebration will end at the hands of those you should have feared.

We stop here and reflect on our lives. We know the wonders, mercy, and power of God. We have read about and experienced His power. Beloved, knowing the facts will not save you or change you. You can’t know your way into heaven, or even into repentance. True worship must stem from a heart that longs for the Father. Let us rid ourselves of sin, shame, and pride. Let us, like Nebuchadnezzar, lift our eyes to heaven and acknowledge and worship the God of the Heavens.

When our hearts turn to God, we embrace the way of Jesus. Jesus didn’t call us to know some facts, but to follow Him as He walks with us. So let us give glory to Jesus by humbling ourselves at His feet in worship and prayer. Let us be thankful for the wonderful gift of Jesus and His sacrifice that makes us new.

Let us display through our words, actions, and thoughts that we acknowledge Jesus’ reign over all worldly powers. Our words must be humble and edifying (building people up). Let our words point people to the one we follow. This means speak lovingly, even to people who annoy you. Let our actions also model our commitment to Jesus. Follow what we read in His Word. We should look and sound different from the world around us. Our thoughts are also important. Let your inner thoughts bring God praise and glory. I find it helpful to write out some of these thoughts.

These things are not items to ponder, but things to do. God is merciful. He sent Christ to people who didn’t want Him. Jesus walked around with 12 men who didn’t understand Him. He extends His grace to us even when we persist in sin. However, God does judge sin. There is a price to be paid. For Belshazzar, as we will see, it will be death. For God’s people, it is a reminder that God takes sin seriously, so humble yourselves today.

(V30-31) The very night he heard the judgment, it was exacted. We may wonder why God didn’t give him time to repent. Remember, he grew up with the stories. He had Daniel always at the ready. He had time and wasted it. In Daniel’s words, he refused to humble his heart. So with a brief sentence, Belshazzar was removed from power by the enemy he thought had no chance, and by the hand of a God he mocked and refused to worship.

Beloved, Scripture is God’s call for us to follow Him. When He calls us to repent, let us repent. Turn from whatever sin God lays on your heart and turn back to the way of Jesus. God is good to forgive, but to those who don’t repent, who reject His mercy, there is a day coming when they will be judged. Sin has a price. Jesus took that price to the cross. Worship Him today.

Conclusion

We begin and end the story of Belshazzar today. A king who grew up hearing how the God of Israel had power above Babylon’s most powerful king. Belshazzar was arrogant and proud. He worshipped his gods and mocked the true King. He had many opportunities to repent. He ignored them all.

On the day of his distress, Belshazzar’s gods were silent. Beloved, the false gods of this world will offer you no peace, no assurance, and no answers. So don’t be like Belshazzar, who worshipped them anyway. Instead, turn your heart and mind to the God of Heaven. See yourselves as God’s vessels. You are made with a purpose. Fulfill your purpose by turning to Jesus and following His way. Let not our hearts be proud in ourselves. Let us boast in the glory of our God. Don’t fear the boastful kings of this earth, who wield power over us. They will find their end in a greater King. Let us praise King Jesus with every breath He gives us.

“Father, you are the true and great King of all creation. You have made us with a purpose. Let us fulfill the purpose of bringing You all the glory. Forgive us for when we are pulled into false worship. Bring us back into your loving arms as we turn to You. Embrace us, welcome us. Let us welcome many others into Your family as well. Amen.”