Daniel 5:1-12: The Handwriting Is On The Wall Pt. 2

And turn in your Bibles to the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 5.

We're picking up our reading in verse 13. Remember the king

Belshazzar has seen the handwriting on the wall. His advisers are unable to interpret it.

And so the queen comes in and she calls for Daniel and that's where we pick up our text.

Hear now the inspired word of God. Then Daniel was brought in before the king.

The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

Now I have heard that you, that you, I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make his interpretation known to me.

But they could not declare the interpretation of the message. But I personally have heard about you that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems.

Now if you're able to read the inscription and make his interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else.

However, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. Oh king, the most high

God granted sovereignty, grandeur, and glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

Because of the grandeur which he bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him.

Whomever he wished, he killed. Whomever he wished, he speared alive. And whomever he wished, he elevated.

And whomever he wished, he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

He was also driven away from mankind and his heart was made like that of beasts and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys.

He was given grass to eat like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the most high

God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that he sets over it whomever he wishes.

Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this.

But you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven and they have brought the vessels of his house before you.

And you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking from them. And you praise the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, hear, or understand.

But the God in whose hand are your life breath in all your ways, you have not glorified.

The hand was sent from him and this inscription was written out. Now this is the inscription that was written out.

Mene, mene, tekel, ufarsen. This is the interpretation of the message.

Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.

Perez, your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the

Persians. Then Belshazzar gave orders and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck and issued a proclamation concerning him that now he had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.

That same night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain.

So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about age of 62. Let's pray.

Father, even as we read this text so many years later, Father, it just shows us that you are the sovereign most high

God. And you do exalt who you wish and you humble whom you wish.

And Father, we pray that we would be humbled as we work our way through this text.

That we would see the lessons that you have for us. That we would learn and not make the same mistakes as Belshazzar did.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. In two days, it'll be

June the 6th, and we'll remember the invasion of Normandy by the

Allied troops during World War II. Now most of us would not just recognize that date, but it may not be as memorable a date as others in history, but as soon as you mention the term

D -Day, it's etched in the minds of more than one generation. And not only just for Americans, but D -Day has significance for all the

Allied countries of Europe as well. There are some events in history that just stand out more than the rest.

December 7th, 1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called that, a day that will live in infamy.

To bring it closer to our time, just mentioned 9 -11. And the thoughts go back to those towers, and we even divide history now pre -9 -11 and post -9 -11.

We are studying events in Daniel that go back almost three millennia.

And yet as we saw last week, the events leading up to the destruction of Babylon are still part of our vocabulary.

Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall, albeit a little too late.

That writing signaled the doom. Not only his reign as king, but the dominance of the

Empire of Babylon as a world power. So significant were these events that they found their way into the 51st quatrain of the

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I wonder how many of us remember that that was required reading back in junior high school.

But the 51st quatrain of the Rubaiyat says this, listen carefully, the moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on, not all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.

Omar Khayyam was not a godly man by any stretch, but even he recognized that the handwriting on the wall was, it was not a warning to Belshazzar.

It was a pronouncement of judgment. Proverbs 29 verse one comes into play.

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

Let's look at the context before we get into our text for today. Remember Belshazzar, a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar is on the throne of Babylon.

The armies of Darius the Mede have already surrounded the city when this night takes place. And Belshazzar in his arrogance throws a great feast, great feast, a thousand nobles, his wives, his concubines.

And Daniel makes a point of telling us more than once that they were drinking wine, the indication that the wine was flowing freely.

He orders his servants to bring out the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem.

And then they begin drinking from those very vessels. We mentioned last week that this was

Belshazzar posturing in front of his subjects. And they began praising the gods of Babylon while drinking from the holy vessels from the house of God.

And in the midst of the revelry, a mysterious hand appears and begins to write on the wall in front of the golden lampstand from his bravado.

Belshazzar falls into dread. For we read in verse 6, Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack, and he began, his knees began knocking together.

He immediately calls for the conjurers, the Chaldeans, the diviners, and orders them to read and interpret the writing.

They fail. They can't even read it, let alone interpret the meaning. Meanwhile, the queen mother hears of the disturbance and comes into the banquet hall.

And she reminds the king that one of the captives brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar is a holy man with special abilities.

In verse 12, we read her description. This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas, and solving of difficult problems were found in this

Daniel, whom the king named Belshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned, and he will declare the interpretation.

And that brings us up to our text for this morning. And what we see is in verse 13,

Daniel is in fact brought before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, who my father the king brought from Judah?

There's some important information to be gleaned from even this first verse. First, remember

Daniel is no longer a young man. He's at least in his 60s, and some commentators would put him even into his 70s when this takes place.

And remember that he had been given the position of chief counselor by Nebuchadnezzar, and he had gained the trust of the king.

The queen obviously knew him, or at least knew him by reputation, because she immediately requests that he be called.

But it appears that he has not been on Belshazzar's mind, nor his heart, because there was no recognition when

Daniel was brought before the king. I mean, you would expect if he was the chief counselor and still acting that such that there'd be,

Oh Daniel, I'm glad you're here. I really need you right now. But there's nothing like that.

He does show some knowledge of the nation's history. He knew that Nebuchadnezzar had captives brought in from Judah.

What he knew and what he just learned from the queen is debatable. He obviously didn't learn much from history.

The text also tells us that Daniel was not functioning as a chief counselor at this time. Why, we don't know.

But he didn't come in when all the counselors were summoned by the king. Verse 14, the king continues,

Now I've heard about you, that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Remember, Belshazzar is desperate at this point. His physical condition worsened when the

Chaldeans failed to read the writing. And I think it's fair to say that while he didn't know what the writing said, he knew it wasn't good news.

So he parrots back to Daniel what the queen had just told him. I've heard good things about you, he says.

And then he continues again, Just now the wise men, the conjurers, were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known.

But they could not declare the interpretation of the message. At least he gets right down to business.

This is, tells Daniel, look, this is why you're here. The wise men couldn't get the job done. Keep in mind the time that has passed.

It's not likely that these were the same men who served Nebuchadnezzar. It was probably several generations later.

But the result? Exactly the same. They couldn't interpret the words.

So the king continues, But I personally have heard about you, making himself important, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems.

And then he goes on and offers him the necklace, wearing a purple, and that he'd be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Now he's just really parroting back what he heard from the queen. You know, there's two basic ways to get what you want from a person.

Reward them if they succeed, or punish them for failure. Nebuchadnezzar used both.

Neither worked. Belshazzar has just promised a great reward. Respect, wealth, and power.

Not bad motivators. They've worked quite a bit throughout history.

But it didn't help the conjurers and the diviners. So Belshazzar tries the same on Daniel with an unexpected result.

When he offers these things to Daniel, what does Daniel say? Keep them. I'm sure he didn't expect that.

Or give them to someone else. He says, however, I will read the inscription.

He says, I will make known the interpretation to the king. Not at all what

Belshazzar expected. It's not the way things are usually done in the court, especially in a royal court.

Getting and giving of favors is a way of life in the court. It's also a way of life in the halls of our government.

There is, of course, out and out bribery. Paying somebody off. It seems though every week there's another scandal of bribe receiving and giving in our nation.

But then there's what I've termed legal bribery. I'll vote the way you want, just so long as I see a nice healthy contribution to my campaign chest.

But then even between politicians, there's this type of banter.

You vote for my bill this time. I know you don't support it, but if you vote for my bill, the next time you have a bill,

I'll vote for yours. They even have a nice Latin name to make that sound respectable.

Quid pro quo. Doesn't that sound honorable? Just a little quid pro quo between us.

What it means is I'm willing to give up my respectability for yours. But Daniel wanted none of that.

He knew his calling. He knew his place in the kingdom, so he dismisses the reward.

Instead for his services, he challenges Belshazzar with a history lesson.

A history lesson that is sorely needed. He brings him all the way back to Nebuchadnezzar.

Look at verse 18. O King, the most high God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

This was a matter. This was not something that was unknown. This was a matter of the public records.

It's recorded in the annals of Babylonian history. So I think it's fair to say that every

Babylonian youth knew the grandeur of Nebuchadnezzar. Many of those records even exist today, even apart from the biblical records.

He had sovereignty, grandeur, majesty, and glory as no other king at that time had.

But Daniel wants Belshazzar to know right away that his glorious kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar wasn't earned by him.

It was granted to him by the most high God. It's somewhat ironic.

This lesson is coming while the Medes are at the front door preparing for the last steps to take the kingdom away from Belshazzar.

The vision of the multi -metal statue, the one with the head of gold, was about to come to fruition and he didn't know it.

The head of gold is about to be toppled and the silver kingdom taking its place.

And in these moments, which are sheer terror for Belshazzar, Daniel doesn't pull any punches.

He continues with the description of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, just as a way of reminder. Verse 19, because of the grandeur which he bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him.

And then listen to this description, whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive.

That was the power Nebuchadnezzar had. Nobody could say to him, why did you do that?

Or he might be another victim. And whomever he elevated, he wished he elevated, whomever he wished he humbled.

I dare say that that kingdom was awe inspiring to have gained that type of sovereignty.

But, the king became proud and haughty.

Look at verse 20. When his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

Here's the main part of the lesson. This is what Daniel was getting to. Nebuchadnezzar did receive his glorious kingdom from God, but when he forgot where that kingdom came from, the majesty, grandeur that was bestowed on him, he didn't build it by himself, but he forgot who gave it to him and he became arrogant.

And what was the result? His glorious throne was taken away from him. He was deposed, deposed from the monarchy.

He was no longer the head, the king of Babylon the Great. But that's not even the worst of it.

Look at verse 21. He was also driven away from mankind and his heart was made like that of beasts and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys.

No, my grandson's not here today to repeat the donkeys. That was spoken about in my household a lot last

Sunday. He was dwelling places with the wild donkeys.

He was given grass to eat like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the

Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that he sets over it whomever he wishes.

Daniel describes the discipline of God upon the sovereign of Babylon, driven away from mankind, had the heart of a beast, even took on the appearance of a beast.

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but it bears repeating. Being a beast is one of the worst things that can happen to a man.

Because man is the crown of God's creation. He is the image bearer of God.

And he was given dominion over the whole earth, including dominion over the beast of the field in the first chapter of Genesis.

When mankind sinned in Adam, that image of God was tarnished. It was shattered.

Now mankind is still the image of God, but he needs to be restored. He needs to be regenerated by the

Holy Spirit of God. He needs to be born again so that he can once again shine as the image bearer of God.

The more sinful a man is, the more he resembles the beasts.

The more sanctified, the more he looks like Jesus Christ, the perfect man.

That's the goal of sanctification. What is the goal of sanctification? To be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

And that symbolism is consistent throughout all of the scriptures. That's why you see beasts in the book of the

Revelation. And I say beasts, there's more than one beast in the book of the Revelation. It says there are more than one antichrist.

A beast is an antichrist. The further from God, the greater the pride, greater the arrogance, the more a man takes on the characteristic of a beast.

But God was gracious and Daniel relates that the condition of Nebuchadnezzar was temporary.

The end of the verse 21. Until he recognized that the most high

God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that he sets over it whomever he wishes.

In a short time and in a few words,

Daniel has captured the sin of Nebuchadnezzar and the remedy. But all of this is just preliminary.

The reminder of the glory days of the Roman Empire was for a purpose. Nebuchadnezzar's fallen restoration was also for a purpose.

You can just hear Belshazzar sitting after sitting through a history lesson. But what does this have to do with me?

What about the writing on the wall? Nebuchadnezzar is long gone.

I'm the king now. What's this handwriting saying to me? Now Daniel delivers what could be called the knockout punch.

Verse 22. Now this is after relating what happened in Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel says, yet you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart.

And listen to this. Even though you knew all this. Daniel reaffirms the connection to Nebuchadnezzar, a son meaning in his line of descendants.

You Belshazzar have not humbled yourself. You are guilty of the same sin as your father

Nebuchadnezzar. You have exalted yourself just as he did so many years ago.

And before Belshazzar has a chance to plead ignorance, that's when Daniel heads. Even though you knew all this.

Can't say, well, I didn't know. Remember, Daniel has been around the court of Babylon for about 50 some years, perhaps even longer.

It's fair to say he knew where all the bodies were buried. There were very few workings of the court he wasn't aware of.

He knew what Belshazzar knew and what he didn't know. And he asserts that the story of Nebuchadnezzar was something he did know, which means he knew of his pride leading to his fall.

And of his humility leading to restoration. Now talk about a compelling object lesson.

There it was in the court of Babylon. And remember, this was not a series of events that was kept quiet.

For the events of chapter four were declared to the whole empire of Babylon. Sometimes we skip over some of these verses.

We know that from Nebuchadnezzar himself. Let's jump back to chapter four, verses one and two. This is how that chapter opens.

Nebuchadnezzar the king. To all peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth.

May peace be on. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar is writing this and letting this know. He wants the whole known earth to know about what happened to him.

It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the most high

God has done for me. Everybody knew about Nebuchadnezzar.

So yes, Belshazzar knew the lesson from his father Nebuchadnezzar. And did that humble him?

No. Did it at least prevent him from falling into the same sin? No, it did not.

It not only didn't prevent him, but his pride and arrogance caused him to blaspheme.

Daniel continues in verse 23, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. And they brought in the vessels of the house before you.

And you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold and bronze, etc.

Daniel points directly to the blasphemy committed by using the holy vessels for drinking wine.

Remember, these vessels were designed for use in the worship of almighty God alone, given in Leviticus.

And Belshazzar uses them for the amusement and the pleasure of his nobles, his wives and concubines.

Now that in and of itself was enough to incur judgment from God. But Belshazzar went further.

While profaning those vessels, they begin to praise the gods behind gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

That's amazing. When you reject the one true

God, you will turn to false worship of one kind or another. And Daniel lists the false gods they were praising.

Someone once said, when you reject the worship of the true God, you don't worship nothing, you worship anything.

But Daniel also makes it clear that these gods are not gods at all because they neither see nor hear nor understand.

That's what you're worshiping, he says. And you chose them over the God who made you, gave you breath and made you the sovereign over Babylon.

He says you wasted your time on these lifeless idols. And you failed to glorify the

God most high. He says the one whom you have offended is the one who sent the hand to write the inscription.

And he says, here's what was written. Many, many tickle you, Farson. Those are the words written on the wall.

However, they were written in Aramaic. Remember, we're still in the Aramaic section. It's interesting that the wise men couldn't even read the inscription, let alone interpret it.

And that's just about the same today because the commentators are all over the map regarding what these words really mean and say.

One commentator does shed light on this subject, though. He says what was written on the wall is a riddle.

It was written in common Aramaic letters without vowels.

The wise men could probably read the letters, but without a larger context, they could not know what the words meant.

With that being said, the commentators still try to decipher the words and relate how they arrive at that solution.

I don't believe that's necessary nor important to the text. You may ask why.

Because Daniel has given us the interpretation, the inspired interpretation.

He first tells us what the words are. Many, many tickle you, Farson. And the inspired interpretation is given in the text.

Verse 26, many. God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. I believe you can look back again to the vision of the statue in Daniel 2.

The kingdom of Babylon would come to an end. The head of gold would be removed. So their days were numbered and now the end was upon them.

Most commentators agree that the double use of the word many was for emphasis. Repetition is one of the ways the early

Jewish writers emphasized a point. Remember, Jesus would often say verily, verily or truly, truly.

Which means amen and amen for emphasis. So many, many, truly, truly, the days are numbered for you by almighty

God. They have come now to an end. Tickle. Second word in verse 27.

You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. That very well may be a form of the word shekel, a measure of money.

But in this case, its connotation is weight. Look at Daniel's inspired interpretation.

You have been weighed on the scales. Your numbers, the time of your kingdom is over.

And now you've been weighed on the scales and found deficient. The scales are set up and you have not passed.

And this comes right on the heels of his great blasphemy. His profane use of the holy vessels and the praising the idolatrous gods of wood, stone and metals.

Once again, I'm reminded of Psalm 62, which I think comes into play here. Psalm 62.

Men of low degree are only vanity. Men of rank are a lie. In the balances, they go up.

They're altogether lighter than breath. The wicked have no hope of tipping the scales in their favor because they're lighter than breath.

And if they're put on the scales, the scales actually go up. They are that deficient.

And the fourth word pronounces the judgment. But as your kingdom has been divided and given to the

Medes and the Persians. But this is a form of the word you farson.

But the judgment is clear. The kingdom of Babylon is coming down.

And it will be divided and turned over to the Medes and the Persians. You can see the unity of all the prophecies concerning Babylon from the first chapter of Daniel right through the fifth.

And we also have similar prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah. The major difference is that Nebuchadnezzar repented of his sin.

And Belshazzar did not. Verse 23 tells the story in a nutshell.

But you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. And in the last part of the verse.

But the God in whose hand are your life breath and all your ways. You have not glorified.

So the story of Babylon comes to an end.

The head of gold is gone. Verse 30.

That same night. Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

In verse 31. The prophecy comes true. So Darius the

Mede received the kingdom at about age of 62. The day the head of gold toppled is another day.

That will live in infamy. Because Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall.

But it was too late. Judgment for him and for the empire had already been sealed.

There was no remedy. There are many lessons to be learned from the text, but just a couple.

First, everyone will stand before Christ to be judged at the last day. Just as Belshazzar was judged.

Don't presume you can continue in sin and all will be fine.

Belshazzar thought that all was fine in the empire. Because it was such a glorious empire.

He threw a big feast. Blasphemed the most high God. Don't make the same mistake as Belshazzar.

I'm reminded of the story that Jesus told about the wealthy man who put off repenting. He was going to tear down all his barns and build newer and bigger ones.

And in Luke 12 and 19 he says, And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for you many years to come.

Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, you fool.

This very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared?

So is the man who stores of treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. So Christian, don't get lax.

Don't think everything is OK. You are in spiritual warfare. It may not be the meads at the door, but there's always an enemy lurking, seeking to devour lazy

Christians. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, don't be presumptuous about the future.

Don't delay. Repent of your sin. You don't know what day your soul will be required.