Daniel 5

The question this morning that I want to begin with is this: what would happen if someone gave a party and God crashed it? What would happen if God crashed your party? In the first verses of Daniel chapter 5, we find a description of a wild party being thrown by the king Belshazzar. Then we're told of how this party was crashed right in the middle of this huge party at what was probably the loudest and most exuberant part of it. Something happened.

Something completely unexpected and unusual that would have brought that party, I'm sure, to a complete and abrupt end. The uninvited visitor, the person who crashed this party was God. But God symbolised by a disembodied hand. In view of all the astonished party revellers, this uninvited hand wrote a mysterious message on a wall that no one in the palace understood. The meaning of this message to those people and to us is what we'll be looking at this morning.

King Nebuchadnezzar, we remember, ruled over Babylon for many, many years, almost forty-five years to be exact. By the time, however, when we get to Daniel chapter 5, he had been dead for about twenty-five years. So this is actually his great-great-great grandson, Belshazzar, who was the king at that time. The fourth king after Nebuchadnezzar was a man called Nabonidus, who history books will say had a son called Belshazzar.

Now the interesting thing is it's not listed anywhere on record that we can find that a king called Belshazzar was king, but Nabonidus was. And what we do know, however, is that Nabonidus was a co-regent. So he was a king in partnership with someone else. And so biblical scholars believe that Belshazzar, his son, was co-heir, co-king with Nabonidus. So we're looking at roughly the area of the time between May to May.

So for all you history nuts, just write that down. That's where we are. So at that time, the great kingdom or the great empire of Babylon was just about to fall to the kingdom, to the rising powers of the Medes and the Persians, history tells us. In fact, at this time, the Medo-Persian armies were probably surrounding Babylon. They were in siege warfare waiting for Babylon to surrender.

And Belshazzar probably knew, probably was aware of it. So the interesting thing in light of this context is why would they have this massive feast when there was warfare? When there were, you know, times of trials and people were dying or people were going to die, why have this huge party? And the interesting thing is, historians and archaeologists have said that Babylon was so well stocked, was such a huge place, and we mentioned that last time. It had a population of one million people, and it was so well stocked that it could survive a siege for twenty years.

It had that much food stocked up. The Euphrates River, the huge, impressive Euphrates, ran through the city of Babylon. So they had water for ever as long as the Euphrates ran. And so Belshazzar and the nobility were completely at ease with these massive balls, and we spoke about that last week as well, that were so wide that two chariots could stand side by side and actually surround and patrol the walls. So they felt safe.

They felt secure, and so they decided, let's have a party. At the time when the city was under siege, it had this huge air of defiance, an air of superiority. And Belshazzar, the king was so sure of himself that in his smug pseudo-security, he went ahead and he organised this amazing banquet with all the finest wines and the best food while an army was surrounding the city. And so we're going to have a look at exactly this party and what happened there. Something that shook the empire of Babylon and brought it to its knees.

It was to be the last party of the Babylonian Empire ever. So let's have a look at verses 1 to 4. The party is described for us here. It says, "King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar, his father," or another translation, "his ancestor, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem."

So that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. This party was unashamedly blasphemous. It was designed to exalt the gods of Babylon and in that way it mocked God, the God of Israel, the only true God.

In fact, they were so arrogant that they dared to bring out the precious golden goblets that had been stored in the treasury of the temple in Jerusalem, in the temple of God, to drink out of them and to celebrate the impressive feat, or the impressive gods that they served. And so the place was starting to fill with cheering and applause. The music and the dancing started up, and there was a great fervor. There was a great atmosphere. But then, suddenly, there was an interruption.

In verse 5, we see that it says that suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall near the lampstand of the royal palace. I don't know if anyone has ever kept a record of the shortest time it would take for someone to sober up, but this instance would be in the running for sure. To see something like that would have just blown everyone's minds. And it made the whole party stop. The whole atmosphere was just deflated in an instant.

Verse 6 describes the king's reaction. Have a look. It says, "His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way." It's almost, it's almost cartoon, isn't it? It's almost cartoonesque.

Belshazzar was so overcome by what he saw that he went totally limp. And the application, I think, for us, the thing that we see about God in this is that God has a way of getting His point across. He has a way of getting our attention even when we are running a hundred miles in a different direction. If you've had a look at the stock market this week, and I guess in the past few weeks, literally thousands of people throughout our country were dumbfounded to find the stock market just falling catastrophically. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that in six hours, in just six hours, the total wealth of the stock market lost fifty-five billion dollars in six hours.

Individuals had taken years and years to accumulate their wealth, and then in half a day, their fortune is all but gone. Those of us who are not at this pinnacle of wealth, however, face certain similar crises. And Daniel's message and what we just see in this part is something that's described in Galatians 6 by Paul as well, and that is don't be deceived, guys. God cannot be mocked. And so we see that they had the precious articles of the temple of God there, drinking and cheering and toasting their gods with these things and saying, you know, our gods are so much greater, and they are so much more powerful than this God.

And God intervenes dramatically. God has a way of getting our attention. And so we see, in the second part, the king's cry for help. In verse 7, we read that the king called out for the enchanters, the astrologers and diviners to be brought and 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." Interestingly, the reason he said third highest and not the second highest is probably because of this co-regency that they had.

So Nabonidus and his son, Belshazzar, first and second. And so, basically, this guy was next, the next most powerful person. That was a promise at least. And so the next verses show that none of these wise men in Babylon could read or interpret these words in spite of the great rewards on offer. And this caused the king to be even more alarmed than before.

He became even more pale. His knees started knocking together even more. And then we see in verse 10 that the queen comes upon the scene. Now she was probably Belshazzar's mother. Nabonidus was serving in another area during that time perhaps.

And so the queen comes on the scene, and she enters the banquet hall and tells Belshazzar that Daniel would be able to interpret what this meant. Daniel, however, was in his eighties by this time. He was well aged, and he had been through many, many experiences as the prime minister of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had promoted him to this part. He was the head of all the astrologers, of all the advisers in the kingdom, in the empire.

He had served under five Babylonian kings by the end of his life. This was the fifth and final king. And yet Daniel's life remained untainted by the ungodly culture of Babylon.

And through it all, he maintained a massively deep devotion to God. So when Daniel is brought before Belshazzar, the king tells him about this thing and asks him if he could read and interpret this message. And that he would be given all the perks and all the royalty, the purple clothes. I don't know if that's my colour if I would be keen on that. The purple clothing, the golden chains, the promotion, the works. But Daniel, like always, just like he was in chapter 1 as a sixteen-year-old, as a teenager.

He couldn't be bought. He couldn't be convinced. And he said to the king, "Keep your gold. Keep your clothes. You can give it to whoever you want, but I will interpret this for you."

And he proceeds and tells him what it means. That makes us think, however, just about our situations. Right? And again, what we spoke about a few weeks ago about influential people offering us certain things to compromise or to bend backwards on things that should not be compromised. Rewarding us in ways that only God should be rewarding us.

And it does challenge us as Christians to be faithful. Daniel knew that this message needed to come across, and he could have done it. He could have given that message because it was God's will, but he could have also had the perks to go along with it. And he knew that that was not something that would give God all the glory. It would mean he would be claiming that he was the one that was able to do this if he accepted those gifts.

And so it just challenges me personally that, you know, under the pressure of ungodly influence, it's difficult to stay faithful to God, especially if comfort is involved, especially when wealth is involved. And so Daniel goes on and he says to the king, "This is what it means." And he begins his interpretation in verses 18 to 21. But before he does that, he says to the king, he reminds King Belshazzar of the greatness of his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar's rule. The key verse of this section this morning is verse 20, where Belshazzar was reminded that when Nebuchadnezzar became proud, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.

And last week, exactly, that's what we looked at. We looked at Nebuchadnezzar in his pride, said to himself, "Look at this great Babylon that I have built with my own hands and for the glory of my majesty." And as instantly as he said that, he lost his mind. And God gave him over, and for seven years, he was insane, and no one dared to keep him as king. And so Daniel says, "Remember that."

"Remember the pride and the arrogance of your great-grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar." He says to him in verse 22, "But you, his son, oh Belshazzar, you have not humbled yourself. Though you have known all of this. Though you knew all of this, you haven't humbled yourself." And so although Belshazzar knew the very story of Nebuchadnezzar's pride and his humbling and his subsequent conversion and restoration, the tragedy is that he didn't apply that story and make himself humble to the God of the universe.

And I have to admit that it's a challenging thing for ministers, and I think for mature, reformed-oriented people that we can know a lot of stuff. We can know a lot of stuff. But there's a difference if you humble yourself in that knowledge. There's a difference when that knowledge gets applied and your life looks different. You see, people may know a lot about the Bible and what it says concerning God and His call for us to live humbly as His children.

But if it doesn't impact the life, if it doesn't change who you are, what good is it? If it doesn't produce fruit of righteousness, fruit of holiness, what's the good in it? What's the point? I've seen many people who have grown up hearing the truth of the Bible for most of their lives, but still haven't captured the message, still live their lives as though they are number one, as though they are king. And so it's a challenge for us just as much as Daniel challenged Belshazzar.

It's a challenge for us to live humbly before our God, to have no idols where He should be number one. Whether that be comfort, whether that be wealth, whether that be good things even like family, like finding your wife, finding your husband. Good things can become idols. Good things can make us arrogant and rebel against having God as number one. And then Daniel begins his interpretation.

In verses 25, Daniel says, "This is the inscription that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." The first word, "mene", means numbered, to number. And God, Daniel explains in verse 26, God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

It's repeated, mene, mene, and that just indicates that this is indeed the case. This is surely the case. You have been numbered. Your days have been numbered. Surely.

The second word, "tekel", which means weighed, is explained in verse 27. "You have been weighed on the scales and have been found wanting." You have been weighed and found wanting. And then the third, the final word there is "upharsin", which means divided or separated. And it's explained in verse 28.

"Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians." So Daniel explains these things to Belshazzar. The interesting thing, the great thing, and again this is for you history buffs. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus tells us that on the eve of the overthrow of Babylon, the city, the empire, there was a citywide banquet. On the eve of the overthrow of Babylon, there was a feast.

And during that banquet, the Medo-Persian military commander ingeniously devised a way to divert the Euphrates that ran through the city that caused a moat around the city that protected the city walls, and the military general devised some way of diverting that water. And that meant that the attacking army in the middle of the night could wade through about thigh-high in the water, could wade through the river and the moat and sneak into the city. Herodotus says that Babylon was conquered while they were partying, while they were drunk, while they were passed out. And it was absolute carnage. There was no way that the Babylonian army was even prepared for this fight.

It's interesting, isn't it? That's from a Greek historian telling the story that we read today in Daniel. Belshazzar thought he was safe. Belshazzar in his arrogance decided, "We're gonna show these guys. Though we're under siege, we have twenty years worth of food."

And so he throws this massive banquet for all the nobility. And during this banquet, unawares to him, his city was being infiltrated. And we see in the last final verses of Daniel chapter 5 just the downfall of this empire. It's simply recorded in two verses. "That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62."

Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. Numbered are your days, weighed and have been found wanting, divided and cast down. Secure in the world, secure in own structures, secure in wealth, secure in every possible human contraption or ingenious device, but ultimately sinful before God and judged. What is God saying to the world in this passage? What is God saying to us this morning? King Solomon summarised it in this way. God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil.

The names change, the situations vary, but ignoring this truth, ignoring the truth that God is ultimately king, that God is ultimately the one that should be centre stage in our life, and His purposes and His will should be our purposes and our will. Ignoring that leads to consequences. We've spoken a little bit about this and we prayed about it again this morning, but we live in a society with a government that will be judged. It will be judged based on what it has done for this society. And this government that we are supposed to be loyal to, God tells us that we must be loyal to those put in authority over us.

They will stand before God, and they will have to say and give account of what they've done. That gives us the assurance, however, that gives us the peace that we don't have to be the ones who judge. Now listen carefully, I'm not saying we can't have an opinion, we can't be shocked at what has happened, but ultimately we also don't have to feel that it is our responsibility to change what has happened. The government is only reflecting, I guess, what is happening in our society anyway. But we have the assurance, guys and girls, that God is the one who will set in place authorities, that will depose authorities, and in this life, will judge what is good and what is bad according to His purposes.

We have that assurance that God is in control. Like Belshazzar, we perhaps also have walls that we like to hide behind. Things that we ingeniously create and rationalise in our life. But no activity is so hidden that it can protect us from the vision and the insight of God. Through Belshazzar's experience, God is strongly warning us, strongly warning our friends, strongly warning our government not to forget that there's a time coming where He is also going to judge completely.

And the apostle Paul made the same point of saying that in 2 Corinthians 5, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him." But the great news, the amazing news is that Paul goes on to tell us that the reason why God warns us so strongly is because He loves us so completely. And God demonstrates the extent of this love as we know on the cross with Jesus Christ. There is no warning. There is no more definitive warning than the cross.

The message of the cross completes all the Old Testament warnings and the warnings about judgment. The cross warns us about the type of destruction and the awesome wrath that God, who is just and completely righteous must pour out on sin. He must pour out His judgment on sin. But the scriptures tell us of the real glory of that cross even though it is a massive warning. It tells us of the glory of the cross and that the cross is more than just a warning of sin's penalty, but that the cross saves us from that penalty.

The blood of Jesus blots out the blood of Jesus blots out that handwriting on the wall. The handwriting that is on our lives, the handwriting that's even on the Labour Party's wall. Jesus Christ's blood blots that out. It whitewashes that whole wall. And the truth is that if we simply come to Christ in sincere repentance and in humility and in faith, we can have that cleansing.

We are promised by God Himself that on the final judgment day when we stand before His throne, when we have been numbered, when we have been weighed, that we will not be found wanting, that we will not be found lacking, that in Jesus Christ, God sees Him and says, "You are completely whitewashed. You are completely clean." What a wonderful thing it is to know that in spite of our sin, in spite of us looking like Belshazzar sometimes, in our brokenness, in our imperfection, we stand completely perfect before God. And that is, guys and girls, that is what we need to spread to our friends and family to bring complete and lasting change in our society. We can go and petition.

We can go and protest, but that's not gonna change people's hearts. We need to tell them about the love of Jesus Christ. The warning of the cross of what God had to do with sin, but the great message of the cross that it was dealt with, that it was washed away, and that we have complete and free access to God and complete forgiveness to live lives that are in line with God, that are lives that are healthy. That is the message of Romans 8:1 which says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus."