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Today we will read from Daniel chapter 5. The passage shows a big difference between two kings: King Nebuchadnezzar who learned humility in chapter 4, and his son King Belshazzar. It’s truly a shame. A shame that the young king did not learn from the example of his great father. This chapter shows the failure of the proud young king, who could not respond the needs of his country or understand the situation he was in.
With that, let us dive into Daniel chapter 5. Reading from verses 1 to 4: “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 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.” King Belshazzar boasted of his strength by showing off to his guests the gold goblets once used in Jerusalem’s temple worship. Belshazzar was said to be an idol worshipper. How powerful was this young king, actually?
In contrast, King Nebuchadnezzar was truly a mighty king. Yet in his pride he was driven out of the kingdom by his own people, lived among wild animals, and ate grass like cattle; and through this trial, he encountered God. Humility is an essential value in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is not for the proud but for the humble. Humility distinguishes those in the kingdom of heaven. Those who humbly receive the priceless redemption and forgiveness of sins through Christ on the Cross are the ones who will enter the kingdom of heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar learned such humility. As we read previously, Nebuchadnezzar declared in Daniel 4:37, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Belshazzar should have learned that lesson from his father. But instead, Belshazzar did the exact opposite of praising, exalting, and glorifying the King of Heaven. He worshipped idols; he used holy articles from the temple of the true God to boast about himself. It’s truly a shame. When he did that, an act of God took place.
Chapter 5, verses 5-6 say, “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.” This act of God exposed the young man as not fit to be king. By the way, Nebuchadnezzar is called his “father” in this chapter, but actually “father” here means “ancestor”; Belshazzar is a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Moving on, verse 10 says, “The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. ‘May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!’” And she recommended for Daniel to be summoned to interpret the writing on the wall. The queen was likely Belshazzar’s royal mother, Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter. Daniel’s service to Nebuchadnezzar was probably about 60 years before this. The queen remembered Daniel and proposed that he be summoned to interpret the writing.
The writing on the wall is recorded in verse 25: “This is the inscription that was written: ‘Mene mene tekel parsin.’” The meaning of these words is explained by Daniel in verse 26. “Mene” means “counting” in the Aramaic language. “Tekel” means “weighing”. And “parsin” means “division”. Put together, the writing says something like, “You have been counted. You have been numbered. You have been weighed. And you will be divided.” Daniel explains what this means. Let’s read his explanation in verse 26: “Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” It was a message from God of severe judgment: The days of your reign are numbered. You have been weighed and found wanting. And so your kingdom will be divided. It was truly a severe message of judgment. Verse 30 then says, “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.” From then on, the Persians began to rule. So what can we learn from today’s passage?
We can learn from many of God’s faithful people who appear in Old Testament. In the Old Testament, we can also see prophecies of the Messiah which are confirmed in the New Testament by the ministry of Jesus. We can learn the joy of worship and the values of the kingdom of heaven. As we read the Old Testament, what have we learned? For example, we learn from the story of the great King David who, when his kingdom was secure, looked upon another man’s wife and committed adultery with her. If only he had averted his eyes. If only he had held his ground. (See Matthew 5:29: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body.”) As a result of his sin, his children lost faith in their father and this caused great problems for the family. From David’s life we can learn not only from the good things about him about also the bad.
The Old Testament tells us that God called the Jewish people to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. For that purpose, he gave them the law of Moses and the tabernacle, and called them to a life of worship. They were called to worship. And they were to be good stewards of the things God blessed them with, always putting God at the center of their hearts. To grow that kind of heart, they were taught to offer God one-tenth of their harvest. As for us, we live in the New Testament era today. Scripture does not require us to give offerings to the church, but it does tell us to be good managers of the things we are blessed with. At IBF many of us, including myself, have the habit of giving one-tenth of our money to the church. Not only our money, but also offering part of our time to serve at the church. And to spend time focused on worshipping God. Indeed, many of us have made it a priority to worship together as a community every week. The importance of worship, of offering what we have to God, these are all things taught in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Looking back on my life, I realize that through trusting God and managing what God has given to me, I have been able to live a truly full life.
Now, let us read from Daniel 5, from the second half of verse 21 until verse 23: “. . . he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes. But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” This was a severe message of judgment. But let us take time to quietly ponder these words of God. Firstly, that the Most High God is sovereign over all the kingdoms of man. God is able to put whomever he chooses to rule over our nations. As believers, the Spirit of God enables us to humble ourselves, to love Him, and to serve others. Our lives are in the hands of the Creator God. We do not worship manmade idols but the true God, and through the way we live, we try to bring glory back to him. Those are the lessons we can learn from today’s passage. I pray that through our lives, may God’s will be done on earth.
As before, let us end by praying for the Prime Minister of Japan and for the leaders of the world that they may be able to see from God’s perspective and values.
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