Coffeeville First Baptist Church By Craig Baker, Pastor
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In our Great Nights of the Bible series, we continue this week in Daniel 5 with a night of desecration. About 50 years passed between the time Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men and the events recorded in Daniel 5. It is estimated that Daniel would have been in his 80’s. Nebuchadnezzar had passed, and his son Belshazzar was in power.
Daniel 5:1 tells us, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.” As I think about that night, I imagine throughout the city of Babylon the setting sun brought great anticipation of the feast. One thousand of the wealthiest and most influential men in all the Babylonian kingdom are gathering in the capital city of Babylon. They are the honored guests of the king. At the time, Babylon was the largest city in the world with over 200,000 residents: covering an area of 2000 acres or more. The city was glorious with large hanging gardens, the Euphrates River flowing through its center, and enormous walls protecting its residents.
As the sun begins to set, the gentle glow of lamps appears in the palace windows. In the banquet hall, the mosaic floor of white, red, black, and blue marble tiles has been polished to an almost mirror finish. Tapestries cover the walls with images of Babylonian power and superstition, and golden banners hang in the windows. The marble pillars that line each side of the hall are wrapped in colorful fabrics. Persian rugs with their mystic design are spread in key locations on the floor. Candelabras of gold hang from the ceiling and golden candlesticks line the tables. The aroma of the meal preparations mixed with burning incense fills the banquet hall and drifts through the river valley. At the appointed time the guests begin to arrive. When all the guests have been seated, the young king, Belshazzar, makes his grand entrance with his procession seating himself in the prominent seat at the elevated table.
The banquet begins. Food and wine flow freely. Women dance to the music that now fills the banquet hall. When the feast is well underway and heads are swimming with wine Belshazzar resolves to startle his guests with an unheard of display of desecration. When is father, Nebuchadnezzar, had conquered Jerusalem, he took from the temple of God the sacred golden vessels and brought them back to Babylon. Now in his drunken state, Belshazzar has these vessels brought out so he and his guests can drink from them. The vessels that had been consecrated to the service and worship of God are now used as a sign of mockery and contempt of God. In grand defiance, Belshazzar and his guests raise the sacred vessels to their lips as they shout, laugh, and sing praises to their gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. I can imagine the mocking shouts such as, “Where is the God of the Jews now” ringing through the hall. Little did they know just how close He was.
Paralyzed by shock and terror, silence falls across the banquet hall as fingers appear and begin to the write, inscribing words into the plaster of the wall, the golden vessels slip from their hands, and crash loudly onto the marble floor. “Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsian!” Those words glare at them; inscribed on the wall. The king calls for all his wise men, but despite their combined wisdom and knowledge, none could read or interpret these words. The queen, hearing of what has taken place, goes to the banquet hall to see for herself and encourage her king, reminding him of his father’s reliance and trust in a man of God named Daniel to interpret and counsel him in such things with excellent wisdom, light, and understanding. Hearing this, the king orders Daniel to be found and brought to the banquet hall immediately.
I picture Daniel arriving, his plain and rugged form in stark contrast to the lavish grandeur of the noble men and women dressed in their finest. Ignoring the king, Daniel stands with a strong, godly countenance as he surveys this spectacle of celebration, debauchery, and desecration now turned into a dreadful scene of terror and dismay. Belshazzar makes Daniel the same promise that he had made his wise men and soothsayers promising riches, power, and authority to Daniel if he can tell the king the meaning of these words.
Before telling Belshazzar what the writing on the wall meant, Daniel reminded him of what happened to his father, Nebuchadnezzar. When Nebuchadnezzar became prideful and hardened his spirit and heart against God he was driven from his kingdom into the wilderness where he lived like a wild animal until he humbled himself before God. Though King Belshazzar knew the judgment his father suffered for his prideful spirit against God, Belshazzar demonstrated his own prideful spirit against God and revealed the judgment written on the wall. Belshazzar’s kingdom was finished. He had been weighed in the balance by God and found wanting or lacking. Therefore, his kingdom would fall to the Medes and Persians.
Imagine the laughter and ridicule that erupted in the banquet hall as Belshazzar and his lords dismissed Daniel’s warning. Babylon was a powerful nation that had destroyed most of their enemies with ease. The city of Babylon was perhaps the most fortified city in the ancient world. In addition to the massive outer wall of the city, Belshazzar’s father, King Nebuchadnezzar had a second massive inner wall constructed around the city with a moat and heavily secured and guarded gates. The walls surrounding the city were so enormous they are considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. No doubt the Babylonians thought the city of Babylon would never fall. Belshazzar signaled the servants to adorn Daniel with fine garments and gold and proclaimed him the third ruler as if Daniel did not just tell him his kingdom would fall.
Daniel concluded his account of that night with these words, “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old” (Daniel 5:30-31).
“That very night.” While the Babylon King and his lords partied with no sense of restraint, unbeknownst to them the army of the Medes and Persians were diverting the waters of the Euphrates into nearby swampland. With the river diverted, the army marched into the city on the dry riverbed that ran under the city wall. God’s words of judgment had barely faded from the ears of Belshazzar and his lords when the soldiers of Darius, the general of Cyrus, burst into the banquet hall. Swords flash under the light of the candles as groans, shrills, curses, and pleas for mercy fill the air. Soon a thousand nobles lay dead in a slush of wine and blood; among them lay Belshazzar, the mighty king of Babylon.
Belshazzar, drunk on wine and the sins of the night, mocked God by desecrating the holy vessels having no clue he was casting away not only his kingdom but also his life. By the time the writing was on the wall it was too late. He had already been judged, weighed in the balance, and found wanting before God.
If God weighed your life in the balance what would be found about you?
The truth is, all of us have been weighed in the balance of God’s righteousness and found wanting for we all have sinned and fall short of His glory, but God in His mercy and grace has given us a weight of righteousness to balance the scales. That weight of righteousness is Jesus.
