BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST
Part Two
(See January 5, 2020 for Part One)
Daniel 5:17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
After the Lord God suffers long with obstinate offenders, he comes to a point of sudden and ultimate judgment against them. Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
He came to this point with King Belshazzar. It was at the time in which Belshazzar blasphemed the Lord God by using the holy, sanctified, anointed vessels designed to only be used in His worship, for Belshazzar, in his drunken stupor, to praise nonexistent gods of gold, silver brass, iron and stone. The writing on the wall of Babylon’s down fall came “in that same hour!” Daniel 5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
And it was the exact same thing that had happened to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. We read that God’s judgment fell on him, “while the word was in the king’s mouth.” Daniel 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
And he is the same, unchangeable, holy God today. Proverbs 6:12 A naughty (‘worthless’) person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward (‘wayward’), mouth. 15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Therefore it shall be the same way for all sinners who continue to rebel against the ways of God in our day. Matthew 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
And not a single soul shall escape this eternal destruction by attempting to claim ignorance of God’s will! Belshazzar admitted twice that he knew of Daniel. Daniel 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. 16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
And how could he not have heard of Daniel and God’s judgment against his grandfather? For what a great and notable event it was that his grandfather was turned into a beast and driven out from among human society, exactly as Daniel had prophesied. And yet we read that even with this knowledge, and with his time of opportunity to repent in Daniel 5:22; And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
And so it is with every human soul who has ever lived! None can say for his defense, “I didn’t know!” For even the invisible matters of God’s person can be known by the witness of creation! Therefore creation renders all without excuse! Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
God can be known both by the World Book as well as the Word Book! Both creation and the scriptures reveal Him. For of the World Book we read; Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
And of the Word Book we read; Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
And divine revelations were being given to one among the population of Belshazzar’s very city in his very day. Daniel was given two amazing revelations during the very reign of this king. Daniel 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. 2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
In fact, the Lord God has placed every soul in the very place, and at the very time of their existence, in order that they might best be confronted by His gospel! Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;…
The Lord God has sent his gospel throughout the world, to be preached to “every creature.” Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: And it is only at the accomplishment of this task that the end of all things shall come. Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The Apostle Paul informed the highly religious souls, who studied the scriptures daily, that the biblical words which they memorized and quoted needed to be believed in their hearts. Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The Prophet Jeremiah’s preaching was even available in written form to the Babylonian kingdom! Daniel had a copy, so therefore could this powerful and rich king have easily obtained a copy! Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Here is what Daniel read: Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
And from that scripture, this is what Daniel prophesied: Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Daniel prophesied of the kingdoms of Babylon, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks under Alexander the Great, on through the Romans under Caesar, even until the eternal spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ! For he envisioned the four Gentile kingdoms rise and fall, and then the ascension of God’s Son at the setting up of his everlasting kingdom. Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The reason for the seventy years was it would take that long for the land of Israel to lie idle in order for God to reclaim his Sabbaths which the Jews had broken. 2 Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Therefore he had to removed the people from off the land in order for it to rest.
And one final thing which we must understand is that Daniel’s time in Babylon includes the very event that should mark the beginning time for the determining of the coming of Messiah. For it was at the event of the first year of Cyrus in which the command to rebuild the temple was given. Daniel 1:21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
And here is this prophesy again concerning the coming of Messiah, marked from that event. Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: …
Pastor Gene Breed
January 9, 2020