Sunday: Belshazzar’s Feast
Read Daniel 5:1-4 along with Daniel 1:1-2. What is Belshazzar doing that is so bad? How does it reveal his true character? Compare his actions with Revelation 17:4-6. What parallels can you find?
The king commands that the sacred utensils of the Jerusalem temple be used as drinking vessels. Nebuchadnezzar seizes the vessels from the Jerusalem temple, but he places them in the house of his god, which shows that at least he respects their sacred status.
Image © Pacific Press collection at GoodSalt.com
But Belshazzar turns the sacred vessels into drinking utensils in a most profane way.
While drinking from the sacred vessels, Belshazzar’s lords “praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone” (Dan. 5:4, NKJV). It is worth noticing that six materials are mentioned. The Babylonians used the sexagesimal system (a system based on the number 60) in contrast to the decimal system used today (based on the number 10). Thus, the six categories of gods represent the totality of the Babylonian deities and, therefore, the fullness of the Babylonian religious system. Interestingly enough, the order of the materials follows the order of the components of the dream statue of Nebuchadnezzar, except that wood replaces the clay. As in the dream, stone appears last; although here it designates the material composition of idols, stone also evokes God’s judgment upon worldly empires (see Dan. 2:44-45), which Babylon symbolizes.
This feast serves as an apt representation of end-time Babylon as seen in the book of Revelation. Like Belshazzar, the woman in end-time Babylon holds a golden cup and offers polluted drink to the nations. In other words, by means of false doctrines and a distorted worship system, modern Babylon lures the world into evil (Rev. 17:4-6), oblivious to the judgment that will soon fall upon her. One day judgment will come.
| What are ways in which our society and culture profane the truth of God’s Word? How can we be careful not to take part in that profanation, even in subtle ways? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath. |
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Everything Belshazzar had, like everything we have, is from God.
James 1:17 — Every good gift... comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Belshazzar didn't have anything that he owned himself. God had him given him his kingdom just as He had given the kingdom to his grandfather, but instead of worshipping the living God out of gratitude, Belshazzar chose to worship dead images. Daniel said to him, "Belshazzar, the living God, the real God worthy of your worship, holds your very breath in His hands, and you have decided to profane Him". And then Daniel got to the point and revealed the king's message, verses 24-29.
Daniel 5:25 — ...MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
I once told a joke at someone's expense It was a very funny joke and nobody laughed. And in the deathly silence that followed, someone said, "You should not have said that!" I was mortified as the truth dawned on me that my joke was disrespectful of that person. I learned, the tough way, that whatever you do should uphold the respect for others.
Belshazzar's big sin was that he was disrespectful of others. The reign of Nebuchadnessar had shown respect to other cultures. The fact that the temple vessels had survived and had not been reworked into imaged of Marduk is evidence that he respected Hebrew culture. And given that Daniel and his friends gave him wise advice during his reign, he learned to respect them also.
But Belshazzar was a bit of a showoff. Maybe because he was regent rather than king, he had a party and like most parties where alcohol is involved, judgement is blurred and he started to do stupid things. Drinking our of the Hebrew temple's vessels showed disrespect to the Hebrew people and their God, and God Intervened.
We love stories where the evil one gets their comeuppance. Have you ever been passed by someone doing 20 kph over the speed limit, only to see then pulled up 20km further on, by a car with blue lights flashing. It makes you feel so good and you shout out to the passengers in your own car, "Gotcha!" as you drive past.
Belshazzar received his "Gotcha!" and that gives us a good feeling. But before we give ourselves over to condemning Belshazzar we need to ask the question, how many times have we been disrespectful of those who do not believe the same as us. Disrespect is wrong, even when we are right and the other person is wrong. Respect does not mean that you agree with them. During my lifetime I have had to study and work in secular institutions where most people are atheists. I learned that the most effective argument is to show respect.
Why God allowed His sacred temple items taken? What lessons do we learn from this fact?
Probably the simplest lesson we can learn from this is that if we do not value the things of God, they may be taken from us. Remember that these items were of little value compared with the Temple itself, and that was completely destroyed.
From the background(Maurice) ;Belshazzar does not seem to be related to Nebuchadnezzar but in chapter 5 he is said to be grandson to Nebuchadnezzar is it so or I missed something?
Yes, that is a bit of a problem to solve. One possible interpretation is that Dan 5, 2, 11, 13, 18, where the word "father" is used, simply means predecessor. His real father Nabonidus overthrew the last of Nebuchadnezzar's line when he took power.
The idea that he was Nebuchadnezzar's grandson comes from the Nabonidus Chronicle which is part of a collection of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform. This was made at a much later date (the Selucid period - post Alexander) and provides an account of Nabonidus, Belshazzar's father. Once again, the text may simply mean predecessor rather than a direct birth lineage.
Respect should not stop us from telling that the Bible and Jesus are the only truth. When you are called to do so by the Holy Spirit in this end time. Like the prophets were and the 144000 are. The devil has been going around like a snake and a roaring lion and has destroyed many families and people. We need to start fighting him head on to deserve a place in heaven. Still with respect, patience while always praying for the guidance of God. May He bless us all abundantly.
I have seen a lot of well-meaning Christians use Jesus name and claim they are telling the truth only to find that what they are saying is not understood or misunderstood. The issue is that we have a couple of thousand years of misrepresentation of Jesus to the extent that in our modern world, people associate the name of Jesus with that bad things done by people wearing the name "Christian" They have been the "snake" and the "roaring lion". In our modern age, those of us who have a working loving relationship with Jesus communicate most effectively by living like him. That message moves past the bigotry and distrust of words, and has the potential to spread the Gospel effectively.If we live like Christ, then we may earn the trust to speak about him.
The prophets were also not understood or misunderstood but they did save many and were saved themselves. And indeed, Rome guided many Christians to serve the snake and the roaring lion. Being aware of that truth and that almost the whole world is deceived, and we ourselves have been, also helps us to communicate truth. True, only if we live like Christ we may speak about him. We have to let Jesus sort our own lives out first. Remember, Jesus will not come again as an example to show sinners how to live, as He did at His first coming. More will be expected of us and everyone this time. To have repented, to have followed His example and have allowed Him to make us Holy.Let us ponder on this in prayer for God to show us how to evangelize in this special time.
Sometimes we are faced with the challenge of telling Gods truth to our loved ones. Itpains us that they don't have the light that we have. As.much as the truth is the truth we ought to tread softly and prayerfully with our words in orderto preserve family relarionships.At the end of it all we want them to be saved
That is true.
Our own lives and bodies are supposed to be sacred. And many times we do not respect that, demonstrated by the way we treat ourselves and whatever we have. Since we got everything from God, whatever we do can show the importance we give to what was given to us. Not taken counciousness every day that we belong to Jesus, and that we were bought with a high price, treating our talents/gifts with disguise, it can be considered as profanation too.
I have not seen a comment from a regular ( Devaraj. I may be misspelling his name) I hope he is okay. Thanks to all those who comment on the lessons, so grateful for your contributions.