From the violence in America and the division between races, is it possible that the handwriting is on the wall for America, too. Has the Almighty written somewhere in relationship to America, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
I believe it is past time for believers everywhere but especially in America to stand together to fight the divisive force in America. It isn't a virus against out health. It is a virus against our freedom. Communism is trying hard to turn this nation into a socialistic nation. Look at what Biblical says about another country taking over a nation. Believers, please read this and act NOW! PRAY!
Vv 1—12 Belshazzar's
Feast
V 1 Belshazzar the
king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was
drinking wine in the presence of the
thousand.
A. Until recently, nothing was known about Belshazzar.
1. Records have been
discovered that add to this mystery and confirm our Bible.
2. Nabonidus
(556-539 B. C.), the last king of
Bel-shar-usus,
when he decided to move to
3. Nebuchadnezzar reigned, 606-562 B.C. so obviously he wasn’t Belshazzar father.
4. Refer to the
kings of
5. Cyrus (Kings of
Persia—handout—539-530 B.C.) was the general who defeated
6. That’s where our
text begins for Chapter 5 of Daniel.
V 2 When Belshazzar
tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels
which Nebuchadnezzar his father had
taken out of the temple which was in
Jerusalem, so that the king and his
nobles, his wives and his concubines might
drink from them.
B. Probably, Belshazzar was drunk by tasting a lot of wine,
so he ordered the sacred
vessels
from the
1. He wanted to show
everyone present how powerful
2. Although he had
done nothing to deserve any of the glory, he was going to take
credit for
being king of
V 3 Then they brought
the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of
God which was in Jerusalem; and the
king and his nobles, his wives and his
concubines drank from them.
C. They used these sacred vessels to continue there drunken
revelry.
V 4 They drank the
wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood
and stone.
D. Not so much that they drank from the vessels, but they
taunted the True God by
telling Him
how great their gods homemade gods were.
V 5 Suddenly the
fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the
lampstand on the plaster of the wall
of the king's palace, and the king saw the
back of the hand that did the
writing.
E. Talk about a sobering experience.
1. A hand appears
and begins to write on the wall.
2. Why the reference
to opposite the lampstand?
a. It would cast a
shadow on the wall.
b. The hand
couldn’t be seen as clearly.
c. The shadowy
appearance would add impetus to the message of superstitious men.
V 6 Then the king's face
grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went
slack and his knees began knocking
together.
F. Whatever his thoughts were at the time, the king knew
something bad was going to
happen.
1. His face lost all
color—he was extremely afraid.
2. His knees shook.
3. His hip joints
went slack—he couldn’t walk or run.
V 7 The king called
aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The
king spoke and said to the wise men
of
inscription and explain its
interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and
have a necklace of gold around his
neck, and have authority as third ruler in the
kingdom.
G. The king calls for the wise men of
1. Has this king
forgotten Daniel?
a. Does Daniel no
longer hold the office of esteem he once held?
b. We don’t know,
but it sure appears as though this king does not know Daniel.
2. Then the king
tells what good things will happen to the one who can interpret this.
a. He’ll be
dressed in purple clothing, clothes for royalty or a king.
b. Be given a
necklace of gold.
c. Made third in
command in the kingdom.
V 8 Then all the
king's wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make
known its interpretation to the king.
H. The phrase was illegible to the wise men as too was the
dream unintelligible.
V 9 Then King
Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles
were perplexed.
I. The king grew even more scared and paler as did his
nobles.
V 10 The queen entered
the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles;
the queen spoke and said, O king,
live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm
you or your face be pale.
J. The queen comes in, sees the situation and tells the king
not to be alarmed.
V 11 There is a man in
your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days
of your father, illumination,
insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were
found in him And King Nebuchadnezzar,
your father, your father the king,
appointed him chief of the
magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.
L. You don’t have to worry because there is one in your
kingdom who has the spirit of
the holy
gods.
1. Your forefather,
Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the wise men.
2. He has
illumination, insight and wisdom even the wisdom of the gods.
V 12This was because
an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of
dreams, explanation of enigmas and
solving of difficult problems were found in
this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar.
Let Daniel now be summoned
and he will declare the
interpretation.
M. He was an extraordinary man whom the king named
Belteshazzar.
1. Call him now.
2. He’ll tell you
the interpretation of this mystery.
Vv 13 – 31 Daniel Interprets Handwriting on the Wall
V 13 Then Daniel was
brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel,
Are you that Daniel who is one of
the exiles from
king brought from
gods is in you, and that
illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been
found in you.
A. Are you Daniel?
1. I’ve heard of
you—however, he didn’t add that he only heard of him tonight.
2. Does the spirit
of the living gods abide in you?
3. Can you tell me
what the message written on my wall, destroying my party, is?
V 15 Just now the wise
men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might
read this inscription and make its
interpretation known to me, but they could not
declare the interpretation of the
message.
B. None of my wise men could tell me what the message means.
V 16 But I personally
have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and
solve difficult problems. Now if you
are able to read the inscription and make its
interpretation known to me, you will
be clothed with purple and wear a necklace
of gold around your neck, and you
will have authority as the third ruler in the
kingdom.
C. Once again the king says, “I have heard of you.”
1. He didn’t know
Daniel before tonight.
a. It is possible
that the history of Daniel has been told him before.
b. He could have
read about Daniel and the three children of
c. However, he never thought about Daniel
until his wife told him.
2. Make known to me
the interpretation, and I’ll give you purple clothing and a necklace
3. Then I’ll make
you the third in command in my kingdom.
a. Could it be
that Daniel really doesn’t care about the kings gifts?
b. Could it be
that Daniel knows something that the others in the room don’t know?
c. It has been 70
years since Daniel came to
d. He knows
Jeremiah’s prophesy that they would be there only 70 years.
e. He told
Nebuchadnezzar that the Persians would take over his kingdom.
f. Do you think
Daniel has put all this together by now?
g. More than
likely, yes.
h. Notice that
there has been 68 years elapse since the beginning of Daniel until now.
V 17 Then Daniel
answered and said before the king, Keep your gifts for yourself or give
your rewards to someone else;
however, I will read the inscription to the king and
make the interpretation known to him.
D. King, you can keep your gifts or give them to someone who
cares (here’s a quarter).
1. I don’t want you
gifts.
2. They won’t do me
any good.
3. Give them to
someone who cares about these things.
4. However, I will
tell you what the inscription says.
V 18 O king, the Most
High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to
Nebuchadnezzar your father. V 19
Because of the grandeur which He bestowed
on him, all the peoples, nations and
men of every language feared and trembled
before him; whomever he wished he
killed and whomever he wished he spared
alive; and whomever he wished he
elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.
E. God gave your father, Nebuchadnezzar, grandeur, glory and
power.
1. If he wanted to
kill someone, he killed him.
2. If he wanted to
keep someone alive, he kept him alive.
3. If he wanted to
honor or abase one, he did as he pleased.
V 20 But when his
heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved
arrogantly, he was deposed from his
royal throne and his glory was taken away
from him.
F. Because of his pride, his kingdom was taken from him
along with his glory.
V 21 He was also driven
away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts,
and his dwelling place was with the wild
donkeys He was given grass to eat like
cattle, and his body was drenched
with the dew of heaven until he recognized that
the Most High God is ruler over the
realm of mankind and that He sets over it
whomever He wishes.
G. He was given the mind of a beast so that he ate with the
wild donkeys.
1. He lived out in
the open spaces.
2. He stayed there
until he recognized God as the ruler of all.
3. It took him seven
years to realize that it is God who appoints men to kingdoms.
V 22 Yet you, his son,
Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew
all this,
H. And you, his son, knew about all this.
1. You knew about
his pride and his fall.
2. You knew that you
should humble your heart.
3. But you refused
to do it.
V 23 but you have
exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the
vessels of His house before you, and
you and your nobles, your wives and your
concubines have been drinking wine
from them; and you have praised the gods of
silver and gold, of bronze, iron,
wood and stone, which do not see, hear or
understand But the God in whose hand
are your life-breath and all your ways,
you have not glorified.
I. Instead, you exalted yourself rather than becoming
humble.
1. You lifted
yourself up as greater than the Lord of heaven.
2. Why you even went
so far as to drink from the holy vessels from God’s temple.
3. You praised the
gods made by hands above him.
4. You didn’t
recognize the God in whose hand your very life rests.
5. You failed to
give this God the glory.
V 24 Then the hand was
sent from Him and this inscription was written out.
J. You need to know that the hand was sent from the God whom
you have not recognized
and humbled
yourself before.
V 25 Now this is the
inscription that was written out: MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHARSIN.
K. The inscription was in Aramaic, and even though they knew
Aramaic, they could
not read
this.
V 26 This is the interpretation
of the message: MENE--God has numbered your kingdom
and put an end to it.
L. I’m going to give you the interpretation.
1. MENE, sounds like the Aramaic word, for
number and meant the days of the kingdom
of
Pg. 5 Chapter 5 Daniel 39
V 27 TEKEL--you have
been weighed on the scales and found deficient.
M. TEKEL—sounds
like the Aramaic word for weighed, and the king has been weighed
in the
scales of God’s life and found to be deficient.
V 28 PERES--your
kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.
means “and” therefore
Persians.
V 29 Then Belshazzar
gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a
necklace of gold around his neck,
and issued a proclamation concerning him that
he now had authority as the third
ruler in the kingdom.
O. Once again, Daniel is placed in authority in
V 30 That same night Belshazzar
the Chaldean king was slain.
P. That was the last night for the
1. The Babylonians
had been under siege for sometime.
2. They weren’t
worried because they had a 20 year supply of food laid up.
3. The
4. The Persians
diverted the river by a canal, and their soldiers went under the
gates and
they took the city that night.
V 31 So Darius the
Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.
Q. The year, 539 B.C.
1. Darius may have been a governor under
Cyrus.
2. He could have
been Cyrus’ son.
3. He may have been
one of Cyrus’ generals.
4. Cyrus may have
appointed Darius as king of
Daniel
Chapter 5
Study Questions
1. Who is
Belshazzar?
2. Can you tell from
history what year it is?
3. What was his big
sin?
4. What suddenly
appeared in the room above the lampstand?
5. Why the mention
of the “lampstand?”
6. What would the
king give to any man who could read the inscription?
7. Why did the king
only offer this position?
8. Who told
Belshazzar about Daniel?
9. What attribute
did she tell the king that Daniel had that made him special?
10. About how old would Daniel be at this time?
11. Why does Daniel relate the story about Nebuchadnezzar to
Belshazzar?
12. Where does the hand come from?
13. What does “MENE” mean?
14. What does “TEKEL” mean?
15. What does “PERES” mean?
16. Who was “Darius the Mede?”
Howard
Who You Are Isn't Based on Performance with God. Who You Are Should Have A Direct Bearing on How You Perform.
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