Introduction: Chapter 5 of the book of Daniel has a very interesting
background. King Nebuchadnezzar died in 563 B.C. Chapter 5 takes
place about 25 years after his death. King Nabonidus is now on the
throne, but he shares his authority with his evil son, Belshazzar.
The Persians, lead by King Cyrus, attack Babylon and defeat the
troops led by King Nabonidus. King Nabonidus moves the main
Babylonian army to Borsippa, and King Cyrus heads for the city of
Babylon and surrounds it. My guess is that before Cyrus got to
Babylon, a great number of officials fled to the city for protection.
Babylon was protected by a massive double wall and had a sufficient
food supply to last for 20 years. The setting for our study today is
that Vice-King Belshazzar is within the safety of the walls of
Babylon, King Cyrus and the Persians surround the city, and the main
army of Babylon is off licking its wounds. Let’s dive into Daniel 5!
- The Party
- Read Daniel 5:1. What was King Belshazzar thinking? The
city is surrounded with enemy troops and he throws a
party? (It might be a strategy to encourage the leaders of
the city – no reason to worry, life will go on as usual,
we are safe inside these walls. Perhaps feeling safe
behind the walls of the city, and being a weak,
“party-boy,” he thought “Why not throw a party?”) - Read Daniel 5:2-3. This is an interesting choice of
goblets. When we last saw “father” Nebuchadnezzar, he
acknowledged the one true God of heaven. Why would his
grandson choose these for the party? (Read the first part
of Daniel 5:23. It informs us of Belshazzar’s thinking. It
says Belshazzar “set [himself] up against the Lord of
heaven.” This is deliberate. This is defiance. He did not
accidentally choose these gold goblets.) - If this is not an accident, why defy God? (I think it
goes back to the prophecy of the statue – God said
that Babylon will be defeated by another empire.
Belshazzar is defying the prophecy.) - Read Daniel 5:4. What point is being made by the
leadership of Babylon? (Their gods defeated the “God of
the goblet” – the God who the golden goblets celebrated.) - The Party Spoiler
- Read Daniel 5:5-6. Imagine that you never saw a movie
before. How would you react to seeing something like this?
(For Belshazzar, it was absolutely frightening.) - What does this say about Belshazzar? (He was not a
fighter, not one who had great courage. We understand
why King Nabonidus is out on the field of battle
while Belshazzar is “safely” behind the walls of the
city.) - Does the cowardly character of Belshazzar make his
defiance of God that much more disgusting? - Read Daniel 5:7-8. What kind of performance review would
you give these wise men? Three times we have seen this
group tasked with interpreting something, and they are
never able! - What position is Belshazzar offering? (The position
just below him.) - Note that it says “all the king’s wise men” came.
Does this mean that Daniel is no longer among the
wise men? (That is what this suggests. The fact that
Daniel used to hold the “next to the king” spot also
suggests that he no longer holds a position of
importance.) - Read Daniel 5:9. Why would Belshazzar be even more
terrified? (Once again, this shows his weakness. He
depends on others. When his advisors do not know, he gets
even more terrified. You can be sure Nebuchadnezzar would
not have responded this way.) - Read Daniel 5:10. Commentators believe that this queen is
Nebuchadnezzar’s widow. How do you think she views her
grandson compared to her husband, Nebuchadnezzar? (She
likely thinks what we are thinking – he is spineless. She
comes to put some steel in his spine.) - Enter Daniel
- Read Daniel 5:11-12. Is this how Daniel would want to be
remembered? (No! Read Daniel 4:8-9. This is exactly how
Nebuchadnezzar described Daniel before he acknowledged the
supremacy of the God of heaven. Nebuchadnezzar’s widow
describes Daniel the same way!) - Is it a good thing that the God of Heaven is not
identified? (If we are correct in our assumption that
Belshazzar is involved in an act of defiance against
the true God, it might be better for him to be
confused about the source of Daniel’s power.) - Read Daniel 5:13 and compare it with Daniel 5:11. Did the
queen say anything about Daniel being a slave? (No. She
said he was “chief of the magicians.”) - Why does Belshazzar first ask him if he was a slave?
(He is a nasty guy – and not too smart. He insults
the man whose help he desperately needs. He likely
now realizes that Daniel worships the true God of
Heaven.) - Read Daniel 5:14-16. Just how badly does Belshazzar want
this information? - Assume you lost your high-ranking job and you were
offered it back later. What would you say? (Being
next to the king is Daniel’s old job.) - Read Daniel 5:17. Is Daniel insulting Belshazzar? (Yes! A
former slave tells him “You have nothing to give me that I
value.”) - Why is this true? (Daniel knows the kingdom is ending
right now.) - Compare Daniel’s answer in verse 17 with his answer
in Daniel 2:26-28. Why does Daniel fail to give the
glory to God as he did with Nebuchadnezzar? (Read
Matthew 7:6. Belshazzar was about to be killed. There
was no future for him. Daniel had no respect for
him. His grandfather was a world conqueror who
(finally) acknowledged the true God. Belshazzar has
done nothing, gets drunk when danger approaches, and
insults God.) - Read Daniel 5:18-23. Are these more insults? (Yes!)
- Is this dangerous? (Historian Xenophon recorded that
Belshazzar killed one of his nobles “merely because,
in hunting, the noble struck down the game before
him.” He also records that Belshazzar emasculated one
of the court personnel simply because one of his
concubines said the man was handsome. Needless to
say, people had been killed by evil Belshazzar for a
lot less than the insults (which were the truth)
Daniel was throwing around right now.) - Read Daniel 5:24-28. Do you recall how Daniel brought bad
news to Nebuchadnezzar? (Read Daniel 4:19. This continues
to show Daniel’s contempt for Belshazzar.) - Nebuchadnezzar is given a couple of second chances.
Why none for Belshazzar? (Re-read Daniel 5:22.
Daniel says that Belshazzar knew the history of his
grandfather and he learned nothing.) - What does that say to us who have all of these
Bible stories to consider? - Read Daniel 5:29. Is this the promotion you want at this
point in time? - Why does Belshazzar promote Daniel in the face of all
of these insults? (He is even more terrified now. My
guess is that he is hoping that Daniel or God will
somehow save him.) - Read Daniel 5:30-31 and Daniel 6:1-2. Compare the outcome
for Belshazzar and Daniel. Why does Daniel, who holds
such a high position, not also die that night? (Who is in
charge of the affairs of humans? This shows us that we
need to be more concerned about God’s opinion of us than
we are about the opinion of our supervisors. Since the
Medes took over that night, they might have seen the
writing and learned that Daniel revealed that the Medes
would take over. That would make Daniel an ally, not the
enemy.) - Friend, it appears that Daniel has been demoted in his old
age and seemingly become irrelevant to the leadership.
Whatever may be happening in your life, God is still on
His throne. He still controls the affairs of humans and He
cares about you. Will you accept this truth and trust God
no matter what? - Next week: From the Lion’s Den to the Angel’s Den.
