DANIEL 5: WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING


Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.


• Belshazzar—Bel protects the king1

We will see from the story that follows that the god Bel had no protection to offer a king who had rebelled against the King of kings, the Creator God. In fact, Bel was no god at all: “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and His redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6).

Belshazzar had an opportunity to know the true God, yet he willingly “did service unto them which by nature are no gods” (Galatians 4:8); thus, he chose his own ruin.

Daniel 5:2–3

Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 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.

“They brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God”

And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. (Exodus 40:9–10)

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them. … (Numbers 7:1)

The vessels used by the drunken revelers were those dedicated to and used in the service of the Lord. And it may also have included some of the vessels of the heathen nations that the Israelites had taken in war and dedicated to the temple treasury, all of which were stored in the temple until they were removed by the king of Babylon.

But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. And they burnt the city [Jericho] with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. (Joshua 6:19, 24)

And he [Nebuchadnezzar] carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. (2 Kings 24:13)

And they [the Levites] shall keep thy [Aaron’s] charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. (Numbers 18:3)

During the time of Moses the common priests were given duties to help the high priest and his sons in the sanctuary service. However, they were forbidden to touch the sacred vessels and furnishings associated with the sanctuary and altar lest they die. What judgment could a heathen king and his lords expect when they used these vessels in a drunken feast while praising their useless and false gods?

Daniel 5:4

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

“They drank wine”

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (Isaiah 28:7)

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. (Hosea 4:11)

Harlotry and wine and new wine take away the heart and the mind and the spiritual understanding. (Hosea 4:11 AMP)

“And praised the gods of gold … and of stone”

For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. (1 Chronicles 16:26)

Their [the heathen’s] idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. (Psalm 115:4–8)

Their [Judah and Jerusalem’s] land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. (Isaiah 2:8)

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. (Isaiah 45:20)

They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. (Isaiah 46:6–7)

We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4)

What was to become of Babylon and its gods?

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps. In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. (Jeremiah 51:37–40)

Belshazzar and his lords worshipped gods of their own making, not understanding that “he feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isaiah 44:20). Gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone are the six elements that represent “the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man” (Revelation 13:18). In other words, it is man-made religion, and behind every man-made religion is the 666 mystery god, which is ultimately the devil.

When man worships any god, object, or idea above the true and living God as found in His Word, he becomes weakened. Through false worship man sinks lower and lower. The gods the Babylonians worshipped were made of six types of material, each of decreasing value; so mankind, in turning away from God, becomes continually more debased.

The mark of the beast and the number 666 associated with it are the fruition of the millennia of mankind’s rebellion. Spiritual Babylon, like ancient Babylon, worships devils and not the true God. Under this system the ideas, theology, and doctrines of men misinterpret and distort or replace the Word of God. The image or likeness of Satan in man will be fully formed, though it may appear to men as a beautiful image.

The Bible describes the general decay of morality within the church and the world at the end of time, the time we live in. Bible prophecy predicts that the church and the world will become drunk with the wine of spiritual Babylon’s false doctrines, carried in the golden cup of man-made religion—beautiful on the outside but filled with abominations and every foul spirit.

Daniel 5:5–6

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

Then the color and the [drunken] hilarious brightness of the king’s face was changed, and his [terrifying] thoughts troubled and alarmed him; the joints and muscles of his hips and back gave way and his knees smote together. (Daniel 5:6 AMP)

In the midst of debasing revelry as the king and his guests praised gods that had no life in them, God made Himself known. The pleasure-loving king’s face grew pale; he was seized with unknown terror and his knees knocked together without control. In just a few moments’ time, Belshazzar was changed from the proud monarch of a powerful kingdom into a weak-kneed, frightened man. Thus it will always be when wicked men meet a holy God.

Daniel 5:7–9

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied [perplexed].

The king temporarily regained his composure and called for the counselors and wise men of his kingdom. However, having no connection with God, they were unable to interpret spiritual things. The king trembled and was dismayed as he stood powerless before an unknown terror.

Daniel 5:10–11

Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.

The queen mother, wife of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar’s grandmother, was not involved in her grandson’s abominations. Upon her arrival, she reminded Belshazzar of the wisdom of the man of God. She twice repeated how Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather, had highly respected and exalted Daniel. No doubt memories of his grandfather’s experience with the God of heaven returned to the king’s troubled and guilty conscience.

“Light and understanding and wisdom … was found in him”

The commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. (Proverbs 6:23)

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:104)

The source of Daniel’s greatness was his submission in love to God. God’s word, loved and obeyed, was the source of the knowledge Daniel possessed. To this day, the Word of God remains the true source of “light and understanding and wisdom” (Daniel 5:11) to all who will give themselves to its study and surrender to its Author.

Daniel 5:12–13

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?

“Art thou that Daniel”

And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? (1 Kings 18:17)

And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him [Jesus] into their council, saying, Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. (Luke 22:66–70)

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. (John 8:25)

Belshazzar lost all sense of respect for God and His servants. Like many others who have rejected truth, he denied God by denying His servants.

The exploits of God through Daniel were well known throughout the empire. The king knew the experience of Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather, and of his fall from power and eventual conversion. His inquiry into the identity of Daniel was really mocking in nature and showed disbelief in the God of heaven. Darkness controlled Belshazzar’s heart as he inquired of the servant of God in the spirit of unbelief. As in the days of Elijah and Jesus, when the rulers and the people discounted the mighty works of God through His servants, the inquiry “who art thou?” evidenced a spirit of unbelief rather than of honestly seeking for wisdom.

Daniel 5:14–17

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. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

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. 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.

“Let thy gifts be to thyself”

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7–8)

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. (Acts 8:18–20)

And he [Naaman] returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. (2 Kings 5:15–16)

Woe unto them [these false teachers]! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. (Jude 11)

God’s children are not to serve Him and do His bidding for flattery or earthly rewards. Neither are we to go contrary to God’s commandments to gain the gifts of men. Daniel made it plain that he could not be bought or sold. His refusal of the king’s gifts showed he served a higher King and that his ability to read the writing was not his own but it was the gift of God, for which he would receive no reward.

Daniel was also familiar with the prophecies that foretold not only Israel’s captivity and eventual release but Babylon’s fall as well. When Nebuchadnezzar offered Daniel a high position in the kingdom, Daniel used it to make known the truth of the God of heaven. Belshazzar’s kingdom was on the way out and Daniel, being a man of integrity and a student of God’s word, knew that to receive the position offered him could not glorify his Lord and Master.

Daniel 5:18

O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour.

“God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom”

And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, [Belshazzar] until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. (Jeremiah 27:6–7)

Daniel 5:19–22

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. 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.

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. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.

“Hast not humbled thine heart, thou though knewest all this”

Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. (Psalm 107:11–12)

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. (Proverbs 1:24–31)

Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:21 AMP, verse 22 KJV)

Those who refuse to obey the light and knowledge of heaven place themselves where they will be exposed to the delusions of Satan. The greater the truth the people neglect or reject, the greater the power of deception and spiritual darkness that will come upon them. The rejection of truth makes men slaves, subject to Satan’s deception.

“Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19–20). The light and truth of God requires a change; yet many, like Belshazzar, find sin more attractive than truth. When the day of accountability comes, the folly of sin will be seen in its true light. Alas, it will then be too late.

Daniel 5:23

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.

“God in whose hand thy breath is”

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10)

“But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven”

Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. (Jeremiah 50:29, 31–32)

Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once. (Proverbs 28:18)

The prophet Daniel had to remind Belshazzar of what he, along with most of humanity, had forgotten: that the life we have is not self-sustained but God-given. We are not our own, and we commit one of the greatest of follies when we ignore or despise God. As we attribute strength and power to the things we conceive or make, we become idolaters, worshipping those objects or ideas in place of God. This is a great insult to the God who made us. God would have us turn from such foolishness.

Sadly, Belshazzar had rejected too many warnings and had hardened his heart beyond the possibility of repentance or redemption. Every refusal to heed the call to repent takes us down the same path Belshazzar walked. If we continue unrepentant, we too will be weighed in the balance and found wanting.

“Thou hast praised the gods”

And those who make and worship them are just as foolish as their idols are. (Psalm 115:8 TLB)

So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthy in you that is employed in sin]; sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). (Colossians 3:5 AMP)

We are to worship and serve the Lord God and Him only. Humanity today, in many ways, praises the gods of their own making. We may not bow down before images of wood or stone, but anything we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him is an idol.

Many serve the god of selfish pride; others, money and worldly gain; others, sensuality as they worship at the altar of base passion. Anything that is made the subject of undue thought, admiration, and pursuit, absorbing our time, mind, and strength, is a god chosen before the Lord.

God is a searcher of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and many will come to the end of their days and be found wanting. We may fool ourselves, but God distinguishes between true heart-service and idolatry.

Daniel 5:24–26

Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

“God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it”

Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 51:52–53)

Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. (Jeremiah 51:25)

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. (Jeremiah 50:24)

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind. (Jeremiah 50:35, 38; 51:1)

Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. (Isaiah 47:8–11)

[The Chaldeans] are terrible and dreadful; their justice and dignity proceed [only] from themselves. … They load themselves with guilt, [as do all men] whose own power is their god. (Habakkuk 1:7, 11 AMP)

The future overthrow of spiritual Babylon:

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. (Revelation 18:5–8, 21)

The great city of “Babylon” split into three sections, and cities around the world fell in heaps of rubble; and so all of “Babylon’s” sins were remembered in God’s thoughts, and she was punished to the last drop of anger in the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. (Revelation 16:19 TLB)

Prophets foretold the rise of Babylon and how it would be an instrument in God’s hand to punish Israel and other nations for their disobedience. Prophets also foretold her demise. The book of Revelation predicts the rise of a great confederation of religion, world commerce, and political forces in a great end-time system of apostasy called “Mystery Babylon.” (See Revelation 17–18.)

As Bible prophecy accurately foretold the rise and fall of ancient Babylon, so the prophecy regarding Mystery Babylon and her overthrow will prove accurate. At the end, this world system will give way to the glorious kingdom of God. The fall of Belshazzar’s kingdom is a foretaste of the fall of Mystery Babylon at the end of time. Only those who are faithful, like Daniel, will escape.

Daniel 5:27

TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting [deficient].

“Weighed in the balances”

And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. (Jeremiah 51:57–58)

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matthew 12:36–37)

Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3)

Let me be weighed in an even balance [in balances of justice], that God may know mine integrity. (Job 31:6)

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits [the thoughts and intents of the heart.] (Proverbs 16:2)

It was a common belief among the heathen that the gods weighed deeds in balances. If the good deeds outweighed the evil, the individual entered into his reward. If the opposite result was obtained, punishment followed. Thus, the symbolism that God used would have had meaning to the king and his lords.

Today there are many who need to consider the words, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). God’s holy law is the standard by which man is to be tried. “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12). All of us will one day give an account of ourselves to God. How shall you be weighed?

All mankind is found wanting before God. Only the covering blood and merits of Christ, accepted by faith, will avail for any of us. Our works, no matter how good, are as nothing in the scale of God’s judgment. “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). However, our works are to be motivated by “faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).

Our works have no saving virtue or merit but are simply the evidence, or lack thereof, of a saving relationship with Christ. In the end, the saving merits of Christ and our subsequent obedience to Him will prevail for us when we are weighed in the balances of God’s justice. All men, regardless of their power, glory, and influence, when left to themselves, are weighed and found wanting.

“And art found wanting”

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:26–27)

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. (Luke 21:34–35)

Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. (Isaiah 30:12–13)

Frowardness is in his [the wicked man’s] heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. (Proverbs 6:14–15)

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1)

It is possible to be a professed believer in God and yet be found wanting and lose eternal life. We may regard ourselves as Christians, yet will be lost because we lack a true Christian experience, evidenced by a transformed life and character.

If the warnings God has given through His Word and the voice of conscience are neglected or regarded with indifference, if we allow sin to be cherished in our hearts, we are determining our soul’s destiny. We, like Belshazzar of old will be weighed in the balances and found wanting. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) For “every transgression and disobedience” will receive “a just recompense of reward” (Hebrews 2:2).

The day of accountability, when it finally comes to the wayward, rebellious heart, seems to strike suddenly. However, it is the outworking of divine justice and love. God gives time for all to repent. He gives time for all to build character.

With most calamities in the world, hindsight reveals warnings ignored or neglected. So it is with the rebellious heart of all who will be weighed and found wanting. “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies” (Jeremiah 51:8–9).

Daniel 5:28

PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

“Given to the Medes and Persians”

You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-ax or maul and weapon of war—for with you I break nations in pieces, with you I destroy kingdoms. (Jeremiah 51:20 AMP)

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:17–19)

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. (Jeremiah 51:11)

Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure and purpose. Calling a ravenous bird from the east—the man [Cyrus] who executes My counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed it, and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:10–11 AMP; see also Isaiah 45:1–4; Jeremiah 51:28–29, 53–58.)

The prophets of God foretold the rise of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, how they would overthrow Babylon and later be God’s instrument for the release of His people. Despite this, the end came as an overwhelming surprise to the Babylonians.

God has painted a broad outline for us of coming events, but, as in the days of Belshazzar, the great majority neglect these warnings. They spend their time in indulgence and praising their gods—the things they have made.

Scripture predicts the attitude prevailing at the end of time, a time like long ago, when God was working to release His people from Babylon, a time when “they shall say, Peace and safety,” a time, as in ancient Babylon, that “sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

The final deliverance of God’s people will not come at the hands of a heathen king; God Himself will direct the battle, “and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him” (Daniel 7:27).

Daniel 5:29

Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Was the king merely a man of his word, fulfilling his promise of riches and promotion to Daniel? Or was his promises the evidence of a proud heart still unwilling to submit to God, wanting to go out in glory by showing how gracious he was in rewarding Daniel as he said he would? Daniel had already refused the reward; the king had been told he was soon to lose his kingdom; the armies of the Medes and Persians, which had been at war with Babylon for some time, were just outside the city walls.

The king was in denial of the facts and of the judgment of God. “The deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13) had done its work, and the king would not repent. “Behold, all you [enemies of your own selves] who attempt to kindle your own fires [and work out your own plans of salvation], who surround and gird yourselves with momentary sparks, darts, and firebrands that you set aflame!—walk by the light of your self-made fire and of the sparks that you have kindled [for yourself, if you will]! But this shall you have from My hand: you shall lie down in grief and in torment” (Isaiah 50:11 AMP).

Daniel 5:30

In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

“That night was … the king slain”

For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee. (Isaiah 47:10–15)

Daniel 5:31

And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

So ends the life of a powerful monarch. What a lesson of the fruit of neglecting the mercy and truth of God. History is filled with tragic stories of godless leaders who met fearful deaths. In Belshazzar’s experience we can read the results that will come to everyone who persists in rebellion.


Endnotes

1.  Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius’ Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon, in The Online Bible CD-ROM, Macintosh Version 2.5.3 (Niagara Falls, NY: Cross Country Software, www.online-bible.com, 1996).

 
< Prev   Next >

Books

Let Daniel Speak - Audio

Click

Let Revelation Speak - Audio

Click

Index