DANIEL 5 THE WRITING ON THE WALL2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Daniel 5 The Writing On The Wall

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. Incredible book, and man, there's some great things in this chapter that we'll be looking at tonight as we see the incredible way that God is speaking to the king of Babylon.

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Now, going back just a little bit, the Jewish people are in Babylon because of their disobedience and rebellion against God. And so God gave Babylon authority to go and conquer the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Judah, and King Nebuchadnezzar, who was king of Babylon at the time, conquered and brought back those who survived as captives into the land of Babylon.

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And so Daniel the prophet is one of those captives and he serves in the government. He was trained by Babylon and he serves within the Babylonian government. And now, this is many years after Jerusalem has been conquered, there's a different king on the throne. And we're introduced to him here in chapter 5 verse 1. It says this,

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Verse 1,

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Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God, which had been in Jerusalem. And the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. Here in chapter 5, we're introduced to this man named Belshazzar. Now, Belshazzar is...

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The king of Babylon now. Nebuchadnezzar has since died. He, that is Nebuchadnezzar, reigned for 43 years in Babylon. And then after him, his son, a guy named Evil-Merodach reigned. He only reigned for about two years.

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and then he was killed. And then another guy, Neriglasur, you don't need to remember these names, don't worry, he reigned for about four years. And then after him, there was a child whose name I'm not going to dare pronounce. It's very long. He reigned only for nine months. He was an infant or a child and was really not fit to reign. And so there was a conspiracy and he was beaten to death. And then Navanidus,

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took the throne and Nabonidus was married to King Nebuchadnezzar's daughter and so he was kind of a son-in-law to King Nebuchadnezzar and he reigned for 17 years

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Well, Nabonidus, he had a son. His son was named Belshazzar. That's who we're dealing with this evening. And Belshazzar actually was not the king as we think of the sense of the word. He was a co-regent with his father. And so he reigned in Babylon, but...

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His father was still alive and his father was still the higher authority. He was the king of Babylon. But his father did not stay in Babylon. He was at different parts of the kingdom. And so Belshazzar was kind of the authority. He was second in charge of the kingdom. And he reigned there in the city of Babylon. And he did so for about 14 years.

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from 553 BC to 539 BC. Something important happens at 539 BC because that's the time when the Babylonian Empire falls and the city of Babylon falls to the Medo-Persian Empire and we're going to be looking at that this evening. And so Belshazzar is a grandson basically of King Nebuchadnezzar.

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And so he's there on the throne and he makes reference to King Nebuchadnezzar here and some of the things that he had taken from the temple there in verse 2. And so what's happening here, just to give a little bit of context, is this is right at the end of the nation of Babylon. Belshazzar is on the throne there in Babylon and

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And the Medo-Persian Empire has risen up to power. And they've been conquering nations. And in fact, the city of Babylon at this time is under siege. And so the armies of the Medo-Persians are camped around Babylon so that no merchandise, no food, no supplies can go in or out to the city of Babylon. And so inside Babylon, they're held captive.

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But they had anticipated, they watched the Medo-Persian Empire rise to power and so for years they'd been building up supplies. And it's said that the city of Babylon had enough supplies to last 20 years if the siege were to go on that long.

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And so as we see Belshazzar in this situation, the way that he's acting, we're really looking at his arrogance. We see that clearly here in the first couple of verses and we'll see it throughout as we continue on the chapter. We're looking at his arrogance, his irreverence and his idolatry.

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Now the past couple of weeks we've been dealing with the subject of authority and submission here in the book of Daniel. And really this chapter is no different. What we have here is a king who has failed to recognize that God reigns on high. And instead of submitting to the authority and power of God,

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He is determined to do whatever He wants to do. And so as we look at this chapter this evening, it's another reminder for us about submission. Are you submitted to God? Have you recognized, does your life demonstrate that He reigns on high?

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Belshazzar will learn this lesson as did Nebuchadnezzar before him, which was what we studied last week in chapter 4. And so what we're looking at here in chapter 5 is this feast that Belshazzar throws.

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Now again, the armies of the Medo-Persians are camped all around the city of Babylon, but here is Belshazzar throwing this great big feast with a thousand of his lords, with this great audience. He's celebrating. He's really in his arrogance celebrating

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declaring that Babylon will never be overthrown. He thought that they were untouchable. And for good reason in some respects, the walls of Babylon were incredible. They were at least 22 feet wide and 90 feet high, in some places up to 300 feet high. And so there was this massive protection that was around the city of Babylon.

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The Medo-Persians have been camped out around the city for about two years as this chapter is taking place. And so here's Belshazzar just kind of celebrating, just kind of laughing and scorning these armies that are attempting to lay siege to the city of Babylon. And so he does so by throwing this great feast, by showing how he's not concerned at all about this army that is camped around them.

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It's one thing to be arrogant. It's one thing to ignore God and party. That's kind of what Belshazzar is doing here. But then he takes it a step further and he begins to mock and to blaspheme God. And that's when things get really scary.

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He says, as he's having this great party, he says, I have an idea. Let's bring out the temple vessels. Now when King Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem, he brought back the vessels, the cups and the plates and the things that were used within the temple for the Jews as they were worshiping God in their sacrifices and offerings to the Lord. And so Nebuchadnezzar brought all of those utensils, all of those vessels from Jerusalem to Babylon.

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And Belshazzar, as he's having this party, says, let's drink out of those cups. Let's use those things. And so they began to continue on in their drunkenness and at the same time using the vessels that were holy and dedicated to the Lord. And at the same time, there in verse 4 it tells us that they were praising the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

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And so they weren't just ignoring God and having a good time, but now they were blaspheming God and mocking God and declaring that they were greater than God by using these vessels that were dedicated to and set apart to God.

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And so here's this scene. Can you picture it? The armies are outside. Inside, Belshazzar wants to show he's not worried, he's not threatened. And so he throws this great feast and they begin to mock God and blaspheme God. And it's in the midst of that. They're having a great time, a drunken celebration, but they sober up really quick. In verse 5, it says, "...in the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote..."

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I love the imagery that the Bible gives us sometimes. Man, there's some great pictures that are painted here.

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Here's Belshazzar partying, celebrating, having a great time. And the next thing you know, his countenance has changed. His knees begin to knock together. This guy is really freaked out. Why? Well, I think you and I would be pretty freaked out too. If all of a sudden, boom, you know, a hand appeared and began to write on the wall, it would be pretty scary.

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And so here in the midst of this celebration, God intervenes. He decides, I'm going to speak to this guy. I'm going to speak to this group. I'm going to reveal something to them. And so a hand appears and begins to write on the wall. And everybody's freaked out because there's this hand that's just there in the air. There's just this hand that has appeared out of nowhere and it's writing on the wall.

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Now, it's one thing to be a little bit tipsy and think that you see something, but for all of them to see it, they know there's something more to this than I'm just seeing things. It's not just my mind playing games on me. Some of these guys in the back are laughing at me.

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They know what it's like more than I do, so that's why they're laughing. It's one thing, you know, for your mind to play tricks on you. It's one thing for your mind to play games with you. But it's another thing for the whole group together to experience this revelation of God as He gives them this experience of Him communicating to them in a way that they don't quite understand.

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And so the king is freaked out here. His hips are loosened, his knees knock against each other. It's just a great picture. I would like to imitate it, but I can't. So verse 7 says,

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Verse 7 says,

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Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled. His countenance was changed and his lords were astonished. In his fright, as he's freaking out, King Belshazzar says, Bring in the wise men.

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Now this is a familiar scene for us because we've already seen a couple of times here in the book of Daniel where the king has something happen to him. Previously it's been dreams that we've looked at and he doesn't understand them. He knows there's some significance but he doesn't know what it is. And so he calls in the wise men of Babylon.

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And these wise men were magicians, they were practicers of all kinds of different things and he would use them to give him insight to help him understand things that he didn't understand. So he calls in the wise men, which is the practice that we've seen thus far. And as we've seen before in the book of Daniel, the wise men have no idea. They look and they see the writing on the wall, but they're not able to understand it. They're not able to

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or declare what it means to the king. And so again, it says there in verse 9 that he was greatly troubled and his countenance was changed. He's becoming more and more distressed, more and more upset. First of all, because of the situation that happened and now because he's not able to understand what it means, he's becoming more and more troubled.

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Now you'll notice there in verse 7, he gives a promise. He gives a kind of a reward for the one who will be able to interpret the writing upon the wall. He says, whoever does this, they're going to be treated like royalty. They're going to be clothed in purple and

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And he says there at the end of verse 7, he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Now remember I told you, Belshazzar's father was the actual king of Babylon. Belshazzar was a co-regent. He was second in charge of the kingdom. And so what he's offering to whoever can interpret this is that they would come right under him. They would be the third ruler of the kingdom because he was the second ruler of the kingdom.

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Verse 10,

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Verse 12. Verse 13.

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Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.

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And so now the queen hears about what's going on. Now this is probably Belshazzar's mother who is introduced to us now. And she hears about the situation. She hears about how freaked out the king is. She hears about what has happened. And so she goes in before the king and she says, there's a guy. There's a guy who can understand what this writing means. There's a guy who can tell you about this. His name is Daniel.

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And he, in your father's reign, that is King Nebuchadnezzar, in his reign, he found Daniel to be, well, incredibly insightful. The Spirit of God is upon him and he is able to explain dreams and mysteries and explain things that the rest could not explain. In fact, she says to Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar made him...

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chief over all the wise men of Babylon. And we saw that a couple chapters back. It's interesting to me that Belshazzar doesn't really know about Daniel and Daniel's not included as the wise men are called. Now keep in mind this is about 539 BC. Daniel is probably around 80 years old as this event is unfolding.

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Back in the beginning, in chapter 1, we saw that Daniel was a young man when he was first brought to Babylon, but now this is the end of Babylon's reign. And so perhaps Daniel was kind of retired from that government service, perhaps he was excluded, and so that's why Belshazzar was not really familiar with him. But whatever the case may be, Daniel now is an old man, and this young king...

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is encouraged by the queen or by his mom to bring in Daniel and let Daniel give the interpretation and understanding of this message on the wall. Verse 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 captives from Judah whom my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard of you that the Spirit of God is in you

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And that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they could not give the interpretation of the thing. And I have heard of you that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas.

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Now if you can read the writings and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. And so Daniel now comes in and the king speaks to him and basically gives him the same offer that he gave to the other wise men. He says, Daniel, I've heard about you. The queen's told me about you. I've heard that you can explain these kinds of mysteries. And so if you can do so,

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Again, we'll treat you like royalty. You'll be clothed in purple. You'll be made the third ruler of the kingdom. There's a great reward here for you, Daniel, if you can interpret and translate this for me. Verse 17, Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.

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O king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. And because of the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed. Whomever he wished, he kept alive. Whomever he wished, he set up. And whomever he wished, he put down.

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But his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride. He was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him.

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Verse 22, Verse 23,

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Have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. Before Daniel begins to interpret the writing on the wall, he gives a summary of the king's condition. Before he gets started, he says, I want you to know where you stand. The issue really for Belshazzar was that he knew about God, but he did not humble his heart.

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Now, King Nebuchadnezzar, if you remember the vision that he had of the statue, he was the head of gold on the statue. And it's...

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referred to as the fact that he had power and authority over the world like no other king. And that's what Daniel is describing here. He could execute whoever he wanted and he could keep alive whoever he wanted. He could raise up or put down whoever he wanted. He had all authority without restriction, without limitation. Now the next kingdoms...

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will not be the case. There will be checks and balances and the king will be held to the authority of the nation, whereas Babylon was the authority of the nation. And what he said went. And we'll see next week in chapter 6 with Daniel in the lion's den as the new kingdom is there, the Medo-Persian empire. And the king signs a law and even though he wants to desperately, he's not able to take back that law.

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King Nebuchadnezzar did not have those restrictions. He had all authority, full authority. But we saw last week in chapter 4 that God had given him this great authority and yet he failed to submit himself to God. And so God had given him this place of authority, but Nebuchadnezzar credited himself. And he said, look at my majesty, look at what I have done. And so God humbled him.

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And that's what we saw last week and you can refer back to chapter 4 to see the details of that. But as Daniel is speaking to Belshazzar, he reminds him of what happened in Nebuchadnezzar's life because he says, Belshazzar, you saw this. You knew this. This isn't news to you. This is something that you're familiar with. You know what happened. How King Nebuchadnezzar who had all this authority was reduced to behaving like a beast and

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eating grass out in the field until he recognized that God reigns on high. And Belshazzar, you knew that, but you've chosen not to humble your own heart. You see the contrast here. Nebuchadnezzar did not know God, but God, throughout the book of Daniel, revealed himself to Nebuchadnezzar and brought Nebuchadnezzar to the point where he did know God and he recognized that he reigns on high.

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Belshazzar, on the other hand, grew up with the knowledge and understanding of God because of what happened in Nebuchadnezzar's life. And so although he knew about God and he knew the experiences that had happened before him, he chose to ignore it. It's interesting to me that whenever you're sharing with

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Someone who is not a believer. You're sharing the gospel message. One of the questions that often comes up is, what about that guy? Everybody's always concerned about that one guy in the middle of Africa who's never heard about Jesus, right? It's brought up all the time. And it's interesting as we hear that so many times, the real issue is not about that one guy. Because we see in King Nebuchadnezzar,

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God's not limited. He can reveal Himself to those who have never heard, who have no means of hearing the Gospel. Just like He revealed Himself to Nebuchadnezzar, He can reveal Himself to anybody in the world. But the real issue is those who have heard, like Belshazzar, those who have the Scriptures, those who have...

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Church experience. Those who have heard the gospel but choose to ignore it. That's the condition of Belshazzar. And so he's in a different place than Nebuchadnezzar because he had the experience of Nebuchadnezzar. He had the demonstration of God's power. The instruction of Nebuchadnezzar in his own experience with God revealing himself to him. But Belshazzar refused to humble himself before God.

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He knew what happened. He knew the truth. He saw it for himself. But he would not humble his own heart. Again, we're dealing with the subject of authority and submission. And for you and I as believers this evening, the issue is the same. And Belshazzar is a good reminder to check our own hearts. Because we can very easily be like Belshazzar. Where we've seen God work.

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We've seen God discipline. We've seen miracles take place, miraculous things occur. We've heard the truth. We've heard the message. But like Belshazzar, sometimes we choose to ignore it. And we choose to, instead of humble our hearts before God, we choose to do the things that we want to do. Again, in Belshazzar, we see his arrogance and then also his irreverence.

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Those are things that can creep into our own hearts. That arrogance, that pride, that trusting in ourselves, trusting in our own thoughts, trusting in our own ways, instead of submitting to and obeying what God has declared to us in His Word. Belshazzar knew about God

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but he chose not to submit or surrender himself to him. So Daniel says there in verse 22, he says, But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And so God is going to deal with Belshazzar in a completely different way than he dealt with Nebuchadnezzar.

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With Nebuchadnezzar, he gave him that opportunity to repent. Sure, he humbled him, he dealt with him, but it was so that he could repent. Belshazzar, on the other hand, already knew. He already had everything he needed to submit to God. He chose not to, and so God is going to bring judgment upon Belshazzar. Verse 23, "...and you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven."

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Daniel doesn't hold back his words with this king.

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He tells him exactly his situation, exactly the place that he stands. First of all, king, he says, you have not humbled yourself. But point number two, Daniel says, is you have lifted yourself up against God. How did he lift himself up against God? By calling for the temple vessels. And he says, hey, if we're going to party, if we're going to celebrate, well, let's do it with the vessels that belong to the God of the Hebrews.

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Let's do it with those things that were brought from the temple. Let's demonstrate. Let's show how our gods are better. Let's show how we reign on high, that we don't have to submit to God. And instead, he praised the gods of wood and gold and silver and iron and stone. Idolatry. And so, on the one hand, he had not humbled himself. But on top of that, he had lifted himself up.

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defiantly, gone against the things of God. Again, it's his arrogance. It's also his irreverence. He's basically challenging God. Not only did he ignore the lessons that were demonstrated through King Nebuchadnezzar, but he sets himself against God. And notice what Daniel says. He says, the God who holds your breath in his hand and owns all your ways you have not glorified. They've worshipped and they've glorified all kinds of gods, but

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The God who holds His breath in His hands, He's not glorified. You see, again, it's dealing with the subject of authority and submission. And the fact that God has all authority, but that Belshazzar is refusing to submit to Him or to glorify Him. Again, Belshazzar, for us as believers, is a really good reminder to check our own hearts. Because we can participate in services. We can...

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know the truth, we can read the scriptures, we can see God work miraculously and still choose to live life our way. Not only is that a possibility, but that is our tendency. That is what we are inclined to do. That is what we naturally are drawn to. We're naturally drawn to our own ways, our own thoughts, our own understanding, doing what we want to do.

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And so as we read these accounts, it's reminders for us to check our hearts and to ask, am I submitted to God? And maybe it's helpful for you to maybe run down some lists in your own heart, in your own head. Am I where God wants me to be in the workplace? Is this the job God wants me to have or is this the job that I want to have and that's why I'm there? As you're making decisions regarding the workplace, are those decisions important?

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based upon what God is speaking, what God is saying, and in submission to the Lord? Or is it just what you want? Is it just what you think is expected? Are you seeking the Lord? Are you submitting to Him? Are you giving Him opportunity to lead you in a different direction when it comes to your home? Again, running through this checklist in your head. Are you submitted to God in regarding your home? Are you submitting to God? Does He have full authority? Does He reign on high authority?

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In your home life? In the way that you treat the family that you are with? In the way that you handle the bills that come in? In the purchases that you make? Does he rain on high? Is it in response to and submission to what God has said and what God has declared and what God desires for you? See, our tendency is just to do it our way, do what we want to do. We want something, we find a way to get it.

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We're tired. We don't feel like treating our wives the way that we're supposed to. So we just treat them however we want because that's how we feel. And wives to husbands and parents to kids and kids to parents. All around. Our tendency is to do whatever we want to do. That's what Belshazzar was doing. And see, in doing so, although we know better, we're lifting ourselves up against God. We're saying, yes, I know what God says, but I'm going to do it my way.

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I'm going to live life how I want to. Sometimes we justify it. Well, I'll be good in this area, but this, there's no way I'm going to do it the way God wants me to do it. There's no way I'm going to follow that principle. There's no way I'm going to obey that command. And so then we think we're okay. Because, you know, at least over in this area, we're doing okay. I read my Bible today. I went to church on Wednesday. So I can treat my boss however I want to on Thursday. No, it doesn't work like that.

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Belshazzar lifted himself up against God and God brings upon him some swift and serious judgment. And that's what this handwriting upon the wall is all about. It's God announcing to Belshazzar, you've crossed the line. I'm not going to put up with this. You know the truth. You know better. And yet you've rebelled against me anyway. And so Belshazzar did not humble his heart.

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But not only that, he lifted himself up. He did not glorify God. That idea of glorifying God is lifting him up. And so you say, he means more than I do. His ways are more important than my ways. His thoughts are more important than my thoughts. That's how we glorify God. We magnify him. We lift him up and we say, he's more important. What he says is more important than what I say. What he thinks is more important than what I think.

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He says, you have not glorified God. Well, now Daniel goes on to give the interpretation of the writing. So he's kind of, you know, give him a little bit of an introduction. It's not really a good introduction, but he says, look, here's where you stand, Belshazzar. This is why God has spoken. And now he'll explain what God has said. Verse 24. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from him, and this writing was written. And this is the inscription that was written. Mean, mean, tekel, eupharsin.

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Verse 26, this is the interpretation of each word. Here Daniel gives the interpretation of this writing upon the wall.

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Now the writing upon the wall we learn here is four words. Well, it's actually three words, but the first one is repeated. Mean, mean, tekel, euphorosin. So these four words are written upon the wall. And then Daniel gives the interpretation. Now the interpretation is maybe longer than you would expect, but I would point out that it's an interpretation, not a translation.

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A translation is where you take the word and then you give the equivalent word in a different language. If you were looking at the translation of these words, mean would be in English numbered. That's a translation. That's what the word means. That's the translation of mean. It means numbered. Teckle, translated into English, would be weighed.

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And then Perez or Eupharsin, it's the same word, it's just plural and singular. Perez, it means dividing in English. So the translation is numbered, weighed, and dividing. The interpretation, what is the interpretation? The interpretation is this is what those words mean. That is, this is what God is saying through these words. This is what God is speaking to you through this message upon the wall.

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And so the word mean, translation is numbered. The interpretation is God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. God has numbered your days, Belshazzar. He's numbered the days of this kingdom and it's finished. The number is up. The days are completed. In fact, this day we'll go on to find out these things are fulfilled.

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This very day, this night. In fact, as Daniel is giving the interpretation of these things, the Babylonian, or not the Babylonian, but the Medo-Persian army is already invading Babylon. It's already in process. It's already in the works. And so mean. God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. The kingdom is already finished. The city of Babylon is already fallen. And then tekel. The translation of it is weighed.

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The interpretation is you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. You can picture here the balances, right? The old scales had the center post and then the beam across and then the baskets and you would use that to see if something was the same weight as something else. Well, here's Belshazzar in one side of the balances. On the other side...

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is the requirements of God and what God desires. And he says, you've been weighed and you've been found wanting. You don't measure up, Belshazzar. There's no substance to your life. Your life is meaningless. There's not purpose. There's not value. You've squandered your life. You've squandered your heart. And so you're found wanting when you're measured against God's standards.

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And then finally Perez, the translation is dividing. The interpretation is your kingdom has been divided, given to the Medes and the Persians. The Medes and the Persians had joined together and they're forming what we commonly call the Persian Empire. They've joined together and they're about to conquer the city of Babylon. And so Daniel gives the interpretation of these words.

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Basically declaring to Belshazzar, the kingdom's over, you don't measure up to God's standards, and this kingdom is going to be given to the Medes and the Persians, or the Medo-Persian Empire. Verse 29, Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Verse 29,

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That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about 62 years old. And so here Daniel goes on to explain to us that these things were fulfilled right then, that night. The invasion was already underway. And that night, the city of Babylon, the nation of Babylon, fell.

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We see here, it's interesting, in verse 29, Belshazzar still gives the command though. Daniel says, it's over. Today's the last day. The kingdom is divided. You're at an end. You don't measure up, Belshazzar. And Belshazzar says, alright, you're the third ruler in the kingdom. How long does it last? A couple hours. I think that's an interesting lesson for us. You know everything that this world can offer, whether it's a king or a kingdom, it could be gone tomorrow. It doesn't last forever.

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Remember, Paul tells us that the things which are seen are temporary, but it's the things which are unseen that are eternal. Belshazzar is still focusing on the seeing. He says, alright, I'm going to reward you. Boy, you're going to be excited. You're going to be the third ruler of the kingdom. Now, if that were to be given to you today, I mean, if you got to become the vice-vice-president, man, that would be pretty exciting stuff, but it's temporary. It's temporary.

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It doesn't last. It's unfulfilling. It doesn't satisfy. The things that this world has to offer, they don't satisfy us. And they don't last. But Belshazzar still hasn't learned that. And so it tells us the very night Belshazzar was slain. And Darius the Mede

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There's some discussion about who Darius the Mede exactly is. King Cyrus is really the king, the leader of the Medo-Persians, this joined together nations that became the Persian Empire. And so Darius the Mede could be a reference to another name for or a title for Cyrus, and that's a possibility. Another alternative is that this is actually another guy named Gubaru.

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who has a funny name, but he was the commander in charge of the army that led the invasion into Babylon. And so it could be either of those. There's kind of some good support on both sides. And so we don't know exactly which one it's referring to. But whoever it is, they invade. Babylon comes in. And the way that they did it, because Babylon had these massive walls, this incredible fortress,

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But right through the middle of the city was the Euphrates River. And so on the outside of the walls, the Euphrates River came in and went through the city and then it came out on the other side. And so what the Medo-Persian Empire did, which was really brilliant, was they diverted the river. And when they diverted the river, the...

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The water level went low enough that they were able to go in the river, underneath the gates, underneath the walls, and right into the city. And so there was no battle. There was no, you know, like storming the walls or, you know, knocking down the gates. They just walked right in and they were able to overtake the city without really a battle, without a real fight.

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And so they come in, they invade, they conquer the city and the nation of Babylon and they put Belshazzar to death. And so we're introduced to this guy Belshazzar and then he's out of the scene just as quickly. But for the moment that he's there, you and I are challenged.

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By his example. It's a bad example, but we still need to be challenged by it. Because it's an example again that we are prone to. This is our tendency to be like Belshazzar. To know the truth, but to disregard it. And sometimes, not just to disregard it, but to flaunt our disregard of it. To flaunt our rebellion against God. Belshazzar was weighed in the balances of

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He was measured against God's standards and he was found to be wanting. And as the worship team comes up and prepares to lead us in a song, I would ask you, I would challenge you, how would you measure up in the balances? How would you measure up against God's standards? Now, if you try to measure up to God's standards by saying, well, here's the things that I do.

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I read my Bible and I pray and I go to church and I sometimes witness to others and I serve in this area and I give money to the church or I give money to those who are in Japan and in need. You begin to try to add weight to the balances, to try to measure up to God's standards. But that doesn't work because we are severely lacking when it comes to the standards of God.

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Because of our sinful condition. And so how will you be measured? You are severely lacking. And you deal with the same issues that Belshazzar deals with. Pride and arrogance. Idolatry. The desire to worship and devote yourself to things other than God. And if you follow those tendencies, you will be found wanting just like Belshazzar was. And so what must be done?

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How do we measure up when we're weighed in the balances? You see, what God wanted from Belshazzar, if you go back to verse 22, Daniel says, But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. You see, it comes back to authority and submission. When you're weighed in the balances, this is the issue that will be measured. How much are you submitted to God? Are you fully submitted?

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Are you fully given over to Him? Or are you holding back? Are you rebelling in certain ways or capacities or completely and altogether like Belshazzar was? Are you fully submitted to God? Are you surrendered to Him? Is He your Lord, your Master, the One who has full control in your life? What we have here in Daniel chapter 5 is our very own version of the writing on the wall. God is calling us to pay attention. He's saying...

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Wake up. It's very important that you be submitted to me. It's very important that you follow me. It's important that you do what I say. And first and foremost, he tells us, of course, to believe in Jesus Christ, to walk with God through a relationship, through Jesus, through what God has done for us. He accomplished it upon the cross. It's by faith. It's not by works. It's

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We do stuff as Christians. We do stuff as believers, but it's the product of, it's out of our relationship with God. It's not so that we can be right with God. We have to humble ourselves. You see, to try to come to God with our own goodness and look how good I am and see I'm working so hard for you, that's pride. That's not humility. That's not submission. That's rebellion. We're saying, God, I know you say to come by faith and that I can't do enough good works to please you.

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But I'm not going to pay attention to what you say. This is what I think. I think it should be enough that I read my Bible and go to church and do these things. I think it should be enough, God, and I think you should take that. That's pride. That's arrogance. That's the same attitude of Belshazzar. The real question, how will you be measured? And the issue of submission. Have you submitted to God? Are you surrendered to God? Does His Word override yours? As we worship the Lord together, let's let God examine and challenge our hearts.

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with the subject of submission. And as He reveals to you, as He shows you areas where you're not submitted, turn them over to God. Submit, surrender, let Him have those things right now as we worship the Lord together. I see the King of glory Coming on the clouds with fire The whole earth shake The whole earth shake

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I see love and mercy Washing over all our sins People, the people Hosanna, Hosanna Hosanna in the highest

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Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. I see a generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith.

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The Southwest wind

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I see a new revival Stirring as we pray and sing We're on our knees We're on our knees Oh, Sambla Oh, Sambla

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Oh, Santa in the high air. Oh, Santa. Oh, Santa. Oh, Santa in the high air. Oh, Santa.

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Heal my heart. Heal my heart and make it be. Open up my eyes to the things that see. Show me how to love like you have loved me. Heal my heart.

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What does that mean?

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Oh, stand up. Oh, stand up. Oh, stand up in the high air. Oh, stand up. Oh, stand up.

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Hosanna in the highest Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna in the highest Hosanna Hosanna

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Oh, stand up in the high, yeah Oh, stand up in the high, yeah Oh, stand up in the high Purify my heart Let me be at school

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And precious silver purified my heart.

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me be at school yeah

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is

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Set apart for you, Lord, I choose to be holy. Set apart for you, my master, ready to do your will.

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Purify my heart. Cleanse me from within. And make me holy. Purify my heart.

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♪ And cleansed me from my sin ♪ ♪ Deep within me find your spot ♪ ♪ My heart's one desire ♪

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is to be holy set apart for you Lord I choose to be holy set apart for you my master

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Ready to do your will. Refine and inspire. My heart's one desire is to be whole. Set apart for you, Lord.

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I choose to be holy. Set apart for you, my master. Ready to do your will. Ready to do your will. Ready to do your will. You know, the issue of submission is a pretty tough one.

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Because we've got all kinds of reasons and explanations and justifications in our mind for why we do the things that we do and why we're the exception and why that can't be God speaking to us in those specific areas, whatever God is speaking to you. Like Belshazzar, we know what it is. You know, when it comes to issues of submission, you don't have to worry about

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Things that you're not aware of, you'll get to those. God will bring those things up. But there's enough already that you know about. There's enough already that God is speaking to you. And it's not so much that you have to figure out. You already know. If God's dealing with you with the issue of submission, you already know what it is

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He wants you to do. What area He wants you to submit to Him in. You already know. And you might be trying to explain yourself out of it and explain all kinds of things in your mind, in your heart. That's what we do. I'm very familiar with that because that's what I do. I have all these reasons for why I don't need to do and why that thing on my heart isn't really from God. And when I finally submit, it's when I come to the conclusion, when I finally admit, I know...

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This is God speaking to me. And I just need to stop fighting against it and do it His way. And so I want to encourage you this evening. If you don't have any idea, you're like, you're going to be stressing about, well, what am I supposed to be? Am I not in submission? You can seek the Lord and ask for God to bring you clarity, but really this evening, God wants to challenge those who have something on their hearts. There's an area that you have been explaining a lot to yourself about why you do it.

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or why that doesn't apply. There's an area already that God's been speaking to you about. And through the example of Belshazzar, God is saying to you, you need to let it go. You need to humble yourself and just finally do what I've called you to do. And it might be tough. It might be difficult. It might be the hardest thing you've ever done. But you need to humble yourself and submit to God. Jesus said that if we were going to follow Him, we would need to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

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It's not about what we want. It's not about what we desire. It's about Him. And that's the cost to deny yourself, to take up your cross, and to follow Jesus. And so I just want to encourage you. I want to exhort you this evening. Whatever it is that God has been speaking to your heart, whatever it is that you're wrestling with and trying to explain away and relieve yourself of the guilt for that issue, that area of your life, let it go. Come to terms with the reality that

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He reigns on high. And my role and your role is just to be submitted to Him. We don't have to like it. It doesn't have to be our favorite thing in the world. We don't have to agree with it. It doesn't have to make sense to us. We have to submit. We'll understand why later on. It'll make sense and we'll be glad we did it later on. But our first priority is to submit to God. Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord, for all of us here in this place today,

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Lord, those listening later, those watching online, God, I pray for our hearts that, Lord, that you would help us to finally surrender and submit. And those things that you've been calling to our mind, those things that we've been wrestling with, those things we've been trying to explain away, and yet, Lord, we're still unsettled. And the issue continues to surface and resurface and resurface. And we know, God, you're speaking to us. It's an issue that you want to deal with. It's an area that we need to submit.

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I pray, God, that we would deny ourselves. Lord, that we would disregard what we think, our ways, our thoughts, our preferences. And Lord, that we would surrender to You in Your will, in Your desires, that we would obey You. Lord, taking up our cross to follow You, giving You full authority and full reign in our lives. Lord, because the reality is You do reign on high, and so we must be submitted to You. Help us, God, to obey You.

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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.