Daniel chapter 5 this morning is where we are in our study of the book of Daniel, and that's found on page 881 in the Bibles that are in front of you, 881 as Belshazzar receives the writing on the wall today in Daniel chapter 5. Let's give our attention this morning to the Lord's Word. King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of a thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem and the king and his lords his wives and his concubines drank from them they drank wine and praise the gods of gold and silver bronze iron wood and stone immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lamp stand and the king saw the hand as it wrote then the king's color changed and his thoughts alarmed him his limbs gave way and his knees knocked together the king called loudly to bring in the enchanters the chaldeans and the astrologers the king declared to the wise men of babylon whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom then all the king's wise men came in but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation then king belshazzar was greatly alarmed and his color changed and his lords were perplexed the queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet hall and the queen declared oh king live forever let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change there is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him and king nebuchadnezzar your father your father the king made him chief of the magicians and channers chaldeans and astrologers because an excellent spirit knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams explain riddles and solve problems were found in this daniel whom the king named belta shazar now let daniel be called and he will show the interpretation then daniel was brought in before the king the king answered and said to daniel you are that daniel one of the exiles of judah who the king my father brought from judah i have heard that you have um i've heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you now the wise men the enchanters have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation but they could not show the interpretation of the matter but i have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems now if you can read the writing 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 then daniel answered and said before the king let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another nevertheless i will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation oh king the most high god gave nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty and because of the greatness that he gave him all peoples nations and languages trembled and feared before him whom he would he killed and whom he would he kept alive whom he would he raised up and whom he would he humbled but when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly. He was brought down from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him. He was driven from among the children of mankind and his mind was made like that of a beast and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he knew that the Most High rules in the kingdom of mankind and sets it over whom he will. And you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this. But you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you. And you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know. But the God in whose hand is your breath and whose are all your ways you've not honored. Then from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed. Mene, mene, tekel, parson. This is the interpretation of the matter. Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Perez, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command and Daniel was clothed with purple. A chain of gold was put around his neck and a proclamation was made about him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night, Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old. And there we'll end the reading of God's word. what we have before us this morning is the fall of babylon a big theme in scripture i'm trying to imagine if you can imagine this with me for a moment if you are from judah and you have built houses in babylon and vineyards and you have built your families as they were told to do and you have been living in Babylon for some time since this is moving toward later period of that dwelling in Babylon that all of a sudden the empire falls in one day in one day it's a dreadful thought but it's really helpful to wrestle through this particular passage this morning to think about this particular passage the applications are many for understanding a very important message when we see the rise and the fall of a great nation in the earth what is to be learned from the fall of babylon what is to be learned from the fall of babylon and and that's the question i think that's really important from us why is god showing us this i think we read daniel as interesting history and we find the stories fascinating but we really have to get to the reason god is revealing this so that future generations of israelites would read this and that we as his people in this time would read this and learn from this particular passage and account of Babylon well I think we begin to get an answer to that question by remembering what Daniel continued to say to Nebuchadnezzar you will know Nebuchadnezzar you're going to learn something Daniel kept saying it that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will Daniel found that to be a very important point that he wanted to impress upon Nebuchadnezzar and that applies across the board today wherever there are kingdoms wherever there are nations wherever there is greatness it is God who established it is God who set up their rulers it is God who established their greatness in the earth why do we need to understand that why is that important why did israel need to know this well did israel need to know that there was a god over babylon did israel need to know that their god was over babylon do we need to know that god is also over the united states it's a question that is very important because i don't think we think about it this way very often why would it matter that the lord is not just the lord of israel but the lord of the nations i think we're being pressed with that here precisely because we never live in a place even in our exile of neutrality we never live in a place of neutrality as if anyone can have divided loyalties this is really important and his own people should understand this his own people should take this to heart and deeply appreciate and fall in awe that he chose us to be his people, that he chose Israel to be his people and to deliver them as the holy nation of all the peoples in the earth, why then would we ever look to another kingdom or would we ever look to another God when he judges all the nations, when he holds them in contempt when he has revealed his love to his people it's important and i hope you see that as we go through this he is lord he is lord overall he is sovereign overall he is the god to which we must bow in our lives and all kings and all rulers and all presidents and all those in authority throughout history either have learned it or on that day they will learn it if they won't in this life god raises up kingdoms they become prideful and then they begin to boast in their greatness and then they fall and he judges them that's history that's the narrative of history from god's perspective that's the big picture that's what's before us today and it's the question that interests me again why did god want future generations to read this what were we to take and that's what we're going to look at today and i think it's important to say that in reading daniel i say this that there really should be a redemptive historical view in reading this book what i mean by that is is that embedded in this story is a message for israel what happened to babylon happened to them god raised them up as his people they were his kingdom in the earth they became full of idolatrous pride their worship became all corrupted full of entertainment practices of the pagans and they were his kingdom and it was taken from them but along the way as it was happening they looked for all these other gods the powerful gods of the nations and other powerful kingdoms to deliver them when they got in trouble and they never looked to their king well that's an important message for us here is the most powerful kingdom on the earth at the time repeating Israel's history history of pride a history of fall suffering an awful fate and God has a message in that look to the Lord Jesus Christ as king and you will enjoy hope and you will enjoy peace protection care and the deliverance that's most important well what we have today as we look through this is is the ease of Babylon the judgment that it receives and then the fall that it experiences. We had the last record of King Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4. He's not mentioned anymore in this book, at least in terms of a narrative history of it. And remember, he had been totally humbled by the Lord in this last chapter. Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most powerful kings that the earth had ever seen up to this point. You remember that in the last chapter when he addressed the nations he spoke to them and he said to all the nations peoples tongues and tribes he was saying i speak you listen that is remarkable power the whole earth was called to submit to nebuchadnezzar but what daniel keeps impressing on us is that the greatness of babylon and nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was the lord's doing the lord had raised them up but now we move to the last days of the empire fast forward we're moving to the last day of the empire actually here the text begins with belshazzar his son who's ruling in babylon the entire record of belshazzar is totally unimpressive the opening scene is a party we read that belshazzar made a great feast a thousand of his lords he gathers together in his palace that his father built and they drank wine in the presence of a thousand they are getting lit up in the king in their kingdom. It may not seem like an important introduction, but it's capturing something very important for us. It's capturing the state of Babylon before she fell. It's capturing the state of Babylon before she fell. What precedes the judgment of a nation? We can apply this, I think, both to nations, many things, applies almost to everything. We can apply this to churches that fall into pride can fly this to individuals there's so much to learn here there's just so much to learn here nebuchadnezzar had had built a mighty kingdom i i mean it it is remarkable what nebuchadnezzar built in babylon he destroyed cities he um he carried away plunder He was the most powerful king in all the earth at that time of the earthly nations. One can say that of Nebuchadnezzar. Of any of the things you could say of Nebuchadnezzar, he was a mighty figure. His exploits were legendary. Everyone knew. He was a legendary figure. The imagery of his son is a pathetic one. He's ruling in Babylon, and he's sitting in his palace, and he's partying. One pastor said, Nebuchadnezzar built a kingdom, his son threw a party. You can imagine this. His nobles are having a giant feast in the kingdom. The imagery is a drunken festival that's going on here, and he's sitting there. As he's sitting there, he has an idea. You know what we should do? We should go get those golden vessels from the temple in Jerusalem. They're holy vessels. And we should drink from them to our gods. And so he does this. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was a total mockery of the God of heaven and earth. A challenge. You imagine, you can imagine this, you know. The imagery of leaders. We can think of our leaders sitting in drunken prosperity and power. And one day they say, well, let's change the law. Let's change the law of marriage. And let's make it binding. Who is this God who gave marriage? Who is this God who gave marriage between a man and a woman? we will change that. See the idolatry in it. We will make it a religion to which everyone must bow. Think of the idolatries that have filled our land. Here's the imagery. The nation has fallen into total debauchery. The nation has fallen into drunken stupor in its prosperity, in its greatness. And they are totally intoxicated in their greatness so they have no worries in the world. Who can touch us? Who can touch us? And so they strike at God himself. That's exactly what we have here. They strike at God himself. You know, this is what we're living in. I don't know how we can't miss this. This is exactly what we're living in. What is lived out before us is a great attempt right now to dethrone the one who rules over the kingdoms of men. To dethrone the one who gave America its greatness. And here's what you see in nations before an impending fall. That's what we're seeing here. Here's what you see in nations before an impending fall. Whatever the nation once was, it becomes drunk on its prosperity and the leaders are given to exalt themselves and their gods over the true God of heaven and earth. The nation is given to idolatry. I think you can make this case for every single nation on the earth that has become great and is gone today. That's Rome. Remember what God said in Ezekiel about Sodom and Gomorrah, the great cities of the plain? She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, unconcerned. They did not help the poor and the needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen. Overfed, unconcerned, abusive policies, didn't care for the poor, the whole thing became tyrannical. In any nation falling, what you see is the poor are disregarded, justice is set aside, ease characterizes life. And then, without them even realizing it, they are surrounded by enemies. blinded by their stupor. This is what Jesus described as it was in the days of Noah. So it will be at the coming of the Son of Man for in the days before the flood people were doing what? Eating and drinking. Marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark and they knew nothing. It's just remarkable. They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. Then he says this. This is exactly what it's going to be like when I come. When the Son of Man comes in his glory. This is what we're studying. The imagery is not a care in the world. Nobody's listening. who's repenting, who's believing the God. They roll their eyes at the whole thing. Just as Peter said, where is this promise of his coming? I can't think of a more sobering warning. Just when people are at ease and serving the idols of the culture, intoxicated on these things, here comes the fall. Here it comes. And that moves us here to the judgment itself. As they're partying and feasting, all of a sudden, you even imagine this, the fingers of a hand appear in front of everyone on the plaster of the wall of the palace opposite of Belshazzar. You can imagine this, the horror. The king looks up and he sees fingers beginning to write on the plaster of a wall. he is utterly overcome with horror. His joints go limp and his knees knock and he cries out and he brings in, just like before, all the wise men of Babylon. He brings in all the wise men of Babylon and he does the same thing Nebuchadnezzar did. Who can read this inscription? Whoever can read this inscription, I will make him great. I will make him great. He will be clothed and I'll give him a gold rope. and he'll be third ruler in the kingdom. I'll come back to this. You know why he said third? Because Nebuchadnezzar's not dead yet. Did he not learn anything? It's really a remarkable question. Did you not learn anything yet? Did you not see what happened to your father? It's as if the next generation of kings totally ignored this. Provoking the Lord and worshiping the gods of the culture. Why is God telling us this? I keep coming back to that question. Why is God telling us this story? And I come back to my thesis on this point. It is because I think the whole thing is a parable for Israel. King after king had the prophets who told them the word of God. The gospel, king after king was told, put away the idols, turn back to the Lord. And the next king, if you read the story, occasionally you'd have a good one. The next king was worse than the previous one. Said this with Israel generationally. It's amazing how you could have one generation of Israelites that was so committed to the Lord and the next generation of their children, totally apathetic. Totally apathetic with no knowledge of him. This is what happened. Amos 6. This is what happened just preceding them being carried to Babylon. Listen to the language. See if this resonates. Woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation to whom the people of Israel come. You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. How? You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fatted calves. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions. I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses. I will deliver up the city and everything in it. For the Lord God Almighty declares, I will stir up a nation against you that will oppress you all the way. See the repeat here? The same thing's happening in Babylon. Deuteronomy said, the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and only a few of you will be left. Think of Israel to this day, the struggles. Only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. There you will serve other gods made by human hands. In Babylon, Jeremiah said, Because you forsook me and served alien gods in your own land, you will serve foreign ones in a land not your own. One of the great purposes of them going to Babylon was to learn something. That the nations and the gods they had come to trust in were powerless. And that those nations were receiving the same judgment from God for the same things. They didn't take seriously his worship. And that may be the whole point of this here. What a message for us living in Babylon. You see how easy it is to forget who we are, who we serve, what kingdom we belong to. Babylon leaders are eating and drinking and being merry, feasting on the best choice of wines, the best of lotions, forgetting justice, And now mocking God. This is Israel revisited. And we see the whole story playing out in Babylon. So the point is, the Lord is the Lord of the nations. He is the judge of all. If we as his people won't have him, look at what happens. So the queen comes in. The queen comes in. and says to her husband look there's a man there is a man in whom is the spirit of god daniel your father made him great in the kingdom he he was chief of all the wise men he can give the interpretation he can explain this for you so daniel's brought before the king there's there's no respect here this dialogue is nothing like that it's interesting that's why i think there's something to do with nebuchadnezzar there's no respect here between these two you can feel it in the discourse they it's not the kind of dialogue that happened between Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar are you that Daniel I mean think about are you that Daniel that my father brought from the captives he's an official in the kingdom if you can tell me the dream I'll put a gold rope on your neck and purple on you'll be third in the kingdom he thinks he can buy Daniel with a gold rope. Daniel says, keep your gifts, O king. And Daniel rehearses all that happened in Nebuchadnezzar. He rehearses the whole story. He was humbled because of pride. He lost his kingdom from the Most High and God gave it back. O Belshazzar, you, now listen to this listen to this language you have not humbled yourself although you knew all this you have lifted up yourself against the God of heaven you took the vessels of his house for your nobles you drunk from them and you praise the gods of stone and of wood they don't hear they don't answer they can't deliver you and God holds your breath in his hand. He owns all your ways and you have not glorified him. Now this is Babylon. Mene, mene tekel uparsen. When they heard it, what they heard was the language of measures and weights and buying and selling, but as verbs, Daniel explains it. Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Perez, your kingdom's been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. You know, you could read that little phrase into every circumstance of life. Think about it. To nations, I said to churches, to people, whatever the circumstance, to people. God has numbered your days. You're at the end. What has God found? You've been weighed in the balances. You have not achieved to the righteous standard before him to make it. And now your time of judgment has come. while what you've been doing is eating and drinking and being merry. The Greek word here, the Greek word for judgment means to divide or sift. What if this were spoken to the U.S. today? I was thinking about this. Would it make sense? Mene, mene. The days of the U.S. are numbered. You started so well. and now look at how much injustice and violence fills your land look at abortion look what you've done to the womb look at your refusal to help the poor your weight in the balances oh nation you are desperately found wanting How many idolatries are celebrated and who is not at ease right now? The time of your fall has been decreed and you know what you don't see? Enemies are all around you. What's going well? Your economy's ready to break. Your leaders are caught in debaucherous scandals at every point. You know what happened as they were eating and drinking? As Belshazzar was mocking the God of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar, according to history, is not dead yet. Herodias, the Greek historian, said, Nebuchadnezzar and his armies were away fighting Darius and the Persians right at this moment, right at this moment that they're parting in the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar, right at this moment, had just been taken captive and killed by Darius. As they're feasting, Darius, just as they're drinking, just as they're mocking the God of heaven and earth, is on his way with his troops to sack Babylon. That's just what's described here. Darius commands that Daniel be third in the kingdom. He throws a gold rope over him. Same story as Nebuchadnezzar. How does this end? The very last verse of the text, how does this end? That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about 62 years old. That was it. Babylon was done in a moment. Numbered, weighed, and divided. This message is, I think, so important for us today. It's a serious warning. There's such good news, I'll close with here. But it really is not that good if you don't hear the warning. Think about this message that's embedded here. God has found your life in want. He knows what you're doing. You've heard all these calls to repent and believe the gospel. Think of this as coming out today. None of them are you taking seriously. You've played fast and loose with it all. You've hardened your hearts. And now the day's at hand. The time of reckoning for your life has come. What God is showcasing in this book is another kingdom of another king. And that's really good news here. What does Israel need? What does the world need right now? What do we need right now? What does Babylon, what did they need? You know, when Christ came, it's really remarkable. He came not eating and drinking or partying or living this way. The message was he had no place to lay his head. He was a king exiled from his throne. He was fleeing from the beginning for his life because of righteousness. What was he doing the whole time? saving Israel, saving a people, giving himself, listen to this message, it's the most important message, to die for the sins of the people. And he humbled himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross. What is the conclusion of the matter? If God came right now tonight, there would be a great white throne judgment set up. Nobody's escaping it. No matter if you harden your heart to it, believe it, it's going to happen. Let's just say it happened tonight. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and heavens fled from his presence and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead. great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what was done as recorded in the books. Daniel's about to tell us about the Ancient of Days seated on his throne. What would he find? What would he find? The appointed day of your life has come. Here's the reality. We're no different. We're no different. What have our sins been like? What about the sins we hide? What is the conclusion? Your life has been put on the scales. Is not the conclusion right? It's found wanting, lacking. But what did God do? God did something wonderful, beloved. As one pastor said, God takes those scales and he brushes your own evil deeds aside. It's such a wonderful gospel. As having been punished, as having been punished in Jesus Christ and on the other side of the scale, he places his own character for you. Those scales swing back and you are justified on the basis of Christ's righteousness. This is what we need. And he stands in the balances. As he stands there, he is found perfect. He is found complete. And he's given to save us from this and then to give us a kingdom that will last forever. Then to give us a kingdom for where we will be happy in a feast of his kingdom. Not of debauchery, but of righteousness. a feast in glory forever with him. You know, what we're doing right now is we're pleading with the whole world to believe this. Be reconciled to God and receive peace. As we see the things happening in our nation, this is what I think is so important here, we should be awake to it all. It's an example for us. It's a parable for us. It's an example to us to study. We see it in history. Israel learned it in Babylon. We're learning it in our own nation. May we be looking for the true kingdom to come in. Our hope is not in any nation. Our hope is not in any leader. All of them are found weighed in the balances and failing. Beloved, we are the Israel of God. We have hope in Him. With the Lord, there's plentiful redemption. we belong to a better kingdom with a better home. So what he's telling us here is take this truth and take serious repentance and faith in Christ, the King. Recognize all he's done for you. He's the Lord over all the earth. That's your God, O Israel. Be proud in him. Boasting Christ, that's your king, that's your God. And he rules over all of them. This whole world's going to see it soon. And he's numbered our days. And he calls us to be a watching people because he promises something so precious to us. A day is coming and when you have me as the king, when you have Christ as the king of your life and believed in him, that day will not overtake you as a thief. That's the promise. You will not face his wrath, but his smile. He will say to you, think of these words, well done, my good and my faithful servant receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You're my people. I am your God. Worship me. Trust me in these times. Believe my promises. Believe in my kingdom. Seek first my kingdom and my righteousness and I'll take care of you on all this other stuff. Give glory to him in your life and be a watching people, a humble people, a repentant people, knowing that no nation of the earth, No ruler can save us. No false god of this age can deliver us. Only Jesus Christ alone is the way to the Father, the way to receive the true kingdom. And so that's the call, I think, of this text. Have faith in him alone. Believe in him as his people. And know that he is a shelter for you. He will care for you. Kings and kingdoms of this world will fall, But you cannot when you have Christ as your Savior. Let's pray to Him. Heavenly Father, help us today to trust You, to believe You, and to rest in Your promises. We are so thankful that our God is the Lord over all the earth. You made all these things. You told that parable of the man who said, let me eat, drink, and be merry, and build up bigger barns, For I will live for many years and store up many goods. And that night his soul was required of him. Then, whose became all those things? Let us, O Lord, believe the gospel. Help us to trust you. Forgive our sins. Keep us from idolatry. And may we exalt the King who rules over all the heavens, who sits enthroned in righteousness over all the nations thank you oh Lord for being our God and we your people in Jesus name, Amen