This is a part of a sermon series in the book of Daniel. You can watch more here.
Hey let’s get started! My name is Michael. I am one of the pastors. So good to be here this morning! We are going to be in Daniel 5. You can turn to page 118 in our devotional or you can go to Daniel 5 in the Old Testament. (SLIDE: Comedy)
Special Announcement: On May 10, 2025 our church family will be hosting our second “Clean Comedy for a Cause!”
Put it on the calendar, invite your friends! We have Matt Evans as our headliner. Two new comedians. I will be hosting with some jokes, and all the proceeds will go to Foster Village for fostering and adoption here in Austin! Isn’t that awesome? (SLIDE: Sermon Series)
How many times do we hear the stories about parents raising children to know the Lord and walk with the Lord, but as the children leave the home the children don’t want to pursue the things of the Lord?
In those moments we always wonder, “What happened?” Did the parents never talk about their faith with their children?” Maybe the parents were too heavy-handed with their faith in Jesus?
Sometimes children have hearts that are captured by the Lord from a young age and walk with Him all the days of their life, but sometimes children just fake it around the parents, so that we are left with these questions, “What happened?”
This morning we are going to see a passage in Daniel 5, a 2500-year-old document that describes a child being exposed to the glory of God, but still wanting to do what is right in their own eyes. Let’s look at Daniel 5, verses 1-2: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:1-2, “1 Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.”
Just in case you are new with us this morning…we are studying the book of Daniel. Daniel is in the Old Testament. Daniel is about a period of Israel’s history known as “The Exile.”
Israel has been conquered by Babylon (Modern Day Iraq), so that the best and the brightest of Israel have been deported into the foreign land of Babylon.
In Daniel chapters 1-4 we see these beautiful stories of Daniel and his friends fighting to be faithful to the Lord, and in response we see King Nebuchadnezzar watching it all happen, so that King Nebuchadnezzar praises, exalts, and honors the king of heaven! It’s wild!
In Daniel 5 King Nebuchadnezzar has handed the kingdom over to his son Belshazzar and in the opening verses the new king is throwing a party with his closest thousand friends and they are laughing and drinking and having a party, two-doors down, Dolly Parton. Look at verses 3-4: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:3-4, “3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.”
In Daniel 5 we see a picture of defiance! The vessels of silver and gold are the vessels taken out of the temple back in Jerusalem, so that on some level the house of God and the things of God were being honored in Babylon, in the royal court, but the son, Belshazzar, didn’t want anything to do with the God of Scripture.
In verses 1-4 it is a party. Verses 1-4 are a picture of humanity doing what is right in their own eyes. The reference to concubines is a sexual reference, so that the royal court, their spouses and the prostitutes are giving themselves over to the pursuit of pleasure and all the world has to offer.
Remember how people will say the Bible is so outdated. Remember people will say the Bible doesn’t speak to real life events today. It’s like you and I are zooming in on any family in the world today that is trying to pass down to their children the parts of their faith that are the dearest, most important, most treasured, and yet the children are “drinking wine out of the vessels of worship.” It is a picture of defiance! Look at verse 5: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:5, “5 Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.”
Verse 5 is straight up Harry Potter type of moment. This is a supernatural event. This is the God of Scripture saying to King Belshazzar, “That’s enough.”
This is Daniel 4 while the words were still in his mouth. This is the broken hip of Jacob where the Lord says to Jacob, “That’s enough.” This is the sound of the Lord walking in the cool of the garden in Genesis 3. This is when you hit rock bottom. This is when you have tried to do life your own way and then the Lord brings circumstances into our life so as to say, “That’s enough!”
I remember in my 30’s I had hardened my heart toward the Lord. I didn’t reject my faith in Jesus. I just became bitter because the Lord wasn’t doing what I wanted Him to do and I was having a temper-tantrum for about 9-months until I was praying one time, because I hadn’t rejected the Lord, I still did my daily devotions to the Lord but I was upset with the Lord, until one time in prayer it was like the Lord brought images of my life across my face as a reminder that everything I have is from the Lord.
It was a powerful moment. The parents he gave me, where I was raised, how I was raised, the gifts that He gave me, His provision, His protection, and in an instant, I felt so small and so silly for thinking that I could critique the Lord. My heart was softened immediately.
I confessed my hardened heart, I repented of my hardened heart and I said out loud, “Okay, Lord, I will trust you.” King Belshazzar is about to have one of those moments. Look at verses 6-7: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:6-7, “6 Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together. 7 The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom.”
Just like in Daniel 4, the king of Babylon is so powerful until He is face to face with the Lord. When you read Daniel 5 on your own you are supposed to see the contrast from verse 1 to verse 6.
Verse 1 the picture of defiance against the Lord and verse 6 his knees are knocking together. Verse 1 the king feels so strong and powerful and verse 6 the king’s face grows pale!
It’s like all his strength is zapped! His thoughts are filled with fear! His hip joints go slack, which it’s possible it means his bowels are loosened, like he poops himself.
His knees are knocking together, because He is being confronted with the glory of God. It’s like in Revelation 1 when John is confronted with the glory of God and he writes, “When I saw His glory, I fell on my face like a dead man.” That’s what’s happening in verse 6. Look at verses 10-11: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:10-11, “10 The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.
Verses 10-11 are talking about Daniel! In chapter 5 Daniel is an old man at this point, but the queen, which is King Belshazzar’s mother sees her son, King Belshazzar dropping to his knees in fear and she says, “Get Daniel!” I love so much about these verses.
First, Belshazzar has turned from the Lord, definitely to do what he wants to do; therefore, you need to know his soul is dry and tired in this moment.
Belshazzar has been worshipping at the altar of pleasure. He has been chasing after the gods of this world in gold, silver, iron, bronze, wood and stone.
A theologian once wrote, “When we turn from worshipping the Lord we don’t turn to worship nothing, we turn to worship everything.” In verses 10-11 King Belshazzar has worshipped the gods of this world and found it lacking!
In addition, we want to have some “Daniel” type people in our life. It might be a parent, grandparent, friend, sibling, co-worker, but we want to build up a network of god-fearing men and women in our life, so that when our life gets turned upside down someone can say to us, “Get Daniel!” Skip to verses 13-14: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:13-14, “, “13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14 Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.”
It is clear that King Belshazzar has been exposed to the things of the Lord, and there are opportunities for personal application to our lives today, which is appropriate, but I don’t want us to miss the national application as well.
I don’t want us to overlook that we are talking about kings and kingdoms, and how easy it is for the Lord to bring down a king and a kingdom. Look at how easy it is for the Lord to make a nation buckle. Look how easy it is for the Lord to rip apart an ideology that is opposed to Him.
Just 5-years ago in our country we saw antagonism against the church, Jesus and His Word. We saw ideologies filtering into our schools that were trying to rip apart the church in our country, so that followers of Jesus were frantic about Gen Z and their lack of interest in Jesus, and yet today we see 20-year old’s seeking out the things of the Lord.
It’s like our country was heading in one direction and then the Lord said, “That’s enough!” It’s because the Lord moves at the individual level and the national level.
I don’t know what’s going to happen spiritually in our country, but we can take great confidence that nothing is bigger than the Lord.
In the days ahead there may be waves of fear that hit our shores, and if that is to happen, we can we can take great confidence that nothing is bigger than the Lord. It might not become obvious in our life time, but we can be sure there will come a day when He will speak and knees will buckle, even at the global level. Amen? Jump down to verse 17: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:17, “17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.”
In verses 18 to 21 Daniel is going to connect the glory of Babylon back to the glory of God, and Daniel is going to recount the events of Daniel 4 where the Lord confronts King Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar resists the Lord, King Nebuchadnezzar goes crazy until King Nebuchadnezzar finally repents and cries out the glory to God. You can read this in Daniel 4!
In verse 17 Daniel is connecting the dots for King Belshazzar so as to say, “Do you really want to pick a fight with someone called the Most High?” It didn’t go well for your father and it isn’t going to go well for you.
In the same way, we want to be careful about moments in our life where we might try to pick a fight with the Lord. Just to be clear, this isn’t a King Belshazzar problem.
This is a human problem. All of humanity has been created by the God of Scripture to live under His reign and His rule, Genesis 1-2, but we rejected His reign and His rule in Genesis 3 to do what we wanted to do. It’s called picking a fight!
When we are little we don’t like our parents telling us what to do, and when we are adults we don’t like anyone telling us what to do, because deep down we want to do what we want to do. It’s called sin!
You ever been to a grocery store and seen a toddler told, “No.” That toddler just about loses it! This sweet little cutie 5-seconds earlier just as happy as they can be and then all of a sudden, they see a toy or a cereal box or a piece of dirt on the ground that they want to put in their mouth and then this cruel, evil parent tells them, “No, you can’t keep licking every lid in the isle.”
We can laugh at it now as adults, but then the city of Austin raises our taxes, the police man pulls us over for rolling through a stop sign, our employer tells us we can’t work from home, our doctor tells us we should stop eating so many sweets, our spiritual leaders start poking on our souls, and it’s like a light switch gets flipped and our inner toddler comes crashing into reality! It’s called sin!
We don’t like our parents telling us what to do, we don’t like our boss telling us what to do, and we don’t like God telling us what to do, because we want to be in charge, so that in Daniel 5 God’s Word is pressing into our soul, “Be careful!” Jump down to verses 22-23: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:22-23, “22 Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, 23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.”
In verses 22-23 we see a rebuke. We always want God’s Word to be encouraging, but sometimes we need God’s Word to tell us what we don’t want to hear. The puritans would say, “Soft words produce hard hearts, but hard words produce a soft heart.” Verses 22-23 are hard words to get King Belshazzar’s attention.
In chapter 5 King Belshazzar comes to Daniel crying about what’s going on in his life and in verses 22-23 Daniel is holding up a mirror so as to say, “Have you looked your decisions?” Have you looked at the seeds you have been casting in life, because that will probably explain some of the harvest we see today?
In our culture today, we aren’t worshipping statues of gold, silver and bronze, but we are worshipping idols all around us. We worship the idols of money because it gives us the illusion of self-sufficiency. We will chase after titles because it gives us the illusion of power. We will give our lives over to sexual pleasure, because it gives us the illusion of intimacy. It’s idolatry!
We know we worship those things in our culture because when those things are strong we feel strong, and when those things are threatened we feel vulnerable, because our security and safety come from those things, so that in verses 22-23 Daniel writes, “These things you worship don’t even see, hear or understand. What did you think was going to happen?” It’s a rebuke! Look at verses 24-25: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:24-25, “24 Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out. 25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
These words “Upharsin / Singular / Plural” are Aramaic words and Aramaic was the language of the people, so that this would not only be a moment for King Belshazzar but a moment for the all the people to see, so that the Lord isn’t just focused on the king, but the Lord is focused on the nation. (Individual / Global)
Just look at how chapter 5 starts and how chapter 5 is ending. In verse 1 there is drinking, laughing and having a party. There is open defiance to the Lord, so that in verse 6 we see a finger and verse 24 we see 4 words, and verse 30 we will see it all happens on the same day so that the whole empire comes tumbling down.
We might look at an individual or a nation turning from the Lord.
We might think to ourselves, “I guess God doesn’t care. I it doesn’t matter.”
God’s Word is teaching us, “When we give ourselves to the gods of this world our souls will wither, our knees will buckle.” This is true at the individual level and the national level.
I think we are seeing this in our country right now. I remember a year ago I went away on my study break to plan out the next years of sermons, and I remember feeling this spiritual layer of darkness in our city at the time.
It’s why we are calling our church family to stand strong in our faith in Jesus, IMMOVABLE, and the book of Daniel is a great book about being faithful to the Lord in a place that is spiritually dark, but today I am not sure it is as spiritually dark in our city as it was just 12-months ago.
Listen, I am not trying to give you the impression that our city is turning in repentance to follow Jesus, but I sense in our city a curiosity about our faith in Jesus that wasn’t there 12-months ago. There are people asking questions about God’s Word that wasn’t there 12-months ago. There are people seeking out the things of the Lord, so that the spiritual landscape of our city is changing on the fly!
It’s possible you’re still living under this old thinking that our city is antagonistic toward our faith in Jesus, but I think there is an openness in our city to hear about our faith in Jesus. Don’t you see a spiritual hunger in our city?
I don’t know how long it will last, I don’t know how deep it will go, but if we learn nothing else from Daniel 5, let us remember that when we don’t see the Lord doing what we want Him to do at the individual level or the national level, we don’t have to panic. We stay faithful. We trust Him. We follow Him. He can move a nation in the blink of an eye! Look at verses 29-30: (SLIDE: Verse)
Daniel 5:29-30, “29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.”
In verse 31 we see the collapse of the Babylonian empire and Persia (modern day Iran) moves into power, so that you can take verse 1 picture of defiance against the Lord and bookend it with verse 30, “That same night the life of the king was taken.” Isn’t that powerful?
I don’t know how this passage lands on your soul this morning, but the questions we need to be asking ourselves is, “Do you know Jesus?” Don’t you see the plan of God unfolding throughout history? All of humanity will give ourselves over to the gods of this world and Jesus has come to call us!
Do you want to live in a kingdom that can disappear at the flip of a switch? Listen to me, I love this country, but it can disappear tomorrow! My hope, my security, my joy is not rooted in the foundation of the United States of America.
Through faith in Jesus we have been given a heavenly citizenship, we are given a new purpose, we are given a higher calling, so that we can pour our life into the things of this world that can fall apart in the blink of an eye?
Or, we can pour our life into an eternal kingdom, a kingdom that will never pass away and pour our life into things that will endure forever? Do you want to know Jesus? Don’t you want to live for Jesus? Don’t you want to follow Jesus? That’s the invitation of God’s Word this morning. (Worship Team)
Let’s lower the lights. Let’s invite the worship team to the stage. Let’s end with verse 31, because in verse 31 we see the Persian kingdom come to power and do you know what happens in the first year of this Persian kingdom?
You can read about it in Ezra 1. It says, “Cyrus, King of Persia, the Lord, God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem” which is the beginning of Israel returning home.” Isn’t that amazing?
From Daniel’s perspective he is trusting in the Lord as his nation is turning from the Lord. Daniel is trusting in the Lord as he is deported into a foreign land. Daniel is trusting in the Lord as he commits his life to be faithful to the Lord.
Daniel is trusting in the Lord has he interprets dreams these kings don’t want to hear, and Daniel sees his life handed over to another king and another kingdom, and Daniel finally, in his old here’s the king say, “It’s time to go home.” Isn’t that amazing?
In the same way, let us hold fast to the Lord. There might be individuals in our life who have turned from the Lord. There might be some confusing parts of our country. There might be layers in our soul this morning that want to turn from the Lord.
It’s possible you are here this morning and you are playing with the vessels of the Lord. It’s possible you are giving your life to the gods of this world who can’t see, can’t hear and don’t understand.
You need to know if we are in that place this morning we are picking a fight with the Most High. We aren’t going to win. It isn’t going to work, because there’s only One who is worthy of our lives. There is only One who takes our sin. There is only One who comes to bring ever-lasting life. His name is Jesus!
Let’s turn to Jesus and trust in Him. One day King Jesus is going to show up and King Jesus is going to call out to all who are His, “It’s time to go home.” Amen?
Let’s live in His eternal Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. Let’s enjoy His Kingdom. Build into His Kingdom. Invite others into His Kingdom.
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
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