People the world over tend to have highly inflated and self-delusory opinions of themselves and go to great length to defend and conserve that opinion. While this is true of the average person in the street, it is even truer of people who hold high office or have hereditary privileged positions, like royalty. Our contemplation today deals with such a person, King Belshazzar of Babylon, and his momentous fall from power when God weighed him in the balances and found him wanting.
As we proceed it might be useful for us to keep in mind certain things, like:
Although this incident occurred almost three thousand years ago, it still has important things to teach us.
King Belshazzar’s esteemed position and privileges, undoubtedly envied by many, …show more content…
He was given to much revelry and excessive boozing, “King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.” (Daniel 5: 2a)
Belshazzar was profane and brought to the banquet vessels stolen from the temple, (Daniel 5:2b)
Belshazzar's blasphemous lifestyle
Belshazzar was a pagan and lavished praise on gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, " They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." (Daniel 5: 4)
He was disrespectful of God and consecrated things, "Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them." (Daniel 5: 3)
Belshazzar was totally committed to idolatry just like his pagan …show more content…
Just like today, many are indifferent to and disrespectful of the gospel message and will eventually have to face the consequences.
THE REVELATION OF POWER
We see supernatural writing on the wall
From nowhere an awesome human hand appeared, "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand…" (Daniel 5: 5a) This was extremely spooky even for this devil-worshipping king.
The hand wrote clearly on the plaster of the wall near a lamp stand so that it would be clearly seen, "…and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace." (Daniel 5: 5b)
The king saw everything up close and personal “The king watched the hand as it wrote.” (Daniel 5: 5c)
There was no escaping this hand for God meant to teach this idolatrous crowd a lesson.
We observe supreme terror overwhelm the king
The haughty Belshazzar, pompously deriding God and flaunting his pride and power, now whimpering with dread, " Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." (Daniel 5:
As we proceed it might be useful for us to keep in mind certain things, like:
Although this incident occurred almost three thousand years ago, it still has important things to teach us.
King Belshazzar’s esteemed position and privileges, undoubtedly envied by many, …show more content…
He was given to much revelry and excessive boozing, “King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.” (Daniel 5: 2a)
Belshazzar was profane and brought to the banquet vessels stolen from the temple, (Daniel 5:2b)
Belshazzar's blasphemous lifestyle
Belshazzar was a pagan and lavished praise on gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, " They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." (Daniel 5: 4)
He was disrespectful of God and consecrated things, "Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them." (Daniel 5: 3)
Belshazzar was totally committed to idolatry just like his pagan …show more content…
Just like today, many are indifferent to and disrespectful of the gospel message and will eventually have to face the consequences.
THE REVELATION OF POWER
We see supernatural writing on the wall
From nowhere an awesome human hand appeared, "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand…" (Daniel 5: 5a) This was extremely spooky even for this devil-worshipping king.
The hand wrote clearly on the plaster of the wall near a lamp stand so that it would be clearly seen, "…and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace." (Daniel 5: 5b)
The king saw everything up close and personal “The king watched the hand as it wrote.” (Daniel 5: 5c)
There was no escaping this hand for God meant to teach this idolatrous crowd a lesson.
We observe supreme terror overwhelm the king
The haughty Belshazzar, pompously deriding God and flaunting his pride and power, now whimpering with dread, " Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." (Daniel 5: