Daniel 5
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Daniel 5
Wiersbe notes that "Daniel had “done the king’s business” in the third year of his reign (Da 8:1, 27), which would have been 554BC. What a tragedy that the ruler of the mighty city of Babylon should ignore one of the greatest men in history and turn to him only in the last hours of his life when it was too late. (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament). A spirit of the gods is in you - This could be translated "the Spirit of God is in you," but I doubt if Belshazzar had any concept of the Holy Spirit, so it almost certainly refers to his belief in pagan spirits. Remember that Daniel was just a man. We can admire him but we are not to be enamored with Daniel but with Daniel's God. Daniel was a man who knew God and upon whom God had bestowed the ability to understand "all kinds of visions and dreams." (Da 1:17) So this story is not about Daniel as much as it is about God and God's using "a vessel of honor" (2Ti 2:21) named Daniel. And so He chooses to warn the king through His prophet Daniel. God always has His people at the right place and the right time. Ray Pritchard - We never know our influence until a crisis comes. What an encouragement this is. You may be stuck in an office or a classroom or a factory or a neighborhood or a club or a family gathering where you are the only Christian. And you may feel overlooked and taken for granted, or possibly ridiculed and misunderstood. Bide your time, my Christian friend, and do not despair. Soon enough life will come tumbling in and the people who have no time for you will turn to you for answers. You may not be invited to every party, but you will get the call when trouble comes. When it happens, be bold to speak the truth in love. Never underestimate the power of a godly life. (God’s Graffiti - January 2000) THOUGHT - Perhaps you dear reader are the "Daniel" in someone else's life. They have heard about God over and over and so they know ABOUT Him and yet still they refuse to humble themselves and bow before Him and truly KNOW Him. Perhaps God desires to use you to (in love) warn them that if they do not bow, judgment is assuredly coming. Joseph Parker comments on this event - Preachers of the Word, you will be wanted some day by "Belshazzar;" you were not at the beginning of the feast, but you will be there before the banqueting hall is closed; the king will not ask you to drink wine, but he will ask you to tell the secret of his pain and heal the malady of his heart. Abide your time. You are nobody now… Midway down the program to mention pulpit, or preacher, or Bible, would be to violate the harmony of the occasion. But the preacher, as we have often had occasion to say, will have his opportunity. They will send for him when all other friends have failed; may he then come fearlessly, independently, asking only to be made a medium through which divine communications can be addressed to the listening trouble of the world… O Daniel, preacher, speaker, teacher, thunder out God's word, if it be a case of judgment and doom; or whisper it, or rain in gracious tears, if it be a message of sympathy and love and welcome (Daniel 5 The People's Bible). Daniel 5:15 "Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message. Da 5:7,8 2:3-11 Isa 29:10, 11, 12 47:12 Daniel 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries They could not declare - Belshazzar explains the problem and failure of his wise men. They could not declare it because it was a supernatural message from the Spirit of God and they were natural men. Paul writes "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (1Cor 2:14+) He then goes on to offer the same reward. THOUGHT - God's supernatural revelation cannot be understood with natural intellect! Men might think they can understand it but the fact is they cannot unless they possess the Holy Spirit to illuminate the meaning (See ). Are you having difficulty comprehending the Bible? Are you born again? If you are born again, you have the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ro 8:9+) and while there will always be some sections of Scripture which are difficult to understand for even the most mature Christian (cf Dt 29:29+), you will be able to understand much of the Scripture and with time and maturation will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.." (2 Peter 3:18+) Daniel 5:16 "But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom." interpretation: Ge 40:8 Da 5:7 Ac 8:18 Daniel 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries DANIEL'S REPUTATION PRECEDES HIM Heard about you - Belshazzar had only heard of Daniel suggesting he had been more or less ignored during the 22 years or so since the death of Nebuchadnezzar. “This silly and shallow prince hath nothing to say but what was put into his mouth by his wiser grandmother.” (Trapp) Maclaren goes a step farther describing this as "craven-hearted flattery addressed to Daniel by the king, who apparently had never heard of him till the queen spoke of him just before." (Daniel 5:17-31 Mene, Tekel, Peres) Third ruler - Belshazzar's absent father, Nabonidus, was first ruler. He himself was second in command. Thus Belshazzar could not have made Daniel the second ruler as Pharaoh had done for Joseph (Ge 41:40, 41, 42, 43) Daniel 5:17 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. Keep - Da 5:29 Ge 14:23 2Ki 3:13 5:16,26 Ac 8:20 Daniel 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries DANIEL PROCEEDS TO GIVE… A HISTORY LESSON A THEOLOGY LESSON A READING LESSON! Daniel's "sermon" was short but not sweet, but it was pithy and penetrating! It is also noteworthy that Daniel behaved very differently before Belshazzar than he had before Nebuchadnezzar when the latter had experienced an alarming dream (Da 4:19-note). Why such a different reaction to these two pagan kings? Belshazzar had that very night insulted the God of heaven in the most daring manner; and the venerable prophet, as God's delegate, dutifully denounced the despot in the following passages (Da 5:18-22). Keep your gifts (Nebuchadnezzar's offer Da 2:6-note) - Daniel is not interested in the temporal reward from a pagan king, but only desires the eternal reward from the King of kings (cp Da 12:13-note). Daniel had no desire for material gain and would not let himself be deterred from speaking the absolute, divine truth. God's men cannot be bought off by offering them the passing pleasures (or "trinkets") of this present evil age (see Abram's refusal to accept gifts from the king of Sodom - Ge 14:21, 22, 23, 24 and Elisha's refusal of the offer by the Syrian Naaman - 2Ki 5:15, 16).
Daniel 5
Wiersbe - Like King Belshazzar and his guests, many people in our world today are unmindful of the lessons of the past, unintelligent when it comes to interpreting the present, and totally unprepared for the consequences that lie in the future. (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament ). Belshazzar is a tragic picture of so many indifferent, arrogant men and women today who foolishly honor the "gods" of plenty, possessions, prestige, etc, which are "gods" that cannot see, hear, or understand. On the other hand they choose to dishonor the living and true God Who holds their life and their ways in His omnipotent hand! And for them, like Belshazzar, the handwriting is on the wall! The writer of Hebrews echoes Jesus' stern warning writing… How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29-note) Comment: His point is how much greater punishment for the one who knows and tramples on the knowledge of God, and in so doing sins against a flood of divine light! Daniel 5:23 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 your ways, you have not glorified. exalted: Da 5:3,4 2Ki 14:10 Isa 2:12 33:10 37:23 Jer 50:29 Eze 28:2,5,17 Eze 31:10 Hab 2:4 1Ti 3:6 Rev 13:5,6 the Lord: Da 4:37 Ge 14:19 Ps 115:16 and they: Da 5:2-4 1Sa 5:1-9 praised: Jdg 16:23 which: Ps 115:4-8 135:15-17 Isa 37:19 46:6,7 Hab 2:18,19 1Co 8:4 in whose: Ge 2:7 Job 12:10 34:14,15 Ps 104:29 146:4 Isa 42:5 Ac 17:25,28,29 in whose: Job 31:4 Ps 139:3 Pr 20:24 Jer 10:23 Heb 4:13 You have not glorified: Ro 1:21, 22, 23 Daniel 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries But you - Stark contrast with Nebuchadnezzar. Notice the three charges by Daniel against Nebuchadnezzar - (1) He had not humbled his heart even though he knew about God and His good works through the life of Nebuchadnezzar. (Da 5:22). (2) He deliberately mocked God by desecrating God's holy vessels… this was sin that reflected willful defiance and not ignorance! (3) He worshiped idols. “If God held Belshazzar responsible, my friend, for the ray of light which shone across his pathway, what will He say to men living in the blaze of light which illuminates the world today? Every unconverted man in this country has more light than Belshazzar had.” (Talbot) Exalted yourself (Same word Nebuchadnezzar used in Da 4:37! ) - How? He exalted the gods, the dead idols, over the Living God and in so doing exalted as it were, SELF over SAVIOR. Belshazzar imagined that he was master of his own fate and captain of his own soul. Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. (Pr 16:18) Praised the gods of silver and gold… which do not see, hear or understand - Daniel was not timid (cp 2Ti 1:7) but bold and therefore gives a scorching sarcastic assessment of the worthlessness and vanity of idol worship! Do you see the irony? Belshazzar's gods were mute, but Daniel's God was communicating with written words on the plaster wall! God is whose hand are your life-breadth (Somewhat interpretative = NIV "God who holds in his hand your life"; Even more interpretative = "God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!") - Remember hand usually refers to power, so Belshazzar's very ability to take a breath was as the result of the power of God! The same hand that warned of judgment is the same hand that gives breath to every person alive, whether they be sinner or saint. Note the striking contrast between the absolute power of living God and the abysmal powerlessness of the dead idols! Little wonder that the OT often uses a Hebrew word (hebel - see below) for "idols" which means vanity! (cp Dt 32:21, 1Ki 16:13, 26, 2Ki17:15; Je2:5; 8:19, Je10:8, 15; 51:18; Jonah 2:9; Ps 31:6). Beloved, why do we persist (I'm speaking to us as believers in this exhortation) in chasing after the wind? Vanity, vanity all is vanity! Note that Vanity = Hebrew word "hebel" = vapor, breath, emptiness, transitory, unsatisfactory (unsatisfying!) Notice the juxtaposition of man's responsibility (and accountability) (exalted yourself… God… you have not glorified) and God's sovereignty (in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways)! This should cause all of us to walk humbly with our God. Many Scriptures echo this truth that our life is in the hands of the Most High God's sovereign control (truth that can either frighten or comfort)… Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way? (Pr 20:24) Since his (man's) days are determined, The number of his months is with Thee, And his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass. (Job 14:5) Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? (Job 12:9, 10) Ps 139:16 Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. These truths should cause us to have a reverential awe (holy fear) of God but can also give one a blessed assurance when our loved ones die, for we know that God has determined each of our days. Rest in this great truth about God and don't let thoughts like these bother you when a loved one dies - ''If only I'd done this or that''… ''If only I had prayed more.'' Simply bow before the sovereignty of God and know that God holds everyone's life-breath in His hand.
Daniel 5
Wiersbe - There are times when God gives warnings in order to bring sinners to repentance, such as when he sent Jonah to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-10); but there are also times when His warnings are final and divine judgment is determined (Ed: Compare His declaration of judgment on Nineveh only 100 years later - Nahum 1:8-9). When God warned Nebuchadnezzar about his pride and unconcern for the poor, He gave the king a year in which to repent and seek God’s forgiveness (Da 4:28-33-note). The king refused to humble himself and judgment fell. But when Daniel confronted Belshazzar, he offered him no way of escape. (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament ).
Daniel 5
Wiersbe - Belshazzar forgot the Word of God and the lessons of history and lost his kingdom and his life. May we not make the same mistakes today! (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament) Considering the brevity of our life and the "longevity" of eternity, it behooves each of us to not ignore God's "handwriting" in our lives but to… Redeem (exagorazo in the = continually, as the habitual practice of our life!) the time (kairos - see word study) for the days are evil (Eph 5:16-note) See related study - Redeem the Time Let us all ask God to… Teach us to number our days so that we may present to Him a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12-note)