Daniel 5:18-31

Rachel Workman: There isn’t much I can add to today’s reading. I know plenty of people who see but don’t respond or believe. I pity them.

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John Burnett:  ^18 [a]O king, the Most High God granted ^[b]sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. ¹⁹ Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every^[c]language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. ²⁰ But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so ^[d]proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. ²¹ He was also driven away from ^[e]mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. ²² Yet you, his ^[f]son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, ^[g]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. ²⁴ Then the^[h]hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.  Verse 21 is one that we should remember during this election season.  God will set up whomever He wishes according to the council of His will.

²⁵ “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘^[i]MENĒ, ^[j]MENĒ,^[k]TEKĒL, ^[l]UPHARSIN.’ ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the ^[m]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 ^[n]Persians.”

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 ^[o]third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. ^31 [p]So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.  God is control and already had someone planning to execute His will and justice on Belshazzar.  Jesus, Himself, will come back to judge and the same righteous judgement exacted on Belshazzar will happen to those who don’t humble themselves and realize their need for a Savior.  The judge paid the penalty for the lawbreakers and blesses those who have humbled themselves and put their trust in His work on the cross.  Thank you Jesus.

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Krista Cook:  We must learn from those who have lived before us.  Had Belteshazzar listened to the stories his father told and the lessons he had learned about God, Belteshazzar could have spared himself.

We must do 2 things:  remember to share our lessons with the younger and listen to the lessons of the older.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Daniel 6:1-9

6 ^[a]It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, ² with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. ⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

⁶ So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! ⁷ The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. ⁸ Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” ⁹ So King Darius put the decree in writing.