DANIEL 5:10
The Bible says in Daniel 5:10-12, Now the
queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet
house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy
thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:[11] There is
a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days
of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods,
was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy
father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;[12]
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding,
interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of
doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now
let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. There was one person who remembered Daniel and his skill
and wisdom. The queen remembered Daniel. Of course, the purpose was to get
Daniel to interpret the handwriting on the wall. They needed someone. They just
could not interpret the writing for themselves. There is an interesting
parallel to the written Word of God, and the fact that God gives the gift of
teaching to some of the believers. People need to be taught. Jesus is the
Master, the great Teacher; and Jesus has chosen to use others to whom He has
given the gift to teach. It says in Ephesians 4:7-12, But unto
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.[8]
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and
gave gifts unto men.[9] (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?[10] He that
descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he
might fill all things.)[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
One of
the things that the queen said that Daniel was good at was dissolving
of doubts. Too bad that more people are not
good at that. Many people are plagued by doubts. Some people doubt the
existence of God. Some people doubt their salvation. Some people doubt that
they will go to heaven. Some people doubt that they are forgiven or that God
loves them. Some people doubt that things will turn out alright in the end.
Doubts cause tremendous damage to the spirit and the minds of people. How was
Daniel able to dissolve doubts: through faith. Faith destroys doubt, casts it
off, and puts it down. Faith dissolves doubt. Daniel knew that God could do
anything. If God can do anything, then that means that I can trust in the Lord
to resolve any problem and to accomplish any task. The Bible says in Matthew
19:26, But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is
impossible; but with God all things are possible. It
also says in Mark 9:23, Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth. Paul an Apostle wrote in
Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
The Bible says in Daniel 5:13-16, Then was
Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art
thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the
king my father brought out of Jewry?[14] I have even heard of thee, that
the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and
excellent wisdom is found in thee.[15] And now the wise men, the
astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this
writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not
shew the interpretation of the thing:[16] And I have heard of thee, that
thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read
the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be
clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the
third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel being brought before the
king had everything to do with Daniels reputation. Daniel was known to be the
best at what he did. That is a common circumstance for believers. The people of
the world would be wise to look for believers to hire and to put in places of
responsibility. True Christians are honest, hard-working, reliable, respectful,
and do not use drugs or alcohol. Of course, Christians also have God to help
them in their daily tasks, which helps explain why they perform better than
someone else who has equal abilities.
The Bible says in Daniel 5:17, Then Daniel
answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy
rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known
to him the interpretation. Daniel refused silver, gold, or anything else that King
Belshazzar offered him. Daniel said, Let
thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another. The truth is not for sale. Whoever attempts to sell
truth, will lose the truth. No one should ever claim to be serving God, and
then try to benefit from it financially. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Paul, an apostle, wrote about the requirements for someone to be a pastor in
First Timothy 3:3, Not given to wine, no
striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not
covetous; The word lucre refers to
money. If you are a preacher of the gospel, do everything in your power to
present the gospel free and without charge to anyone. Jesus paid for our
salvation with His precious blood, and so no one should ever get the impression
that they should have to pay something to hear truth.
The Bible says in Daniel 5:18-22, O thou king,
the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and
glory, and honour:[19] And for the majesty that he gave him, all people,
nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew;
and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would
he put down.[20] But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened
in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from
him:[21] And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made
like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with
grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that
the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it
whomsoever he will.[22] And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled
thine heart, though thou knewest all this; Belshazzar should
have learned from Nebuchadnezzar, his father, but he did not. Nebuchadnezzar
had been a great and proud king, but God humbled him so that he learned the
truth, and evidently Nebuchadnezzar became a true believer. But Belshazzar did
not learn from his father. Belshazzar went back to an ungodly lifestyle and
heathen beliefs. This is a common occurrence. People get born into a Christian
family, but do not appreciate the opportunity that has been given to them to
hear the Gospel of Christ at an early age. They are attracted to the world, and
they go for the world whole-heartedly. But it all catches up to them sooner or
later. The measure of your responsibility is the measure of your opportunity.
In verse 22 it says, And thou his son, O
Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this Judgment must surely come to those who throw away such
spiritual opportunities. And that is exactly what happened to Belshazzar.
The Bible says in Daniel 5:23-25, But hast
lifted up thyself against the LORD of heaven; and they have brought the vessels
of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver,
and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know:
and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou
not glorified:[24] Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this
writing was written.[25] And this is the writing that was written, MENE,
MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Daniel is speaking these words. Once again we see that
Daniel was truthful, brave, and direct. Daniel did not fear the king. Daniel
feared God, and therefore, Daniel presented Gods Word truthfully. These words
written on the wall were Gods words, written by Gods hand. We have the same
assignment to day that Daniel had over 2,500 years ago. We take the written
Word of God, and we declare its meaning to the world around us.
Daniel gave the meaning of the three
words that were written on the wall. Daniel interpreted the Word of God. Because
Daniel knew the Lord, walked with the Lord, and was gifted by the Lord to
interpret the Word, Daniel was able to give the proper interpretation. One of
the differences between a false teacher and a teacher from God is that only the
teacher from God has the correct interpretation. Be careful whom you listen to
or you might be listening to the wrong interpretation. The Bible says in Daniel
5:26-31, This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered
thy kingdom, and finished it.[27] TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the
balances, and art found wanting.[28] PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and
given to the Medes and Persians.[29] Then commanded Belshazzar, and they
clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a
proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.[30]
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.[31] And
Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
The Aramaic word MENE is used twice in a row. This puts an emphasis on the
fact that God has measured Belshazzar and doubly so. God is the Judge. God
watches everything that everyone does very closely. That is a scary thought. It
is a good thing for believers that we have Jesus as our Savior. It is a
terrible thing for unbelievers because they must give an account without having
a Savior, and that is not going to end well. As it says in Revelation 20:11-15,
And I saw a great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there
was found no place for them.[12] And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works.[13] And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.[14]
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[15]
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.
We could say that the handwriting on
the wall was a prophecy about what was going to happen, but it was also a
warning to Belshazzar. If he had taken that warning to heart, he could have
used that as an opportunity to repent and turn to the Lord, but unfortunately
for him, there is not evidence that he did that. The same warning is given by
the Spirit of God and by the Word of God to every person on this earth. Life is
short and life is temporary. You will stand before God soon. Turn to Jesus and
ensure that you have an entrance into heaven instead of an exit into hell.
In Daniel 5:30-31 we move to the
second kingdom of the last four great kingdoms. It says, In that
night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.[31] And Darius the
Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. In the image
that Nebuchadnezzar saw, the
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved