Daniel has been asked to interpret the handwriting on the wall and offered great rewards. His response to the king is found in verse Daniel 5:17.
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.
After reproving the king and plainly stating that no rewards the king could give would determine the message he would bring, he agreed to interpret the handwriting on the wall. Daniel was not a profit for sale, someone who would hedge his message to please his audience.
Daniel consented to interpret the message because he understood it was a message of judgment from God intended for Belshazzar. Depending on Belshazzar’s spiritual condition, the message would either lead to his bona fide repentance and salvation, or serve to confirm his hardened heart in judgment. It was not Daniel’s job to know the result, but only to faithfully deliver the message.
That is true for every preacher of the Word of God. Our responsibility is to faithfully deliver the message, no matter how encouraging or how damning, and leave the results to God’s Spirit.
In the 1988 U. S. Presidential election, a vice-presidential candidate debate took place between Republican Senator Dan Quayle and Democrat Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Quayle, 41, who was constantly on the defensive because of his youth, at one point compared his experience to that of John F. Kennedy when that man ran for president. The much older Bentsen retorted, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
In vv. 18-23, old Daniel essentially gave this young, upstart, interim king the same treatment. “Belshazzar, I served Nebuchadnezzar. I knew Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a friend of mine. Belshazzar, you’re no Nebuchadnezzar.”
Daniel then rehearses the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling (Daniel 4). His purpose in doing so was to impress upon Belshazzar the need for him to humble himself and repent now, before it is too late. Nebuchadnezzar had, eventually, humbled himself. The question is, “Will you, Belshazzar?”
18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.
God’s humbling of Nebuchadnezzar was not only a lesson for him, but also for his kingdom, and for his progeny — and not just his contemporaries but even his grandsons. But this grandson didn’t take notice, and it was too late. “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed” (Dan. 5:30).
David Mathis says, “Learning from God’s humbling of others is vital for each of us, and not just in our own day but in the generations before us. God not only means to humble us all individually — and he has his countless ways of doing so in the tough mercies of his providence — but he also means for us to humble ourselves in response to seeing others humbled, both around us and before us. Wisdom not only humbles herself when prompted by her own humbling, but also in response to the humbling of others” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/humbled-by-the-hand-of-god)
The contrast between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar is highlighted from the opening sentence. Daniel, began, “O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor” (5:18). By implication, Daniel was suggesting that the Most High had given no similar sovereignty or glory to Belshazzar (possibly because he, his father and others had usurped the throne?). Yet even Nebuchadnezzar had received from the Lord true greatness and majesty, along with almost godlike powers to raise up and humble, to kill and keep alive; and when he became arrogant, the Lord had humbled him and brought him down from his lofty perch.
19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.
Daniel hammered home the name “Most High God” (v. 18, 21) to whom actually belongs all the power and sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this the hard way.
So the point of Daniel’s message to Belshazzar is clear and pointed: Nebuchadnezzar did have something to be proud about, and yet the Lord had humbled him. Belshazzar, who had accomplished nothing and fell far short of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements, should have learned from this experience and humbled himself as well. Instead, although Belshazzar knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar, he had still exalted himself against the Most High, sacrilegiously profaning the temple vessels from Jerusalem by using them in an idolatrous act of worship.
So Daniel brought this warning against him, explaining why God was warning him in this way:
22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.
Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah used the title “the Lord (or God) of heaven” to describe Yahweh because this was the title of the chief Syrian god and a title that other people in the Persian Empire gave to their chief god (c. Ezra 1:2; 5:11-12; 6:9-10; 7:12, 23; Neh. 1:4-5; 2:4, 20; Dan. 2:18-19, 34, 44; 5:23). This title implies God’s transcendence over all.
Daniel detailed four sins God was holding Belshazzar accountable for.
22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,
“Daniel, God’s faithful prophet, did not tremble before the king. He had no fear; he had but one duty and responsibility: To be faithful to the Word of God written on the wall, and to tell the king exactly what God had spoken. That is the responsibility of every minister, evangelist, and Bible teacher. We are responsible only to God. A minister called and ordained of God to preach the Gospel, owes his first allegiance to God, regardless of the age or dispensation. He must fear no one save God—and that includes kings, governors, and rulers. He must reprove, rebut, and exhort. A minister need never apologize for preaching ‘Thus saith the Lord’” (Oliver B. Greene, Daniel, p. 196).
“One of the most amazing spectacles in this world is how little men really profit from the judgments of God” (Charles Feinberg, Daniel: The Kingdom of the Lord, p. 69).
First, he rebuked Belshazzar’s sin: “you have not humbled your heart.” Humility is often lacking in those of high position and influence. “The perpetual incense of flattery, coupled with the daily experience of being dependent on no one, and of having every one dependent upon himself, tempts an absolute monarch to feel himself almost a god.—Cowles.”
Instead of trusting in God for his protection, he trusted in the walls of his city. Instead of humbling himself and looking up to God Most High, he worshiped idols who could do nothing for him.
“History is a superb teacher, but Belshazzar failed as a student. He knew the history of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and God’s subsequent judgment, but he failed to learn from it” (David Jeremiah, Agents of Babylon, p. 159). He refused to humble himself. “This was not a case of ignorance; it was arrogant defiance. It matters what we know, and it matters how we respond” (Ibid, p. 159).
It reminds us of Paul’s diagnosis of all of us in our fallenness and depravity before God “makes us alive” (Eph. 2:5), “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Eph. 4:18). Did you notice that last statement. Yes, ignorance is there, but it is present because of our “hardness of heart.” It is not a mental deficiency in us, but a moral deficiency. That is why we need a new heart (Ezek. 36:25-27).
Let us take warning from this.
How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:29)
Paul tells us that it is not ignorance, but hardness of heart that condemns us (Eph. 4:18).
23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them.
Second, and more serious, Belshazzar had dishonored and demeaned the Most High, the God of heaven, “by taking precious implements created for His worship and desecrating them with the worst kinds of sinful indulgence. It was a brazen display of impiety and contempt” (David Jeremiah, Agents of Babylon, p. 160). This was blasphemy against God.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had made a similar mistake—exhibiting extreme pride and mocking God. “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted up your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!” (Isaiah 20:37).
Jeremiah had predicted Babylon’s eventual fall from pride exhibited against the Holy One of Israel. ““Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” (Jere. 50:29).
The judgment of Belshazzar’s Babylon prefigures God’s judgment of the prideful works of man on a global scale in the ultimate day of the Lord. “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low… And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11-12, 17)
Third, and worst of all, Belshazzar dishonored the living God because he worshiped lifeless idols, using the instruments made for the worship of the one true God.
And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.
Everything Belshazzar owned came from God (1 Chronicles 29:14). But instead of worshipping the living God out of gratitude for His gifts, Belshazzar worshiped inanimate idols made of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not hear or see or know (Deuteronomy 4:28; Psalm 115:5-7; 135:16-17).
Belshazzar chose to worship dead images instead of the true living God of heaven, “in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10). Thus, like these lifeless idols, he would die.
The problem with idols is, as we worship them we become like them.
“What we revere is what we resemble, either for ruin or for restoration!” says Gregory Beale in his monumental book We Become What We Worship. His contention, based upon numerous Old Testament passages, is that we become like what we worship.
The Scriptures paint a realistic but unfavorable picture of the viability of idols. Unseeing eyes, unhearing ears, ignorant hearts. This is the idol in Isaiah 42:17-20 and also of the one who succumbs to idolatry in Isaiah 6:9-10. The equating of the two is obvious in Isaiah 43:8-10 and 44:8-20, esp. v. 18,
“They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.”
Throughout the Bible there are literally hundreds of cases that illustrate this: Lot’s wife becoming salt (Gen 19:17, 26, Deut. 29:23), Solomon’s many wives leading to the division of his kingdom (1 Kings 11), the “belly-gods” of the Judaizers (Phil. 3:18-19), the creature worshippers in Romans 1:18-32. Psalm 115 gives us the locus classicus of this doctrine.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
Unlike the true, “living God,” Belshazzar’s gods “do not see or hear or know.” The true, “living God,” whose hand wrote upon the wall, held Belshazzar’s life in His very hands (Job 12:10; Isa. 42:5; Acts 17:25-28). If he were to withdraw His Spirit and breath, all flesh would perish (Job 34:14-15; Ps. 104:29). None of the idols could do that. And Belshazzar, “you have not honored” the true God.
This was Belshazzar’s grave mistake. I hope that it is not yours. Let me ask you, have you honored the true and living God, or do you unwittingly worship idols.
What are the idols of our day? They are not made out of metal, but are mental idols, things like success, riches, fame, power, pleasure, sex, ambition, even our families and our ministries can become idols.
An idol is anything that we love and sacrifice for, anything we trust to give us the joy and satisfaction that truly only God can give us.
Let’s follow the Apostle John’s concluding advice in his first epistle: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Grace Still Amazes 