Day 9 – The Handwriting on the Wall

Read Daniel 5: 1 – 9

Twenty to thirty years had elapsed between the events of the fourth and fifth chapters and Daniel must have been well past seventy years of age. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, several men ruled Babylon until the son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, rose to the throne. Nabonidus appointed his son, Belshazzar as co-ruler of the kingdom and they ruled simultaneously. Belshazzar was a very wicked man and secular history records that he was simply an awful ruler.
Belshazzar was arrogant and wicked and blasphemous when he decided to insult the one true God by drinking wine from the goblets brought back from the temple. Cyrus, the Persian king, was waiting outside the city gates but Belshazzar thought he was safe. Archeology tells us that the walls that protected the city were over 300 feet high and 85 feet wide. Belshazzar thought he was safe. He and his officers had stored up twenty years of provisions within the city and surely no intruder would ever be able to breach the city walls. Cyrus would soon ingeniously divert the River Euphrates that flowed through the city and his soldiers would walk into Babylon using the riverbed.
God’s hand appears to pronounce judgement on Belshazzar and wipe the smirk off the face of the king. A lifetime of bad choices and debauchery passed before his eyes. His face lost its color and his knees started to knock. Nothing could save him now – not his army, not his drunken friends, and not the money in his storehouse. God had considered his life and found him wanting. That very night he would pay for his sins with his life as God gave him over to his enemies.

Q1. God uses a supernatural sign to instruct and deliver a warning to Belshazzar. Why do you think He did this? Why not simply judge him without the advance warning?

Q2. Through what methods does God instruct you today? What hinders God’s ability to speak to you today? What changes could you make to enhance God’s pipeline for instruction to you?

Q3. Thus far in this study of Daniel, what parallels have you seen between the government, culture, and religion of Babylon and those of modern society?

Final thought: Any nation can be judged, just as Babylon was. America is certainly not immune. Unless we wake up and turn from our own national revelries, God could judge us just as surely and just as severely as he did Babylon. Rather than just complain about conditions in our society, II Chronicles 7:14 gives instructions to God’s people on what they should do if they are concerned about the sins of their country.