Daniel 5:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Daniel 5:1-12. Let’s go!
Daniel 5:1-4 (NIV)
1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.
3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.
4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
On verses 1-4: After succeeding his father Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon, Belshazzar holds a massive and lavish banquet. He takes the gold and silver goblets that belonged in the temple in Jerusalem and uses them to drink at his party. What can we learn from this? Both the spirit of secularism and the Holy Spirit are in the business of repurposing things, just in opposite directions. The spirit of secularism wants to take that which belongs in God’s house and use it for purposes that exclude God and that exalt something other than God. The Spirit of God wants to take that which belongs to the world, sanctify it and use it to bring God glory.
Daniel 5:5-6 (NIV)
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.
6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
On verses 5-6: When we’re living in sin, living in ways we’re not supposed to, even then God will make it a point to let us see the hand of God in some way. Because He loves us and does not give up on us easily, He will do something to get our attention. It is then up to us how we will respond. Will we turn back to Him or will we run away from Him?
Daniel 5:7-12 (NIV)
7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.
9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
10 The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “O king, live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!
11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father–your father the king, I say–appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
12 This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
On verses 7-12: In response to a problem that was too difficult for King Belshazzar to solve, the queen encouraged King Belshazzar to call on Daniel (v12), someone to whom God had given special favour and ability.
In a similar way, the Bible says that there are certain problems in life that are much too difficult for any human being to solve. The two biggest problems we face are: (1) all of us will die one day; and (2) because of our sin, we can’t on our own merit reach heaven or have anything to do with God. But because God loves us, He solved our two biggest problems for us by sacrificing Himself. When we couldn’t get to where God is, God came to where we are by sending Jesus Christ the Son of God. After Jesus lived the perfect life that none of us could live, he died on the cross to pay for our sins and then rose again to show that death and sin have no power over Him. So through Jesus, our two biggest and most insurmountable problems are solved. Jesus solved the problem of our sin by dying on the cross so that we could be forgiven. Jesus solved the problem of death by rising again so that those who place their trust in Jesus Christ have the hope of eternal life even after we die. Praise God! Through Jesus Christ, our sins can be forgiven and we have hope that is stronger than the grave. And if Jesus was able to conquer our two biggest problems in life, how will he not also be able to help you conquer whatever problem you may be facing today.
Just as King Belshazzar had someone to call on when he was facing an insurmountable problem, so we have someone to call on when facing our insurmountable problems: His name is Jesus. Let’s call on Him.
King Jesus, thank You that I have You to call on when I face problems I don’t know how to solve on my own. I call on You now for help. The fact is, I can’t do anything without You. Thank You for all the ways You try to get my attention. I pray I would respond to You in a way that pleases You. Thank You that when I was heading down a road of being an instrument used for meaningless purposes, You took me and repurposed my life, giving me a new reason to live. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
