Let's turn our Bibles this morning to the Book of Daniel, the Book of Daniel, Chapter 5, continuing our study of the book. We're almost at the halfway point, Chapter 6. When we get there, we will switch back to our series in Romans and spend some time in Romans, Chapters 6 through 8. Before us this morning, though, is chapter 5 of the Book of Daniel. The sermon is based on the entire chapter, so we'll read all of the chapter from verse 1 through 31. This is God's inspired Word. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whilst he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princess, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem. And the king and his princess, his wives, and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came four fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another. And the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing. nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished. 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 forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. 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, For as much as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing 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 show the interpretation. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake 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? 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. 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 show the interpretation of the thing. 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. 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. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. 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. But when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from this, his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beast, 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 appointed over it whomsoever he will. And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this. but has 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. Then was the part of the hand sent from him, and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written. Many, many tico you fasten. This is the interpretation of the thing. Many, God have numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tico, thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. 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. In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old. Thus far we read from God's holy inspired word. May he bless the reading of his word. Steadfast. Steadfastness in the law. Beloved congregation, from Daniel as a young adult in chapters one through four, to now Daniel a much older man, long after Nebuchadnezzar had passed away here in chapter five. Daniel, by the grace of God, stood steadfastly through that all on the side of God. The great world kingdom of Babylon, which had raised Jerusalem to the ground, and which had overcome and conquered Judah, and carried away so many of her sons and daughters captive into her land, was soon coming to and end. Through it all, one thing that remained constant was Daniel daring to stand alone for God, daring to do so over against great opposition and adversity. What an example Daniel was. to God's people in his day and to us and to our children. Yes, children, are you listening? To our children also in our day today. What a great example Daniel is. But yet another thing that remained constant here throughout these chapters was also this, the impenitent, hardened kingship of Babylon. from Nebuchadnezzar and now moving on to Belshazzar here in chapter five. Both were proud, arrogant men. And it is the pride of Belshazzar which makes things come to a head here in chapter five. In pride, he led a vile celebration against Jehovah only to be rudely interrupted by him. An interruption concluded by a swift execution of divine judgment. Notice with me then, I'll text this morning under the theme, Wade and found wanting. A vile celebration and holy interruption and a swift execution of judgment. A vile celebration and holy interruption and a swift execution of judgment. The word we consider this morning begins with a vile celebration. Or was it? We read of it being described in verse one this way, as a great feast. And to be sure, technically, it was a great feast. There were many, many, many people present. And as well, there was all kinds, doubtless all kinds of yummy, sumptuous, good, delicious food there. And certainly in the eyes of Belshazzar and the world, that was all it was, a great feast. And that evaluation of the greatness of this feast goes beyond the number of guests present, as well as the good food that was present. There was wine. Holy Spirit makes that a point to mention that to us. There was wine, lots of wine, and we are told they drank that stuff. And drinking that stuff, they praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, and stone. And beyond that, of course, there were the VIPs in attendance, those dignitaries called lords, thousands of high-ranking court officials in the Babylonian Empire. And as well, there were the princes. There were the wives and as well the concubines, notice that plural too, concubines and that word giving us a pretty good indication that this was a party, a wild party, a public orgy. A drunken debauchery of a party. A great, great party in the eyes of Belshazzar and of the world, the world then and the world today, especially when it comes to ringing in another year. But was it a great party? Was it just that, a great feast? Or was it, well and indeed, a vile celebration? Beloved is ungodly speech and loose behavior, all in the name of fun, fun, fun at the very least, a great feast or a vile celebration. One thing quickly leads to another in that kind of situation where there's absolutely no regard for personal holiness. And on the contrary, in the case of our text, there is an unholy passion burning, burning to sin against Jehovah. There is not only ungodly speech, you see, and loose behavior, which all by itself is bad, bad, bad stuff. There is also all the ongoing activities with the king and his concubines, the princes and the many men and women that are present. There's a debauchery of drunkenness all around. Make no mistake, beloved, this was a vile, a very vile celebration. And besides Belshazzar and his wives, notice plural, and concubines, and the thousand lords, we should note for the sake of understanding the whole picture, who else was present there that night? Who were present? Significantly, we are told of the queen in Daniel chapter five, who was undoubtedly really the queen mother. who had an influence upon matters as they befell as things happened in the night of the vow celebration. There's that queen mother. And we must not also be remiss to point out that Belshazzar, while he was the king, was not directly the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Now scripture calls Nebuchadnezzar his father in verse 18, merely identifying him as a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. He was not a son though, but a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. and whose father and first ruler of the empire was one called Nabodinus, N-A-B-O-D-I-N-U-S, Nabodinus, who was undoubtedly very old by this time, who was the emeritus king and first ruler of the empire. This meant then that Belshazzar, though he was king, was only the second ruler. And this is why later on in the story, Belshazzar offered the reward of the third ruler to the wise men in general first, and then later on to Daniel, whom he grew up with and was a peer to. Daniel was his peer. third ruler then being the position of the highest power beneath Belshazzar. Beloved, this was a vile celebration. It was a godless one to begin with. Godless one, a great feast of 1,000 of his lords meant to highlight his very own greatness as king and vile not only because of the drunken debauchery that was evident, but also the wild activities of an orgy taking place, but also and especially something that was hideously, very, very offensive and vile. to God, intensely and profoundly offensive to the holy God of Israel, the God most high. And what was that? Well, to begin with, look at verse 2 with me. Belshazzar, that verse reads, whilst he tasted the wine, the idea is while he was drinking that stuff, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princess, his wives and his concubines might drink therein. Short answer, he profaned that which was holy unto the Lord. He profaned the holy instruments of the temple of Jehovah. Now the king, we should note, gave this command in a state of drunken debauchery, as we pointed out when verse 2 was being read. He gave this command while he was non-sober. And that's a warning to all of us. Of what? much wine can do. Oh yes, we all know, don't we, in Reformed circles, that there is nothing wrong with drinking wine at all, especially in controlled, small, disciplined portions. The scriptures tell of the salutary nature of wine in various ways. Wine maketh the heart merry, there's a proverb there, That says that. And besides, children, do you remember the very first miracle Jesus performed at the wedding feast in Cana? That's right, he turned water into wine. Wine. Now, if wine was a bad substance, Jesus wouldn't have turned the water to wine, would he? There's nothing wrong with drinking wine. In control. small disciplined amounts. But notice, beloved, that scripture also tells us that wine is strong, strong drink. And we should respect that word strong. strong, or would the Reformed churches today respect that word strong? Wine is a strong drink, so that drinking it in excess can lead to very wretched, very wretched, sinful behavior, so that one becomes hardened to commit very crass and very lewd, sinful things. and likely that was what happened here with Belshazzar. What did he do? Arguably the worst thing he could ever do, he ordered the holy vessels of Jehovah, holy vessels of his temple, meant to be used in holy, sacred devotion to Jehovah, to be used in this wild orgy and a vile celebration in dedication of the idol gods of Babylon, a terrible abomination that is. And so we ask the deeper question, don't we, immediately, why? What explains the king's vile command and behavior? Just one word, really. Pride. Pride. And pride born out of hatred against Jehovah and his people. Now God himself gives us that explanation later on in the narrative in the verses 22 and 3. And thou, verse 22, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, that speaks of pride, and verse 23, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, that too speaks of pride. He has lifted up himself against God. indicating that Belshazzar was well aware of what Jehovah had done to his grandfather. Right, children? Remember last time in chapter four, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? His being humbled to the dust as a creature of the earth? He hated Jehovah for that. And now on this night, where he had a great party with all his lords assembled before him. Extolling his greatness, he was going to put Jehovah in his place. By using the very temple vessels that his grandfather had taken from the temple of Jehovah, and use them here in service of his vile celebration. and worship to the idol gods of his nation. That's his plan, and that's exactly what happened, isn't it? That's what the king wanted, and so we have here a gathering together of this ungodly mob of people in this vile celebration, and then we read in the verses three and four, then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princess, his wives and his concubines, and drank in them, they drank wine, verse four, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. So now we ask still further, what explains the conduct of these people who worship their Babylonian gods? who engage in all this vile conduct, in this vile celebration of a party. What explains that? I know just one answer. That kind of conduct flows and oozes out of the idol gods made by their own vain imaginations. That's always the case, isn't it, beloved? Just think, for example, of the goddess in ancient Greece, that goddess Diana, who held sway, especially not only in the nation, but in Ephesus. Recall, as we studied the book of Ephesians, we had pointed out that public baths were all over that city. Why? because that's all part of the conduct and way of worship of this immoral goddess, Diana. So here then, the worshipers of the Babylonian idols reflected the immorality of the gods of materialism and carnal pleasure that they had raised. The same applies to us today, beloved. Modern man today, of course, who do not go out of the way to make, literally make, idol gods of gold and silver and bronze. Man has morphed and developed now very smartly that that's a waste of time. No need to make those things. Just have those invisible gods in their heart and mind. gods of materialism, of carnal pleasure, and worship the very same gods, having the very same values of these Babylonian gods, here in chapter five in the book of Daniel. Beloved, understand that if we erect and worship a god of materialism in our hearts, it will show it will show very evidently in how we live our lives. There will be materialism at the center of our life and thinking. Material centeredness in our priorities, in our giving and withholding, in our regard of what is important and what is not, how we spend our time, our money, and so on. And yes, on the other hand, if we truly worship Jehovah in our heart, then that will also show itself clearly. It will show itself in a God-centeredness in our heart and way of life, in our priorities, our choices in life, with regard to our spouses, our children, in the kind of jobs and vocations we avoid and choose to have, in our avoidance of Sunday labor as much as possible, in our reverence and fear of Jehovah, so that we stay far and clear away from anything, all and anything that would kindle the holy wrath and righteous anger of Jehovah. But that, beloved, was unfortunately what happened with Belshazzar. That's what Belshazzar did when he profaned the holy vessels of Jehovah's temple that very night. And that resulted in a prompt response from Jehovah in his holy interruption of his ungodly feast and vile celebration. Now, the account of this holy interruption of Jehovah and the ensuing events is found recorded in the verses 5 through 13. Beginning in verse five, so we read, in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, having no regard for the king's palace, just writes on that wall. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. As Belshazzar's wild party continued to profane the temple vessels of Jehovah, suddenly some terrifying fingers of a man's head appeared from nowhere and abruptly interrupted the vile celebration and laughter of the party of the king. And then those fingers began to write handwriting on the wall. Belshazzar's reaction of those terrifying fingers that appeared out of nowhere was that of panic and fear. His countenance, we are told, that is the color of his face, changed. He was deeply troubled within, So that, verse six, we read, the joints of his loins were loose, and his knees, children, his knees smoked one against another. And then the king cried aloud out of fear and panic for all his wise men, all that is but one, in his pride, all but one, Daniel, the chief one, to please read the handwriting on the wall, and to please interpret that, and whoever does that would be rewarded by becoming the third ruler of his great world kingdom. But of course, like a broken record, we read in these chapters in Daniel, None of these wise men could do that. In this case, the writing was written in Aramaic. They could not even read the Aramaic. Well, this is when the queen mother appears and she steps in. to provide some needed composure and calmness to the whole situation. And then reminding Belshazzar that he had left out the chief. Imagine that. You forgot, grandson, the chief of all your wise men, Daniel, your peer. and who was the only one of the wise men who could give and did indeed give the right interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar's dreams and visions. So Belshazzar then recalled Daniel. He called Daniel for his help at the Queen Mother's advice and promised the very same reward to him. Daniel's response is recorded in the verses 14 through 21, which we sum briefly this way. Daniel told his king that he had zero interest in the reward being offered him, but that he would nonetheless read for him the writing and interpret it for him, the handwriting that was on the wall. reminding him of the abiding truth of the absolute sovereignty of God, which had been set forth to his grandfather many years ago. Then getting to the heart of the matter, Daniel declares the righteous judgment of this holy God upon Belshazzar. Verses 22 and three, O thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this. Verse 23, 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 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?" In other words, you knew All you have done, your gathering of that motley crew for that vile celebration, as well as your command to bring in the holy vessels of Jehovah in praise of your idol gods, are all done in pride. And you knew, King, you knew what Jehovah had done to your grandfather. You knew, and instead of humbling yourself before him, you respond in exactly the opposite way, in pride and defiance and arrogance against him. You knew, you knew, and so Jehovah God has determined to deliver you this message through these terrifying fingers. And Belshazzar's main sin was pride. Pride against Jehovah and how Jehovah hates pride. That's one of the sins singled out in the book of Proverbs in the saying there of the seven things that the Lord hates, pride is one of them. But beloved, it wasn't the only sin. There was of course the drunken debauchery. There was the orgy of a wild party. There was the violation against the first commandment in the worship of the Babylonian idols. But pride, you see, was the main sin. Pride that shook its fist against Jehovah. When those holy vessels were used to blaspheme him. A pride rooted in hatred and vengeance for what God had done to his grandfather. The penetrating eye of Jehovah identifies pride as the main sin of Belshazzar as he executed his kingly office, gathering all his officials together to sin against him. Beloved, God will not be mocked. God will not If this account teaches us nothing else, it teaches us that first. What does he do? He pronounces a righteous judgment right there and then, through those terrifying fingers appearing from nowhere, and writing before a horror-struck Belshazzar, those words on the wall, which Daniel now reads and interprets. Many, many tico you fasten. Many, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tico, thou art weighed in the balances of God and found wanting. And then, peres, the root of the word euphasin, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided. is the righteous judgment of the holy God against the Babylonian king Belshazzar. The handwriting was on the wall for the king and his mighty world kingdom. Jehovah God has in his word to us this morning a word of warning to us. As we said moments ago, he hates pride and how he pronounces righteous judgment upon all who lift themselves up against him. But you see, even that specific warning from this account of the handwriting on the wall is still lacking one detail. So what then is exactly the specific warning here? This, beloved, sinning the sin of pride against Jehovah when we know better. Sinning against Him in pride when we know better. better. And that goes back once again to verse 22 where Jehovah very significantly speaks through his prophet and says, thou has not humbled thine heart though thou knew. You knew all this. You didn't need the queen mother to remind you, you knew all this. Belshazzar, who was a peer to Daniel and grew up with him, knew that Daniel was the only one able to interpret the handwriting on the wall. And if he forgot that his position as chief wise man surely reminded him of that, even much more, he knew the God whom Daniel served. the one who gave those dreadful dreams to his grandfather, he knew Jehovah God was the one true God, the absolutely sovereign one who is in control of all things in heaven and on earth, who raises kings up and at the same time brings them down in his good pleasure and time. He knew, but he suppressed, he held down the truth of God in unrighteousness. Does that sound familiar, people of God? Takes us back to Romans chapter 1, doesn't it? about what man does with the knowledge of God in creation, the evident and clear knowledge of God in creation, that God is God. What does man do still today with that knowledge? He suppresses, he holds down that truth in unrighteousness. He rejects that knowledge, he rejects that God, and he replaces Him with the worship of idols, man-olds, and man still continues in pride and arrogance to worship the idol gods. The righteous judgment of holy Jehovah is followed up by a swift execution of divine judgment. Judgment came swiftly for Belshazzar and Babylon that night. that in spite of Belshazzar and what he did as a man of honor, honoring his promise that he would reward Daniel by giving him the position of an honor of being the third ruler of the kingdom, a meaningless reward, because Babylon would fall that very night. And beloved, that meaningless reward given to Daniel Reminds us, doesn't it, that that's all the world can offer to us, to follow after its ways. Meaningless, worthless, temporal thing. That's all they are, temporal things. Only in this case, the temporal nature of this reward is much clearer for all to see, because Babylon would fall that very night. And so we read in the verses 30 and 31, in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old. Lo and behold, while the wild orgy and celebration was going on, the Medes and the Persians were scaling the walls stealthily and coming into this party as uninvited guests to take over the kingdom of Babylon. And so swiftly the just judgment of God came upon the king and his kingdom, whose cup of iniquity filled to the brim that very night. His was a kingship and kingdom ripe for the judgment of God. Beloved, there is a twofold application for us in conclusion. First, a sober warning. A sober warning for us to banish and put away pride. Every form, shape, and size of pride in our hearts and lives. Let our response to this account of Belshazzar be to put away pride, and along with that, put away also the folly of wanton, vile parties and celebrations. And also to know that in and of ourselves, we too, like Belshazzar, when put on God's scales of justice and weight, are also found wanting. Let that knowledge cause us to flee to Jesus and His cross and cling to it alone for our salvation. And then number two. Second application for us this morning would be Jesus Christ, his comfort, and his coming again. For those who love King Jesus, who live our lives in anticipation of his coming again, let us know and be assured that though the captivity of the Old Testament church in Babylon was long, 70 years, It wasn't forever. Let that knowledge encourage us to know that even though our wilderness wanderings here in this world seem so long, it is not also forever. Our days on earth here are numbered. Our destination in heaven certain. Let us know and be reminded that Jesus Christ comes swiftly. He comes again quickly to judge the world, to judge the world justly, and to bring all for whom he died, even you and I, to the unspeakable glories of heaven. Till he comes, let's be steadfast. let's be steadfast in Jehovah's word and ways. Let us remember that God, not man, God is in control of all things, as he was in Daniel's time, and will return to bring swift judgment upon all. the wicked, establishing then an everlasting kingdom of righteousness of which you and I are heirs by his precious blood and through whom we will be dressed with white robes of righteousness and be admitted to a truly great feast in heaven with endless holy celebration and worship of him. Amen. Bless this word, O Lord, cause us to be mindful of who thou art, the fact that thou art holy and righteous, and that, therefore, to take heed to Daniel's example of steadfast faithfulness to thee in maintaining thy holy word and ways in life. Grant to us to know that in the way of so doing, that we know and enjoy the precious comfort that is ours alone, even the comfort of belonging to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray.