Daniel Chapters 4-5 Counting The Cost

Today we're going to be going through Daniel chapter 4 and about half of Daniel chapter 5.

These two chapters, brethren, are very critical in our understanding of how we are to walk with God as modern Christians. There are a couple of very critical concepts here that we're going to be seeing in these two chapters. Number one, the need for deep humility before our great God. The need for deep humility before our great God. And secondly, that there comes a time of judgment. There comes a time of judgment. Chapter 5 is the famous handwriting on the wall chapter. And certainly, brethren, we can look at that from a prophetic perspective. But we also can look at it from an individual and personal perspective. When God puts the handwriting on our personal wall, are we paying attention to what He is saying? We heard a very good sermonette about complacency and so forth and not just being so blah spiritually. We need to take note of where we are in the world and our own spiritual lives. And certainly, these two chapters, especially chapter 5, will get into that, taking a look at our personal handwriting on the wall. Now, in terms of a timeline from Daniel chapter 3 to Daniel chapter 4, most scholars believe that there's probably a good 30-year jump in time from chapter 3 to chapter 4. Daniel and his three friends are probably in their 20s. At this point, Daniel is now in his 50s, so time has moved along here. Time has moved along. One of the things we're going to see in chapter 4 is this concept of pride. Pride. And certainly for us as Christians, we want no part of that. That's why during the Days of Unleavened Bread we eat that flat bread. Pride is one of the worst evils on earth today. It has caused so much pain, so much anguish. The prince of the power of the air loves to try to fill our hearts full of pride. People today want to look at their social status. They want to look at their achievements, their education, their talents, their bank accounts, the car they drive, the house they live in. And even by themselves, those things aren't bad. But we can have pride in those things in a very negative way.

Now, in terms, brethren, of the church, one of the things I've come to truly detest over the years that I've been in God's church is pride in what it's done to our community. When I think about the various splits that have taken place in the Church of God, starting back with 1995, in large measure these splits have been because there were individuals who thought they knew better than anybody else, and they had to have their way. 1995 was very clear that the leadership of the church we most of us were attending, the Worldwide Church of God, that there were those who thought, boy, you know, the world out there, there's good people out there. And they do these wonderful things, the missionaries and all the things they do. And they've got to be Christians. And, well, if they're Christians, then their doctrine is right. And if their doctrine is right, our doctrine is wrong.

And, of course, as I've commented to you in the past, Mr. Armstrong talked about that. The two trees, he talked about that and talked about that. And those who finally left as apostates, left because they wanted to take the tree of good and evil. They thought what they saw was good, but they weren't seeing the evil, the doctrinal heresy. Since that point in 95, we've had a number of other splits. And, again, I apologize to you as a minister of the faith, because it's not been you as members who have caused these splits. It's been people in the ministry who have caused these splits. Again, they wanted their point of view. They wanted to be in charge. They wanted things to go their way. And if they couldn't get it their way, they would take the ball and go their own way. And, of course, that's caused an awful lot of hurt. So I bring that up as a point of emphasis as to why we need to think very deeply about this situation of pride. We want no part of that. It's caused a lot of hurt to God's people over the years, and we want to reject that.

So as we take a look now at chapter 4 of the book of Daniel, one of the lessons we learn, in addition to what we're just talking about, is that God can inspire any human being to do his bidding. Because here in Daniel chapter 4 we've got a very unusual circumstance. In Daniel chapter 4 we've got a person, Nebuchadnezzar, not a godly man by any stretch, not in the Old Testament church, in the wilderness. He was a pagan, if you want to use that word, and he wrote, virtually, the whole fourth chapter. So something to keep in mind. God can inspire the ungodly to do the godly, to do his bidding. Now why is that important for us today? Well, we may have people in our lives, maybe an employer, maybe a next-door neighbor, maybe a relative. We want God to soften their heart. We want God to work with them. We hope that God would work with them in terms of bringing them along and converting them. But if not, at least seeing certain principles so that their life would be enriched, and they in turn would enrich our lives. So that being the case, now let's turn our attention to the book itself. Daniel chapter 4 verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell on all the earth. So here we see the man, the king, one of the great kings of the ancient world, and he's sending out this letter to the whole realm. Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the most high God has worked for me. Well, yes, he thought it was good, but he thought it was good because God inspired him to think it was good. This is God inspiring him. Verse 3. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion is from generation to generation. Again, this is interesting for Nebuchadnezzar, who was running the Babylonian empire, the great Babylonian empire, that head of gold that we see in prophecy.

But as great as that empire was, it only lasted 87 years. Of the four major world-ruling empires, it was the shortest. It was the richest in some ways, but it was the shortest.

And so when he's saying in verse 3, your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, well, his kingdom wasn't. His dominion, God's dominion, is from generation to generation. Well, you might get a generation and a half out of those 87 years, but it doesn't go on forever and ever. So important point to take note of there. Verse 4. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, he's resting in the palace, and flourishing in my palace, and I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts of my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

So here he's having an encounter with God again. He's troubled by what he sees here, and he wants some answers. Verse 6. Therefore I issued a decree to bring all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the soothsayers came in, and I told them the dream, but they did not make known to me its interpretation. So notice that unlike the last time, he's telling them what he was dreaming. But again, once again, human nature, going to the wrong sources. He should have learned 30 years ago, let's go right away to Daniel.

He's a man who's got God's Holy Spirit. He understands things. He interprets dreams, but no, he didn't do that first. Human nature being what it was, he went into his own, you know, his own little rut there, and doing something that he was familiar with, as opposed to something that actually worked. Verse 8. But alas, Daniel came before me, notice, at last, last resort, let's call upon God.

At last, Daniel came before me, his name, Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God. So remember all the things he said in chapter 2 and 3 about how God had revealed things to him, and how great the God of Israel was, and so forth. But he's still not getting it all. You know, human nature being the case there. 2. In him is the Spirit of the Holy God. And I told him the dream, saying, Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you.

Explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen and its interpretation. You know, something, brethren, that struck me as I was reading through this and preparing my notes for the sermon today. We understand that we are not to take God's name in vain. I think that's one of the commandments that we are very good at, not taking God's name in vain. We are very careful about how we use God's name and so forth. But there's another way you and I can take God's name in vain that maybe we don't think of sometimes.

And that is that we are sons and daughters of God. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We take that name, son or daughter of God. We take the name Christian seriously. And yet if we live our lives in a way that brings disrepute on the family, we are taking God's name in vain. So it's not just a matter of our word, it's also a matter of our deeds. And notice also here in verse 8 and 9 we see that the king, Nebuchadnezzar, he knows Daniel is different. He may not be able to understand from a doctrinal point of view. We can't quote chapter and verse, but he knows this man has God's spirit.

And certainly as you and I go through our lives, as we interact with our co-workers, our neighbors, our relatives, whoever, we want people to know we're different. And that they can come to us and discuss things with us. And that we have got some answers. Not because we're so brilliant, but because God has opened up our hearts and minds. As I was talking about over at the long study, we are nothing more than conduits from God and God's spirit coming from God to us and flowing through to others. We do our good work so that God is glorified. And certainly this is the case in Daniel's life.

So starting here in verse 10, we see the interpretation coming forward. Verse 10. These were the visions of my head while on my bed. I was looking, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, its height reached to the heavens, and it can be seen to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it. The birds of the heaven dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. Now, as we're going to see the Bible, interpreting the Bible, these three verses, 10, 11, and 12, is talking about King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Now, again, we remember that he didn't do this by himself. As we're going to see in verse 17, this was given to him by the great God. That's one of the themes we see in this book.

That God gave him this wonderful kingdom. I'm sure he was a politically astute man. I'm sure that he was a great general, and he had a lot going from along all those lines. But there were other people like that as astute, as wise, and as great in warfare. But God gave him this kingdom. And what God gives, God can take away. Verse 13, I saw in the visions of my head, well, on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.

Some have thought, perhaps, this is talking about Gabriel. Gabriel was one, a archangel, and you've gotten your booklet on the angels. He was one that gave messages. That was one of his duties. He cried aloud and said, thus verse 14, chop down the tree, cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, scatter its fruit, let the beast get out from under it, and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, and a tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him raise with the beasts on the grass of the earth. So here we see that as God gave him this great empire, God temporarily was going to strip him of all of his powers. Babylon wasn't about to go down at this point, but God was taking an issue personally with Nebuchadnezzar and going to strip him. As these trees are being stripped, he's being stripped. As we're going to see, he's going to be stripped of his rationality. But we also see something else in verse 15. There's going to be left a stump.

Nebuchadnezzar is not going to die. God is going to allow him to live. As we're going to see in a moment, God's going to allow him to grow insane for seven years, not be in his right mind. And then after that, God's going to heal him. God's going to put him back on his throne. Scholars debate how long that period was, so I'm not going to get into that. But he was allowed to get back onto his throne for a time. So that stump represents Nebuchadnezzar after he was healed by God. Verse 16, Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times, seven years, pass over him. Now Nebuchadnezzar was a great general, a great warrior, but he was, as any person who conquers so many different cultures and peoples, could be quite ruthless. He was quite beast-like as he conquered these various peoples. And God is going to turn the tables and say, well, you know, others had to respond to you being a beast. I'm going to let you be a beast for a while. I'm going to let you be a beast for a while. Verse 17, again, this verse is one of the keys to the whole book. This decision is by the decree of the watchers and is sentenced by the word of the holy ones, coming right from God and Jesus Christ, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will, and sets over at the lowest of men. So there we have one of the theme statements in the book.

God gave Nebuchadnezzar this tremendous kingdom, and for seven years God's going to take it away. God's going to get his attention here. Verse 18, This dream my king Nebuchadnezzar hath seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for the Spirit of the holy God is in you.

It might be noted that technically, the phraseology here, Nebuchadnezzar is putting the great God, he's setting him apart from the other gods, but he's not taking away the other gods either. So again, we've got this man's human nature in play. He doesn't fully understand everything.

But he does understand that Daniel has a gift from God. He also understands that his own wise men, who don't have God's Holy Spirit, cannot make known to him the truth. And that's very obvious. Verse 19. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time.

Some translations translate that phrase, astonished for a time, that he stood mute for an hour.

Josephus said he stood mute for an hour, for what it's worth. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time. He knew what the dream meant. Now remember, Daniel had been in Nebuchadnezzar's service for over 30 years at this point. I'm sure that Daniel saw many character flaws in Nebuchadnezzar. But there perhaps were a number of things in Nebuchadnezzar's life that Daniel probably came to admire. And he probably had some feeling for the king. The king was his benefactor in some ways. Obviously, God was the overall benefactor. So there are probably some feelings from one human being to another. And Nebuchadnezzar realized that Daniel, he had something that he needed to say but was hesitant to say it. So the king spoke and said, Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you. He's trying to take Daniel off the hook. He realizes what he's got to say is going to be unpleasant, uncomfortable.

But Nebuchadnezzar wants to know the truth. Belteshazzar answered, Daniel answered, said, My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you and its interpretation concerning your enemies.

Again, him speaking as a man. Verse 20, The tree that you saw which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens, and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home. It is you, O king. So here we see the principle of the Bible interpreting itself. It is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. For your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth. So again, Daniel wants to make sure that this man who had his share of vanity, this man who had his share of pride, he wants to make sure this man realized where all this came from. It came from the great God. Verse 23, Inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze and tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with a dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over. All of that discussion there is about the last part of verse 23 is about Nebuchadnezzar losing his mind. This is the interpretation, verse 24, this is the interpretation, O king, and it's the create of the Most High, which has come upon my Lord the king. They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you seven years, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, to give it to whomever he chooses. So again, a bitter pill. I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar didn't like hearing what he was hearing, but he wanted the truth, and Daniel was going to tell him the truth. That's what a man of God does. He speaks the truth. He doesn't hold back. Verse 26, and as much as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you. You're not going to die in this. You will be healed. You'll be placed back on the throne. You'll be there for some time after that, after you've come to know that heaven rules. Verse 27, therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by being righteous. So here we have Daniel the man of God saying to the king, look, repent, change. God can grant that to you. And your iniquity is by showing mercy to the poor. You have been merciless to the poor. You have been a tyrant to the poor. You have subjugated the poor, but now be merciful to the poor. And notice what he says there at the end of verse 27. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity. Maybe that kingdom would have lasted longer, but was not to be. And we see that starting here in verse 28. So Daniel gives him the unvarnished truth about that vision. Nebuchadnezzar should realize those visions that Daniel interprets come to be. Verse 28, All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar, and at the end of 12 months, I think, brethren, that's something for us to note. At the end of 12 months, he was walking about in the royal palace of Babylon. So God gave him time.

God gave him plenty of time to think about what was said and to do something about it.

It wasn't a knee-jerk sort of a thing where God says, here's the deal. I'll give you five minutes. God gave him a full year. But notice the result. Verse 30, the king spoke, saying, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power, and for the honor of my majesty? The man wasn't getting the point. Pride, arrogance.

And it's now time God had given him here. It's now time, you know, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. He was about to find this out.

Verse 31, While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it has spoken, the kingdom has departed from you. That's it, fella. We gave you the opportunity. You turned your back on it. And again, brethren, I would say to all of us, myself included, God gives us those opportunities as we hear words and services, as we communicate with our brothers and sisters in the faith, as we hear sermonettes and sermons and Bible studies, as we do our own reading through our prayers, as God communicates with us.

Are we going to do something with what God is showing to us, what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us? Are we going to do something with our personal handwriting on the wall?

Verse 32, They shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he chooses. So again, the second time for emphasis, re-emphasizing what we saw in verse 17, that the very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar, he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet with dew of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird-cloths.

I don't think Sam the barber would want to do this guy's hair.

You know, if I was a person who did nails for a living, I think as this guy walked into the building, I'd say, next chair, please. I wouldn't want to do his nails. I wouldn't want to give him a mani-pedi. He was a mess. Verse 34, And at the end of time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me. God in his mercy. God had demonstrated his point. God still wants this man to repent. He still wants to work with him. And again, brethren, something again for us as we go through our life, as God chases us, he still loves us. He always loves us. God is nothing but 100% love. He always wants us to turn and go the right way. At middle of verse 34, And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion. Now again, this is meaningful. As you understand it, for seven years, his dominion was taken away from him. And his kingdom is from generation to generation. Well, there was a pause of seven years there where he wasn't ruling anything. He wasn't even ruling his own mind and body.

Verse 35, And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven. And among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, What have you done? At the same time, my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. Every time I read that, I think, well, Neb, you're still not getting all of it. As he's talking about the glory of my kingdom, my honor, and my splendor returned to me, my counselors and nobles resorted to me.

Some have asked, who was ruling the kingdom? Who was taking care of the shop those seven years when Nebuchadnezzar was insane? The middle of verse 36 may give us the answer there. My counselors and nobles. Again, remember, this man Nebuchadnezzar was a great ruler.

He could be ruthless. We know that he was going to lose his mind for seven years. The people around him didn't know that. They may have thought he might come back to his good mind the next day. So they had to carry on business as normal, thinking that any day the king would be better. In the middle of verse 36, I was restored to my kingdom, and my excellent majesty was returned to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and his ways justice. And those who walk in pride he is able to put down.

So a tremendous lesson for us as we think about our lives and where we need to be coming from from a spiritual perspective. Now we come to chapter 5. And as I said, we're only going to go through a portion of this today. The famous handwriting on the wall chapter.

A little bit of background. As we went from chapter 3 to chapter 4, we advanced 30 years in a narrative. Daniel went from being a 20-year-old man to a 50-year-old man. As we go from chapter 4 to chapter 5, we advance in the story another 30 years. Daniel now is in his 80s. It is thought that he probably is retired at this point. Daniel is now in his early 80s. Major events have transformed the region. 11 years earlier, King Cyrus II of Persia took over what is now known as the Kingdom of the Medes and Persians, or simply the Persian Empire. All that they wanted now, the Persian Empire, was this beautiful gem called Babylon. Babylonia. And so they were going to come and beseech it. They were going to come and take it, because that was what was left. And yet Babylon was no easy thing to conquer. Historian Walter Kaiser writes about Babylon, it was a huge square, 480 stadia in circumference. Now, you and I, unless you're really smart, I don't know what a stadia is, but that's 55 and a quarter miles. In other words, ancient Babylon was nearly two-thirds the area of the size of New York City. It was a tremendous metropolis. It was surrounded by a series of walls that, as excavators who excavated this for 18 years, were noting the how impregnable the city looked. The outer wall was 22 and a third feet thick.

22 and a third feet thick. Now, can you imagine trying to breach something like that? All the while people are pelting you with rocks or arrows or whatever, the weapons they had, you know, boiling water, boiling oil, all sorts of things. Can you imagine penetrating a wall 22 and a third feet thick? And then once you penetrated that, you found yourself between that wall and the next wall, because there was a second wall. Between the outer wall and the middle wall, because there were three walls altogether, between the first wall and the second wall, was a space of 40 feet.

You know, military people would say that was a killing zone. You got in there, and again, you were pretty much had. But if you can get through that second wall, they didn't say how much, how great the distance was between the second wall and the inner wall, but the inner wall was 12 feet thick. Three walls. 22 feet and a third. 25 feet. 12 feet. That's a lot of wall, right? And so they felt that they were really sitting pretty. In addition to that, the Bible Knowledge Commentary says that Babylon had a 20-year food supply. Seages were common in those days. 20 years. Going right through the middle of town was the Euphrates River, one of the great rivers of the world. So here they are. They've got these walls, and in terms of the walls, every 160 feet, the walls had a tower. There were 360 towers in all. Each of the towers was nine stories up. The walls were nine stories. I mean, in terms of the thickness, but they were 90 feet up. Nine stories. You look at that and say, you know, there's no way in the world we're getting through all that. Point. If I'm a foreign nation today, I'd want to pick on the United States. Not in terms of trying to take us down. Well, they pick on us all the time for little things here and there. But in terms of waging war on this country, take a fool. And yet, we know, prophetically, it's going to happen. There was an interesting discussion on Fox News last night. They were, you know, the discussion now is on North Korea, their missile launchings, their ability to develop a nuclear device, put it on a missile, and shoot it at us. And some of the scientists were talking about something I'm sure a number of you have heard about over the years. Some people think it's science fiction, but it is a reality. A EMP blast. If you've heard about these EMP blasts.

Electromagnetic pulse. The concept there is you shoot a missile. Someplace you have it high enough, you explode it high enough over the ground. And I don't know how, you know, I guess it would depend upon the yield of the missile, how much damage it does below it. But this pulse goes out, and this pulse fries the electronic grid. We don't have cell phones. We don't have electricity. Everything in your fridge is going to spoil. Your computer won't work. Air traffic controllers can't do their job. Basically, in the area where that explosion is taking place, under that area there, things electrically just die. And if you have enough of those, you can cripple a country. Maybe that's the way we go down. I don't know. You know, I meant to look this up, but there's a prophecy, and I've used it. I'll try to find it for next time. But there's a prophecy that talks about how the call to war goes out, and we don't answer the call. Maybe we can answer the call.

Now, we have the same technology. We can do all this sort of stuff ourselves. But you know, America has always been great for napping and being caught by the other guy. The other guy gets us first. So, anyhow, let's take a look at Daniel chapter 5. A little bit of background there. Lessons to be learned in chapter 5. God's will will prevail over the nations.

God's will shall prevail over the nations. And again, secondly, God's judgment will prevail over the nations as well. Of course, we can take that as an individual. God will certainly take a look at the works of our lives as well. Daniel chapter 5 verse 1. Belshazzar, now Nebuchadnezzar is gone. There have been a number of kings in Babylon since Nebuchadnezzar. Not very many of them lasted a very long time. A number of them were assassinated.

We come down to Belshazzar here. He was known as a very poor ruler. He was not nearly the man Nebuchadnezzar was. So let's understand that. Let's also understand as we begin chapter 5 that sitting outside the city walls of Babylon are the Persians. The great army is out there. They want to conquer Babylon. The Babylonians know they're out there. But again, they're behind all those walls. They've got one of the greatest armies of the world. They've got that food. They've got that water. But again, brethren, as a point, walls don't protect anybody from anything for very long. And so many times, and I'll talk more about this on Pentecost, but if we think we're going to build spiritual walls to protect us, fleshly walls to protect us, somehow that's going to all protect us from Satan and the onslaughts of Satan because we've got a fleshly wall. Not going to work. But we'll talk more about that on Pentecost. So the armies are out there. And so what does Belshazzar do? Belshazzar, verse 1, chapter 5, verse 1, he made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. So he's saying, you know, we've got a morale issue here. There are people out there that want to kill us. And if they don't kill us, they're going to take us prisoner. They're going to take us as slaves. So we've got to make Mary here. We've got to make light of this. We've got this great army in our walls. We've got those walls. We've got the high towers. We've got the food. We've got the water. You know, we'll just sit pretty here. We'll outlast everything. We'll have our drunken feast here. Verse 2, while he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father now the word father means ancestor. He was not the next guy down from Nebuchadnezzar, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. And the king and the lords, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. Not a smart play, thumbing your nose at the great God.

Verse 3, then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God, which had been in Jerusalem. And the king and his lords and the wives and the concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. So here we see that they're taking what had been in the temple of the Most High God. And now they're doing things that are just totally repugnant, a tremendous stench in the eyes of the great God.

Verse 5, in the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand and the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote, Now put yourself in this fellow's position. He's probably wondering, maybe that wine wasn't so good.

Maybe I'm drunk here. Maybe I'm not really seeing what I think I'm seeing.

Verse 6, then the king's continents changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the sous-sayers. So once again, now this man is again Daniel now is in his 80s. This particular king probably is not that familiar with Daniel as we're going to see in a couple of moments here. So much like Nebuchadnezzar, he calls for the wise men of the realm. What in the world is going on, he's thinking. The king spoke saying to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have chain of gold around his neck. He shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Sounds a lot like what we do in this country, doesn't it? Solve a problem by throwing money at it. Give somebody a position. Give them money. Give them status. That will take care of the problem. Verse 8, now all the king's wise men came, but they could not read the writing or make known the king's interpretation. They make known to the king its interpretation.

Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled as the continents was changed and his lords were astonished. The queen, because of the words of the king and the lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke saying, O king, live forever. Or again, as they say in England, long live the king. Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor are your continents changed.

Now it says here, verse 10, the queen. Go back up to verse 2 for a moment.

While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold to silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king, his lords, and his wives, his wives, may drink from them. So this queen wasn't his wife. Historians think that the woman in verse 10 probably was his grandmother.

Probably, obviously, as grandmother would have known Nebuchadnezzar, if not Nebuchadnezzar's wife.

She knew what a real king was. She knew what a real man was. And this guy wasn't living up to the building. And so he basically walks into the banquet hall and is going to say, get a hold of yourself, okay? Get a hold of yourself. There are some answers here. There's a person here you can go to for some understanding. Verse 11, there is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy God, and in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. Now notice the way she, you know, articulates this. Like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your ancestor, your father, the king, made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Caledians, and soothsayers. And as much as an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, explaining enigmas were found in Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel, let the king name, excuse me, were found in Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he'll give you the interpretation. You know, as we come up to the day of Pentecost, brethren, you and I have also been given an excellent spirit, an excellent spirit. You and I can't put money on what God has done for us, what God has given us, the understanding he has given us. You know, as you watch world events unfold, as I watch world events unfold, as I'm watching the evening news, I understand what's going to be happening because we have an under- and you understand as well, because we have an understanding of prophecy. We know what's going to happen. Along those lines, we're not troubled. Now we're troubled because we don't want to see our country going through what it's about to go through. But at least we are understanding the why of it and the how of it. Verse 13, Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel? Again, he's not that familiar with him. Daniel's in his 80s. Are you that Daniel, who is the one from the captives of Judah, who my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard of you. Yeah, the queen mother just told him about him. I have heard of you that the Spirit of God is in you. That light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me. They should read this writing and make it known to me it's interpretation. But they could not give me the interpretation of the thing. And I have heard of you that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. You're different. You've got that Spirit in you. You've been touched by the great God.

Now if you can read the writing and make known its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck. You shall be a third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel could care less. He's a man in his 80s. He's retired. He's got a very comfortable living there, I'm sure, in Babylon. Verse 17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Yet I'll read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

So let's turn over to Matthew chapter 10, I think it is.

Because here's a tried and true principle that Mr. Armstrong saw so many years ago, Matthew chapter 10, and it's been the basis of how we conduct our work to this day, and properly so. Matthew chapter 10, verse 8.

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, and notice, freely you have received, freely give. Freely you have received, freely give. When Daniel was given the opportunity for all this wealth, two things. One, he didn't need it, didn't want it, because he wanted to follow the principle we see in Matthew chapter 10. But secondly, that night Babylon is going down. Within just a matter of a few hours, that kingdom is going to be history. And the Persian Empire is going to succeed it, and Daniel will have a chance to work under the next two kings of the Persian Empire. Well, brethren, that's actually it for me today. I'm quitting a good bit early here. We were expecting to be in the other hall. We were expecting some special music today, but they switched things on us and we didn't have the special music, which I had allowed for. So I'm going to quit early and give you some time to do some more fellowshiping.