The Handwriting Is on the Wall

Please be seated. And now to bring us the sermon, Mr. Steve Shaffer.

Well, good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be back here with all of you. A cheerful voice here this afternoon. It's nice to have the sun shining. I'm sure it's going to be like this morning when we had a little bit of snow, but it wasn't too bad. I just wanted to mention that, you know, we have a little bit more freedom now for traveling and so on, so Evelyn and I are going to be leaving, I think, on Monday to drive down to Arkansas, Mississippi. We'll be able to take a little time to go down there and spend some time with our family. Of course, as you know, our son, Derek's in Mississippi, and Evelyn's family is in Arkansas, so we're going to be leaving tomorrow. Probably be gone for about a month, just so you'll know we haven't fallen in the coop and you won't see us for about three or four Sabbaths. We'll be back here probably at about four Sabbaths. We'll be gone for the next four Sabbaths, I should say, being in Arkansas, Mississippi. Also, I just want to say, we stayed for the potluck up there in Saginaw Day. We haven't been able to do that for a while, so we stayed there and fellowshiped afterwards. We saw the Safe for the Bible study up there and had fellowship with up there, stayed for the potluck. We didn't sleep real well last night. We were a little tired, so we may, after 15 minutes or 20 minutes after the fellowship this afternoon, we may end up going home just to get some rest before we leave because we're a little bit tired right now. But anyway, I want to talk today a little bit about what's happening in our country. A lot of things are happening. Of course, one event that happened that caught all of our attention very suddenly was back just the first part of this month on December 2nd, when two Islamic terrorists, a married couple, husband and wife, attacked the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, as we're all aware. They killed 14, and I think now, I think the they said they wounded 21, I think now they said they probably wounded 22. So they wounded 21 or 22 and killing 14 people. As I said on the news, it's the largest terrorist attack since 9-1-1, here on American soil. Obviously, when you get the details of it, it had been planned in advance. This man had been planning this, and they'd been talking about it, and he went to Saudi Arabia and brought her back on a K-1 visa as his wife so she could come into the country as his wife. And they've been playing probably this for some time, and probably also had links internationally, which they're beginning to discover. They're not talking about that a lot, but in doubt, they did have some international links to it. Of course, the husband was an American citizen, as we know. And the thing is, it's really scary because we realize there are people like this, living in our midst, who want to kill us, for no reason other than just not to kill Americans. They hate Americans. And there's many fear this is maybe the only beginning of what might lie ahead. And of course, everything they try to do, they can to try to thwart this and find out ahead of time, but there are certain limitations to that, and it's very hard to... somebody wants to just come out of the woodworks and start... take their own life, and just to kill somebody. It's very difficult to stop that kind of a terrorist act. So right now, as we look at the world we live in, we are kind of in a clash of civilizations right now. And that clash has now come right here to the United States of America, which prompts this question. Where does the United States of America now stand in the timeline of historical events that will lead to the return of Christ?

And is there a particular phrase which describes the time we are now living in? I'm talking about a biblical phrase that describes the time we are now living in. That's what I want to take a look at today as the United States of America, where it stands right now in its timeline of historical events that will lead to the return of Christ. And I want to address three overall questions here today. Number one, where does the United States of America now stand in our history as a nation? You know, all nations rise and fall. That's been throughout history. There's never been any exception to that. Where do we now stand in that area as a nation? And as we think about this, what must that mean for all of us who have been called to be a part of God's people at this time?

And three, what phrase sums up where we now stand as an Asian? What biblical phrase sums that up? That's what we'll take a look at today. I'll give my title a little bit later. I want to begin by looking at the background leading up to a major biblical event that occurred several thousand years ago. A little over 2,000 years ago. It changed the course of history. It's a biblical event that changed the course of history. Let's give a little bit of background to that. Just summarize real quickly, because a lot of you are all familiar with this. As we know, God blessed the descendants of Abraham. He saw Abraham's faith. He saw how Abraham was willing to sacrifice everything, his own son, to follow God. And because of that, God decided he was going to bless Abraham's descendants and work with them in a very special way. And, of course, he made them into a great nation, didn't he? They became the nation of Israel. After David's son, Solomon, died. As we know, they then became divided into two nations, the northern ten tribes of Israel and the southern tribe of Judah, consisting of Judah, Benjamin, and the half-tribe of Levi. The kingdom of Israel fell around 721 BC to the Assyrians, which was then conquered by the Babylon around 612 BC by the king of the Babylonian Empire.

When Babylon became the leading empire of the world, it invaded Israel, or invaded Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah, on three separate occasions. The first invasion to Jerusalem in Judah was in 605 BC.

The final invasion took place around 586 BC when they conquered Jerusalem, and then that was the time when the southern tribes of Judah fell. And during that first invasion back in 605 BC, the first invasion of Judah by king Nebuchadnezzar, a young man by the name of Daniel was taken captive in that first invasion. He was among, quote, some of the nobles, being a descendant of King David. It tells us that in Daniel 1 verse 3, right at the beginning of the book of Daniel. Daniel was among the nobles who was taken captive in that first invasion. And at that time, when you look at the events, Daniel had only been a teenager. You didn't see exactly how old he was, but he would have probably been in his teens, maybe his younger teens. Later Daniel revealed and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image of gold with the gold head of gold and so on, between the four empires that would come on the scene in the world. But that dream, of course, very much bothered Nebuchadnezzar. He called all the strollers in, and he said, well, tell me what the dream was, and then interpret it for me. Then I'll know it's the right interpretation. And Daniel was brought in, and God revealed it to Daniel. So Daniel said, you are this head of gold. And he told Daniel what he dreamed, and then he gave him the interpretation.

So then he was considered by Nebuchadnezzar to have the wisdom of God, because of his revealing and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. And that reputation of having the special wisdom of God stayed with Daniel for his entire life, and he lived a long life. Lived up into his 80s, at least maybe his 90s, into his 90s. The book of Daniel reveals that the last king of Babylon was Belshazzar, who reigned with his father, Nabonidus.

So with that background, then, let's go to a specific date. We can actually go... I didn't realize this until I found out by some reading the books I read and some other information to get to all this historical information you can get from the internet. It's history that cooperates with other historical documents. We can go to a specific date, and that date I want to go to is October 10th of 539 BC. It's interesting that on the Hebrew calendar, this would have been the 14th day of the seventh month, or the 14th of Tishri, which is the day before the Feast of Tabernacles begins. It would have begun in that particular year. That particular date is derived from what are called the Babylonian Chronicles, which were discovered over 100 years ago, which gives the exact date on which the empire or the Kingdom of Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. The date that Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians was October 12th, 539 BC, two days after the date I just gave you. And that October 12th, interestingly, the day Babylon fell, would have been the first, excuse me, the second day of the Feast of Tabernacles in that particular year.

Another chronicle discovered over 100 years ago is called the Nabonidus Chronicle, and it details events that led to the fall of Babylon.

Again, October 10th, 539 BC, was two days in before the fall of Babylon. Two days before it fell. A lot of events took place here, and I want to go through those events because I want to show you how they parallel where we are today as a nation. It's very interesting that up until 1852, a little over about 160 years ago, skeptics tried to discredit the Bible because they went through all the Babylonian king lists and all the historical records that they could find, and there's no mention of a king by the name of Belshazzar. They could find Nabonidus, but there's no mention of any Belshazzar. They said the Bible has to be wrong. There's something. You can't trust the Bible, they said. There was no king Belshazzar ever mentioned any of the king lists. It was never found. But in 1852, a clay tablet was found listing Belshazzar as the son of Nabonidus, and that confirmed the biblical record. The Bible was correct after all, in spite of what all the skeptics tried to claim. Then a little bit after that, to the end of the 19th century, they found the Nabonidus Chronicle, which records that Belshazzar remained in Babylon, while his father Nabonidus, Nabonidus was Belshazzar's father, and it says that Nabonidus Chronicle says that Nabonidus was gone from Babylon for 10 years, from about between 550 to 540 BC, about 10 years, just before Babylon fell, that he was away for 10 years, in a town called Temah.

And he fought different wars and battles out there in Temah during that time. But then, after being away for 10 years, Nabonidus returned to the city of Babylon shortly before it fell. It's all in the Nabonidus Chronicle. And by October 539 BC, Nabonidus and Belshazzar, this is what's so fascinating, they knew at that point that the armies of the Medo-Persian Empire were on their way towards, they were marching towards Babylon to try to conquer Babylon. They knew those armies were marching towards Babylon, which was the capital, of course, of the Babylonian Empire. And those armies of the Medes and Persians were led by a medium general by the name of Gobryas. Cyrus being their overall leader of the Medo-Persian armies, but the general was marching towards, with his armies towards Babylon, was Gobryas.

Nabonidus then, early October, when he knew this was taking place, he took a contingent of the Babylonian army. He was still recording it, Nabonidus Chronicle. And he went out to meet Gobryas at a town called Opus, O-P-I-S, which is near the Tigris River.

Nabonidus and his Babylonian army was defeated by the Medo-Persian army, and they had to retreat back toward the city of Babylon.

And obviously, there was a soldier there in the Nebuchadnezzar's army there that got on his horse, and he hightailed it back to Babylon to let him know what happened. Undoubtedly, it doesn't say that, but we can discern that from what events that happened later.

Now, the date of this particular battle at Opus that took place in early October sometime is not recorded, but the date of the next encounter is recorded, because they retreated back towards Babylon, but the Medo-Persian Empire caught up with them, and there's an encounter that occurred on October 10th, 539 BC, the date I just gave you, at the Babylonian city of Cyper, S-I-P-P-A-R. That city is located about 50 miles north of the city of Babylon, so the Medo-Persian Empire is now 50 miles from the gates of Babylon. The city of Cyper fell to Cyrus and his general, Gobryas, who was leading the army to Gobryas, without a battle. They surrendered. They didn't even have a battle. And at that particular time, Nabonidus fled from Cyper. He knew that the city was... he had no way to stop the Medo-Persian Empire, so he decided to flee. He fled, and nobody knew what happened to him, exactly where he went. They just knew he fled, and he was later, about three weeks after that, towards the very end of October, he was actually captured by the Medo-Persian Empire. That was, of course, after it had fallen.

Now, obviously, there's one of these soldiers that had gotten back to Babylon to inform Belshazzar, who was the regent or the governor of Babylon. Well, Nabonidus was away and was co-regent with him in that sense. He obviously got back to city of Babylon to let Belshazzar know what had happened. That Nabonidus's army was defeated, and that Nabonidus had fled, and they didn't know where he was or what happened to him. And he let them know, obviously, the army of the Medes and Persians were on their doorstep, and they were on their way to try to conquer the city of Babylon. Belshazzar was there in the city of Babylon, and he knew all that. He knew all this was taking place. He knew the armies of the Medes and Persians were now approaching Babylon unimpeded. This then brings us to the date Babylon fell, October 12, 539 BC. This also brings us to the events recorded in Daniel chapter 5 into the handwriting on the wall. I'm not giving you my title. My title is, The Handwriting is on the Wall. The handwriting is on the wall. Let's go to Daniel 5 to kind of go through that to see what happens. We'll be going to other places as well, but we'll spend a lot of time here in Daniel 5.

Daniel 5 verse 1. It's amazing what archaeologists have discovered in the last 100 years or so that confirms the Bible. Daniel 5 verse 1. Velshezer the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords. Can you imagine that? A banquet room where they can hold a feast for thousands of his lords were there in the city of Babylon. It was a great city. It had a large population.

And they drank wine in the presence of the thousands. He did more than drink wine. He drank a lot of wine. And while he tasted the wine, he drank a lot of wine, he drank the wine. Velshezer gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father, this is Hebrew's ancestor, it would have been his grandfather. Velshezer's grandfather was Nebuchadnezzar. Velshezer was Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. Important to keep that in mind. Which his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines, talking about Nebuchadnezzar's, I mean, excuse me, Velshezer's wives and concubines, they might drink from them.

Now again, that's a large number of people. In addition to that thousand of his lords, it would have been attendants, the banquet, servers, guards, and as it all mentions here, the wives and concubines of Velshezer. So this banquet room had to be very large. You know, the amazing thing is, they actually, under the ancient ruins of Babylon, they have discovered that banquet room, and they can measure it, they now know how large it was. It was approximately 52 feet wide and 170 feet long. In other words, it was about 9,000 square feet. Now how big was that? This entire church building here. I'm talking about the whole building, everything back end and everything. The whole area of this church building is just over 3,000 square feet. So this banquet room was three times larger this entire area of this entire church building, three times larger. Shows you about how large it was. Big enough to hold over a thousand people for this banquet.

Now the description here in Daniel 5 is that the wine was probably flowing freely, and this kind of like a drunken party they were having here. I just want to mention something here. There's a warning given to leaders from the book of Proverbs about drinking too much wine or too much liquor. Let's turn there and just read that real quick because it's an important lesson for all of us to remember as those who are going to be leaders in the world tomorrow and who even leaders now in many ways. Proverbs 31 verse 4, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings, and those in leadership's position to drink wine. Not that it's wrong to drink wine, but not to drink to the point of getting intoxicated. Drink modestly. Nor for princes intoxicating drinks, so the context here is drinking too much to where you get intoxicated. Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.

So don't drink wine or liquor in excess. That's what it's saying. Especially if you're a leader. But that should be true for everybody. We're all being trained to be leaders.

Again, going back to verse 2 of Daniel 5, and while he, Belshazzar, drank the wine, as you put it, because that's what he was doing, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, as it could be, had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords and his wives and concumines drink from them. They're having a big party.

Leshazzar knew what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He did this knowing what happened to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, about 25 or 30 years previous to this. You know, Nebuchadnezzar, he was very vain, and he went insane. You know, God drove him insane for seven years, and then he restored his sanity to him. And when Nebuchadnezzar came out of his sanity, he said, Daniel, your God is the true God. He is God. Now, he may still have his false ideas of God, but he at least realized Daniel's God had power. He was a real God. And, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, after that, then he put all these things that caused him to be influenced in the wrong way and fogged his thinking. He had all those vessels put away in storage and put them away. They've probably been in storage for the last 25-30 years until Belshazzar goes and gets them out. Belshazzar knew all this. Now, Belshazzar gives a command to retrieve them. But here's the most astounding fact at all when you read about what is said there in Daniel 5 verses 1 and 2. Belshazzar throws this huge party for a thousand of his lords in the city of Babylon, knowing that the army of the Medes and Persians are on his doorstep about to invade the city. About to invade the city and try to take them captive.

So why would Belshazzar throw this huge banquet at the very time he knows the city is in grave danger? Why would he do that? And it's not because there was some kind of a Babylonian feast going on that time. The main Babylonian feast was in the spring to their gods. So it would have to seem like that would not be the reason. When historians look into this, they ask that question.

With the Medo-Persian army at the gates of the city, why would Belshazzar conduct a huge banquet?

One thing we know for sure, Belshazzar was driven by pride, vanity, and the sense of being invincible.

Which brings another proverb to mind, Proverbs 16 verses 18 and 19, which I'll just quote. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoiled with the proud. Now some commentators, if you go and look at common common commentaries on this, they speculate that Belshazzar may have thrown this banquet to celebrate the sense that he felt he was now about to become the sole king of Babylon. He'd been ruling with his father Nabonidus, kind of the core region. Now Nabonidus has been defeated and he's fled and they don't know where he is. And so while it's a good time for Nebuchadnezzar, I mean for, excuse me, Belshazzar to throw, calling himself as king and throw a banquet to celebrate, he's now the king before all the people. So the people would know, okay, I'm in charge here, I'm the king. You don't have to worry.

Why would he thought that he was invincible? Why would he be throwing a banquet with the armies at his doorstep? And why would he not be worried about that? Why wouldn't he been trying to do something to thwart that? Well, the city of Babylon, when you know a little bit about it, you can understand why he felt that way. It was the greatest and most unpenetrable city on the face of the earth at that particular time. So Belshazzar felt assured no army could ever penetrate beyond its walls. It could never fall. It could never be defeated. It was impenetrable as far as Belshazzar was. He had to worry about any armies coming in. They're not going to get into this city.

The city of Babylon was in the form of a square, 15 miles on each side, so the total perimeter around the city was 60 miles. Big city. It was totally surrounded by a huge stone and brick wall, and that stone and brick wall that was found in the entire 60 mile perimeter of the city of Babylon, guess how high it was? It was 300 feet high. Can you imagine that? 300 feet.

In that brick wall, the outsider was completely surrounded by a huge moat, and there was actually a double wall. The top of that first wall was 25 feet wide. You could have an army up there. And then there was 75 feet back of that wall. There was a second wall.

And in addition to that, the first wall, in addition to being 300 feet high, guess how far underground it went? It went 35 feet underground, so there was no way to dig under it.

There's no way. They'll have to worry about any army that needs immersion. They're not going to get in here.

And that first wall, besides being 300 feet high, it had 250 towers around the wall, and those towers were 450 feet high. And the Euphrates River flowed through the city of Babylon to give it a continual source of water, and it had enough food to supply all of its residents for many years. And a huge iron gate went down where the Euphrates River came in and went out of the city. That huge iron gate was locked, and there was no way any army could get through that gate. It was locked near nearly all times, and it certainly would have been locked at this time. The Belshazzar, Noah, and the Medial Persian army were at their gates almost.

Now, what I want to give you now is something absolutely amazing to me.

How much do you trust the Word of God? How much do you believe in what it says? How much do you believe the prophecies for today are going to come to pass, as God says? There are many, many prophecies that God made through Jeremiah and Isaiah, many years in advance, 50 years in advance through Jeremiah, 150 years in advance through Isaiah, prophecies about exactly how Babylon was going to fall, detailed accounts of how it was going to fall way, way, way in advance before it fell. See, God not only foretold the fall of Babylon, he also foretold the exact details of how it would be accomplished and what would happen to Isaiah and Jeremiah, many years in advance.

Now, even though Babylon was by far the most fortified city in the world, God, through Jeremiah, prophesied, I don't care if your walls are 300 feet high, I don't care if they go 35 feet in the ground, I don't care if you have this gate, that's not going to save you. It's not going to save you, God told him.

Notice what it says in Jeremiah 51. Let's go to Jeremiah. One of the many prophecies concerning the fall of Babylon given by God, way in advance, is a warning. Jeremiah 51 verse 53, he says, though Babylon were to mount up to heaven, in other words, when you think about it, you realize this makes sense now because you realize Babylon was fortified by 300 foot walls. He said it doesn't matter. If your walls went all the way up into the sky a thousand feet, it wouldn't make any difference. And though she were to fortify the height of her strength, I don't care what kind of fortifications you have, yet from me, plunders would come to her, says the Eternal. Because the sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction comes from the land of the Chaldeans. Because, verse 55, the Lord is pondering Babylon and silencing her loud voice, her loud voice in defiance of God. Let this banquet, they'll shower through, in defiance of God.

Now, Jeremiah also prophesied that her voice would be silenced, that her great destruction would come from a nation to the north. He told them where their their district was going to come from. Let's go to Jeremiah 50, just back a few pages. Jeremiah 50, verse 3.

For out of the north a nation comes against her. He said, hey, your dust can come from the north, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein. Well, after Babylon was destroyed, she did rebuild, but never through her former glory. And now, no one lives there. It's desolate.

You can also see Jeremiah 51, 37, and that regardless is basically the same thing. But let's go down to Jeremiah 50, verse 9, which also says it would be from the north. Behold, our raising cause to come up against Babylon, an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her. And from there she is going to be captured.

This assembly of great nations will also prophesy in advance to be associated with the Medes, with a particular group of people, with the Medes. That's in Jeremiah 51, verse 11.

Make the arrows bright, gather the shields. The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For his plan is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord.

Also, verse 28 of Jeremiah 51, prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, with its governors and all its rulers and all the land of the dominion of the Medes and the Persians.

Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and the Persians by the Medo-Persian Empire with the kings of the Medes. Gubias was the king of the Medes, leading the way. He was the general of the Medes.

It was also prophesied in advance that they would be taken by a trick or by a snare that would trap them unawares. Let's go back to Jeremiah 50.

To verse 23. Jeremiah 50, beginning at the very end of verse 23, says, I have laid a snare for you.

Continuing in verse 24, you have indeed been trapped, O Babylon. I'm gonna trap you. I'm only a snare and trap you. And you are not going to be aware of it. You're going to be asleep. You won't know what's happening. You will not be aware. And you have been found also caught because you have contended against the eternal. Be caught with a snare, with a trap that they would be unaware of. That snare that trapped them is described by the Greek historians Xenophon and Herodotus, who wrote a couple hundred years after Babylon fell. And you know, even what was prophesied beyond that, it was prophesied in advance that that snare would involve the drying up of water. That was prophesied by Jeremiah, where 50 years in advance. The snare was going to involve the drying up of water. Let's see Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah 51 verse 36.

Jeremiah 51 verse 36. Therefore thus is the Lord be healed. I will plead your cause and take vengeance. It says, I will dry up her sea, speaking of Babylon, I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. See, the ancient city of Babylon, as we've mentioned here, kind of, it was built on both sides of the Euphrates River. And the Euphrates River ran right through the center of the city of Babylon. What happened before Babylon fell, a second division of Cyrus's army diverted a portion of the Euphrates River into a nearby swamp several miles upstream from the city of Babylon. This is recorded historically by Herodotus and Xenophon and by Josephus as well, I think. Also, of course, the Euphrates would also have been low. This is October, it's late in the seasons in the fall. And, of course, after a long dry summer, the Euphrates would have been lower at that time of the year, but also they diverted a portion of it upstream, so it was very, very low because of those two factors. Made it possible then for an army to be able to walk along the banks and the shallow water of the Euphrates to go through where it went into the city of Babylon. Well, there was one problem, though. To do that, you had to have that gate open because it had a gate there that was locked and you couldn't penetrate through that gate. You couldn't get into the city that way.

There's also a prophesied that our sea and springs, the Euphrates River that gave her water, water supply, that they would dry up at a time when a great drunken feast was taking place. They're not going to be dry up. They're going to dry up at a particular time when a great drunken feast is taking place, which would cause them to be asleep as to what was about to happen and would give them then a false sense of security. Jeremiah 51 verse 39. In their excitement, I will prepare their feasts. They're going to have this feast. I'm going to make them drunk. That's what happened. The Shazzar was having this big drunken feast because they had no way any enemy could ever penetrate into Babylon. It was never going to be conquered by foreign power. I will make them drunk that they may rejoice and be asleep, sleep a spiritual sleep, where they're just not going to even know what's going on. They're not going to wake in time. By the time they wake up, it's going to be too late.

Now, in addition to that, it was also prophesied that all this would take place at a time when Nebuchadnezzar's grandson was in power as a king, and Nebuchadnezzar's grandson was Belshazzar. That's in Jeremiah 27. You have to do a little bit of study and research to understand this verse correctly, but Jeremiah, because of the way it's worded, Jeremiah 27 verses 6 and 7. Jeremiah 27 verse 6, and now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, which he did back in 612 BC, who's my servant, and the beast of the field I've also given him to serve him. And then verse 7, so that the nation that he conquers shall serve him, and he'll serve his son. And it says here, his son's son, but what that really means when you look at this talk, it means his son and his grandson, because that's the way it played out. It was this, all these nations would serve Babylon until the time of his son and then his grandson, until the time of his land comes. And then, the time that his grandson is serving on the throne, many nations of great kings shall make him, shall make Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, serve them, which is the Mesian Persians. So, better translation, shall serve him and his son and his grandson is the best way to render that particular verse. Verse 7. Now, you have to go into some historical records to understand how this all plays out and ties together. Nebuchadnezzar's son was called evil maradoc in 2 Kings 25 verse 27. Now, if you go into history, most historians give his name as Amo Marduk, A-M-E-L-M-A-R-D-U-K. That's his name historically, which means soldier of Marduk. And Marduk was the chief god of the Babylonians at that time. After running only two years, Nebuchadnezzar's son, Amo Marduk, was murdered by his brother-in-law. The brother-in-law is not a direct descendant. He is not a bloodline descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. He's a brother-in-law. He was murdered by his brother-in-law, a man by the name of Nerglisar, N-E-R-G-L-I-S-S-A-R, who then made himself king and arraigned for four years throughout 560 to 556 B.C. He was then murdered by his son, Labeshi Marduk, who became king for only about nine months. Nine months after his inauguration, he was murdered by Belshazzar. He didn't want to be a king in those days. He didn't mean much longevity, usually. So Belshazzar murdered him so he could assume the throne as a rightful heir, being Nebuchadnezzar's grandson via his mother, Nitocris. N-I-T-O-C-R-I-S. Well, what about Nabinitis? Who was he? Was he Belshazzar's father?

Yes, Nabinitis was Belshazzar's father. He was not the bloodline of Nebuchadnezzar because he was Nebuchadnezzar's son-in-law married to Nebuchadnezzar's daughter. Amo Marduk and Nitocris were brother and sister, and they were the son and daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. So Nabinitis married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter. They were then the parents of Belshazzar.

So Belshazzar was a direct descendant of Nebuchadnezzar, a bloodline descendant through his mother, not his father. And he was Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. All of this then fulfilled Jeremiah 27.7 that the king would not fall at the time that his grandson was raiding, and that was Belshazzar. The fall of Babylon was also prophesied to happen suddenly. Jeremiah 51, verse 8.

Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed.

It happened suddenly. It happened in one day. Can you imagine that? The greatest empire in the world with the greatest defense system in the world, and it fell in one day? That's astounding. But that's what God could do. That's the power of God.

Again, all this is prophesied by Jeremiah 50 years in advance, but 100 years before that, 150 years in advance of Babylon's fall, it was prophesied whose army would destroy Babylon and how it would be accomplished. Again, how do you get into the city of Babylon? With a 300-foot wall and a gate, iron gate that's locked. It's called Isaiah 45, another amazing prophecy, written 150 years in advance of Babylon's fall. In fact, it was even written far in advance before Cyrus was even born. He's named before he was born. Isaiah 45, verse 1, This is the Lord who is anointed to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, so do nations before him, and then those nations he was going to subdue were the Babylonian nations.

So do nations before him, and to loose the armor of kings, now notice the latter part of verse 1, to open before him the double doors, so the gates will not be shut. That's referring to the double door iron gates that sealed entering into the city through the Euphrates River, even though it might be dried up. You still couldn't get in there. They were locked.

But those were the gates of the Euphrates River, through which the army of Cyrus, led by his General Goblius, entered the city of Babylon by walking along the banks and into the shallow waters of the Euphrates River. On the night, the handwriting was on the wall in Babylon, at the palace. Why were the gates not shut on that particular night? That's the question. Why were they not shut? Why were they not locked? They said they weren't going to be locked right there in that prophecy. Why not? What was the snare? It says they were going to be trapped by a snare. Unawares. The snare they were not aware of, as we read in Jeremiah 50 verses 23 and 24, may have and probably was a conspiracy from within the city.

Because you go back in research history a little bit, you find out that Nabennides was a very unpopular king. He wasn't even really a rightful heir because he wasn't out of the bud line of Nebuchadnezzar. He was son-in-law. But when he was gone for 10 years, from 550-540 BC, those 10 years he was gone, he canceled the Spring Festival to Marduk. Made a lot of the people really upset to have their great feast canceled for those 10 years he was not in the city. When the Babylonian city of Opus revolted against him, as they did just prior to its fall, to fall back on, Nabennides had the entire city of his own people massacred. He massacred his own people because they revolted against him. And Belshazzar, as the heir apparent or as the co-regent, was also very unpopular. He was more interested in wine, women, and song, and in basking in luxury than he was in serving his people. Babylon was kind of fed up with both of them, people of Babylon. They wanted new leadership, and they were so desperate they probably would welcome Cyrus as a liberator.

Probably what happened. That's what many historians think happened.

And one of the citizens within the city of Babylon probably unlocked the gate, unbeknownst to Belshazzar. That's probably what happened.

So Babylon's own citizens probably became a snare and helped facilitate the fall of their own empire because they were so unhappy with what was happening. It was unlike a revolution within the city, kind of a silent one that Belshazzar was unaware of. But the thing that's interesting is that it would indicate they fell from within. This then brings us to the handwriting on the wall. Daniel 5. Turn back there. Daniel 5 verse 4.

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone. At this bank what they were having. In the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. That got their attention. Probably sobered them up pretty fast. Then the king's continents changed and his thoughts troubled him, so the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.

Then the king cried out to bring the astrologer and Chaldeans and everyone who said, whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation should be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck, and he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Which tells us, Nabernaides was still alive at this time because he would have been the first ruler and Belshazzar would have been the second ruler, and whoever can interpret this is going to be made the third ruler. Verse 10. The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall.

And the queen spoke, saying, O king live forever, which is the way they greeted kings. Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your continents change. Who was this queen? It wasn't Belshazzar's wife because she's already mentioned being at the banquet in verse 2. It wasn't Nabernaides' wife, because the Nabernaides chronicle says that Nabernaides' wife died prior to this time. Most scholars believe this was the queen mother. It was a widowed wife of Nebuchadnezzar himself who was this queen. She was a queen mother, you might say. Who knew firsthand what happened when her husband was the king, and who knew of Daniel?

Daniel 11, or excuse me, Daniel 5 verse 11. There is a man in your kingdom, she told Belshazzar, and whom is the spirit of the holy God? In the days of your grandfather, as it should be, it's the hand of the word of his ancestor, the grandfather. In the days of your grandfather, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your grandfather, the king, made him chief of the magicians, and astrologers, and Chaldeans, and soothsayers, inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding, and interpreting dreams, and solving riddles, and explaining enigmas, was found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar.

Now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation. Then Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king spoke, and said to Daniel, are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my grandfather, the king, brought from Judah? Daniel was brought as one of the captives from Judah in 605 BC as a teenager. This is now 539 BC, 66 years later. So Daniel's now in his 80s.

So never think because of your age, or because maybe you've been on the sidelines for many years, or haven't been involved in things, that you're not going to be useful to God. With events that might be happening in the future, who knows what, and this might be called to be a part of what God is going to be doing in the future, even as Daniel was called very late in life after being on the sidelines for many years.

Then Belshazzar said this to Daniel, verse 14, I have heard of you that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Verse 16, I have heard of you that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you should be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. I'm going to give you power and glory and wealth.

Notice Daniel's response in verse 17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, let your gifts be for yourself, and give rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. Daniel wasn't interested in rewards from men. He wasn't interested in power and glory or position. He was only interested in serving God. And that should be our attitude as well.

Verse 25, and this is an inscription that was written, many, many, tickle you farson.

Now this wasn't a matter when you understand it. It wasn't a matter of not knowing what those words meant, not being able to understand them. They weren't like just gibberish. This section of Daniel was originally written in the form of Aramaic. In fact, Daniel 2.4 through Daniel 7 was written in the form of Aramaic. As Daniel 2.4 says, then the Chaldean spoke to the king in Aramaic. So that section of Daniel is written in Aramaic. Daniel 2.4 throughout the duration of chapter 7. The problem was, what did those words mean and what did they indicate? I mean, what have they been in English? And you saw this handwriting on the wall over here, and these big things are said, numbered, weighed, divided. What would that mean? What would that signify? What would it indicate? Many, many, tickle you farson. Then Daniel says this is the interpretation beginning in verse 26. This is the interpretation of each word. Many, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tickle you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Para is your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Now, para is the same word translated, you farson, in verse 25, both are number 6537 in Strong's concordance. And Strong says that para is, the original word, means to split up without violence, which is exactly what happened. The kingdom was split up without violence. The word para is derived from a root word, which means to divide. You farson means divided. So they basically both very connected together. But the question is, why is the word many here, the word numbered, why is that word repeated? Undoubtedly, it was repeated for emphasis. Just saying your kingdom is numbered would indicate for some time in the future. But to say it's numbered numbered means it's numbered immediately, right now. Not at some point in the future. It would indicate that the Babylonians' number of days as a kingdom were finished, as Daniel interpreted it. In fact, her number of days ended that very night, verse 30, that very night, Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, meaning 62 years old. Here's another enigma. Scholars tried to describe the Bible and they said, wait a minute, Bible's false. There's no such king listed in any of the kings listed of the Medes and Persians named Darius. It doesn't exist. And it's true it does not exist. You cannot find the name Darius listed in any of the kings of the Persians or the Medes. It's not there. So they said the Bible's wrong, it's false. There is no such person as Darius the Mede. The historical record shows that the one who came in and governed Babylon when it fell was Gubrias, not some man by the name of Darius. As to the name of Darius, here in verse 31, what scholars now know, it was a title, not the name of an individual, it was a title, not a proper name.

Darius was a title meaning scepter holder or governor, which is the title of several Persian kings. They took on that title. So more proper writing in verse 31 would be, and the scepter holder of the Medes received the kingdom, and that scepter holder or governor was Gubrias. Thus, there is no discrepancy between what Daniel says here and what is recorded in secular history. In fact, you want to get a little bit about that? Go to the United's Bible reading program on Daniel 5, under who was Darius the Mede. They have two whole pages explaining how Darius was undoubtedly a title.

That brings us up to our time today and to the final question. Is the handwriting now on the wall for the United States of America? Not in the sense of numbered numbered, but in the sense of numbered.

numbered, weighed, and divided.

Are our future days as the leading and most powerful nation in the world now numbered? And has the U.N.I.C.E.S. of America been weighed in the balance by God and found wanting to be given over to some other power or form of government? What parallels can we derive from the fall of Babylon and where we are today? Well, number one, like Babylon, we know we have enemies approaching who want to destroy us. In fact, they live right here in the midst of us. Even as Belshazzar knew that. And yet, our leaders are confident that's never going to happen. We're never going to be overthrown by an enemy never going to fall. That we're impenetrable and invincible. And we have a sense of false security. And we're asleep until the dangers we face as a nation and those who want to destroy us. Even as Belshazzar was. I want to make a parallel to some of the very familiar rhythm. Revelation is a message. Revelation 2 and 3, the message to the seven churches. But let's look at Revelation 3, verse 14. I want to have a connection here to the United States of America as a nation. Revelation 3, verse 14, if the age of the church of the Laodicea is right, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Again, we all know this is a message to the church. But as we also know, Old Testament Israel was called the church in the wilderness or the congregation in the wilderness, Acts 7.38.

In a sense, then, New Testament Israel, of which the United States of America is a the major constituent, is God's New Testament in the wilderness. In the wilderness or a world ruled by Satan. Thus, this message could also relate to us as a nation. Verse 15, I know your works. I know you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you could either be hot or cold. And you know, right now, we look at it. We are, as a nation, we're lukewarm when it comes to confronting terrorism, confronting the dangers that confront us. And we're lukewarm towards God as a nation. Very lukewarm towards God. As a result, could our blessings from God be numbered? And could our days also be numbered? Is God pleased with us? Or is He about to let us reap the consequences of our own doing? Verse 16, so that because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth. I'm going to let you go on your own. I'm going to let you suffer the consequences of your own doing. I'm stepping back and letting you have me in control of your own destiny. As the wealthiest nation in the world, do we feel we are self-sufficient and have need of nothing? Verse 17, because you say, I'm rich, the United States is rich, and you become wealthy, and we are the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth even yet today, and have need of nothing, and yet you don't see spiritually.

You don't know that you are wretched and miserable and poor, blind and naked, spiritually speaking. So it says, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye-self that you can see. You don't see what's going on.

What will it take for us as a nation to buy from God gold refined in the fire? What will it take to wake us up? Only time will tell. Also Babylon fell aided by factors from within their own kingdom. Both Nabinidos and Belshazzar were very unpopular among the people, and the downfall of Babylon to a large extent came from within. That's what most historians feel now. It had to be from within to a large degree. So second parallel to the fall of Babylon that applies to us today is that today here in America we are seeing the same trend. We currently have an increasingly unpopular administration which continues to forge ahead with its own agenda despite contrary public opinion and warnings. What this will lead to in the upcoming year is anyone's guess. But it's a very dangerous world we live in. Also our own moral degeneracy from within is leading to our decline and downfall as it did with ancient Babylon. Third parallel we can draw from the fall of Babylon is as Babylon fell without a battle, so our fall from being the leading nation of the world is prophesied to be also without a battle. Let's go to Ezekiel 7, verse 4. They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle, for my wrath is on all their multitude. Why won't anybody go to battle? We already see this trend. We don't want to get involved in another war and you can understand why people feel that way and you look at some of the wars we've had in the past. But the thing is when you've got an enemy who's chopping off heads and wants to destroy you, you better be prepared for all our warfare to destroy that enemy. Or, you better watch out, it may not go very well. But now people don't want to get involved to that extent, and that's dangerous today with an enemy like the ones we face today. On the other hand, a nation can go into decline and be removed from power without a battle, and that means, as indicated right here in these chapters, going back to verse 12, Ezekiel 7. The time has come, the day draws near, let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is on their whole multitude, for the seller shall not return to what has been sold, though he may still be alive. For the vision concerns a whole multitude, and it shall not turn back. No one will strength himself who lives in iniquity. Verse 19. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuges. The silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them. You're not going to be saved under your economy. Your great wealth is a nation. Your economy is not going to be able to save you in the day of the wrath of the Eternal. They will not satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

And think about it. If a nation's economy collapses, you've got all the great empires of the world. It's very interesting to study that. You'll see their decline and fall is always connected to some extent to the economy, not collapse of their economy. If a nation's economy collapses, they can be defeated without a battle. And one of the major factors leading to the decline and fall of all empires has been that, as I said, but we still now have the strongest economy in the world. But you also, what do we have? We have a debt approaching 19 trillion dollars. That's unheard of in history. No nation humbled how strong can stay in power and stay strong for long with that kind of a debt. And what if something happens, say, triggers something else?

With that kind of a debt, the economy could collapse and then tuck in an eye. Just by certain events, it could happen very suddenly. So three parallels we now have that could tie into the fall of Babylon. On number one, like Babylon, we have a false sense of security. We feel somewhat invincible and tend to be asleep at the wheel. Number two, like Babylon, we could fall either by factors from within. Number three, like Babylon, we could fall without a battle. So current trends indicate the handwriting is beginning to appear on the wall for the United States of America. Let me now conclude by quickly addressing the main three questions I asked at the beginning of the sermon. Number one, where does the United States of America now stand in our histories and nation? You know, Daniel 4.17 says that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will. So God's in control of the rise and fall of nations. God determines when that will happen according to his plan and purpose. He determined the fall of Babylon and he will determine the fall of the United States of America when that time comes. The fact is all great nations in the history of the world rise and fall, no exceptions. And it now appears we're heading for a fall and that our histories and nation might be going into its latter days. Why? Because of disabilities to God, but maybe there's another very, very much more positive reason why that time is now coming to the United States of America. Maybe it's because of what it says in Daniel 7.18. Daniel 7.18 says, the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Maybe God says now it's right. I've got my people. They've been through trials. They've been through everything. They're becoming mature. I have all those people have died and given their lives. I've got thousands who are dead. Maybe the time is now coming for God to give the kingdom to his saints, to all of us. That's the positive side of all of this. Maybe that time is getting near.

Well, we appear to be approaching a time regardless of how many years it may take. Number two was the question, what must this mean for all those of us who are part of the two people of God? Well, it wasn't mean. We're living in monumental times. It means our faith must always remain strong. It means we must love God with all our heart and all our mind and all our soul. It means we must love our neighbors ourselves. That includes all the people of the world who are suffering. It means we must love our brethren, regardless of who they are, regardless of where they are. It means we must all stick together. We need to all be pulling for one another, encouraging one another, helping one another. We have a lot to go through. It means we must all stick together, supporting each other, loving each other, forgiving each other. It means, like Daniel, we must always put God in God's ways first in our life and not fear what man can do to us. God can always take care of us, no matter what, no matter how much we're outnumbered. It doesn't matter. God is more powerful than the entire earth. And it is never compromised God's truth or God's way of life. It means that whatever happens in the future, we must endure to the end. That is what it means for all of us who are part of the two people of God. And then finally, very quickly to conclude, what phrase sums up where we now stand as a nation? I believe the phrase now sums up where we now stand as a nation is the handwriting is on the wall.