Handwriting on the Wall: 2021

Well, usually in January I've been giving a sermon on signs of the times. And I went back over the sermons I've given the last few years to see what I talked about. And last year I talked more about the spiritual condition of the church, the spiritual condition that we should be in, and where the spiritual condition of the church will be before the time of the return of Jesus Christ. A year before that I talked about some prophecy on what to look for in terms of the world governments and how they'll be situated at the time of Jesus Christ's return. And this year we've been talking a lot about world conditions and what's changed because who knew? Who knew last January we would go through the things that we have gone through in the last year. But thinking through it, I want to talk about the signs of the times again, but in a little different way this time. Because even in 2021, in the three Sabbaths and the two weeks we've been in 2021, some things have already occurred that we might not have seen even as recently as December 2020 that I want to talk about as we keep our focus on the times that we're in, where we're going, and where prophecy is leading us, and where we are in that timeline. But I want to do it a little differently today. I want to go back to a story, not a story, an account in the book of Daniel, on something that occurred at the end of an empire at that time. So if you'll turn with me to Daniel 5, we'll go through the account of what occurred at the time the Babylonian Empire, the first world-ruling empire, came to its end. And in that account, we may see some things that pertain to us today, some lessons that we can learn as we look at the landscape of the world around us, the nation around us, and our lives. As we pick it up in Daniel 5, verse 1, you'll notice chapter 4 talks about Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar was well-known, or he was well aware of who God was. It was Daniel who, you know, spoke to Nebuchadnezzar when he had his dream in Daniel 2, and told him exactly what that statue was, and told him, you are that head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar. God gave you this kingdom. He sets up kingdoms, and he takes away kingdoms. And Nebuchadnezzar developed a healthy respect for God. He was never converted, if we may use that word, during his lifetime, but he knew who God was.

And he was well aware of the faith that people would have in God, and what God could do as he watched the miracles of what went on with Daniel, what went on with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He knew, he knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he had a healthy respect for him. But as men do, and as the time went on, and the Babylonian Empire flourished, God blessed it very well. It was wealthy. It was powerful. And King Nebuchadnezzar took to himself that this was all about him. Look what I've done. And you remember chapter 4. This is where God humbles him again, has him live as a beast for seven years. And the two verses preceding chapter 5, we see that, again, Nebuchadnezzar is reminded, who gave him the power, who gave him the wealth, who it is that gave him the kingdom. But as we go from chapter 4 to chapter 5, we have something like a 23-year time span.

Sometime after chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar died, and 23 years later is when his kingdom, the Babylonian Empire, came to end, and we pick it up at that point. So a lot has transpired in between verse 37 of chapter 4 and verse 1 of chapter 5 as we pick it up. But let's go through the chapter and see what happened at the end. Chapter 5 verse 1, Belchazar, the king, made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belchazar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concumines might drink from them. Now you remember Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah.

He did destroy the temple. He did take all the silver and gold, and these are the vessels that they're talking about here that Belchazar decided to bring out to make part of his party and his merriment that he is having here and with his thousand friends. In verse 3 it says, 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, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. They drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. Now that was a monumental thing in the history of Babylon. What Belchazar did brought about verse 5. We'll get to verse 5 in a minute. But Belchazar crossed a line in verse 4 when he did that with his lords and concubines and wives and everyone that was there making Mary that night. If we pause for a moment and think about what these verses say, Nebuchadnezzar remember had a very healthy respect for God. Nebuchadnezzar did conquer Judah. Nebuchadnezzar did take all the instruments and all the gold and silver from the temple, and he took it with them to Babylon. But apparently, never were those vessels or those things taken out of storage, if you will, to be used for just everyday occurrences. Nebuchadnezzar and the three kings who preceded Belchazar between Nebuchadnezzar apparently never took those things out. They knew that those were special items, and along the way they had been taught. Don't touch the things of this God. We have them, but they are holy to him. They are special to him.

Leave them alone. But Belchazar, in his time of merriment as he's having a party, he decides, you know what, those vessels, they've all been sitting in there for who knows how many years, sixty-some years. Let's bring them out and make part of our, let's make them part of our, our party. Let's just drink out of them. We've never done that before. And all the while that they're drinking out of cups that were designed and dedicated to God's service in his temple, what are they doing? They're praising gods of gold. They're praising gods of silver. They're praising pagan gods. They're not even giving God credit. It's like they're thumbing their noses in his face. Now, there's a principle that you and I can learn from that, because there are things that are sacred and holy to God. If we go forward, you can keep your finger there in Acts, in, in, do Daniel 5. Let's go forward to Acts 10.

And we see as, as God is teaching Peter, there is no such thing as a common man, but that what God has made clean, it should not be called common. In Acts 10 and verse 15, you remember the situation, the sheath comes down, has unclean animals on it. God says, rise Peter, kill and eat. Peter two or three times answers God. Verse 15 is one of them in Acts 10. Says, the voice spoke to him again the second time, what God has cleansed you must not call common. Don't use the things of God for common, everyday purposes. Don't defile them.

Don't pervert them. Don't misuse them. They're things of God.

Here, he repeats it again, one chapter over in Acts 11. Now, these vessels that we were talking about in Daniel chapter 5, that Belshazzar decided to bring out and just use for a party, just, just to have some fun with them because they've been sitting there forever and you know they were very nice. He violated a principle. Let's go back to Exodus 40 and just see what God said about those things that were dedicated for his temple. As you recall, we have talked about God's temple, physical in the Old Testament times, spiritual in New Testament times, our bodies are his temple. We are his temple today. He's building his temple in us individually and collectively, as you hear me say often. In Exodus 40 in verse 9, as the temple is completed and all the instruments and Israel has done everything exactly to the specifications that God has asked, it says this, you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that's in it and you shall hallow it and all its utensils and it shall be holy.

They were there for God's use. That's the only thing that they were to be used for in the in the service of that temple. If God makes something holy, only he can make it unholy. And so even though those utensils were sitting in storage somewhere in the in the Empire of Babylon, they were still holy. Nebuchadnezzar knew it. Evil Meridok, his son who was an evil king, he knew it. Belshazzar's father knew it. They never touched those things from the temple, but Belshazzar, 23 years down the road from that, decides why not? Why not? Let's go take those things and use them. They're nice vessels. We should be enjoying them. And he takes this occasion to do that. Now, if we go back to Daniel 5, we see how seriously God takes this offense that Belshazzar has committed. It says in verse 5 of Daniel 5, in the same hour—here they are, pardoning a thousand of them, a thousand of them in the drinking wine, laughing, you know, having a good time, taking these vessels, how fun it is to be using these vessels—in the very same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lamestand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. What happened at that time is that Belshazzar had crossed a line.

Now, it wasn't that this was the first thing that he had done. For years, apparently, God was in the background in Babylon. While Nebuchadnezzar was there, he would get full of himself and he would run off and say things like, this is all because of him, he's this great king and whatever, and God would get his attention and he would become humble again. But we don't hear anything about Daniel. For all these years, there's nothing about God from the time that Nebuchadnezzar has died. So things have been going on in Babylon, but this is the thing that is the straw that broke the camel's back. There's a point in time where God says, enough is enough. They've gone too far and there's no going back. This is how important it was to God what had gone on there. What they did was an abomination to God, an abomination to him, just something as simple as taking the holy things and using it to drink wine out of and then praising other gods. Now, we might think about some of the things that we do. I don't think we would take anything of God lightly. We should never take anything of God lightly.

But we want to be very careful about what we do with the things that God gives us, that we don't commit any of those abominations that are listed in the Bible and that God talks about because Belshazzar did. In verse 5, God takes note of it and God makes them aware that he is not pleased. Notice in verse 6, it says, The king's countenance changed. Here they were, laughing and drinking, having a good time. When he saw that handwriting of the hall, and you can imagine what he went through. If you and I were in that situation, we'd be terrified as well. The king's countenance changed. It wasn't so much a joke anymore. It wasn't so much fun to be drinking out of those vessels anymore. The king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his hips were loosened, and his knees knocked against each other. Do you know how scared he must have been to have that happen? I'd had to shake him to his very core. I mean, when I think about knees knocking together, I sometimes think of cartoon characters and their knees are knocking together. But this really happened to Belshazzar. I mean, he knew that they had crossed a line. He knew something was up. There was something there. He might not have been exactly sure what, but most of me believes he knew exactly what they had done, that he had crossed a line, and now there was going to be some remuneration or some recompense for it. The king's countenance changed. His thoughts troubled him, so the joints of his hips were loosened, and his knees knocked against each other.

Now, there's other times in the Bible that it talks about terrifying times that people go through, and it uses some descriptive language on how people will react when they've crossed a line, when they know there's no turning back, when they know there's a line that's been crossed, and from here on out, what's going to happen. Belshazzar had absolutely no doubt that what was going to happen from there on out wasn't going to be good, because he knew, and we'll see that later, he knew what he had done. He knew what principle he had violated that he had been taught over these years not to do. Other people will find the same thing. Again, keep your finger in Daniel. Let's go back a few books to Jeremiah, and we see another description of people that are in this enormous pain. And God describes that pain in a descriptive way to highlight for us just how tremendous that pain will be when you know you've crossed a line and that God is now against you. Jeremiah 30 and verse 4. These are the words that the Eternal spoke concerning Israel and Judah. Now, as a reminder, Israel has gone into captivity at this point, so we know that this is a prophecy for the future, because Israel's already gone. Judah's still extant there.

Thus says the Lord, verse 5, we've heard a voice of trembling, a voice of fear, and not of peace.

Ask now, and see whether a man is ever in labor with a child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale? Why do we see every man in such turmoil? Why do we see every man in such pain? It's because they know that what's coming is not good. They know at some level they've crossed a line and there's no going back.

Things have been pushed too far, and now the die is cast, and now the retribution of God will come. Verse 7, Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he will be saved out of it. So in the future, we know there's a time we know there's a time of pain. We know there's a time when mankind, like Velshezer, will feel that pain. In other places, the Bible will call it there's a weeping and gnashing of teeth. When people realize what it is that's about to come upon them, and they know why. They know why. They know where they've pushed the envelope, and they've pushed it a little too far, or they've been a little too long asleep, or a little too careless with the things of God and what He has given to us. So with that, let's go back again to Daniel 5 and read on. The King, his time of merriment is done. The rest of his life, his countenance has changed, and we don't know exactly how long. It might be that very same day. Some commentaries say that it might have been a week or two in between the time this all happened, but we, you know, God knows we know what was very sudden. Verse 6, Daniel 5, or verse 7. The King.

Okay, something's happened. I've got to, something's, I have to know what all this is about. What is this handwriting on the wall? The King cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The King spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple, to have a chain of gold around his neck, and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

I'll give him riches, and you know what? If you can just tell me what this means, I need to know what it means. I'll make you third in the kingdom. Now, just an interesting bit of history why Belshazzar would say he'll make you third in the kingdom and not second in the kingdom. It's because Belshazzar, in fact, was the second in the kingdom. History shows that the real king of Babylon at that time was his father, Nabannitis. M-A-B-I-N-A-D-U-S. He was the real king. Belshazzar was his son. But Nabannitis didn't really like being king. He didn't want to stick around in Babylon and do all the things that kings do. He wanted to be off doing his own things. So he would go off being engaged in a battle over here. He might go off and look at something else like there. But for the last 10 years of his 17-year reign, Belshazzar, you can do all of it. You can be king under me. And so Belshazzar really couldn't say, you'll be second in command, you'll be third in command. Now, the point making there is because for a number of years, people, historians, would say, well, the Bible isn't accurate because the last king of Babylon was Nabannitis. It wasn't Belshazzar. And they couldn't find Belshazzar anywhere in the history of Babylon. But then they did. As they uncovered more things, all of a sudden they found Belshazzar.

And realized, oh, Belshazzar was the king of Nabannitis. And when they put history together, they realized the Bible is right. Belshazzar was the real leader at that time. And so when he said, I'll make you third in the kingdom, that's all he could offer. You will be right under me, is what he was saying. Verse 8. All the king's wise men came, but they couldn't read the writing or make known to the king its interpretation. He did the same thing Nebuchadnezzar did the first time when he saw that, had that dream of the statue. But none of the king's men could make any, could interpret any of it. So great King Belshazzar was greatly troubled. His countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished. You know, they might not have just gotten it. Why is Belshazzar so upset? It's handwriting on the wall, kind of a miracle. They probably too were troubled. They were perplexed, as one of the translations of that word can be. But they were astonished, because Belshazzar was clearly, clearly troubled in a way that they had not seen before. It changed him completely to see that within the very same hour that those vessels were brought out, and they crossed a line that no one before had done, and that hand appeared. Well, Belshazzar didn't know what to do, but verse 10, the queen did. It never seemed to appear to Belshazzar, what about this Daniel? What happened to my great-great-great-grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar? When he had that dream about the statue, his people couldn't do it either. What did he do? It was Daniel who could interpret it, but it never seemed to enter Belshazzar's mind. God just never entered the mind of Babylon at that time. It had gone too far. God was a distant memory. They had gone on. They had convinced themselves. They were invincible. Everything was of them. It was just time to eat, drink, and be merry, much like the times we read of in Matthew 24 and Luke 17 and 21, where at the end of time Christ says, they'll be eating and drinking. They'll be making merry. They'll be marrying and giving in marriage. And then the end comes.

In Daniel 5, we see the same thing is about to happen. But it never entered Belshazzar's mind. Go to God. Go to God. I have these troubled times. I don't know what to do. Let's seek Him. He was part of this kingdom. He's the one who blessed it. We need to look to Him for the answers and not do things on our own. The queen remembered, though, in verse 10, the queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. She spoke, saying, O king, live forever. Don't let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. 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. And ye King Nebuchadnezzar, your father or your ancestors, should be, your father the king, made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he'll give the interpretation.

You've looked everywhere else. You're troubled. You know there's a problem. Why didn't you go to that god? That god of Daniel? Why didn't you ask him to do it? That's what Nebuchadnezzar did, and he will have the answers. But there was a time in the history of Babylon, God was so far gone, they never asked him anything. We'll just solve it on our own. We'll just do it on our own. God never entered the mind until the queen came in and said that. So verse 13.

So verse 13, Daniel is brought in before the king, and the king spoke, and he said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 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. Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in here before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they couldn't give the interpretation of the thing. And 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 shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and you will be called the third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel, if you can do this for me, if you can give me the answers I'm looking, how, what is going on, what's in store, I'll give you all this. Well, Daniel wasn't interested in the king's gifts, and he wasn't interested in position. He was just there to do God's will. And he says as much in verse 17, Let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another, but I'm here and I will read the writing of the king, and I will make known to him the interpretation.

Only Daniel could do this. Only Daniel, who was going to, who with the Spirit of God, that the queen recognized that now Belshazzar understood in whose presence he was, and what Spirit would be that would be interpreting this. And Daniel begins to speak, O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory, and honor.

And because of the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished he executed. Whomever he wished, he kept alive. Whomever he wished he set up, and whomever he wished, he put down.

That's what kings do. That's what monarchies do. That's what autocracies do. God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingship. God gave him that right to do that. Wasn't a republic. Wasn't a democracy. Back at Babylon, it was an autocracy. It was a monarchy. And Nebuchadnezzar had complete control over those people. That's why he could even make an edict about bowing down before his gods, and making people do that. That's what the world, as we've talked about, lived in. Up until the time, in recent times, in the last few hundred years, when liberty and freedom have more marked the world. That's what the world is going back to as we read in Revelation, the same time same type autocracy, where whoever he wishes, he sets up. Whoever he wishes, he executes. Whatever he wants, believe. That's what the world around him and his kingdom will believe.

God gave him the power. God gives everyone. God sets up the nations of the world and the rulers of the world. That's what Daniel is saying here. Verse 20, he says what happened, and reminds Belshazzar, and Belshazzar would have known this history of what Nebuchadnezzar was like, because Nebuchadnezzar knew God. It was part of their history. Verse 20, he reminds him, when Nebuchadnezzar's heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was supposed from his kingly throne. Now they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men. His heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass, like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over it whomever he chooses. And so God does the same thing today. Whoever God chooses, that's who's in power. He's the one who sets up kings. He's the one who sets up nations. He's the one who does it, just like he did Nebuchadnezzar, just like Belshazzar was there for a reason. And Daniel is reminding him, the power you have, you've been given from God. Babylon is great. Babylon is wealthy, because God gave it to you, Belshazzar. Gave it to your father, Nebuchadnezzar. But in his pride, he had to be humbled. In your pride, he's reminding Belshazzar, look what you've done. In your pride, look what I've done. Why wouldn't we just go in and take these things of God? Why are they so special? Why do we have them just sitting over here in a storehouse, just collecting dust?

Verse 22, Daniel starts telling Belshazzar exactly what his problem is.

And Daniel doesn't mince any words. He doesn't dance around the subject. He doesn't try to make excuses for Belshazzar. He simply says it to him. Verse 22, but you, Belshazzar, you haven't humbled your heart, although you knew all this. You knew what you were doing. You knew the history. You know why those vessels had not been touched by Nebuchadnezzar or your the other three kings before you. You know why even your father, who is king, didn't touch them. But you took it upon yourself and said, who needs God? I'm doing it myself. I want to use them, and I'm going to commit this abomination before God. You knew this, Belshazzar, and you went ahead and did it in any way. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You put yourself in his place. You said, I don't need him. I dare him to do something to me. Could we ever put ourselves in that situation where we do things to God and just keep not following what He has to say?

Do we just keep maybe allowing ourselves to go through it and in our pride just keep trying to do things our way, do things our way, do things our way, and think we're all in control when, really, it's God who's in control and we need to let Him have control? Do we push it too far until God finally says, I've had enough? I've had enough. They've gone too far. You knew all this, Belshazzar. You've lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They've brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. How dare you defile the holy things of God that way? And you've praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know. And the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you haven't glorified Him. You haven't even acknowledged Him. How could you have done such a thing, Belshazzar? You knew better. Now, as you read those words of Daniel, I have to think, here he is. He's been out of the limelight for at least 23 years.

You know, for a while he had an audience with the king, and he was second in command and there in Babylon. If I remember correctly, Nebuchadnezzar held him in high repute. But he's been in retirement for a while. No king is consulting him in anymore. He's just part of there in Babylon, living his life in peace. But there is no message of God going out. Daniel is just there. And the kingdom has gone along for these 20-some years until a time of trouble appears. And then someone says, oh wait, what about God? There's no answer anywhere else. Maybe God. Now we're up against a rock and a hard place. Now let's see what God... maybe we need to consult Him. You know, there'll come a time...

again, you can put your finger there and Daniel 5. Let's go back to Isaiah 58. There comes a time when people need to be told what their sins are, and what they're doing, and when God is putting them through trials, or they're up against a situation like Belshazzar is up against, but we have to be very clear about what has been done and to remind them who is God, what is God. And this may apply to some of us as well as time goes on, but Isaiah 58, we find something that the church will need to do somewhere in the future. When God says it's time to do this, Isaiah 58, we'll do what Daniel did to Belshazzar when he was called in. Cry aloud. Spare not.

Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Tell them what they've done wrong. You tell the house of Jacob those nations who we know who they are, the English-speaking nations of the earth. Tell the house of Jacob their sins. There's coming a time when the church will have to do that. The time's not right now, just like it wasn't right now or right then before Daniel was called in to do that, but there will be a time when God says, now is the time, and he will make the time, and he will make the availability for that to be done. And when Jacob is going to experience the penalty for what they've done, they will know why. It will be crystal clear, just like it was for Belshazzar, when Daniel made it clear to him what his sins were, what he had defiled, and the abominations that he had committed before God to anger him in the way that he did. Okay, let's go back to Daniel.

Daniel 5.

Belshazzar listens, as you can imagine, with, I'm sure, rapt attention as Daniel is giving these words to him. Daniel goes on, tells him, you haven't glorified God. You haven't even thought of him. I might bring us into today's world a little bit. How often is God thought of in this world?

How much through the current problem that we have, how many times has anyone consulted God on a pandemic? And seen, is there a reason that this is happening? Is there something that we can do besides create vaccines and work on all the gods of the we have created for ourselves to see that it could happen? Perhaps, perhaps someone might have thought of that, but you don't hear about it. Verse 24, Daniel goes on, talks about this, and he says, then the fingers of the hand were sent from God, and this writing was written, and this is the inscription that was written, Meenee, Meenee, Tekel, you farsen. And then it tells us what those words mean. This is the interpretation of each word. Meenee, God has numbered your kingdom, Belshazzar, and he's finished it. You're done. You cross the line. There's no turning back.

Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. You haven't been who God expected or wanted you to be. You haven't acted on the knowledge that you had. In fact, you went against that knowledge, and you defiled the things of God. You know, we are called to live up to the measure and stature of Jesus Christ. Would we want Tekel to be written about us? You've been weighed in the balance, and you've been found wanting. Those might be words, if we ever heard them said about ourselves, that would make our knees knock together. Perez, verse 28, your kingdom has been divided and it's been given to the Medes and Persians.

So for Belshazzar, your kingdom is done. Your empire is done. You crossed the line, and God said, that's it. There's no turning back.

Now, to Belshazzar's credit, he listened to Daniel. He had the right as king to say, you know, enough is enough. I don't want to hear any more of this. Off with his head, banish him to another kingdom. Get him out of my sight. I never want to see him again. But Belshazzar listened. He listened to all the words that Daniel said, and he accepted them. Because he knew. Because he knew what he had done. Because he knew that this was the just reward for the way that they had handled the kingdom during that time. He didn't like it, but all of his actions and all of his predecessors before him all led to this final dissolution or the final end of the Babylonian Empire.

And to Belshazzar's credit, even though he didn't like the words that Daniel said, verse 29 says, Belshazzar gave the command. They clothed Daniel with purple, put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Plucked from obscurity by God, and now he's the third ruler in the kingdom.

So as Darius or Darius, however you want to pronounce it, when the Medes and Persians come in, Daniel has this position. And we can see he's a factor in that kingdom as well. But that's a thing for a topic for another time. In verse 30, that very night, that very night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. God let him know the reason.

God elevated and put Daniel out there where people could see who he was. He was, again, a factor in Babylon and a factor in the Medo-Persian kingdom. As your Beedon and Daniel, you see. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old.

Belshazzar paid a heavy price. Babylon lost it all. Their empire was over.

For some of the reasons that we have talked about, let's talk about how Babylon fell. I'm sure you remember the history of it because it's a compelling story of what went on with Babylon, born out by the Bible, to document that this is what happened.

Encyclopedia Britannica, the other ancient history websites you can see online, will give you the same story. Cyrus was the leader who was there to overthrow the city of Babylon.

He was there. They tried however many things that they tried. And he finally, it's reported, made the comment, Babylon can't be overthrown. The walls are too high. The city is too fortified. I can't see any weakness. So he was ready to go home, as the story goes. When a soldier came up and said, no, sir, there is a way that Babylon could be conquered. They are vulnerable because all kingdoms of men are vulnerable. They all have their weak points. And so he told Cyrus, there's this river that's running under the walls of Babylon. If somehow those waters could be drained, the soldiers could march under the wall of the city and be there and take the city by surprise. Now, it's no minor thing to think about the Tigris River and how wide it is that you might even be able in that day and age to be able to divert the river and make those waters recede. The plan wasn't let's wait till the dry season and the waters go down by two or three feet and our people can wade through there and go through there. That wasn't it. It wasn't going to be that easy. So the reports are, and it didn't happen overnight, that Cyrus did commission a number of men and they went out to one side of the city where there was a marsh and they began digging trenches. And they did this. Some commentaries say it probably took them around two years to do this. And I have little doubt that it took all that time because it had to be a monumental task. And they dug and they dug and they dug until finally the waters of the Tigris did divert over into these other canals. The water receded and the men of Cyrus were able to go under those walls, march in, and take Babylon's surprise. And without hardly any battle, Babylon fell. They found the vulnerability. They found the weak spot. Every kingdom of man has a weak spot. Every kingdom can be conquered. Babylon thought they were invincible. And for that reason, they thought nothing can affect us. We have all our gods. We have all our wealth. We'll go on forever. Well, back in Isaiah 44, we see this very thing. It's one of the things that some Bible critics really, really wish that these verses weren't in there. And there was a time when they would assert that the book of Daniel had to be written after Isaiah. But it is crystal clear Isaiah was written 150 years before Daniel and the kingdom of Babylon. And here in chapter 44, I'm going to begin in verse 24 because some of the verses that lead into where I'm going, the last two verses of the chapter, are very interesting when you look at some of the things that go on in today's world. Things that don't happen may be the way you think and other people think and predictions go out the window. Verse 24 of Isaiah 44, Thus is the eternal, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb. I am the Lord who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of the babblers.

You know, they'll tell you all these things and say, oh, this is what the conclusion is. This is what we need to do. It doesn't work out that way. They may predict and they may say, this is how it's going to be. I frustrate the signs of the babblers. I control the times. I control the seasons. I control when these things happen. I drive diviners mad. This is the way it should be. Why isn't it happening this way? This is what we thought. All the science pointed to this. I drive diviners mad. I'm the one who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolishness, who confirms the word of his servant and performs the counsel of his messengers, the prophets of God, the ones who are led by him. That's where the truth is, God is saying, who says to Jerusalem, you will be inhabited. To the cities of Judah, you shall be built, and I will raise up her waste places. Who says, verse 27, to the deep, be dry, and I will dry up your rivers. Who says Osiris, the leader of that Medo-Persian group that conquered Babylon, who says Osiris, naming him by name, 150 years before, he is my shepherd. He shall perform all my pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, you will be built, and to the temple your foundation shall be laid.

70 years in exile, but you'll come back, and the foundation of the temple will be laid again. You'll return to the land, even though Babylon is going to conquer you, Judah. But in verse 27, clearly God is referencing about Cyrus of how that city, that great city of Babylon, would fall.

The rivers would be dried up, not miraculously by God, but by Cyrus and his men, who painstakingly, day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year, in full view of the people of Babylon, kept digging and digging and digging. And then one day, lo and behold, the end came. They didn't see it coming, even though it was happening right under their noses. But it didn't seem to occur to anyone. What are you up to? We should be really concerned about this. We should be watching what's going on over there. It was like, oh, look at Cyrus and his men. What a waste of time they're doing. They're nothing to be worried about. Boom. Boom.

The time came on one day. Kind of like the, kind of like it says in Isaiah 30, if we were to turn back there. The walls were bulging. If you're paying attention to what was going on, you could see what was going to happen. Then suddenly the walls burst and everything fell apart. And suddenly the end came. That's what happened to that empire. How it fell apart. What happened to it and the things leading up to the time of its demise? And so we have a very intriguing account that's there. But what does it mean to us today? Interesting to look at, interesting to talk about, interesting to think about to see how God works. What might we learn from Babylon today?

I'm just going to give two points from this. I could give many more, but I'm going to just focus on two points the rest of the sermon. It's kind of handwriting on the wall version year 2021.

Now let's go back to the story of Babylon a little bit. What happened during those years from the time Nebuchadnezzar died until the time that the writing was on the wall? God was in the total background. He was nowhere to be seen. Never entered Velshauser's mind when these things started to occur. What about God? Now he knew. He knew he'd crossed the line. He knew he'd done something wrong, but it didn't occur to him, let's go to God. Let's find the stand. It was his wife, the queen, who had come up with that. Daniel was in the background. He was brought to the fore by God, and he was a factor in the next kingdom, but not at that point.

I don't think Daniel was necessarily censored during that time of the 23 years. Maybe he was, but he was just there. If he was saying anything, the world and the Babylon wasn't listening at all. Let's go back. Let's go forward. A few books in the book of Amos.

Something happened in the last couple weeks in America that makes the verse in Amos all the more real. It's one of those trenches as being dug that's going to show up sooner or later when God commands or when God determines. As you're turning to Amos 8, I'll just remind you one thing that God says in Amos 3 verse 7. He says, surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets. He will let us know what's going on. We have to keep our eyes open. We can't be distracted like Belshazzar and his group of a thousand people and apparently all of Babylon. They were distracted with what was ever going on in their world. And it's so easy to be distracted in the world today. We can be distracted with all the business of our lives, everything that's going on. We can be distracted even by listening to the coronavirus daily updates on how many of this and how many of that or all the other garbage that's going on in the world.

Very easy to be distracted. Pay people of Babylon. Don't doubt. They were distracted. They weren't paying attention to what was going on. And God, God in a time of prosperity, was nowhere to be seen.

Amos 8. Amos 8. Let's pick it up in verse 11.

Now, if you take the time to peruse the verses leading up to verse 11, well, let's pick it up in verse 9 to show this is an end-time context. Okay? In Amos 8 verse 9, it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. Heavenly signs will occur. I will turn your feasts in the morning and all your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head. I will make it like morning for an only sun and its end like a bitter day. This is a prophecy for ancient Israel. Fulfilled when they went into captivity, dual process, we're talking of the end days here. Behold, verse 11, behold the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but I will send a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east. They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. Now, we've heard those verses many times, over the times, the time coming when you're not going to be able to find the word of God anywhere. You may turn on your radio, you may turn on your TV, you may turn on your internet, and we're used to having thousands of sermons, every message. How many things do we do by internet today in media? So, so, so much. You can hardly even imagine the operation of the church without the internet and all the things that we have on it. ucg.org is a very prolific site. You can find the answer to just about any Bible question you want on ucg.org. You can turn and listen to sermons from anyone all around the world. We have people listening on the web today from other parts of the world listening to us. It's a magical and a wonderful and a blessed time that we live in, but we are dependent on that. Now, what happened on that, that media, but what happened in the last couple weeks that makes this verse really real? We saw something happen in America that we never thought could happen. A company who runs a group of companies who run all these things and have the control over, however, so much of our communication is handled these days took it upon themselves to decide, not you. This account gets shut down, and I'm not making any claims for or against any man or person. This is simply the facts of what went on. We decide we don't want to hear from you anymore. Your account is shut down, permanently gone. And another little account over here, because some people might decide to go over there, we will take you completely out of business as well so that you have no opportunity, no opportunity to communicate. What was the sole reason? We don't want to hear what you have to say. Now, one of the hallmarks of America has always been the First Amendment. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, all those things that we count on that has allowed our lives to be so good during this time that we've lived in.

But all of a sudden, in just the first weeks of 2021, we've seen something happen that you could never think could happen in America. And as other nations have seen it, they've commented. Germany weighed in. How could this happen in America? Mexico, France, even China made a comment about the hypocritical nature of America, that this could happen in America that's always promoted free speech. And yet, companies, not the government, something we never saw coming that corporations could determine. We don't want to hear what you have to say. And therefore, we eliminate you.

We take care of your message, and we get it totally off of the air.

Now, when a bridge gets crossed, rarely ever, ever, ever does it ever get retrieved. Maybe it will for a short period of time, but when something happens, it usually goes further and further and so something monumental happened when that decision was made. And we don't hear outcries from at least half the country saying, that can't happen, that shouldn't happen to anyone. No, they're kind of in favor of it. As long as the message that's is drowned out is one they don't want to hear, perfectly fine. Now, let's fast forward, because somewhere down the line, as it says in Isaiah 58, the church will be crying aloud and sparing not. God will set up the time when that message goes out in His time and how it's delivered. And Jacob, the modern nations of America, England, the English speaking nations, and little Judah over there and known today as Israel, they will hear their sins loud and clear. And there will be people, there will be people who don't like that message. We don't want to hear that. That goes contrary to everything that we stand for and everything we want. Don't tell us that we've done this wrong. What will happen, or what could happen today, that we might not have seen happening a couple weeks ago?

Maybe not the government, but maybe corporations say, you're shut down, you're off the air, your internet's gone, your servers are gone, there's nothing. There's no way we're going to make sure that message doesn't get out anymore because it doesn't, it isn't what we want to hear.

And if and when that happens, verse 11 is there, there will be a famine of the hearing of the word because today it goes out largely by internet and with our assemblies as well. But we've talked about assemblies and we'll see, you know, what the government does with that. It'll be corporations or perhaps the government too that says, that's done. That's not a message any of our people that we want given out there. And all of a sudden, 811 will be upon us. Now we'll know exactly what God was talking about. Now the interesting thing about verse 11 is that when you put all the verses together, because when you look at verse 12, you've got the people of Israel, they're running to and fro, they're going from east to west, they're going from sea to sea, and what they're doing is, where's the word of God? Something's happened. Something not good has happened. It's like, well maybe we need to go find out what God is. Didn't we hear a message about this somewhere along the line? Maybe we need to find out what that is, but they can't find it anywhere. They go from sea to sea, they go from north to east, they're running all over the place. They can't find the word of God.

Now apparently, maybe not, but apparently this happens before the Great Tribulation.

Not during the Great Tribulation, because during the Great Tribulation, what's happening?

You have two witnesses that are really crying aloud and sparing not. Somehow God has their message go out, and no power on earth can shut them up or shut them down until God allows those two witnesses to be killed. For three and a half years, they are preaching boldly, and the world hates the message that they have. Maybe they're thinking, I thought we shot this down. How can these two men keep continually witnessing words that we don't ever want to hear again? Because if God wants it done, it gets done. No internet, no corporation, no media will shut God's word down, but before that, there's a dearth of the hearing of the word of God. You and I, could be that time we can see could happen in America now. Maybe, well, we always knew it could, because it's in the Bible, what God says is sure to happen. Maybe we didn't see exactly how it could happen, but it could happen, or we see how it could happen. If we go back to the book of Hosea, right after the book of Daniel in verse chapter 5, verses we've read a few times and read recently not too long ago, but we find again the end times. Let's pick it up in Hosea 5 verse 4.

They, you can see in the verse ahead, talking about Ephraim, talking about Israel, talking about Judah, little Israel over there in the Middle East, known as today. Hosea 5 verse 4, they don't direct their deeds toward turning to their God. Well, that sounds like the nations today, right? No one's thinking about God. Let's not turn our direction at all to God. They don't direct their deeds toward turning to their God. For the spirit of Harlotry is in their midst, and they don't even know the eternal. The pride of Israel. One of the things that Mark Babylon and all kingdoms is pride. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel. They don't think they can be beaten anyway, either. They think they're invincible. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity.

Judah stumbles with them. All three of them. With their flocks and herds, they'll go to seek the Lord. Oh, and the trouble comes. Oh, maybe we need to check on God. With their flocks and herds, they'll go seek the Lord. But they won't find him. There's a famine of the hearing of the word.

But they won't find him. He's withdrawn himself from them. They've dealt treacherously with the Lord, as Belshazzar did. They've dealt treacherously with him. They've begotten pagan children, and now a new moon or thirty days shall devour them and their heritage. They've crossed a line, and there's no going back. They've crossed a line, and there's no going back.

So we can look at what is going on in the world today. And here, just two weeks into 2021, we see something happen that shows us what the future may hold.

As we look at one of the prophecies of the time before, a day before the day of the Lord, a day before the Great Tribulation, a day that's coming that we need to take stock of, and that we need to be aware of, as Jesus Christ said, watching the times, looking at the buds on the leaves, paying attention to those out there who are digging the trenches, and how the time is drawing close to the time of Christ's return. So that's one thing. Censorship and the dearth of the hearing of the Word. The other one is, look at what happened to Babylon. I just mentioned that they weren't paying attention to what was going on with Cyrus and his men. They were right there, right outside the city. They could have seen what was going on, but they kept digging and digging and digging, and one day, one day, they invaded the land, and it was over. One of the things we've heard increasingly over the last couple months, and it seems maybe it's just what I'm watching lately, I keep hearing about China.

I keep hearing about China, and all spies. We have spies that are dealing with congressmen. We have congressmen that are doing other things. We have this one who's affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. We have this and that. China, China, China, they might say. But China is everywhere. They're in America, and they've infiltrated. They do infiltrate our system. We've known for years that they've been buying up assets in America, and they have influence, and we are beginning to see it demonstrated that they have some influence among some key people and a lot of key people in America today. Russia, perhaps, the same thing. Somewhere down the road, the east. The east is going to rise up and perhaps bite us. Just like the Medes and Persians, all of a sudden, after years and years and years of undercover, behind the scenes, I'm just going about my business, and all of a sudden, the end is there, and you're overwhelmed, and it's hard to even imagine how it all happened. And somewhere along the line, we will see how the vulnerabilities of America will be her downfall. I think, my opinion, Russia and China know they can't beat America militarily. They know our weaponry is too strong. They've known that. Just like Cyrus realized, we can't beat Babylon. We can't do it. Walls are too high. They're too well fortified. We may as well go back. Until they realize there's a vulnerability, but it takes some time to work that vulnerability and make that happen. And so, perhaps, our enemies are doing the same thing behind the scenes. Working, working, working. Right under our noses, China has made no bones about the fact that it intends to replace America as the number one economy in the world in short order, as short of order as they can. And yet, they're here, and they have influence. And not only here, but in South America, in Brazil, in areas around the world, their influence is there in a different way, not militarily, but it's there. It's there, and it's there, and one day we will find out the extent of it is probably, probably where we're leading. Let's go back to Daniel 11.

I think every time I've given a signs of the time, I've referred to Daniel 11 to point us to what the world will be like before the return of Jesus Christ. I intended, but I've run out of time already, so I'm going to buy some time from you here as I finish this up. You know, you can read Daniel 11, 36 to 40. He talks about the ruler who will be extant at that time. He is an autocrat like none other. He sees himself as God. There's nothing. He has no mercy on anyone. It's going to be his way or the highway, and he is going to be king, if you will, over the United Nations of Europe.

The Roman Empire, in its very many iterations, has tried for years and years to unite Europe. It finally will happen, the Bible says, but they're not the only factor on earth at that time. As we've talked about many times, in verse 40, we see the king of the south.

You know, down in the Middle Eastern countries, king of the north, Europe, goes down, and they absolutely denigrate the south. But down in verse 44, it says, "'News from the east and the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.' Now to the north and east of Jerusalem are those eastern nations, China, Russia, and North Korea. Those nations we hear about that rattle their swords." Well, North Korea rattles their swords. Russia and China are a little bit more a little more quiet than what they're doing, which always makes you wonder, what are they up to?

Because they're always at work, and for decades they have looked to unseat America as the world-ruling empire. But make no mistake that at the time of the end, there are two powers on earth. It's not just Europe. The east is alive and well, and they are very, very, very powerful. When you read in Revelation, it's the kings of the east who march across the Euphrates River with a 200 million-man army.

They're coming to battle the north. It turns out that they end up battling Christ in that final battle, but they are alive and well. They are a power. And as I've said before, you don't see the west anywhere in this story. The west, America, those guys, we're on. The power is in the north, Europe, and the east, and the south, which is decimated.

But the east is there, and it's powerful, and it will be a factor. It'll be a factor in what we do going forward. So let's finish in 1 Thessalonians. Why do we do this? Because none of us want to be taken unaware. None of us want to be distracted. None of us want to wake up one day and have happened to us what happened to Belshazzar. That we see, oh, the end is here. I've crossed the line. We've crossed the line, and there's no going back. We don't want to be one of those people who are weeping and gnashing teeth, our knees knocking together, bent over in pain, like a woman in labor.

We want people who are awake and aware of what's going on and not have ourselves buried and consumed in the affairs of life and the multiple, multiple distractions that I'm sure will even more increase as time goes on to take our attention of what is really going on and take our leaders' attention off of what is really going on in the world. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1, Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

Not just the day of the Lord, all those days that proceed it, because there is a time when the time clock starts, and God says, this is it. Day 1335 comes. The dearth of the hearing of the word comes. All those things that happen that lead up to the time of the return of Jesus Christ, for you yourselves know perfectly the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night, for when they say, not when there is, for when they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

It happened to Babylon. That's exactly what happened to them. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Let us watch and be sober, and let's not sleep but keep our eyes open, as we are in times that seem to be increasingly and increasingly speeding up in the fulfillment and our view of what is going to happen, as the Bible says, in the years ahead.