We mentioned in a previous message that party was noted in the scriptures for several reasons, such as...
(1) Belshazzar, the KING, personally gave it.
(2) There were so many who attended it.
(3) Most of the “elite” folks of that day and time attended it.
Most of all, it was noted because Belshazzar, who knew better, became drunk and took the Jew’s sacred temple vessels and used them for some of the party service. His grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken them from the temple when he had captured the ransacked Jerusalem years before.
Look at Daniel 5:2-3 tells us, “Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.”
His subjects obeyed Belshazzar, who like his grandfather, had the power to take a man’s life at the snap of a finger (5:19). There was not a man present at that party who would oppose his decision to misuse those sacred vessels. No man would, but the God of heaven did! While Belshazzar and his drunken friends were drinking from those vessels, enjoying great REVELRY, something very strange happened.
We have already looked at THE REVELRY. Now let us look at...
II. THE REVELATION.
Look at Daniel 5:4-5. We read, “They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. (Then notice) IN THE SAME HOUR CAME FORTH FINGERS OF A MAN’S HAND, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.”
There had been lots of drinking and laughing at that big party, but when the “...fingers of a man’s hand...” appeared out of nowhere and wrote on the wall THE PARTY WAS OVER.
Notice that the Bible says that in the same hour that Belshazzar did his evil act, the fingers of a man’s hand began to write on the plaster of the wall! Never in the history of mankind has a drunken man become sober as fast as he did! Belshazzar knew he had crossed the line of God’s loving grace and kindness.
Look at verse 6. We read, “Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.”
What a great contrast we can see at that party. At the beginning of the party everyone was laughing and hollering, but when those fingers appeared and wrote on the wall, that was the end of that party. They all knew there was nothing to laugh about!
Before the party, every man there would have given anything to have been able to have been in Belshazzar’s shoes. But, after that supernatural writing, no man there wanted to be in his shoes.
What made the difference?
Look at the changes that had taken place in Belshazzar.
-His smile had turned to an expression of horror. That is,
-His “countenance” had changed.
-His thoughts “troubled” him.
-He was overcome with fear.
The king, who once stood proud, was no longer feeling secure. How HELPLESS he must have felt; probably for the first time in his life! All a king had to do was snap his finger and everyone in his presence would stand in readiness to assist him any way he requested. Belshazzar had gotten himself into a situation that NO PERSON COULD HELP HIM OUT OF!
A. His friends could not help him,
Look at verses 7-9. We read, “The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.”
One of the first things we do when we find ourselves in trouble is turn to our friends for help. Belshazzar’s friends were the most powerful men on earth at that time, but there was not one thing they could do to help him.
B. His wife could not help him.
Daniel 5:10, “Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:”
We do not know a thing about Belshazzar’s wife except that evidently she had more spiritual sense than anyone else present when the handwriting appeared on the wall.
Look at what she said. In verses 11-12 we read, “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”
Why is it that people can spend their lives with soothsayers, astrologers, and psychics, until a serious problem crops up? Then they want a man of God.
Illus: You will never hear of a dying man calling a 900 number so he can talk to a psychic.
The queen told Belshazzar that THE PARTY WAS OVER. IT WAS TIME TO CALL THE PREACHER.
Did you know that you can wait until it is too late to call the preacher? A lost man can call on God’s man and be shown from God’s Word how to have eternal life, but listen, a man can wait too long to call. Sin is a dangerous thing in the lives of both SINNERS and SAINTS.
Let’s just preach a few minutes on some examples of sin in the lives of SINNERS and in the lives of SAINTS.
1. Look at sin in the life of a sinner.
Lost person, you need to know about DELIBERATE ACTS OF SIN. You can commit some such sins and God will GIVE YOU UP.
There are certain sins, when committed to abandon and with no remorse, that cause God to actually give the sinner over to.
IS THERE SCRIPTURE FOR THAT?
Look at the book of Romans. God addresses homosexuality.
Let’s read Romans 1:24-28, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”
Isn’t it something? God made man above all the creatures of the earth yet man is the only creature on this earth that you will find committing the sin of homosexuality.
Illus: Even as filthy and disgusting as a pig might be, you will not find homosexual pigs.
God is disgusted with the evil of homosexuality. The Bible says, “GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND, TO DO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT CONVENIENT.”
There are other examples of God’s giving people up.
-In the days of Noah, God gave up almost all of the population of the whole world. He saved only Noah and Noah’s family and a select few of the animals. Once the rain began to pour down and got deep enough that the people saw there was going to be no escape, they began to call upon Noah to open the ark, but THE PARTY WAS OVER.
Look at Genesis 6:5-8. We read, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
-In the days of Lot, God rained judgment down upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The inhabitants of these cities had given themselves over to the sin of homosexuality.
Look at Genesis 19:24-25, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”
It is a dangerous thing when God gives a person up. This is exactly what happened to Belshazzar. Belshazzar knew better, yet he still crossed that line God had set and God said that THE PARTY WAS OVER!
Sinners can cross over the line of God’s grace.
Did you know that we who are saved by grace can also cross over the line of God’s patience? If we do, we do not lose our salvation, but we may lose our life.
2. Look at sin in the life of saints.
There are many professing Christians who live their lives in the same foolish manner as some sinners do in that they DELIBERATELY CHOOSE to sin. It seems that they do not know that it is dangerous for SINNERS to sin, and it is dangerous for SAINTS to sin. We who are saved by the grace of God can commit the SIN UNTO DEATH.
“WHAT IS ‘THE SIN UNTO DEATH.’?”
Look at I John 5:16. We read, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
What was John saying?
He was telling us that we are to pray for the brother in the Lord who is sinning and God will give him life, but, if he has committed the “sin unto death,” it is a waste of time because he is a DEAD MAN!
Someone might be asking, “IS THE SIN UNTO DEATH THE SAME AS THE UN-PARDONABLE SIN?” No!
• The sin unto death results in PHYSICAL DEATH.
• The unpardonable sin results in SPIRITUAL DEATH.
ARE THERE ANY EXAMPLES OF THESE IN THE BIBLE?
Yes, there are several examples in this Bible.
-In Acts 5:1-11, we see a couple by the names of Ananias and Sapphira who committed the sin unto death. They deliberately chose to sin by giving a false impression to other believers. They had sold a certain piece of land and pretended they were giving all of the proceeds from the sale to God’s church when really they had held back some for themselves. God struck them dead in the house of God.
-In I Cor. 11:30, Paul is giving instructions for the Lord’s supper. Some of the people were partaking improperly -- with unconfessed sin in their lives, and Paul said, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
In other words; many of them committed the sin unto death and God took their life.
We live in an age when sin is looked upon as being common and ordinary. For example:
• Homosexuality is now being called an alternate lifestyle.
• Abortion is now seen as being a woman’s “right.”
However, in God’s sight sin is always seen as a deliberate act against God! That is, a person can choose to partake of sin and assume no serious repercussions will come from it. However, if you believe that, as a SINNER or as a SAINT, you are mistaken in the worst kind of way!
It is dangerous for the backslider because he can play with sin for so long that he looses his fear of sin until one day God allows the weight of his sin to land on him like a ton of bricks.
We have looked at THE REVELRY, THE REVELATION, now look at...
III. THE RETRIBUTION.
Belshazzar had willfully chosen to defile the sacred temple vessels. God was not going to GIVE HIM UP TO UNCLEANNESS. God was going to REMOVE HIM FROM THE EARTH.
In Daniel 5:30, we read, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”
Conclusion:
I. THE REVELRY
II. THE REVELATION
III. THE RETRIBUTION
