Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Emerging Patterns

We took a break from Daniel last week, but now we’re back into it.

Do you remember where we’ve been in Daniel so far?

Quick refresher...

God’s people of Israel had been defeated and several waves of

God is faithful to provide for his people in exile.

A series of stories make up the first half of the book - Variations on a theme, but basically: Prideful actions of the king - God’s Judgment pronounced - Judgment comes to pass - God & His people honored.

Like a procedural dram on TV, once you’ve watched few episodes, you get the idea of how the stories are told, but it’s the variations from episode to episode the provide the color.

The structure is helpful, even in how you diverge from the structure.

This story In Dan 5 parallels the one in Dan 4.

What’s the scene?

Well Neb.

has gone.

There’s a new guy on the scene called “Belshazzar”.

His name is strangely similar to Daniel’s Babylonian name - “Belteshazzar”.

As your’re reading you may get the impression that Belshazzar was the son of Neb.

Until recently, people thought that Belshazzar didn’t exist, because the only references to him were in this book of Daniel and Neb.

son had a different name.

However, his name has since been discovered on cuneiform tablets placing him in the right time period.

It turns out that Belshazzar was a “co-regent”.

It was quite common in larger kingdoms to have periods of overlapping kings, especially when a king wanted to legitimate his successor, and so would preemptively install his son or other to power as a kind of deputy leader.

So there was a bit of court intrigue, a few murders and whatnot, so that after Neb.

his son reigned, but he was assassinated by his brother-in-law who took over.

Then that guy’s son took over, and then Belshazzar’s dad Nabonidus took over from him, presumably after some assassination or something.

In the case of Belshazzar, his dad seems to have put him in charge in Babylon while Nabonidus lived elsewhere, such that Belshazzar was effectively king.

It would be like if Scott Morrison appointed the Deputy PM to look after things and then went on an extended holiday.

Although not technically PM, the Deputy is as good as PM with the power to discharge all the duties in the absence of the other.

As you may imagine, it has taken several decades for all this to come to pass between Neb and and Belshazzar being in power.

Daniel would be a rather old man now, about 80! Fairly old by ancient standards.

So, two morals of that story, 1) Don’t assume that because archaeology can’t find something that the bible is in error.

There have been plenty of occasions where things were later found to verify the authenticity of the Bible, and 2) the book of Daniel is not a record of the history of Babylon - these stories are merely highlights of God’s faithfulness in exile.

It’s not trying to be a historical record, it’s trying to encourage God’s people under the thumb of foreign powers.

So lets investigate the story in 4 parts.

It’s pretty dense storytelling, so lets steel ourselves for a tour through the story, picking up key themes and ideas.

As usual, happy to talk further about the passage, but can’t cover it all in detail!

So, part 1...

1. Wrong answers: Worldly living & wisdom (v1-9)

Partying Drunkenness & blasphemy while under siege - “…for tomorrow we die”

At first glance it seems that Belshazzar was just in the mood to party, however when we look at the historical context, we can see that the Medo-persian empire had been growing around the Babylonian empire over the course of many years.

On top of that, Belsh was probably well aware of the fact that the Medo-persian army was on the way to Babylon, and it’s even possible that this story takes place while Babylon was under siege.

Whatever that immediate context, we’re still left with the distinct impression that Belshazzar was a weak and impotent king - drinking and partying while the kingdom was falling apart around him.

He had taken to heart that verse from Isaiah: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Is 22:13.

Called together all of his nobles to throw a big party.

While under the influence, Belsh thinks it would be a good idea to flaunt the “power” of his empire by using the sacred vessels from God’s temple in Jerusalem.

It was a last ditch effort to assert dominance.

These vessels weren’t magical or anything, but they were sacred because they had been consecrated, they had been set apart to be used to worship the LORD God.

They had been allocated for a holy purpose, and this prideful king was trying to show off by using them as common dishware.

In ancient warfare, all warfare was spiritual warfare.

The defeat of another nation in battle was understood as a sign that one god had won over another god.

So Belsh.

was reveling in the victory of his predecessor (not even his sown victory) by using the holy vessels for a common purpose.

He was desecrating the holy vessels, and to add insult to injury - he was praising other gods while he was doing it!

Bel. had failed to take into account that the Most High God might not take kindly to the desecration of the vessels, or to using those vessels in a drunken worship service to "gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.”

Da 5:4.

But! God responds to the blasphemy.

He will not be idle.

God’s revels his Words to Belsh. on the wall of the palace, right under the lamp.

The king turns to jelly.

This brash guy who’s been showing off and parading around is reduced to a caricature - knocking knees and a face as white as a ghost.

So as God reveals himself to Belsh. he reveals the king’s bravery was just skin deep.

There is no substance to his bravado.

Intriguingly, even though Belsh.

facade has been torn back and he is an open book of fear - he cannot understand the writing on the wall.

We don’t know what is meant by this, could he see the writing and not make out the words?

Or perhaps he could see the words, but just didn’t know what the interpretation was.

Either way, this “king” who was trying to show off his power over gods and men, is reduced to a quivering mess who doesn’t even have to power to understand the writing on the wall!

So, he tries to regain some composure and goes looking for answers, but, finds none in the wisdom of the world...

This is a familiar theme in Daniel, they have in this empire a mass of enchanters, astrologers and diviners collected from different part of the world.

They’re meant to be the best and wisest with insight into all matters spiritual or otherwise.

But they’re useless.

They can’t help.

They don’t know what to do.

Belsh.

can’t find answers in the wisdom of this world.

Note: “third highest” because Belshazzar himself was second to his father Nabonidus.

This reminds us of the futility of worldly wisdom.

It talks a big game, but it is ultimately unable to deliver what it promises.

What is worldly wisdom?

Self help, cultural “rules”,

For sure, the world’s wisdom is of some benefit, especially if it is derived from investigating God’s creation.

But when it comes to understanding spiritual things, God’s revelation, they’re useless.

I was reminded of this yesterday.

I was reading a book by Jordan Peterson, and it was filled with worldly wisdom derived from years of research and experience.

Intriguingly there’s lots of talk about bible passages and biblical ideas.

Lots of practical wisdom - but ultimately he doesn’t understand the revelation of God, even though it is written there on the page.

There is a veil over his eyes, as there was over the eyes of Belshazzar.

Belshazzar’s behavior is a pattern we see quite often.

Many people come to understand the suffering and pain present in the world.

The metaphorical “army on the horizon” is bearing down on them, they innately know that nothing they do can overcome the inevitability of death.

Some fall into existential dread and nihilism - “meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless” but some try to cover up the pain and dread and fear by self medicating.

They turn to wild living with drugs and alcohol, sexual experiences and extreme sports, they turn to increasingly arrogant and outlandish behavior to try and cover up the feelings that rise up within them.

Some people turn to the wisdom of the world - they throw themselves into massive volumes on philosophy or science to try and make sense of things.

They want to know what our purpose is, and what is required of us as humans, and how can we have a “good” life.

But none of these things will truly satisfy.

Drunkenness & drugs lead to hangovers and dependency.

Experiences in life are brief, and the dopamine hits have diminishing returns.

Eventually we run out of arrogant and prideful envelopes to push.

The worlds wisdom is empty - it is toothless.