Daniel 5.20-Daniel Reminds Belshazzar That God Deposed Nebuchadnezzar Because Of His Pride And Arrogance
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 15, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 5:20-Daniel Reminds Belshazzar That God Deposed Nebuchadnezzar Because Of His Great Pride And Arrogance
Lesson # 161
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 5:1.
Daniel 5:1 King Belshazzar threw an enormous banquet for a thousand of his nobles. He even drank wine excessively directly in front of the thousand. 2 Belshazzar issued an order while under the influence of the wine causing the gold and silver articles to be brought in which Nebuchadnezzar, his great-grandfather caused to be confiscated from the temple, which was in Jerusalem, in order that the king, his nobles as well as his wives and in addition his concubines could drink with them. 3 Therefore, the gold and silver articles were brought in, which were confiscated from the temple, which was God’s house, which was in Jerusalem so that the king, his nobles as well as his wives and in addition his concubines could drink with them. 4 They drank wine while they praised gods composed of gold as well as silver, bronze, iron, wood and in addition stone. 5 During this time, the fingers of a human hand appeared while writing on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, directly in front of the lampstand so that the king observed the palm of the hand which was writing. 6 Then the king, his countenance was changed for him. Also, his thoughts caused him to be terrified so that his hip joints gave way resulting in his knees knocking together, one against the other. 7 The king authoritatively shouted out an order for the purpose of causing the necromancers, astrologers as well as diviners to be brought in. He declared to the city of Babylon’s wise men, “Any person who can read aloud as well as can make known its interpretation to me will be clothed with a purple robe as well as a golden chain around his neck. Indeed, they will rule as third in the kingdom.” 8 Therefore, each and every one of the king’s wise men came in but they were totally unable to read or cause the interpretation to be made known to the king. 9 Thus causing the king to be extremely terrified so that his countenance was changed on him as well as causing his nobles to be perplexed. 10 The queen entered the banquet hall because of the king’s words as well as his nobles. The queen responded and said, “O king, live forever! Please, by no means let your thoughts cause you to be terrified so that they by no means cause your countenance to be changed! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who possesses God’s Holy Spirit in him. Specifically, during the days of your great-grandfather, illumination, discernment as well as wisdom in accordance with God’s wisdom were observed in him. Indeed, King Nebuchadnezzar, your great-grandfather, your great-grandfather the king, promoted him to be commander over the occult priests, necromancers, astrologers and diviners 12 because in him, in Daniel whom the king assigned him the name Belteshazzar, was found an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, discernment interpreting dreams, explaining riddles as well as solving difficult problems. Please summon Daniel right now in order to cause the interpretation to be known.” 13 Consequently, Daniel was ordered to enter the king’s presence. The king asked a question and said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel, who is one of the deported people from Judah whom my great-grandfather the king ordered to be brought from Judah? 14 Likewise I heard concerning you that God’s Spirit is in you so that illumination, discernment as well as extraordinary wisdom were observed in you. 15 Now at this time, the wise men, the necromancers were ordered to enter my presence in order that they could read aloud as well as to make known to me its interpretation. However, they were totally unable to cause the message’s interpretation to be made known to me. 16 But I myself personally heard concerning you that you are able to provide interpretations as well as solve difficult problems. Now, if you are able to read aloud the inscription as well as cause its interpretation to be made known to me, you will be clothed with a purple robe as well as a golden chain around you neck. Indeed, you will rule as third over the kingdom. 17 Then Daniel responded and said, “Please, keep your gifts for yourself or please give your rewards for another. However, I will read aloud to the king as well as cause the interpretation to be made known to him. 18 As for you, O king, the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, your great-grandfather a kingdom, yes a great kingdom as well as honor, yes, great honor. 19 Indeed, because of this greatness, which He gave to him, each and every person belonging to the nations, ethnicities as well as language groups was in state of trembling, yes in a state of fear from being in the presence of him. He was characterized as putting to death whomever he desired whereas he was characterized as sparing whomever he desired. He was also characterized as promoting whomever he desired while on the other hand he was characterized as demoting whomever he desired.” (My translation)
Daniel 5:20 “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.” (NASB95)
“But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly” stands in contrast to Daniel’s previous statements to Belshazzar which are recorded in Daniel 5:18-19.
Therefore, the contrast is between the Most High God giving Nebuchadnezzar enormous power and a world-wide kingdom and deposing him from power.
“When” is composed of the preposition k (כְּ־) (kee) and its object is the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which form a temporal marker meaning that they are indicating a point of time when something takes place.
Here they denote that “when” Nebuchadnezzar became arrogant and proud, God deposed him from power.
“His heart” is composed of the masculine singular construct form of the noun leḇǎḇ (לְבַב) (leb-ab´), “heart” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his.”
The noun leḇǎḇ means “mind” referring to that aspect of the human soul where a person’s mental activity takes place and is the place of the soul where a person does their thinking.
Therefore, this word refers to that aspect of Nebuchadnezzar’s soul, which circulates his thought or mental activity.
“Was lifted up” is the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb rûm (רוּם) (room), which literally means “to lift up” referring to Nebuchadnezzar’s mind “being arrogant” as a result of the enormous power God gave him.
This verb denotes that because of the enormous power which God had given Nebuchadnezzar, he possessed in his mind an exaggerated view of himself and importance in an overbearing manner.
“And his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly” describes in a different manner the previous statement that Nebuchadnezzar’s mind was in a state of arrogance.
“His spirit” is composed of the feminine singular form of the noun rûaḥ (רוּחַ) (roo´-akh), “an spirit” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his.”
The noun rûaḥ means “spirit” in the sense of a special attitude or frame of mind or a disposition which characterizes a person.
“Became so proud” is the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb teqip̄ (תְּקִף) (tek-afe´), which means “to be obstinate” referring to a person who is perversely adhering to an opinion and is fixed and unyielding in their way of thinking and doing things.
Therefore, this verb refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s obstinate attitude toward God in the sense that he refused to repent by acknowledging God’s sovereignty over him.
“That he behaved arrogantly” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “that” and its object is the hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb zûḏ (זוּד) (zood), “he behaved arrogantly.”
The verb zûḏ means “to be proud” referring to Nebuchadnezzar’s proud attitude in the sight of God and prefixed to this verb, which is in the construct state, is the preposition lĕ.
This construction is an infinitive construct of result indicating the result or the outcome of Nebuchadnezzar possessing an obstinate attitude toward God.
The result of Nebuchadnezzar’ attitude being obstinate was that he was proud.
“He was deposed from his royal throne” is composed of the third person masculine singular hofʿal (Hebrew: hophal) passive perfect form of the verb neḥǎṯ (נְחַת) (nekh-ath´), “he was deposed” which is followed by the preposition min (מִן) (min), “from” and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun kār·sē(ʾ) (כָּרְסֵא) (kor-say´), “throne” which is modified by the feminine singular noun mǎl∙ḵû (מַלְכוּ) (mal-koo´), “royal” and the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his.”
The verb neḥǎṯ means “to remove” referring to God deposing Nebuchadnezzar from power.
The noun kār·sē(ʾ) means “throne” referring to a piece of furniture which the king would sit on in the royal court when conducting his government.
“And his glory was taken away from him” presents the result of God removing Nebuchadnezzar from his royal throne.
“Glory” is the masculine singular form of the noun yeqār (יְקָר) (yek-awr´), which means “honor” and denotes public recognition and refers to the honor in the sense of public recognition that Nebuchadnezzar received from men as a result of his power over them which was given to him by the Most High God.
Here it denotes the respect paid to Nebuchadnezzar by those individuals under his authority in the sense that they esteemed him because of his ability to impose his will on them because of his great military and governmental power.
Daniel 5:20 “However, when his mind was in a state of arrogance, specifically, his attitude was obstinate so that he was proud, he was ordered to be removed from his royal throne so that honor was taken away from him.” (My translation)
In Daniel 5:20, Daniel continues his brief discourse on God’s dealing with Belshazzar’s great-grandfather Nebuchadnezzar.
In this verse, Daniel reminds Belshazzar that despite God giving Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and honor, he became arrogant and specifically his attitude was obstinate so that he was proud.
Consequently, God removed Nebuchadnezzar from his royal throne so that he no longer received honor or public recognition from men.
Daniel is reminding Belshazzar of all this since he wants the king to understand the implications of his arrogance and pride toward God.
If Nebuchadnezzar who was greater than Belshazzar was deposed from power by the Most High, then certainly Belshazzar will be if he does not repent of his pride and arrogance.
Daniel is reminding Belshazzar that the Most High is sovereign over him just like he demonstrated with his great-grandfather so He will demonstrate it with him as well.
As applied to God, the term “sovereignty” indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills (Daniel 2:19-23; Isaiah 40:15, 17; Acts 17:22-33).
In Daniel 5:20, Daniel is also reminding Belshazzar that the Most High God is his judge and does execute judgments against those who violate His laws.
God has authority to judge since He is the creator.
The Scriptures teach of God’s status as judge (Psalm 75:7; cf. Psalm 50:6; 76:8-9; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Isaiah 33:22; 66:16; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 12:23; James 4:12).
Belshazzar’s stubborn refusal to repent of pride and arrogance here in Daniel chapter 5 reveals his great pride and arrogance.
In the Scriptures, pride is a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belongs rightly to God alone and is condemned as evil (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16; cf. Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16).
There are warnings about pride in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 16:5, 18; cf. Proverbs 3:7, 34; 6:16-17; 11:2; 25:6-7, 27; 26:12; 27:1; 29:23) as well as elsewhere in Scripture (Psalm 119:21; cf. Leviticus 26:19).
God is said to be opposed to the proud (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).
Arrogance is an attitude of the heart (Mark 7:21-22; cf. Job 35:12; Psalm 10:2-11; 73:3-12; 86:14; 94:3-7; Malachi 3:15; Romans 1:28-31).
It arises from self-confidence (Isaiah 9:9-10; Daniel 4:29-30; Revelation 18:7; cf. Exodus 15:9; 1 Kings 20:11; 2 Kings 14:10; 2 Chronicles 25:19; Isaiah 28:15; Ezekiel 16:49; Hosea 12:8; Habakkuk 2:4-5; Luke 18:9; Acts 8:9-10; 2 Peter 2:10-12).
Arrogance expresses itself in words (Psalm 17:10; 119:51; James 3:5; cf. 1 Samuel 2:3; Psalm 31:18; 119:69; 123:4; Proverbs 17:7; 21:24; Jeremiah 43:1-2).
Arrogance is essentially rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 1:43; 1 Samuel 15:23; cf. Nehemiah 9:16-17,29; Job 36:8-9; Psalm 5:5; 119:85; Hosea 5:4-5; 7:10; Zephaniah 3:1-4).
So in Daniel 5:17-23, Daniel is reminding Belshazzar of how the Most High dealt with his great-grandfather in the hopes that he would repent and be humble himself.
So Daniel is warning Belshazzar indirectly that if God dealt severely with Nebuchadnezzar for his pride and arrogance, He will certainly do so with him as well.
Daniel is also reminding Belshazzar that Nebuchadnezzar was punished for his stubbornness which was the result of an unrepentant heart.
Stubbornness is an attitude of heart (Jeremiah 7:24; cf. Deuteronomy 9:27; Judges 2:19; Psalm 78:8; Isaiah 48:4; Jeremiah 3:17; 5:3; 9:14; 16:12; 18:12; Hosea 4:16; Zechariah 7:11).
The Scriptures teach that there is sudden destruction for the unrepentant (Isaiah 2:11; Jeremiah 5:3; 11:8; 13:10; Hosea 13:6; Zephaniah 3:11; Mark 6:51-52; Matthew 18:15-17; Romans 2:5)
The Bible commands people to not to be stubborn (Nehemiah 9:29; cf. Exodus 33:5; 2 Chronicles 30:8; Psalm 95:8).
Stubbornness can be God’s judgment on sin (Isaiah 63:17; cf. Exodus 4:21; 14:17; Deuteronomy 2:30; Joshua 11:20; Psalm 81:11-12; Romans 9:18; 11:7-8).
God appeals to stubborn people (Isaiah 65:2; cf. Romans 10:21; 2 Chronicles 32:24-25; Job 33:16-18; Isaiah 46:12; Jeremiah 7:22-24; Ezekiel 2:4-5; Zechariah 7:11-12; Acts 19:8-9).