Between chapter 4 and chapter 5 there is about a 30 year time gap.  This is the story of the down-fall of literal Babylon and the story of the down-fall and destruction of prophetic Babylon.

Daniel 5:1
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.

Belshazzar drank wine and partied before thousands of his lords.  Notice that the system is still full of bureaucracy.

Picture the room:- adorned with gold, silver, marble - Belshazzar dined before them, it was the annual new year festival, - the winged lion, symbol of Babylon, pictured on the walls surrounding the room.

Although the city had high walls and was impregnable, outside the walls were the armies of the Medes and Persians.  Nebuchadnezzar had built walls around Babylon 26 metres (85 feet) thick.  Then huge inner walls protected the city's main section and a wide moat surrounded these inner walls.  The Medes and Persians had ravaged Belshazzar's empire and now closed in on the city.  Inside the walls Belshazzar felt safe and secure.  No army, he thought, could conquer his great and mighty city.  He wanted to put on a show of defiance and a great spectacle to show that nothing could deter him from having his annual celebrations.  This, he thought, would boost the morale of his people and show them that they had nothing to fear.

The banquet was held in honour of the pagan god Bel-Marduk (Jer. 50:2) and his consort the goddess Ishtar (also known as Ashtoroth and Ayestor), the 'Queen of Heaven', from where the word 'Easter' comes. Have you ever wondered why we have symbols of fertility such as the rabbit and the egg at Easter celebrations.  Ishtar was the goddess of fertility.  Cush and Nimrod (Cush, the son of Ham who was the son of Noah, Gen. 8,9,10) were the chief instigators of Babylon and its entire system.  We read about them here in:

Genesis 10:8,10
Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Cush became known as Bel. This was later changed to Baal (Jer. 1:2).  Nimrod was deified, and regarded as a god.  Cush as the father of the god Nimrod became the father of god or 'god the father', with his son Nimrod as 'god the son'.  Nimrod's mother Semiramis then was worshipped as 'the mother of god'.  The Babylonians, in their religious services, supremely worshipped a Goddess Mother and Son, who was represented in pictures and in images as an infant or child in his mother's arms.  Thus was the beginning of this false religious system.

This party of Belshazzar was an act of defiance and a morale booster.  I imagine most of his court would be very scared at this stage due to the oncoming  attack from the Medes and Persians.  Belshazzar wasn't content to just use the party to show off he went a step further:

Daniel 5:2
While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar 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 concubines might drink from them.

He sent his servants out to get the Holy things so he could also make a mockery of God.  In his opinion nothing and no-one could conquer him. He was full of arrogance and pride. Two important lessons can be learnt here. These items were set apart for God. Belshazzar defiled them.

1.         The Tithe is holy unto God - Don't touch it!

Leviticus 27:30-34
"And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the LORD.  If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.  And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.  He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."  These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Mosses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

2.         Christians should never use their God-given talents to do the Devil's work.  Don't put the talents that God gave you to the wrong use.  These talents should be sanctified to the Lord and put to use in His sanctuary and His service.

The very fact that Belshazzar defiled God's vessels to propagate his paganism shows us that's what the mystery Babylonish church system does. It takes pagan ceremonies and pagan doctrine, puts Christian names on them and Christianizes paganism.  In Roman Catholicism today they worship the Virgin Mary. They call her the 'mother of God', the 'Queen of heaven' (Astaroth). They worship her under the name of Mary.

There is no-where in the Bible that we are told to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  The fact is that this festival is the same as the one that Belshazzar was having on the night of his demise.  In the northern hemisphere between the 22nd and 25th of December they have the shortest day of their year.  The Babylonians worshipped their sun god, Bel-Marduk,  and believed that at this time of year the sun was born because the days began to get longer from this point on.  When Christianity was made the state religion around 300 AD (the time of Constantine) the pagans had to become Christians so as to receive the normal benefits that everyone else received.  The thing is, they didn't want to stop worshipping their sun god and the birth of the sun so now in December they worship the birth of the 'son'.  Once again we see pagan religion dressed up in so-called Christian clothes and the church of today is yet again fooled into worshipping pagan gods.  You cannot worship God in a pagan temple.  It's through the RESURRECTED LIFE of Jesus that we can partake of the Divine Nature of God - not His birth, as Christmas celebrates.

What Roman Catholics call their form of communion service (we know it as the blasphemy of the mass) is actually the old Babylonish sun worship with the wafer god and the sun discs.

Daniel 5:3-6
Then 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 praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.  In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.  Then 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.

Here in verse six we see big, brave, Belshazzar became a very frightened man.  The Bible says that in these last days men's hearts will fail them for fear.  Just think about all the problems people worry themselves with today -holes in the ozone layer -earthquakes -global warming -saving trees and forests -saving animals -world peace and disarmament -high unemployment -national deficit -recession -bankruptcy -etc.

"When they see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the heavens they are going to weep and wail because they know the hour of judgment is at hand".   "They will cry for the rocks to fall upon them and cover them from the face of the Lion who is coming to be their judge."

Daniel 5:7
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 and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."

Look he sends for the usual team but we read in verses 8 and 9 that they couldn't explain.  We live in a world today that is out of control and they have no solution.

Daniel 5:8-11
Now all the king's wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.  The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, "O king, live forever! Do not 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 King Nebuchadnezzar your father; your father the king; made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.

In verses 10 and 11 we read of a woman referred to as the queen.  She was however not Belshazzar's wife. According to all research that has been done she was most likely his mother, the queen mother, Nebuchadnezzar's daughter, the Princess Nitokris.  The modernist will say that Nebuchadnezzar never had a son named Belshazzar and they are right.  In the Chaldean and Hebrew there was not word for grandson. When they spoke of a grandson they would refer to him as son, ie. Jacob was the son of Abraham.  Archaeologists have unearthed the facts to prove the modernist wrong.

When Nebuchadnezzar (606-561 BC) died his son Evil-Merodach (561-560 BC) succeeded him for a period of 2 years.  He was murdered and overthrown by his brother-in-law Neriglissar (559-556 BC).  He died and was succeeded by his young son, Labash-Marduk (556 BC), a child king.  There was a palace revolution and that child was beaten to death by a usurper, Nabonidas (555-536B.C), who was an army General.  This man, to strengthen his claim to the throne married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter Nitokris and he was the father of Belshazzar.  There was a joint monarchy in Babylon. Belshazzar the legal heir ruled with the husband of Nitokris.  Nitokris' husband was in battle, facing the Medes and Persians while Belshazzar was holding this party.

Daniel 5:12,13
"Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, living riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation."  Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

Daniel would now be in his late 70's, probably in retirement. It seems obvious enough to assume that this king had never met Daniel.  Belshazzar didn't know him personally but he sent for him when he was in trouble.  The wicked will always send for the child of God when they're in trouble.  Now Daniel begins to elaborate on what had happened to the king's grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 5:21
"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.

Not only does he say, "Keep your reward, I don't want it" (verse 17) but he tries to give the king a lesson, to preach him a sermon and get him to repent.  In verse 22 his sin is rebuked.

Daniel 5:22,23
"But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.  And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have 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 have not glorified.

'The God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.'  That's not just true of Belshazzar, its true of all unregenerated people.  Even if you go to church, live a good clean life etc. if you haven't surrendered to Him you haven't glorified Him and you are in danger of judgment.

Daniel 5:25-27
"And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.  This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;  TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;" 

This is not just a literal story, it is also prophetical.

Remember earlier in this book we discussed the fact that many of the ancient languages had a numerical value for each letter in their alphabet.  You'd never guess the numerical value of the words written on the wall or what it all adds up to.

Thus the duration of the Babylonish World System once again is revealed in sign and symbol.  Here are some interesting fulfilments of the 2520 year time period.

This was an act of blasphemy equivalent to Belshazzar's act 2520 years earlier.  Daniel said, "In this night you shall fall." His kingdom would be taken away from him.  We are living in `this night'.  Jeremiah 51 and 52 talks of the complete downfall and destruction that God would bring on Babylon.  Revelations 18:5-8,24

I believe that Darius and Cyrus where the same man.  Darius was a title like Tzar, Pharaoh, Caesar etc. The actual conqueror of Babylon was Cyrus.  The records say that Cyrus was 62 years old in the year that this happened.  Two hundred years before this, God predicted that Cyrus would come to destroy Babylon. Have a look at the following verses from Isaiah.

Isaiah 44:27,28
Who says to the deep, "Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers"; Who says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure", saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." '

Isaiah 45:1-3
"Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held; to subdue nations before him and loose the armour of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.

Cyrus was a type of Christ in that he was the conqueror, the deliverer and destroyer of Satan and his works of darkness.  We are looking forward to Babylon's fall with anticipation.  We need to make sure that none of us take on Belshazzar's attitude - a 'couldn't care less about tomorrow' attitude that says, "I'm going to do it my way".  Rich fools say they've got years ahead of them.

Belshazzar never got another chance.  Nebuchadnezzar got years but not everybody does.  God gave Belshazzar a few hours then His judgment fell.

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