A Son's Mistake Series

When King Nebuchadnezzar died, his son Belshazzar took his place. Like his father was in the beginning, he had a lot of pride and worshipped other gods. But he went too far when during a feast decided to use the gold and silver cups Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of Jerusalem. Daniel 5:1-4

When King Nebuchadnezzar had besieged Jerusalem during the reign of King Jehoiakim (king of Judah), God not only gave Nebuchadnezzar victory, but permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the temple of God back to Babylon. They were placed in the treasure house of his god. Daniel 1:1-2

That's how Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ended up in Babylon because after the siege, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief of staff Ashpenaz to bring some of the young men of Judah's royal family and other noble families to Babylon as captives. They were to be trained in the language and literature of Babylon for 3 years before they were to enter the royal service. They were also renamed. Daniel/Belteshazzar, Hananiah/Shadrach, Mishael/Meshach, Azariah/Abednego. Daniel 1:3-7

Eventually Nebuchadnezzar came to know the one true God after being greatly humbled. Not once, did he ever bring out the sacred cups. But Belshazzar didn't have respect for God and used them for his feast. He along with the nobles, his wives, and concubines drank from them and praised their idols made from gold silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. When that happened, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king's palace near the lamp stand. This scared the king so much that his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. Daniel 5:5-6.

Belshazzar shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune tellers to be brought before him. He told the men that whoever could read the writing and tell him what it meant would be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He would become the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Daniel 5:7

This is like what Nebuchadnezzar did when he had first dream recorded in Daniel 2. Like before, they were unable to be of any help. This frightened the king even more. His nobles were scared as well. Daniel 5:7-8