Lessons Learned During A First Encounter Series

Introduction

Belshazzar, the new king of Babylon, was throwing a party, and he messed up when he ordered the stewards to retrieve the gold and silver vessels taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem so they might drink from them.

Within that same hour of them drinking from those vessels, a hand wrote a statement on the wall that the wise men of Babylon could not read or interpret. The king is upset, and his grandmother hears the commotion in the Grand Ballroom and enters to check out what is occurring.

When told what had occurred, she told Belshazzar to call Daniel and he will give the interpretation.

Daniel is asked to come to the palace, and he agrees, and he meets the new king for the first time. And let’s us listen in on their first conversation and see what lessons we can learn.

Scripture

Daniel 5:13–23 (NKJV)

13 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? 14 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. 16 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory, and honor. 19 And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. 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.

22 “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 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.

Lesson #1

There are people in this world who do not have a relationship with Christ but are satisfied with their life just like it is because they know someone who has that relationship with Christ.

In Daniel 4:18 Nebuchadnezzar the king says about Daniel that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you. But Nebuchadnezzar never asked Daniel how can I get the Spirit of the Holy God in me?

In Daniel 5:11: The queen mother said to her grandson that there is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. But nowhere in Daniel Chapter 5, do I see the queen mother knowing what she knows about Daniel that she seeks him out to see how she can get the Spirit of the Holy God in her life.

In Daniel 5:14 Belshazzar says I heard of you that the Spirit of God is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. But in Daniel 5, Belshazzar is only concerned about what is written on the wall. With all the great attributes Daniel possessed in addition to having the Spirit of God, nowhere does it say that Belshazzar asked Daniel how can I have that for my life?