Borrowed Breath
Book of Daniel Series
Daniel 5
CCCAG March 9th, 2025
Scripture- Daniel 5
Introduction
A few notes before we begin this message today.
Before we dive into Daniel 5, a quick note: I got some emails concerning that I missed something about how to identify the antichrist in last week’s sermon on Daniel 7.
I didn’t miss it—I’m saving it for chapter 9, where it’s a major theme.
To set the stage for this sermon- Belshazzar is king as of Daniel 7 as Nebuchadnezzar has died. Belshazzar has been king for about 13 years. This chapter marks the fall of Babylon under his rule.
With that, let’s dig into today’s message on Daniel 5.
As many of you know, I’m a bit of a history buff, and I read that after Germany’s surrender in World War II, records recovered from Adolf Hitler’s bunker, along with some eyewitness testimony, showed how they spent the final weeks as the allied armies advanced on Berlin.
You would think they spent the time terrified, huddled in bunkers as wave after wave of Allied bombing ravaged the city.
Instead, records and reports show that they spent the last days of the Third Reich throwing lavish parties, drinking, and dancing into the night only to wake up and do it again the next day. These people were clinging to Hitler’s promise that the German Army would somehow rally and drive the Allies back out of Germany.
They bought the lie and died believing it.
This kind of mindset is exactly what we see in Daniel chapter 5.
This chapter tells of the downfall of Babylon and its King Belshazzar.
Belshazzar was a very proud king of Babylon, who unlike his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar never learned to humble himself before God. Because of this pride and arrogance, he has a very unpleasant divine encounter.
In chapter 5 we will see that the capital city of Babylon was surrounded by the armies of the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar was trusting that Babylon’s walls were so large, so thick, and so tall that no army would ever be able to conquer the city.
Like the Nazi’s in WWII, Belshazzar and the ruling class believed their armies would eventually come and destroy these foreigners and within the city, they had plenty of food and water, so they had nothing to worry about.
That is, until their feasting and partying was interrupted by a mysterious handwriting on the wall giving a message of judgment that shook an empire to its core.
That’s the background, so let’s read from Dan 5:1-6
King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine in their presence. (2) Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them. (3) So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them. (4) They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. (5) At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing, (6) his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself and his knees knocked together.
Prayer
Have you ever been so scared that you soiled yourself?
I admit, with everything I’ve gone through in life, I’ve never been that scared, even in the most dangerous situations.
However, I’ve never been extremely drunk and seen supernatural handwriting on the wall.
The king is freaked out and like previous kings of Babylon, makes the same mistake. Belshazzar calls for the “wise men” to help him decipher this message.
Once again, they are again not able to interpret the message.
Then Daniel gets called, and after telling Belshazzar that it’s because he refused to be humbled like his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, God is proclaiming judgment in what was written on the wall.
So what was written? Daniel explains this writing is from God,
Dan 5:24-28 (Daniel says) Therefore, he sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
(25) “This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.
(26) This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’ means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
(27) ‘Tekel’ means that you have been weighed on the balance and found deficient.
(28) ‘Peres’ means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Have you ever heard the phrase- you have been measured, you have been weighed, and you have been found wanting?
This scripture is where it comes from. Now it’s being applied to the King.
The implication is clear- this wasn’t the first time Belshazzar had been warned about his pride.
Even when faced with a massive army surrounding his city, Belshazzar’s pride and arrogance wouldn’t let him repent and turn to God.
Instead, he doubled down, and decided to stick his thumb in God’s eye by using sacred items from God’s temple to drink from as they have a very hedonistic party.
When a person has to go to court for a criminal charge, they go what is called the preliminary hearing. It’s where the prosecutor or the judge reads the charges against you.
Right before Daniel tells Belshazzar what his writing meant, he told him the charges that led Almighty God to write on this wall. Daniel begins by reminding Belshazzar of Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling before God, and then says this-
Dan 5:22-23 “But you, his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. (23) Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens. The vessels from his house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in his hand and who controls the whole course of your life.
The title of today’s message is “Borrowed Breath”
I chose it because it shows that even the air we breathe is given to us by a gracious God.
Almighty God holds the very fabric of all existence in HIS hands. From the exact atomic reactions occurring in stars a billion light years away to your brain gratefully absorbing the coffee you drank- it’s all in HIS hands.
While preparing for this message, I spent a long time thinking about Belshazzar and the actions that caused him to make every wrong choice for both him and for his kingdom.
It also got me thinking that it’s not just him- but all of us.
I felt the Spirit show me that humanity (and I definitely include myself in this) has three huge failings.
1. We do not appreciate what we are given
2. We constantly want more than what we need
3. We often spend our entire lives feeling incomplete because of the first two failings. That causes us to chase after the wrong things.
It’s really one of the origins of all sin and selfishness in our lives.
Doesn’t this describe the enemy's tactics, even in the Garden of Eden, and his attempts to get Jesus to fall in the desert? satan knows how to exploit these desires for more and use them to destroy our lives.
Let’s look at some of the ways that Belshazzar fell into this trap.
Number 1- he worshipped his position as king.
I. Worship of position
I would define worship of position as chasing or continually striving to be recognized because of a job or rank you hold in life.
Belshazzar obviously enjoyed being king.
For the vast majority of people, there is a trap in pursuing a position, rank, or fame.
Many of us place all of our self-worth into what we do or who we are, and chase earthly success for our fulfillment instead of asking God “What would you have me do in this life you have given me?”
An example of putting pride in the wrong thing comes from my personal life when I was much younger.
As a new paramedic at Lake Geneva’s rescue station, I worked with volunteer EMTs, who because of their lack of experience, often struggled on calls.
I was a full-time paramedic—proud, top-tier, and convinced I was God’s gift to the field. When volunteers faltered, I’d sigh, roll my eyes, and correct them dramatically.
Complaints rolled in, and the chief paramedic had to pull me aside. I started to gripe about their mistakes, but he cut me off: “John, you’re great at this, but your attitude stinks. Change it, or you’re back to Kenosha.
These volunteers are farmers, factory workers, or have jobs where they are just a number. However, sometimes that little box on their hip starts beeping, and they get to be heroes for a moment. When you tell or show them that they are always messing up- You’re crushing that one thing in their life that gives them purpose and meaning.”
It was a valuable lesson that showed me for many of us- what we do has power in our lives.
I admit, for a long time I did this in my life with being an EMT or firefighter.
I fell into the trap of making sure everyone knew what I did or have done.
Instead of letting people know whose I was.
A lot of people do this.
Always wearing a t-shirt, coats, or a work shirt that has the logo of the EMS or fire department they belong too.
Former military do the same thing.
Nothing wrong with that by itself. It’s a life experience that gave you meaning, purpose, and a sense of importance.
However, as Christians, WHAT we do should never, ever eclipse WHOSE you are.
There lies the trap. When we pursue or hold onto something in this life for our fulfillment or self-image it causes us to develop a sense of pride in something outside of the worship of God and the infilling of the Holy Spirit we begin to elevate our opinion of ourselves over our opinion of God.
Then it’s easy to profane that which is sacred.
That’s when the writing might appear on the walls of our hearts, telling us that-
You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.
It’s easy for it to happen.
I admit, it’s happened to me several times in my life. I’ve finally come to realize is that the pursuit of position, fame, and other people's admiration and respect will never, ever fulfill you.
When we get to that realization we will start pursuing the right things.
If we can do that, I promise you- You will have the presence and favor of God in your life.
And for the Christian, that is how it should be.
The second way we can fall into pride and not appreciating what God has given us is through the
II. The Pursuit and Worship of Pleasure
This is probably the most insidious way that the enemy draws us away from God.
The lie the enemy sells us is-
God doesn’t want you to have any fun, no pleasure, and to spend your life miserable until you get to heaven.
I can’t tell you how many times this has been told to me by people resisting God’s call in their lives.
Can I take a moment to destroy this argument?
What were God’s first commands in Genesis to Adam and Eve?
You may eat freely of every tree in the garden and
be fruitful and multiply.
That’s the bible text, I don’t want to offend anyone, but can I say this even more plainly?
God commanded them- not just allowed them to do this,
but commanded them to Eat all you want, and have lots of sex so you can have lots and lots of children.
Does that sound like a God that is holding back pleasure from us?
Now, God does give us boundaries for pleasure because HE is a loving father.
Pleasure is like water flowing in a river—God’s laws are its banks, giving it structure and channeling it to protect us and others.
When pleasure goes beyond God’s design for it, those banks meant to protect us begin go erode.
It then overflows and water that was once lifegiving becomes destructive.
You see the proof in Daniel chapter 5-
Belshazzar’s party proves it: the wine, the concubines, all of these pleasurable excesses were not enough.
He adds blasphemy, using temple vessels to mock God.
His riverbank collapsed and it destroyed everyone there.
This erosion is not an instant thing, it’s like a slow growing cancer.
When I was a chaplain at the jail in Kenosha, I talked with a man who was arrested with his wife for the creation, possession, and distribution of child pornography.
Let me ask you something-
Do you think he and his wife woke up one morning and said, “Let’s do the most horrific thing you can do to a child, film it, and then sell those films so other people can get pulled into this horrific sin”
No, it started with both of their fathers having a Playboy subscription. That’s what began the process of eroding their moral riverbank.
I plead with you- Don’t gamble with sin—Satan has rigged the game so you always lose.
Before we move on, I want to make one final point about sinful pleasure-
Whether it’s addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex, money or whatever-
It is all the devil’s counterfeits of being filled with the Holy Spirit x2
Psalm 16:11 CSB You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.
God has everything you need, so don’t let the devil sell you on the counterfeit.
I strongly urge you this morning-if you are trying to hide your sin.
Right now, God is writing on the wall of your heart and spirit this morning.
Turn from that sin, repent, and be saved.
You may be in a period of grace this morning- God’s giving you time to work this out and surrender this sin to him. However, that period of grace has a time limit attached to it.
Sooner or later, just like Belshazzar, your sins will find you out, and they will become public for everyone to see.
Save yourself that shame.
How do we take today’s scripture and apply it to our lives?
Application: Lessons for Today
1. Recognize God’s Sovereignty Over All Things
Belshazzar thought he was untouchable, safe behind Babylon’s walls. But God showed that He rules over kings and kingdoms. Today, we may not face invading armies, but we’re tempted to trust in our own strength—our wealth, technology, or status.
Whether it’s our personal lives or the course of nations, God is in control. Are we submitting to His rule, or lifting ourselves against Him?
If we can understand that God is the ruler of our world, then the next application will be easy.
2. Honor God with Humble Worship
The core of Belshazzar’s sin was failing to honor God. Romans 1:21 describes the root of human rebellion: "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him."
Honoring God starts with humility—acknowledging that our breath, our ways, our very existence depend on Him.
It will be the focus of our lives and our worship, not just on Sundays, but in how we live daily.
Are we using what God has given us—our resources, talents, time—to glorify Him, or to exalt ourselves?
Conclusion
As we close, I want you to close your eyes, and imagine that banquet hall one last time.
The writing on the wall wasn’t just for Belshazzar—it’s for everyone.
God is still the Lord of heaven, still the One who gives us our very breath.
His judgment on sin is real, but so is His mercy.
Belshazzar’s story ends in death, but ours doesn’t have to. Through Jesus Christ, the God we’ve dishonored offers forgiveness.
Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
The same hand that wrote judgment on the wall was nailed to a cross as payment for our sins.
So, let’s heed the warning of Daniel 5:23. Let’s humble ourselves, reject rebellion and sin, and honor God with our lives. The writing is on the wall—not of condemnation for those in Christ, but of grace calling us home.
Will you answer that call today?
Let’s pray.
Worship- Great Are You, Lord!
