YOUR TIME IS UP (DANIEL 5)
Here are some wonderful quotes from Edward Everett Hale:
“Do not blow your own trumpets nor, which is the same thing, ask other people to blow them. No trumpeter ever rose to be a general.”
“I was asked, “Do you pray for the senators, Dr. Hale?' I answered, “No, I look at the senators and I pray for the country.’”
“If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough.”
Daniel the prophet had served under two kings and one family so far: Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 1:18) and Belshazzar the grandson (Dan 5:1). The grandfather was eccentric but Belshazzar was egomaniacal. Their pride drove their family to madness (Dan 4:33) and murder (Dan 5:30).
How have we taken for granted what is given to us? What can we do to better our lives and the lives of others? Why is it true that pride comes before a fall?
To the Privileged: You Have a Big Ego
1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. 5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. 7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom." 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled. 10 The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. "O king, live forever!" she said. "Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father — your father the king, I say — appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."
One of the greatest Premier League turnaround and success stories is winnows Leicester City winning the league by a staggering 10 points in 2016, but was relegated seven years later. Why? Less than 100 days after winning the title, Leicester’s Thai owners rewarded the squad with an Azure blue BMW sports cars for each player to be presented a game before the next season started.
The concerned coach Claudio Ranieri said, “Let me think about the match, not the cars. It’s not important to me to think about cars. Forget what we achieved, I want more and this is not the maximum. Look, I forgot what happened one month ago, two months ago. Now, my focus is on the new season. I am very concentrated and ambitious, but we know it will be hard.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/leicester-vs-manchester-united-claudio-ranieri-believes-his-players-can-repeat-last-season-s-heroics-a7174486.html
The team let the cars, the contracts and the celebrations got into their heads.
There was no “great banquet” bigger than the banquet King Belshazzar hosted for a thousand of his nobles in the Bible (v 1). Belshazzar was the grandson of the mad king Nebuchadnezzar (4:1) made well. The presiding king ordered to be brought in the gold and silver goblets that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that Belshazzar and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them (vv 2-3). The people who polluted and profaned the gold and silver goblets include the king’s concubines (v 2). The vessels were taken for fun, festivity and feasting. The companions mistakenly, mischievously and maliciously ascribed praise to the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
The verb “gave/made” (v 1) for 1,000 of the lords is labor intensive and extensive in Aramaic. The palace captains, chefs and cleaners were hard at work. Displaying the goblets was bad, but to drinking from it was blasphemous. Drank and praise are intensive “piel” verbs (“surely”). It was quite a show, a scene and a spectacle.
The body language was vivid: the king’s face changed, his thoughts troubled him, his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. The body language went downhill from top to bottom: FACE turned pale, THOUGHTS frightened, KNEES knocked together and LEGS gave way.
To the Proud: You Are on Borrowed Time
13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, "Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom." 17 Then Daniel answered the king, "You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. 18 "O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. 22 "But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
A lady goes to see her rabbi and complains about her bad headaches. She whines, cries, and talks about her poor living conditions for hours.
All of a sudden, Sadie shouts, overjoyed, "Rabbi, your holy presence has cured me! My headache is gone!"
To which the rabbi replies, "No , it is not gone. I have it now."
The proud and problematic king promised Daniel to be the third in command (v 16) if he succeeded in unmasking the dream. Daniel wisely used the indirect “jussive” imperative (third person imperative) and not the direct second person imperative to order the king in rejecting the offer. “Keep” (the gifts) and “give” (to others) are jussive or third person imperatives. Gifts and rewards (v 17) are plural; gifts are presents, while rewards are profit.
What was Belshazzar’s fault? Belshazzar did not humble himself, though he knew Nebuchadnezzar’s history and humiliation. “Humble” (v 22) in Aramaic means abase (Dan 4:37), put down (Dan 5:19) and subdue (Dan 7:24). The corresponding Hebrew version is translated as bringeth low (1 Sam 2:7), bring down (2 Sam 22:28) and cast down (Job 22:29).
Daniel’s downfall corresponded exactly, eloquently and eerily to Nebuchadnezzar’s deliverance in the last chapter (Dan 4:37):
5:22 But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not HUMBLED (1) yourself, though you knew all this.
4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, PRAISE (3)
5:23 Instead, you have SET/LIFT yourself UP (2) against the Lord of heaven.
4:37 and exalt (2 SET/LIFT UP)
5:23 You PRAISED (3) the gods of silver and gold…
4:37 and glorify (4 HONOR) the King of heaven..
5:23 But you did not HONOR (4) the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
NIV 4:37 And those who walk in pride he is able to HUMBLE (1)
Isn’t this a good story? The forefather’s acknowledgement before others in chapter 4 was contrasted with God’s accusation against the present king.
To the Powerful: You Will Be Brought Low
24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. 25 "This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
26 "This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
29 Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
Mene means numbered, from the Aramaic which means to count, appoint, ordain, set.
Tekel – weigh, from the Aramaic to suspend or poise (especially in trade), pay, receive (-r), spend, throughly, weigh.
Peres means split up, from Aramaic to break in pieces, i.e. (usually without violence) to split, distribute, deal, divide, have hoofs, part, tear, as in clean animals that part the hoof or tear oneself in mourning (Jer 16:7).
MENE TEKEL PERES
Summed Suspended Split
Decreed Dangled Divided
Amount Weight Proportion
End (v 26) means to complete, to restore: finish (Ezra 5:16) or delivered (Ezra 7:19), from shalom.
Wanting (v 27) means deficient, from Aramaic to lack; by implication, to fail, want, lessen, decrease, (cause to) fail, (have) lack, make lower. Examples are waters were abated (Gen 8:3) or decreased (Gen 8:5), need (Prov 31:11) or fail (Isa 51:14).
Conclusion: Are you too big in your own eyes? Are you too big for your britches? Too big to fail? Have you been irreverent, insulting and intrusive in God’s eyes? Let us not be distracted by our enjoyment, entertainment and eminence, but let us live our lives humbly, honorably and helpfully for God and others!
