When The Party Is Over (1 Of 2)

It is significant for three reasons.

(1) It is noted for WHO GAVE IT.

Look at verse 1. We read, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast...”

(2) It is noted for THE LARGE ATTENDANCE.

Look at verse 1 again. We read, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to A THOUSAND OF HIS LORDS...”

(3) It is noted for THE MANY CELEBRITIES that attended.

Look again at verse 1. We read that “HIS LORDS,” were in attendance.

However, most of all, that party was noted for THE GREAT WICKEDNESS that occurred there.

For some reason parties often bring out the worst in people. People often forget, when they attend such parties, that the people who are there see them doing their evil, but even more important GOD SEES THEM.

Along with the many hundreds of people who may have been at that party, God was there.

• God HEARD every wicked thing that was said.

• God SAW every wicked thing that was done.

God was NOT PLEASED with what he SAW AND HEARD.

As we examine that “party” we will see why God was displeased. Look first at...

I. THE REVELRY.

We see there were two elements of that party that were especially repugnant.

A. Their worship.

Look at Daniel 5:3-4. We read, “Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and PRAISED THE GODS OF GOLD, AND OF SILVER, OF BRASS, OF IRON, OF WOOD, AND OF STONE.”

Notice the words, “...praised the gods of gold...”

They praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, and wood the same way we praise the God of the Bible.

Belshazzar had a very famous grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.

WHO WAS NEBUCHADNEZZAR?

He was the grandfather of Belshazzar. Before God brought judgment on Belshazzar, He reminded him of what He had done to Nebuchadnezzar, his grandfather.

Look at Daniel 5:18-21. We read, “O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: 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 ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will”

Before Nebuchadnezzar came to recognize God:

• He was driven from society AS A MAD MAN.

• His heart was made like the BEASTS.

• His DWELLING was with the wild animals.

• He ATE grass like a cow.

• He was WET from the dew.

The Bible tells us He was that way “...TILL HE KNEW THAT THE MOST HIGH GOD RULED IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN...”

Belshazzar, the grandson, grew up in the palace and he had been taught that it was a “No! No!” to touch the sacred vessels that his grandfather had captured. Belshazzar knew how God had dealt with his grandfather. As he was growing up he had been taught not to touch those sacred vessels. Look what Daniel told him only a short time before God killed him.

We read Daniel 5:22, “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.”

You would think he would know better, but at that feast there were “no holds barred.” He defied the God his grandfather had learned to fear. He had the sacred temple vessels brought out to be used as one of the many gods he “served.”

God was so displeased with Belshazzar’s taking those sacred vessels and misusing them that He punished him.

Verse 30 tells us, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”

Belshazzar had not acted OUT OF IGNORANCE. There are times when God will overlook ignorance for a time, but God does not overlook WILLFUL ACTS OF DISOBEDIENCE.

Belshazzar misused the vessels. He and the guests there were worshipers of gold, silver, brass, iron, and wooden idols.

That was THEIR WORSHIP. The party had something else about it that was significant.

B. The wine.

Look at verse 4. We read, “They drank wine...” The wine was flowing like water at that party. We live in a time when sermons are seldom preached from God’s Word against the drinking of alcoholic beverages.