Writing On The Wall Series

In our last two messages from this series, I asked us to consider this important question: “What would we, as believers, do if our country ever came under siege by a foreign nation that did not believe in God or His Son, Jesus Christ?” In the most recent of our previous messages, we learned some of the signs to look for in knowing when captivity is right around the corner. Today we will discover that Babylon, just like Israel, was in danger of judgment and being overrun by a foreign nation; and we will dig deeper into the reason why a country falls from God’s grace, thereby causing Him to lift His hedge of protection. The warning signs that we will identify from Daniel chapter five will help us in knowing if America is in danger of God’s judgment.

The Leaders Disrespected the Lord (vv. 1-4)

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

We read here how Belshazzar (son of Nebuchadnezzar, v. 18) and all his royal court were carrying on without a care in the world, completely ignorant of impending judgment on Babylon. Isaiah testified of the day when Israel was on the verge of judgment by Assyria, saying, “In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth. But instead, [the people responded with] joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: [saying] ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’” (Isaiah 22:12-13). And today here in America, as God is calling for repentance, people are going about their lives completely self-focused and oblivious to the possibility of judgment on our nation.

In verse 2, we read that “Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken . . . [so] that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.” For what purpose were the gold and silver vessels meant to be used? They were fashioned by King Solomon’s craftsmen to be utilized by the priests in the Jerusalem temple in the worship of Almighty God (2 Chronicles 4:19-22). They weren’t meant for common use, especially in drunken parties. W. A. Criswell tells us that Belshazzar declared, “These Jews are [now] assimilated . . . Let’s defame and damn their God! And that’s the way he did it. He took those sacred vessels, and he poured and parceled them out to his paramours and his mistresses and his concubines. And the thousand lords did the same.”(1)

King Belshazzar and his royal court profaned the articles of God. This leads me to ask, “How are we profaning and disrespecting God here in America?” Jonathan Cahn (author of The Harbinger), in speaking about America’s “departure from God and His ways,” tells us that “on June 25, 1962, America took its first major step in removing prayer and God from its national life when the Supreme Court ruled prayer in public schools illegal. Many see this date as a marker of the decline of America – not only spiritually and morally, but as an entire civilization.”(2) Cahn also says that since then, “America has offered up nearly 55 million of its children to abortion since it was legalized in 1973; [and] its media and culture continues its descent toward vulgarity, sexual immorality and godlessness.”(3)

We also read here that Belshazzar and his royal court used the articles of God to offer toasts to other gods, in order to praise them (v. 4); and so, I must ask, “How are we worshiping other gods here in America; and in what ways are we mixing the sacred with the secular?” In our materialistic culture, it’s obvious that we’re worshiping other gods; specifically the gods of self and money. Paul warned young Timothy, “In the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money . . . [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2a, 4b). It’s also obvious that we’ve combined the sacred and secular. For example, the same Supreme Court that banned public prayer in schools, opens each session with prayer, “having a form of godliness but denying it’s power” (2 Timothy 3:5a), as Paul declared.