The Study of the Book of Daniel Lesson 5 Ice breaker question – to be provided by your facilitator(s): Questions from the last study: Did you have any follow-up questions from Daniel chapter four? Introduction to chapter five of Daniel: As we prepare to study this lesson we must be ready to take a hard right turn in our thinking. Without warning Daniel jumps ahead about three decades in time and introduces us to a new Babylonian king – Belshazzar. Who is this man? Where did he come from? What happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Daniel himself never addresses these questions, but we have some information from history. From archeological ruins, ancient manuscripts and some Bible references we learn Nebuchadnezzar died in Babylon between the second and sixth months of the forty-third year of his reign. He was succeeded by his son Amel-Marduk ("Evil-Merodach" of 2 Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31). Amel-Marduk lasted only two years from 562-560 BC. He was replaced after an army coup 2 by the commander in chief, Neriglissar (Nergal-Sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3), son-in-law of Nebuchanezzer. After frequent absences from active service, he was, in turn, ousted, and his weak son Labashi-Marduk lasted only a few months before another coup brought Nabonidus to the throne. After ruling in Babylon for three years Nabonidus led the army to Palestine and Northern Arabia to establish new colonies. He left his son Belshazzar as co-regent in Babylon. Eventually Nabonidus decided to stay in Arabia because he was very unpopular at home in Babylon, leaving Belshazzar to rule the main empire beginning in 553 BC. In 540 BC, Nabonidus returned home hoping to defend his kingdom from the advancing Persians. Belshazzar was positioned in the city of Babylon to hold the capital, while Nabonidus marched his troops north to meet Cyrus. On October 10, 539 BC, Nabonidus surrendered and fled from Cyrus. Two days later the Persian armies overthrew the city of Babylon. It was during this time, as the Babylonian dominance of the world was failing, that our lesson takes place. All of this information leads us to a second question concerning this chapter: why does Daniel call Belshazzar the son of Nebuchadnezzar when he was not? Please remember we are working with a translation. In the original language the term Daniel uses can also mean “descendant”. If you have been doing the math as you absorbed all this information you recognize that Daniel has now been in Babylon for 66 years. He is no longer the young boy we met back in chapter one. For many years Daniel served as an advisor to the Babylonian kings and a bold witness of the Jewish faith. 3 Exploring the Text Daniel 5:1-4 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. First things first, we need to understand what kind of banquet the king was holding. It wasn’t some drunken orgy that was common amongst so many other godless nations of the world. This was a celebration of the power and superiority of the nation of Babylon. The irony is that while the Babylonian royalty celebrated, the army of the Medes and Persians was camped right outside the city preparing to overthrow this government. Belshazzar holds this banquet because he thought such a thing as the Babylonian empire falling could never happen. As king, Belshazzar sets the tone for this celebration with flowing wine and endless praise to the many false gods of the Babylonians. In many ways this was not only a banquet, but a worship ceremony of the gods of Babylon. There are far too many false gods to name (thousands of them), so Daniel simply refers to them as “the gods of gold and silver, 4 bronze and iron, wood and stone”. By his description Daniel clearly testifies that all these false gods had no power or ability to rescue the Babylonians. As the wine takes it control of Belshazzar and as the false worship reaches a feverish pitch, Belshazzar gives orders to show the superiority of his gods over the gods of every other nation, including the God of Israel. He calls for the temple articles that had been captured during the destruction of Jerusalem and he uses them as part of his pagan worship. We can understand why he called for these items since during the past 60 plus years the only God that had showed Himself to have any kind of true power or value was the God of Israel. By drinking his worship wine from the temple articles, things that represented this God, he is making the statement that even Israel’s God was inferior to his gods. Q: Later on in this chapter (v. 13) we learn that Daniel was not among the thousand nobles who were invited to take part in this celebration (we have no idea where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are, or if they were even still alive). Had Daniel been there, how do you think he might have reacted to all this? What is your typical reaction when God’s name is blasphemed (review the second commandment on the concept of blasphemy)? Silence? Indignation? Speaking up? 5 Daniel 5:5-9 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. Imagine a hall full of laughing people now suddenly falling silent as they saw their great king turn pale and faint with fear. What was going on? The king had witnessed a divine revelation. What was now taking place could not be laughed off or easily dismissed. More concerning than seeing a finger write word’s on the palace wall was the fact that these four simple words were beyond the reading and interpretation of the wise men of the kingdom. Imagine the panic as each one failed to deliver to the king what this all meant even though he had promised a rich reward to the one who might do so. Q: Understanding that these words were in common Aramaic, what possibilities are suggested that a room full of Aramaic speaking people could not read them? 6 Daniel 5:10-12 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.” We learned in the opening verses that all of the king’s wives were with him at his banquet. So an obvious question might be who is this “queen” that hears the panic rumbling through the palace? This would not have been one of the wives of Belshazzar, but rather the queen mother. Many think she may have been the actual daughter of Nebuchadnezzar himself. If so, this would explain why she had such a thorough knowledge of who Daniel was and how he had served in times past. Since Daniel had proven himself to Nebuchadnezzar she suggests Belshazzar call on him to read and interpret the inscription on the wall. 7 Daniel 5:13-17 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.