“WHEN GOD GETS YOUR ATTENTION”

Daniel 5:1-9, 25-31

Refuge
Feb. 1, 2015 A.M.
Roy Cordle, Pastor
 
In the 6th chapter of Paula’s letter to the Galatians we read,
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap.”
 
EVERYTHING we have ever done will be brought to light at the judgment.  What we sow,
we shall reap.
 
THAT TRUTH is illustrated in one of the most dramatic stories in all literature, the story of
Belshazzar, king of Babylon and his encounter with the prophet Daniel.
 
DANIEL – was one of those Jews taken captive as a prisoner in Jerusalem in 605 B.C. when
King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army overran the capital city.
 
WITH OTHER YOUNG HEBREWS – Daniel was transported to Babylon and trained in
Chaldean culture and science.
 
MANY YEARS LATER – after Jerusalem had been destroyed, Daniel became the prime
minister of the greatest empire in the civilized world.
 
I.           BELSHAZZAR THE KING.
 
At this time Belshazzar ascended to the throne of Babylon.
 
The young man was rich, powerful, proud and happy-go-luck.
He did not accept the responsibilities that had been thrust upon him.
 
He had a play-boy philosophy.
He enjoyed all the sensual things of life.
He liked to have the “good life.”
 
THE BIBLE HAS A GOOD DEAL TO SAY TO THOSE WHO SPEND THEIR DAYS
IN SELFISH PLEASURE.
 
II.         BELSHAZZAR’S BANQUET.
 
BELSHAZZAR DECIDED TO HAVE A PARTY.
 
Belshazzar decided he would stage a banquet such as the world had never seen.
 
A.   THE INVITATIONS.
 
He sent invitations to a thousand lords and ladies of the area.
 
He probably imported the finest wines, the most beautiful dancers, and the most famous
orchestra of that day.
 
Without a doubt the site of the banquet was the famous hanging gardens of Babylon.
 
The King’s Wives, the Concubines, the Dancing Girls, all participated in a drunken orgy with
the guests.
 
B.   THE DINING ROOM.
 
1.    The dining room was reported to be 1,650 feet wide and 1 mile long.
 
2.    4,500 pillars in the form of giant elephants were part of the walls.  They were carved out
of stone and stood 20 feet high
 
3.    The tables were fashioned in the form of horseshoes
 
4.    The guests sat down to eat and drink as trained peacocks, arrayed in gold and silver
harness, drew miniature chariots filled with choice wine and all kinds of food.
 
5.    From the adjoining gardens, an enormous choir and orchestra provided music and
entertainment.
 
6.    Archaeologists have discovered several banquet halls in the ruins of Babylon that would
seat 10,000 people at a time.
 
7.    Belshazzar set the pace as he tasted the wine and drank the costly beverage.
 
8.    Belshazzar was impatient for the great moment to arrive.  He could wait no longer so he
uttered his great command.
 
 
C.    GOD LOOKED IN ON THE BANQUET.
 
 
III.      BELSHAZZAR’S MISTAKE.
 
A.   His Orders Were Given To His Servants.
 
About midnight Belshazzar pounded on the table and whispered to his cupbearer.
 
The whole banquet hall became quiet as the servants proceeded to bring in the sacred vessels
that Nebuchadnezzar had seized in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem, vessels of gold and silver
that had been dedicated and consecrated to God.
 
As they were brought in Belshazzar stood up and said,
“I toast the gods of Babylon, the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.  Eat,
drink and be merry.”
 
And he laughed in the face of the God of Israel, made fun of Him, while the guests
roared their approval in their drunken stupor.
 
So the party went on during the night, but the Bible says you can go only so far.
 
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked.”
Judgment eventually comes to everybody.
 
Sometime, somewhere God says, “It’s Enough.”
 
That night Belshazzar thought he could get by with it, but he went too far.
 
 
IV.        SOCIETY’S MISTAKE.
 
 
Many people today think they can get by with it and beat the game of sin, but after a while
the world of sin catches up with them.
 
THEY – are consumed with the habit of drunkenness.
 
THEY – experience the scars of sexual immorality.
 
THEY – get involved with the destructive effects of drugs.
 
THEY DON’T REALIZE WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
 
IF A PERSON PLAYS WITH FIRE, THAT FIRE WILL ONE DAY BURN THEM.
 
IF WE SOW TO THE WIND ONE DAY THERE WILL BE A REAPING.
 
AFTER THE “KICK” COMES THE “KICKBACK.”
 
THE TIME COMES WHEN A NATION AS WELL AS AN INDIVIDUAL COMES
UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD ALMIGHTY.
 
THINK ABOUT HOW GOD HAS BLESSED AMERICA.
 
1.    God Has Tremendously Blessed America
 
2.    But America has thrown away many of God’s Blessings
 
3.    We have wasted many of the resources God has given to us as a nation
 
4.    Millions of people in America and other nations go to bed hungry every night while some
Americans can’t find enough room to put all of their garbage into the trash cans for the trash
people to pick up each week.
 
5.    So many people cannot get along today.
 
V.          SUDDENLY – GOD WROTE ON THE WALL.
 
A.   While Everyone Was Having A Good Time God Speaks.
 
1.    Belshazzar – was raising his glass for another toast
 
2.    Dancers – were dancing
 
3.    Guests – were having a good time.
 
4.    Belshazzar – saw the hand writing on the wall first.
 
B.   Suddenly An Armless Hand Appeared And The Fingers Began To Write On The
Plaster Wall.
 
1.   Notice What The King Did.
 
a.    The king’s countenance was changed
 
b.    His thoughts troubled him
 
c.    His joints of his loins were loosed
 
d.    His knees began to shake against one another
 
e.    He was literally shaking in his shoes
 
f.     He cried out loud: “Bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.”
 
g.    He wanted the “wise men of Babylon” to help him.
 
 
SINCE THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD – IT WILL TAKE A SERVANT OF GOD TO
INTERPRET THE WRITING.
 
2.   Notice What The King Promised.
 
a.    Tell me what it means and I will clothe you with scarlet
 
b.    Tell me what it means and I will give you a gold chain to wear around your neck
 
c.    Tell me what it means and I will make you the 3rd ruler in my kingdom
 
3.   The Wise Men Of Babylon Couldn’t Interpret The Handwriting On The Wall.
 
a.    This was the handwriting of God on the wall
 
b.    They couldn’t interpret it because it was a message from God.
 
c.    Because it was God’s handwriting – and – the things of the Spirit can only be understood
with the help of the Holy Spirit.
 
d.    The natural man – the unsaved person – cannot grasp nor understand the things of God –
they are spiritually discerned.
 
e.    If a person does not know Christ the Bible is a book of riddles for him.
 
f.     But – a person from the backside of “nowhere” who is a blood washed, born again, Spirit
filled Christian – can interpret the things of God because the Spirit of God lives in him.
 
VI.        THE  QUEEN  REMEMBERS  AND  MAKES  A SUGGESTION.
The queen mother came in and made a suggestion to Belshazzar.
 
DAN. 5:11-12: “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in
the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was
found in him, whom the king, Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made
master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, Forasmuch as an excellent
spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing (revealing) of
hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king
named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.”
 
 
Isn’t it good when even an unbeliever knows there is a man of God who can help with a
problem?
 
Are you a believer who can help when there is a problem?
 
It is important for us to notice that even though Daniel was an honored and powerful man in
the kingdom – He Was Not At The Party!
 
Daniel 5:13:  They Had To Send For Daniel!
 
Daniel 5:13-16:
 
1.    Daniel is brought before the king
 
2.    Daniel is questioned about his past life
 
3.    The king admits his wise men have failed
 
4.    The king promised Daniel wealth, riches and power if he will tell him what the writing on
the walls means.
 
Daniel Responds To The King:
 
1.    I don’t want any of your gifts
 
2.    I don’t want any of your rewards
 
3.    You have gone too far.  You have not been thankful for all the gifts God has given to you.
 
4.    You have gone too far.
 
Daniel Tells Him What The Writing Means.
 
“Mene, Mene, Tekel, U-pharsin”
 
1.    You are weighed in the balance and found wanting
 
2.    Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.
 
This Is What History Records That Night.
 
1.    The palace doors were broken open
 
2.    The Medo-Persian Army attacked Babylon after diverting the water in the Euphrates
River
 
3.    Belshazzar Was Killed.
 
4.    Daniel And His Friends Were Spared & Protected By God.
 
5.    God Used This Invading Army To Bring Judgment Upon The Man Who Dared To Defy
God!
 
Look At These Words Again.
 
Look At The First Word:
 
“MENE” – means “God Numbers.”  Or “God Remembers.”
 
Yes, God remembers our sins.
When we come to the judgment, the books will be opened and everything we have swept
under the rug and everything we thought no one knew anything about will be revealed.
 
The Bible Says: “Be Sure Your Sins Will Find You Out.”
 
BUT, GOD ALSO REMEMBERS TO FORGET.
 
When our sins have been brought to the cross of Jesus Christ, God Remembers To Forget
That We Have Ever Sinned.
 
That Is The Beauty Of God’s Forgiveness and The Greatness of God’s Grace.
 
Because Christ Died For Us On The Cross, God Forgives Our Sins and Forgets Our
Sins When We Come To Him In Repentance.
 
Look At The Second Word:
 
“TEKEL” – it means “weighed in the balances and found wanting.”
 
EACH OF US – is being weighed in God’s balances.
 
1.   God Weighs Us By The Ten Commandments.
 
Have you kept all the commandments since you were born?
 
2.   God Weighs Us By The Law Of Love.
 
Jesus Said:  “Love God and Love Your Neighbor.”
 
Have you kept that commandment?
 
If you have not – then – you are a sinner!
 
You – need forgiveness.
You – need to come to the Cross of Jesus and Repent of your sins.
 
3.   God Weighs Us By His Son Jesus Christ.
 
JESUS – is the perfect Son of God.
 
JESUS – is the man that God wanted every one of us to be like.
 
4.   God Will Not Weigh Us With Each Other.
 
Some folks say: “I am better than my neighbor.”
 
Some folks say: “Well, I guess I am a good person.”
 
One of the definitions of sin is “Coming short of the glory of God.”
The glory of God is Christ.
 
So we are all sinners and we all need to be forgiven and saved from our sins.
 
Look At The Third Word:
 
“U-PHARSIN” – means “your kingdom is divided.”
 
 
 
There Were 3 Things Waiting For Belshazzar:
1.    Death
2.    Judgment
3.    Hell
 
I INVITE YOU TO COME TO JESUS TODAY FOR FORGIVENESS AND A NEW
LIFE IN CHRIST.
 
YOU CANNOT ACCUMULATE ENOUGH GOOD TO GET YOU INTO HEAVEN.
 
PUT YOUR FAITH IN GOD AND WHAT HIS SON DID FOR YOU ON THE CROSS.
 
WHEN YOU PUT JESUS ON THE SCALES WITH YOU, YOU WILL HAVE
ENOUGH.
 
COME TO JESUS AS WE SING.