DWDP: The Writing on the Wall – Deciphering Daniel's Prophecy and the Fall of Belshazzar

Discover the profound legacy of ancient prophecies and divine messages with us as we navigate the chilling tale of a doomed king and the enigmatic words that heralded his fall. In the suspense-filled narrative of Daniel chapter 5, we decode the cryptic 'Mene', 'Tekel', and 'Parsin', unraveling their stark warning to Belshazzar and his empire. As we trace the echoes of judgment that resounded through the opulent halls of Babylon, we also uncover the extraordinary hope that springs from the message of redemption through Christ Jesus. Our exploration isn't just a recount of biblical events; it's an invitation to grasp the weight of God's sovereignty and the infinite grace He extends to us all.

Venture further with us into the story of Daniel's unforeseen rise to power, examining how his prophetic insight sealed the fate of a king and ushered in a new era under Darius the Mede. As we grapple with the notion of idolatry, both ancient and modern, we present a stirring challenge to reassess our own worship, often misplaced in the glow of screens and digital distractions. Our conversation weaves through intimate experiences of spiritual retreats and the transformative practice of scripture memorization, urging you to foster a deeper connection with the divine. This episode is not just a historical account; it's a personal call to action, prompting you to nurture a richer, more intentional spiritual life amidst the clamor of contemporary distractions.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, dr Robert Jackson. Papa, can you tell me a story?

Speaker 2: 0:19

Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your bibles and let's look into the written word that reveals to us the living word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. This week we're in Daniel, chapter 5, and we're going to pick up where we left off last week, where Daniel is about to interpret the inscription that is on the wall.

Speaker 2: 0:54

Today we're going to look at Daniel's rebuke, how Daniel reveals the inscription, daniel's reward and Daniel's revelation being fulfilled. We're going to skip Daniel's rebuke and come back to that in a few moments, but we're going to start with Daniel's revelation of the inscription, which is in Daniel, chapter 5, verse 25, through 28. So let's read what it says in Daniel, chapter 5, verse 25, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand, but the God in whose hand are your life, breath and all your ways you have not glorified. Then the hand was sent from him and this inscription was written out. Now, this is the inscription that was written out m'ne, m'ne, te'keil, u'farsin. This is the interpretation of the message. M'ne, god has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Te'keil, you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Pares, your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians. So Daniel first rebuked Bel Shazar, this pagan king, and then he reveals the inscription. So let's talk about it.

Speaker 2: 2:41

The inscription revealed, m'ne means numbered. Your kingdom has been numbered, and its duration is so counted out that it is full that it now comes to an end. That's the interpretation of m'ne, and it's repeated twice, which means that it is fully determined by a divine God. Te'keil means you are weighed, you owe Bel Shazar, are weighed in the balance and found to light, ie deficient. You are found morally deficient, deficient in moral worth. And the third word is u'farsin. Your kingdom is divided, not divided into two equal parts, but actually dissolved. Dissolved into multiple, actually numerous, pieces.

Speaker 2: 3:49

Now here's the first question of the day have you ever been weighed in God's divine balance and found to be too light found morally deficient? Of course you have. All men have been weighed in the balance and come up too light. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous. No, not one. Every man who stands before holy God is morally deficient and in need of spiritual cleansing, actually in need of a Savior. Aren't you eternally glad that our Heavenly Father loved us enough to provide a way of redemption through His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sins upon Himself, bore our iniquities on the cross and paid the penalty for all of our moral deficiencies? When we receive Him as our Passover lamb, god gives us His righteousness, takes away our sin and no longer sees us as too light, no longer sees us as morally deficient. We now possess the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a free gift. The Scripture says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Dear listener, you can shout hallelujah at this point. You can say amen. Now let's move on.

Speaker 2: 5:44

In the next part of this passage we see Daniel being rewarded. Let's look at the Scripture again. It says then Bel Shazar gave orders and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom. So we see Daniel being clothed in a purple robe Purple indicated royalty, the gold chain indicated authority, being made the third ruler. You have to understand historically that Bel Shazar was a co-regent with his father Nabonatus. Nabonatus had left several years before on a seven-year military trek with his army to conquer and to overcome. And when he had left, he left Bel Shazar, his son, as a co-regent over Babylon. So when Bel Shazar offered a position to Daniel, he could only offer him a position as the third ruler in the kingdom because he was a co-regent with his father, nabonatus.

Speaker 2: 7:13

And then, thirdly, I want us to see the revelation fulfilled. The Bible tells us that that same night Bel Shazar the Chaldean was slain. So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of 62. So the supernatural origin of the inscription and the supernatural interpretation were confirmed by the exact coincidence of the predicted event with its full fulfillment. In other words, it came true that very same night Belshazzar was slain, the exact night that Daniel predicted that his kingdom was going to be dissolved. Daniel was a Jewish slave in a foreign land. He could not have coordinated this assassination and this political coup.

Speaker 2: 8:23

Only the true God of heaven, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, who does according to his will in the host of heavens and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can ward off his hand or say to him what have you done? As Nebuchadnezzar said, his works are true and his ways are just, and he is able to humble those who walk in pride. This prideful pagan king named Belshazzar, who worshiped the gods of gold, silver, bronze and stone, and did so with God's holy vessels from the temple in Jerusalem, came to an ignominious end and his kingdom was smashed to pieces and dissolved. Now go back to Daniel's rebuke, all the way back in the beginning of this passage, for there is a lesson there for all of us. In the beginning, daniel said to him you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver and gold and bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand, but the God in whose hand are your life, breath and all your ways you have not glorify. So there's Daniel's rebuke, and you see, it was a twofold rebuke, that they worshiped false gods, but the God in whose life breath and all of their ways, in his hand, was their life breath and all their ways. Him they did not worship. Now, if that passage were written today, how do you think it would read? I suspect that if it was written today it would read that they worshiped the gods of electronics, cell phones, ipads, television and computers. And you know that's true and I hope that doesn't offend your tender sensibilities. I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings, because you and I both know that that's the God of this age.

Speaker 2: 11:11

Now let me give you a couple of observations. Twice now I've been involved with planning church retreats, one for adults and one for youth. There were a lot of signups, lots of adults for the adult retreat, lots of youth for the youth retreat, and in both instances, after there were lots of people signed up, those who planned the retreat decided that there would not be any cell phones or iPads allowed on the weekend retreat in order to enhance the spiritual benefit of the retreat, and immediately more than 50% of those who signed up decided they could not attend. Why? You know why? Because they worshiped the God of electronics. They could not do without their cell phones and their iPads and their computers, and they refuse to attend the weekend retreat both the adults and the youth.

Speaker 2: 12:14

Let me make another observation. There are many times when I'm involved with adults, so-called mature spiritual leaders in churches, people who've been believers for decades, where we're asked to sit in a circle to pray and to worship God. We go around the circle one time and these mature spiritual leaders will say a prayer of worship one time. And once we go around the circle, then they're done. They're done. They have nothing else to say in offering a prayer of praise or worship to God. Their praise and worship vocabulary is used up. And I'm not trying to be harsh or critical, I'm just making an observation Now.

Speaker 2: 13:06

My spiritual giftedness is encouragement. So please, please, allow me to use my gift here. Let me make some suggestions and let me encourage you. First of all, as an encouragement, if you're listening to me and if you know that you're one of those people who's addicted to cell phones and computers and electronics, let me challenge you to develop a worship vocabulary. Memorize verses that have to do with the attributes of God. Memorize scripture verses that deal with the names of God and the names of Jesus so that when you sit down in a quiet place, in your quiet time daily, you can talk to Jesus. You can talk to God and, from your memory bank, you can worship Him for more than a few moments, that you can worship Him for minutes upon minutes and 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes of time. You can worship the Lord from your heart using the scriptures that you have memorized. Develop a worship vocabulary.

Speaker 2: 14:18

There was a violinist walking down the street in New York City looking for Carnegie Hall, and he asked a bystander do you know how to find Carnegie Hall? The bystander saw the violin in his hand and he said practice, practice, practice. That wasn't the exact answer he was looking for, but it's true. If you and I want to go to Carnegie Hall as a musician, we have to practice, practice, practice. Brothers and sisters, if you and I want to develop a worship vocabulary, we have to practice, practice, practice. That's true no matter what you want to do. If you want to be good at shooting free throws, you have to practice. If you want to be good at deer or turkey hunting, or play in the piano or whatever, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you want to be somebody who's known as a true worshiper of God, then you must memorize the praise and worship verses in scripture and then practice.

Speaker 2: 15:22

Then, number two I challenge you to wean yourself off of electronics. Set aside time to be alone with God and your Bible and no electronics, no cell phone, no computer, no iPad, no electronic distractions. Set aside a Saturday morning where you just spend time in the word and in prayer and no electronic distractions. And it takes time, and some of you will find out that you're more addicted to the devices than you realize, because you will go through electronic withdrawals, just like my patients go through drug and alcohol withdrawals. I promise you you cannot have a quiet time with the cell phone within hand, reach, within arms, reach. A genuine quiet time has to be just you and God and no electronic devices.

Speaker 2: 16:26

And then, thirdly, ask yourself what would I do if the power grid went down? And what would I do if it went down for good? Would I just shrivel up and die, like the wicked witch of the West when the ten man threw water on her in the Wizard of Oz? What would happen, brother and sister, if you didn't have your electronic devices, if all you had was your Bible and Jesus. Ponder that, think about it and then, lastly, learn to meditate on Scripture for hours at a time, without any other electronic diversion, so that you can secure undistracted devotion to the Lord. The growth in your spiritual life will be exponential.

Speaker 2: 17:17

You see the handwriting on the wall said tekel, your kingdom. I'm sorry, you have been weighed on the scales and found too light, found morally deficient. Brothers and sisters, I pray that you and I would not be weighed on the scale and found too light and found deficient. Let me encourage you set aside time just for you and Jesus in the Word to talk and to pray and to learn how to praise and worship God for not just a few minutes at a time, but for extended periods of time, so that we can learn to be true worshipers of God. You're listening to More Than Medicine. I'm your host, dr Robert Jackson. If you like what you hear, I pray that you would like it, follow it or share it, and that you would tell your friends about it, and we'll be back next week to continue our study of the Book of Daniel. Thank you for listening and I pray that the Lord will bless you real good.

Speaker 1: 18:27

Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their web page at JacksonFamilyMinistrycom. This podcast is produced by Bobslaw and Audio Production at Bobslawcom.